DAVID and LUCY PAGE on how they travelled the world, but returned home to start a new cycle hire business in Porthleven. Interview Alex Fisher

David says: ‘We’d been working in quite formal careers for a while, myself as a policeman and Lucy as a teacher, when we decided to travel around the world. We took off with our two young children and spent 18 months discovering other cultures and countries. We are both active, outdoors people and we often wanted to hire bikes, but found there was nowhere to do so. This gave me the idea for the bike hire business when we returned home to Cornwall. I still remember the first time someone rented a bike. I thought: ‘Crikey, this might actually work.’ 

Lucy says: ‘It’s great to be running our own business, and we are lucky to have the Penrose Estate on our doorstep. It was good for off-road cycling when we started, but this year they have invested £150,000 into improving the tracks, so it will be even better. We now have three children and it’s lovely to be raising them in the town where I was born. David grew up in Helston, a few miles away, so we’ve always known that this tip of Cornwall is our home. There’s a busy tourist trade here, but also a strong local community. It’s a fantastic place to live. We’ve been to beautiful places all over the world, but nowhere compares to the Cornish coast.’

For more information, visit porthlevencyclehire.co.uk.

"We now have three children and it’s lovely to be raising them in the town where I was born. David grew up in Helston, a few miles away, so we’ve always known that this tip of Cornwall is our home. There’s a busy tourist trade here, but also a strong local community. It’s a fantastic place to live. We’ve been to beautiful places all over the world, but nowhere compares to the Cornish coast."