We were watching and we were watched!

When we found out that the tour of Britain was going near Ashbourne, we decided to drive to Ellastone, watch the race and then do a tour around the local villages on the edge of Derbyshire.  We struggled with the idea of using a car at first; we'd wanted to do the routes all by bike, but we realised that we are too far away from lots of Derbyshire to make it achievable to reach in a day, and have time to stop and meet people. Unfortunately we need two cars to carry us, the trailer and two bikes.  We're trying to think of different ways of doing this.

Reluctantly we set off in two cars and headed towards Ashbourne, passing lots of cyclists heading by bike to watch the race.  We both felt guilty of cheating and sad at missing opportunities to visit people in the small villages we passed through.  However, once we got on the bikes at Ellastone, we got lots of smiles from cyclists and spectators as we passed.  We found our first story tellers half way up the climb from the village, at a good vantage point for watching the race.  It was very exciting watching the race go by and having all the tour cars and media pip and wave and stare at our strange appearance.  Perhaps you spotted us on the tour highlights on TV?

After the race went through, we followed up the category 3 climb which Sally L said, after climbing it, that it wasn't as bad as Eckington. We had been invited by Jean to visit the community at Stanton and made our way over the hills to them.  What a wonderful welcome we got, tea, biscuits and lots of smiles from people of all ages.  We talked about the museum and what we are up to and then invited them to contribute their stories.  Once they had gotten over their initial reluctance, they gathered around the museum reading the stories of others from the opposite sides of Derbyshire. 

Although Stanton is just in Staffordshire, we couldn't resist an invite to visit a community that was isolated.  It was well worth the time and detour.

After Stanton, we headed to Mayfield where we had been given another invitation to visit by the Henry Prince First School.

Once we found it, we talked to 4 young people who wanted to know what we are doing.  They read the stories of others and then contributed their own stories on a variety of themes.  At last we could find somewhere to stop for a very late lunch.

It was lovely to meet people at two organised gatherings but it put pressure on us to be at certain places and particular times.  There was less time just to explore and meet people in adhoc ways which was more how we envisaged the project unfolding.  Meeting gatherings is an interesting thing to do and ensures we meet people in isolated places, but we have less opportunity to have one to one meaningful conversations that draw out people's hidden stories.  We need to be wary of too much stage managing of what we do. Rather than performing to an audience we want to encourage people to be part of an interactive art piece.  It's important that this essence of the project is portrayed in any documentation.  We both struggled with the arrival and presence of a photographer during a very interactive time with the community in Stanton.  We have realised that it is important that any documentation doesn't take priority over the engagement with the people we meet.  This goes back to our conversation with John Plowman of the Beacon Art Project when we talked about the ethics of capturing temporary moments to make them permanent for those who are not there.  Should we do this?  What is the impact on the interactions we have?  And also, the whole point of the project...  the whole point is to be temporary and of the moment and not being constricted by the rules of traditional curating in a museum building or art gallery.

What really worked?

On the first Monday, the little lanes and villages that were familiar but experiencing them in a different way. The total sensory experience and the chance to see and smell in detail. It was having the time with Margaret, she found us because she was intrigued.  Just coming across the Ironmongers in Eckington and seeing what happened when we went inside.

Tuesday, talking to people we came across in Chatsworth, Beeley and on the way through Littlemoor and Hanley.  Coming to a junction and saying 'which way should we go?'  And then meeting a man at a farm yard who had an amazing story.  There was no rush about the journey and we meandered rather than stuck to the route.

Sunday, it was special to be invited into the church, a place we wouldn't normally be invited with our bikes and trailer. At Matlock it felt good to be part of a cycling event, rather than an art event.  What was important to people was that it was fun and intriguing and cycling related.  It was good to be able to talk to children at a festival, we can't do that in the street.

Tuesday, actually it was better to talk to children as part of a family at the mobile library we just happened to find.  At the race it was good to talk to fellow cyclists who appreciated our endeavour. Just being on our bikes together in the afternoon, without meeting many people, gave us a chance to share our own stories and enjoy just cycling. Asking a fork lift truck driver for directions rather than stories.  He didn't seem concerned about our strange costumes or that we were towing a museum.

All in all, what we really like are the simplest elements of the project, the unplanned, unrecorded, close encounters and the hidden stories we bump into rather than set out to find.