Danny Hart cuts the tape (pic: Mark Pinder)

Following the development and opening of new trails at the Kielder Water and Forest Park, Northumberland, which opened in April, plans to make the area a top outdoor destination have been boosted with the opening of a £250,000 bike centre today.

Described as ‘state-of-the-art’, the bike centre has been built by the Kielder Partnership and operated be off-road cycling business Purple Mountain. As well as making hire bikes available, the new centre will also be used as the base for staging events, from regular night rides to family sessions.

The opening of the bike centre follows the completion of work on a 17km red trail which was unveiled together with the 26 mile Lakeside Way – allowing bikers, walkers and horse riders to circumnavigate northern Europe’s biggest man-made lake for the first time.

Elisabeth Rowark, Director of the Kielder Partnership, says: “We are forging ahead with brilliant new trails, but we need to match them with world class facilities and the bike centre fills this role. It will be a magnate for bike fans of all abilities – from novice to expert – helping exploit the immense interest in off-roading in Kielder Water & Forest Park.”

Purple Mountain is owned by 34 year old Vicky Griffin, who started her own bike hire concern as a 17 year old in the North York Moors village of Castleton. Since 2006 she has run the hugely successful Dalby Forest Bike Centre on the Forestry Commission estate near Scarborough. She added: “This is a massive move for us, but we are absolutely thrilled by the challenge. There’s a fantastic vibe in Kielder Water & Forest Park with so much happening. The new trails are top notch and there’s nowhere else in England where you can have such an exhilarating day in the saddle with the added chance of spying red squirrels, goshawks and even ospreys into the bargain.”

The Kielder Bike Centre opens daily from 9am to 5.30pm (6pm in August). To find out more go to www.purplemountain.co.uk, and for more information on the new trails, go to to www.visitkielder.com.