Pump, Pennies & Pizza

Tuesday the 6th, Day 2

We processed a lot of thoughts over the night.  We thought about things that were OK, what needed to change and how we could develop the project long term.  We had learned a lot in one day's cycling.  We realised in order for us to make the most of opportunities to meet people, we needed to stop more and cycle shorter distances to enable us to achieve this.  The museum also needed to be instantly accessible rather than having to be set up.  So when you take the lid off it is visually intriguing straight away and people will want to look in the boxes.  It took too long to take all the bits out and construct at the roadside. Cycling for two days running was too hard, especially carrying overnight equipment, so going home seems more realistic but we have to think about how we get to far reaching corners of Derbyshire in one day.  We may have to use other transport to support this.

Sunday the 11th, Day 3

An early start, wondering whether the 40mph winds would turn up,
we met up to adapt the museum and do repairs to the lettering on the outside and adding our Blog, and to the layout of the inside.  We had a discussion about the route today and how long we would spend at Matlock and whether this was just about taking the museum to isolated places or was it also about taking it to places of relevance?  When we were cycling over Beeley Moor it was isolated but we never saw a soul.  Is that a good place to go or should we go to places where people gather?  We compromised by taking the more scenic route through small villages and up hills, rather than busy, fast, flat routes that didn't pass through places.  We have realised we can put up with hills, wind and rain but not discourteous drivers on busy roads. 

At 10:15 we set off, aiming to reach Pentrich Church by 11am to meet Heather and the congregation.  They welcomed us in, if somewhat amazed, and they gave us lots of stories.  Rather than tell you all the stories, we would like to record the process that we are going through.  The stories may be shared at a later date in some other way... all part of the long term development of the project.

In Matlock we immediately had an impact in our costumes and with our trailer.  People were intrigued.  We learned about Madame Bloomer and her inappropriate dress in bloomers when riding her penny farthing.  We learned about how important it is for us to work with others who promote cycling and to be a part of that movement, as well as being artists promoting heritage and contemporary art.

By the end of the day we realised that the day of the week and the time of the day all impact on the amount of people around.  There are exceptions though, e.g. Margaret at Rowthorne who would like us to go and talk to her WI group.