I am not 100% sure that this is going into the right category, and if it isn’t then you have my sincere apologies. I looked under Cornwall and there were several options such as restaurants/shopping, etc but nothing that I thought this would go under. Therefore I have opted for this one, resorts and villages in Cornwall.

This is a particular resort I would like to write about because when we were searching for this kind of holiday there was very little information to be had. I guess you will only be interested in this op if you are looking for somewhere in Cornwall to go trial biking. Believe me, I can think of no better place than Colwith Farm…...read on…

Those of you who know me, and some of you who have read previous ops by me will know that I am part of a “trial biking” family. Trial biking is the sport whereby “man and machine” work together in perfect balance…sometimes!! Rider and bike negotiating various obstacles such as streams, rocks, fallen trees, and anything else nature, and the section planners throw at them. The idea is to get thru the various sections as cleanly as possible, not putting your foot down to balance yourself nor stopping for any length of time. Hope that explains it well enough?

My youngest son (14) and my hubby (much older!!) both do the above on a regular basis, mainly for pleasure, sometimes competitively. Most weekends find us at a nearby disused sandpit practising or taking part in a trial in another county.
N.B I do not take part in case you were wondering!! I am the official “team” photographer, morale booster, first aid attendant, sandwich packer…get the idea??:0)

Late springtime last year we were wondering if we were going to have a holiday that year when hubby suggested that we go on a trial biking one in Cornwall, our fave part of the country. What a great idea! But where?? In comes my trusty Internet. After having no luck
with the usually helpful Jeeves I went to Google, typed in Trial biking holidays in Cornwall and hey presto!!

Up came Colwith Farm. It was a great little web site with all the information you needed, a phone call later we had booked a week away at the end of October:0)!! Sue Dustow, the farm owner was everso helpful on the phone and we really started to look forward to our week away. I started to plan what to pack..yes I know it was at least 6 months away but I like to be organised! I am not, but I would like to be!!!

All too soon October was upon us and we were on our way to Cornwall. Six hours later we were there! Colwith Farm is located about 5 miles outside of St Austell. Its difficult to give an exact location, but if you are interested give the website a look, all info is there.
We arrived mid afternoon and were greeted by Sue who showed us to our home for the next week.

There are 2 caravans on the farm, set in their own gardens and both are of the highest standard. We had chosen the smaller of the 2 vans for our week, the 2 bed-roomed one and we were not disappointed. It was very comfortable with all the usual things, shower, microwave, kettle, toaster, cooker you know the rest.

The loveliest thing was the view from the lounge window, right across the valley and the fields on the neighbouring farms. I used to get up early and watch the sun come up over the hills, it was so peaceful. The boys wanted to go off playing on the bikes straight away so we dumped all the stuff in the van, they fired up the bikes and I wound on the camera, and off we went. This was where Colwith Farm really comes into it’s own. All you have to do to go playing on the bikes is fire them up, go through the gate that leads to the land and off you go! No having to put bikes on trailers and drive any distance before you could play, just fire up the bikes and go!!

The land that Mike (Sue’s husband) has set aside for trials is ju
st perfect for the sport, according to my hubby. There are streams, which were very full and flowing after all the rain we had and still had while we were there!! Rocks and trees, lots of hills to ride up and slopes to hurl down!! Thirty acres of trial riders heaven! It has been used for mountain biking competitions for very many years as well.

As I mentioned in the last paragraph the streams were very full, and they stayed that way throughout our week. It transpires that we chose the wettest week of the year to visit that part of the country! The rest of the country was pretty badly affected too. Fortunately it didn’t rain during the daytime so the riding wasn’t affected much. Not that I think it would have taken a few spots of rain to put my lot off! It did rain every single night though. It is actually quite restful listening to the rain on a caravan roof. We had no trouble sleeping!

It was such a quiet place to stay too. As I said earlier the two caravans are set in their own little gardens so you are quite private if you wish to be. My son soon made friends with the lads who were staying in the other caravan, it was nice that they were able to go off and ride together safely, when poor hubby’s aching limbs prevented him from doing so! Kids seem to have limitless energy!

We decided before we went that we would ride every other day and do the tourist thing on the days we didn’t, and we managed to get to see an awful lot of Cornwall! From the rugged North of the county to the slightly less so South of it! Places we visited within easy reach of where we stayed were, Par, Fowey, Padstowe (this year we are going again and this time we are going to eat in one of Rick Steins restaurants here!!)

Land’s End ( and did the usual photograph thing at the sign!), Goonhilly Earth Satellite station. I can thoroughly recommend a visit here, I thought I was going to find it boring, it wasn’t at all. I might
do an op on it another time?

Mike and Sue Dustow are the perfect hosts. They greeted us when we arrived and popped in to see us a couple of times during our stay to ensure that we were happy with every thing. Mike even came to our assistance one night when the gas fire refused to light, and brought us an electric heater from the house, and the gas man came out to fix the fire the very next day.

They have a guest book in each van and whilst reading it, well you have to be nosey and read what everyone else has said don’t you??, I noticed without exception that everyone who had stayed there over the last few years had nothing but praise for the site, the area and Mike and Sue, adding that they were hoping to see them again the following year. We are definitely going again this year, we have already booked! Only this time we are going to go in the summer. The only drawback of going the time we did last year was that the clocks went back while we were there, thus reducing the amount of daylight time we had to play out on the bikes. Believe me there really is a limit to what you can do in a caravan in the middle of a field in Cornwall in the dark! There is!!! Honest!!!
Thank you for reading this op! I hope you enjoyed it!
Kazzie!!