MOUNTAIN BIKING SAVED MY TOWN

All across the UK, towns down on their luck have been rescued by the sport we love. We zoom in on Innerleithen to figure out how it's done

- Jamie Darlow

Two images pop into my head when I think of Innerleithen. The first is of a town down on its luck, unwelcoming in aspect, and empty of shops bar a bookie or two. Quiet, empty and forgettable. That was 2005 and my first visit. The second came just last year, and despite the rain the welcome couldn’t have been sunnier.

The streets were busy with people, and not just passing through, either: queuing for artisan coffee, licking 99s, and riding bikes. In the dozen years between my two visits the town had gone from down-and-out to mountain bike heaven.

They’re not just my first impressions either, everyone I speak to uses the same word to describe the town: buzzing. Last year it was runner-up in Scotland’s Most Beautiful High Street, and Zoopla reveals house prices are up 25 per cent in that period, four per cent in the last 12 months alone, as people move back to the town.

“Fast-forward to 2020 and the change is palpable,” says Alex Feechan of Findra Clothing, based in Innerleithen. “More cafes have opened as well as other independent gift shops, all of which make a positive contribution to the success and creation of a bustling, vibrant high street.” Dozens of mountain bike-orientated businesses have opened and now there’s news that an industry hub and potential bike park has secured funding.

“The hub’s going to be based at one of the old textile mills, the last one standing called Caerlee Mill, and we’re going to try and get our college course based in there in around 2024,” says Andy Barlow from Dirt School. “If you needed anything more as a metaphor for a town reborn then there it is really.”