Now we have had time to think...

When we set off we attracted a lot of attention.  Lots of smiles and puzzled looks, even a black cat in Newton did a double take!  Looking at Sal N, then Sal L, then back to Sal N again.  As we passed through the village we saw an old lady in a window and we waved and she waved back with enthusiasm.  After Newton, we climbed up to the mast on Newtonwood lane and then down through Teversal, the old village and on towards Pleasley.  As we rolled down the hill to the mill at the bottom of the lane, we passed two men working and one in trousers and shirt (maybe the gaffer?) all staring at us with intrigue.  We waved, said 'hello' and tootled by.  It began to rain.  Should we shelter by the bank of trees or push on?  We pushed on to Rowthorne and found shelter by a wall.  It seemed very deserted.  We ate flapjack and then put the camera on the opposite wall to take some photos. This must have caught Margaret Smith's eye, because she came out to see who we were.  After a brief chat we were invited into her yard to set up the museum.  It began to rain more and so she showed us into her outhouse where the cats lived, complete with carpet, wardrobe and settee!  

While we set up the museum we talked about what we were doing and showed her some completed labels.  At first she thought she didn't have a story to give us but then she started to tell us about Lawson White and all the amazing furniture and tools he had made for her.  We exclaimed that this was a good story and we were really intrigued by what she was telling us about the life of Lawson and the village life that they shared in Rowthorne.  She took us inside to show us some examples of Lawson's work and to take a photograph for the museum.  There were several pieces in her room and we asked her to choose her favourite; she chose the chair. He made his pieces from wood he found in the nearby fields and land and copied some of his designs from other furniture that he liked.  Frustrated by his day job as a farmer, he would rather have been a craftsman at which he was very talented.  It took Margaret a long time to get to know him when they moved into the village; he would peer out from behind walls as they passed by.  They knew of him but it took a while to get to meet him.

Margaret shared this with us, and it felt really important that she had shared this piece of hidden history.  This thought set a seed in our minds about what we were really up to...


We pressed on through Glapwell, Shirebrook and the Langwiths. The sun had returned and the wind was in our sails till just after Whaley Thorns Sally L's chain came off and she took a leisurely fall into the grass verge!  Fortunately it was a soft landing and she got up laughing.  Chain and Sally back on bike and onwards to the railway crossing.  Sally N was worried we wouldn't get across as the trailer might not fit through the pedestrian gates.  We rang the bell and a man opened the big gates for us but he didn't have any stories and he said he was only there on relief.  We ploughed on and passed a man in Whaley fixing his car who gave us a big smile, and into Elmton to stop for lunch.  We were just trying to decide where to sit and eat because it was very blustery, when a big blue van pulled up, kept the engine running and asked us what we were doing.  He wasn't going to stop but we persuaded him to turn off his engine and find out more about us.  He didn't think he had a story to share but then launched into a big description of a charity open day that he had hosted at his farm, which raised £3317 through hog roasts, raffle, trailer rides, etc.  He gave us two pens and two bluebell potatoes (a new variety) and didn't want his picture taken!

We decided to go off the map and avoid Cresswell as time was ticking on.  We saw two builders who shouted hello but we didn't stop which was a missed opportunity for a good yarn- racing against time is not the way we want the project to go...  We carried on towards Whitwell, missing our turn to Clowne. We saw a turn that was a possibility.  A passing man said it was a dead end but we discovered after it wasn't.  We passed through Whitwell, onto the A619 which was horrendous, lots of inconsiderate driving, so we came off again and headed back towards Clowne.  The rain came down and we sheltered for a short time under a car wash, to the bemusement of the workmen, but they didn't come and talk to us so we carried on in the rain.  We caused more bemusement as we passed an accident in Clowne, directed by 4 police who shouted hello and looked rather puzzled by our appearance.  Onwards to the horrible A619 which took us over the M1, Sally L was glad she wasn't in amongst all those lemmings.


At Maston Moor, we finally turned off the main road, and some boys outside a corner shop shouted 'Gie us a backie!' but we said 'Its hard enough already mate'.  So then we headed up through Renishaw onto another busy road where, intimidated by lorries, we missed our turn to pass the Hall, and ended up on the main road for longer.  Still, we took the next left turn which put us back on our little roads again, phew!


To be continued...

We went, we saw, we met, we came back...

We are both too tired to Blog really but just wanted to capture a little bit of what we feel, immediately.  We arrived back at 4pm and have been reminiscing the two days adventure that we have had.  Despite being battered by wind and rain we have met some interesting people that we would really like to talk about, however, we would like to do this later when we can do their stories justice.  We made some notes on our route maps, and of course we have people's labels to remind us of the gems they shared with us, especially Margaret who phoned us to give us more information about Lawson and to see if we were all right.  It was a real joy to pick up her answerphone message and a real lift after a hard day of cycling. 

From what we have learned over the last two days, the project will evolve and we will be adjusting our plans to allow for more time talking to people and less time on bleak, empty roads or those with nose to tail traffic and bad, inconsiderate drivers!

Lots to process and think about. 

Now we really are off...

We want to say a big thank you to Derbyshire County Council for helping us with a small grant to get on the road. Yes, we are finally SETTING OFF. 

After a week of planning routes, talking to the Ripley and Heanor News, Derby Telegraph, Ashbourne Telegraph and Peak FM and last minute constructions - and now we are ready to go. PHEW. We'll be glad to start pedalling. On Monday September 5 we are heading up into NE Derbyshire and round to Eyam to spend the night at the Youth Hostel. Then back round in a big loop towards our homes on Tuesday.


See if you can spot us in our bright red costumes - well that's so long as it doesn't rain too much in which case we may have to put on waterproofs. If you spot at the roadside some shelves with 30+ recycled cardboard boxes, then you have probably found the museum. You might even see a cluster of people and wonder what they are all looking at.

Trial Run to Matlock

Bright and early on Monday morning, the 15th of August, we set off on our first adventure to Matlock.  This was to see how we would get along, cycling together, up hills and down dales and making it home again in two whole pieces.


The route was quite steep but Sally's legs kept turning and she made it up the steepest of climbs without a problem.  As we passed through Brackenfield, we spotted a mobile library and thought that it would be worth researching its route.


Our first stop of the day was at the top of a hill outside Wessington, where we ground to a halt by a traffic jam!  A cheerful policeman informed us of a fatal accident up ahead, so we got off the bikes, had a snack and a chat, then once the all clear was given, he escorted us before all the traffic, up to Tansley Tops.  What a missed opportunity, if we had had the museum, we could have had lots of conversations with the car drivers as they waited.

We made it to Matlock in no time.  Sitting in the park, we drank coffee and ate our yummy sandwiches and reviewed our progress which turned into an impromptu board meeting!  We noticed a sign for Penny Farthing racing in September and decided we would like to come back for that.  A gentleman walked by and stopped to chat, enquiring about our journey and telling us tales about his friend's cycling exploits.  His dog was keen to carry on, so he tootled off and left us to continue our meeting.


After a search for chocolate- a very important factor, we climbed back aboard our bikes and headed back through Matlock Bath and up through the steep hill of Holloway.  Sally nearly made the climb but is still having a few teething problems with the gear changing.  All told, we achieved a ride of 42 miles which is not far off our target of 50 a day.


Whether this is continuous days over a week or day trips, we have yet to decide.

And we are off...

Well... to Beacon Art Project at least. It spurred us on to make the shelf, well 3 versions actually by the time we set off. Mountboard and foamboard both have very particular properties. I(Sally L) had a Eureka moment when I realised why I like previously used objects and materials; they have developed a history, a patina, a quality that is often subtle but outside my control. Brand new materials shout 'Be perfect!'. Once they become offcuts then I can breathe a sigh of relief and appreciate their secondary life unfolding. And that's not to say I can't produce to perfection when the need arises.

And of course the lean was part of its reality once installed in the Chapel.

We invited people in the audience to tell a story about their own object- a fantasy, an exaggeration, a lie. What gems did they discover in themselves? 

Then which box would they choose to house it in temporarily?

Then a very fruitful dialogue about our intentions, whether to document or just savour the ephemeral, 

and a chance to eat some artefacts:

 Stitchcombe pies, rammed full with filling. Pies with base and lids. Homemade. 

or Bishop's Cannings. Little snacks he kept in the top drawer of his desk- never shared with anyone. Guilty little secrets.

So what was the outcome? People took away their objects, thoughts and constructed stories. We kept their suggestions about how to proceed, some unexpected incidents and the labels to inspire the start of the Tour d'Art, Le Tour de la Locale.

Oh, and we all had FUN didn't we?

Treasure Hunt

Where are the most isolated places in Derbyshire?

This the question we began to ask ourselves.  What do we call isolated?  What do other people think is isolated?  How do we know where to take the museum?  What do we mean by isolated?  Is it culturally or physically or is it both?  How can we work this one out?

Sally L had heard about a conference that was all about art in rural places, specifically in Derbyshire.  The event was part of Re:place and lots of artists that work and live in Rural spaces would be there.  Perhaps we could ask them? They perhaps have a better understanding than us?...  

We decided it would be much more fun to create a piece of work that would invite interaction from the people at the conference.  That's just how we do things.  So, we devised a little game of Treasure Hunt. A map of Derbyshire made of cloth and full of sand, flags with labels to put into it and a collection of pens to write on the flags. But no prizes, which was a bit unusual for us.

We got ready, costumes as usual.  We decided on a tweedy looking affair with hats, jackets and shirts.  Sally L made a lovely tweed skirt to go with her jacket and really looked like a lady of the country.

We trollied up with our bag of sand, fabric map and flags.  Set up the whole thing on a table in the Gothic warehouse, Cromford Wharf.  As people arrived we asked them to take part in the activity.  It was more difficult to get these people to help than it was the general public- perhaps a prize would have been a good idea.  We didn't think they would need it...

In all we collected 23 flags with various places listed, some villages, and others just woods, rocks and various geological features rather than places we could visit.

So, what did we think about all of this?  Well, firstly that we should have been more specific in our questions about 'places'.  We were looking for isolated places were people might live or be, rather than a geological feature.  So we needed to define what we meant by 'place'.  The other very noticeable thing was that for a group of people who has come to talk about what it was to produce art in rural spaces, specifically Derbyshire, and a group that contained people from out of the area that had been paid to produce art works in Derbyshire, it was incredible how they all commented on the difficulty of the task!  Does anyone know about isolated places in Derbyshire.

We thought we might ask the people on the street for an answer- perhaps they would have a better idea of isolated places in the county.

Can you ride Tandem?

Well, Neil said, we could borrow his Tandem, but we thought we ought to have a practice.  We took it out tentatively.  Within 10 minutes we were co-ordinating, riding up and down and having conversations!  One man had advice on better places to cycle and another man, with tattoos, told us about the time he rode on a unicycle to raise money for charity.  He was intrigued by what we were up to... That's the sort of interaction we would like to have on the route. Do we need a Tandem to get this sort of reaction, We wondered?


We parked the bike back in Neil's shed and went off thoughtfully, thinking about how a Tandem would fit into the plan.  Neil's bike was far to big and we felt a bit unsure of how we might go up all the hills that Derbyshire contains on one bike.  Is a Tandem the way forward?  Could we put a trailer on it?  How practical could it be for this project?  Will we be interesting enough on separate bikes?


Sally went off to Derby the next day and happened to meet up with Dave Gladsby in Sound Bites and talked about all sorts of different bikes.  We could have tricycles, delivery bicycles, tandems, electrically assisted bikes...  We could have just about anything.  But we were concerned with the weight of these options and the practicality of towing our trailer.  In the end, we went and bought a second road bike.


We tootled off to Chesterfield one sunny afternoon, and met Dean 
at J E James cycles.  He found the bike we had been looking at online and Sally L had a sit on it.  It was a bit too small- she's got long legs for a small gal!  We arranged to go back the next day when a larger version was available to try.


The next day was an even sunnier day and the perfect day to be buying a bike.  Sally tried out the two sizes and the largest felt the most comfortable.  Dean agreed that in order to support 2SALLY4TH on our adventure that he could do us a pretty good deal.  We promised to promote cycling and the support of J E James and their brilliant services whilst on our tour.


We had some interesting conversations about locks and dark alleys with Robert before we left and Sally L learned how to take the wheels off the bike from Paul, since Sally N had scarpered, hastily to complete her bike ride with a pint in the pub with her old Dad.


Now the hard work begins- Sally L has lots of training to do and Sally N is hoping to support her in this effort.  Plus finding a trailer and making all the objects, a museum and marketing.  All in a days work in the world of 2SALLY4TH.