A GROUP of intrepid cyclists have completed a 116-mile cycle challenge through the South West following in the footsteps of Victorian folk song collectors, all to benefit young people in Devon.

The bikers from Wren Music, an Okehampton based music education charity, were raising money for their youth programme that helps disadvantaged young people enjoy the benefits that music can bring to their whole lives.

The route also emulated those taken by folk music collectors Sabine Baring-Gould and Cecil Sharp who took to their bicycles in the Victorian era to collect songs from across the South West.

Seven riders set out from Bristol on Saturday. Their route took them across Somerset and, after an overnight stop in Wellington, they set off into Devon until they reached Okehampton in a triumphant finale on Sunday afternoon.

Wren’s base at Ebenezer Hall in Okehampton was transformed for a welcome gala for the returning riders.

Their ride did not go exactly to plan — cyclist and Wren co-founder Paul Wilson had to drop out of the challenge on the second day after a crash and injuries to his wrist from cycling over 100 miles.

Fellow riders Jon Dyer, Roland Pyle, Isaac Price-Sosner, Amy Wilson, Tom George and Marcus Ayling finished the route a couple of hours later than planned after Paul’s accident.

They have raised over £2,000 in total for the charity.

Event organiser Amy Wilson said: ‘It’s hard to overstate the value of the work Wren does; not only in preserving the folk traditions of England, but in striving to build communities and achieve social cohesion, as well as giving people reasons to get up in the morning.’

Wren Music has a 30-year-plus history in community music work in and around Devon, but like many other charities is facing funding cuts and more demand for services as people‘s budgets are increasingly squeezed.

The charity’s mission is to work with music and culture to inspire creativity, promote inclusion and celebrate identity and diversity.

Its main focus is music workshops but it also hosts concerts and is involved with other art initiatives too, including being the creative force behind the Okehampton Lanterns Procession.

The charity also organises the annual Baring-Gould Folk Weekend, a showcase event of some of the best talent on the folk and traditional music scene.

l The intrepid cyclists are pictured above.

Picture by James Bird