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.

Inspirational Ladies

Now, we are going to ask other people what isolated is. A treasure map at re:place symposium - curating the rural will show us other people's notions of isolated.

The lady in red.  On searching for an appropriate outfit to wear for the symposium, we discovered a Victorian lady in racing apparel.  How cool is she? We talked a lot about what type of cycling gear to wear and how to cut a dash on the roads with our museum, and current cycling gear just won't cut the mustard, darling.  But the lady in red, well... she is the bees' knees.  That's the look we have been searching for...  watch out for us lads.

Le tour de la locale

8:45 Sunday morning and we are off on a tour of south Derbyshire because this is the bit we know least about.Down the motorway, past Long Eaton, we struggled to get away from busy roads and built up areas.  We were a bit unsure of what we were looking for; physically isolated, hamlets without churches, but then we tought places can be culturally isolated too.  Melbourne, Ticknal and Swadlincote all have arts and crafts but not necessarily contemporary art.  Church Greasley didn't stand out as a place rich in culture despite not being physically isolated.  Maybe both catergories are important.

Heading west we passed through Linton with its junior chess club, Rosliston which we didn't really see much of, Coton in the Elms which had no-one in sight and perhaps liked to feel isolated, then onto Edingale.  Edingale was a best kept village and had a sign post for Joe's cave.  We asked a local washing his car what that was all about and he just told us that a man called Joe had lived there 20 years ago but there was no cave, just a bungalow.  His wife knew the story better because she had lived there all her life.

This story strikes as a piece of cultural history that could easily get lost and the sort of thing that we might be looking to find, capture or hold onto in our museum.  The man washing his car said it was a very isolated place in winter, but during the summer lots of cyclists pass through.  We originally thought about gatherings of people but maybe just encountering individuals with our museum is just as important.

On to Croxall, Kings Bromley with its rare exotic plants.  Is this Derbyshire or Staffordshire? We got confused with the borders and we need to get a better map if we are to know where we are and avoid major roads. Morray, Yoxall, Hadley End, with no village signs how do we know which it is?  Does it matter which it is, no church, therefore must be hamlets with no signs.

Hoar cross and its hall very pretty, and its nursery, then we came to a pub with walkers and cyclists it but not sure where it was.  We turned left and came to Newborough End, a Hamlet with farms but again no people.  Then into inspiring Newborugh, with its school and amazing hexagonal church steeple, and well dressings too, another pub the Red Lion and lots of cars and people. 

Onto Marchington with its Hall, old Alms houses, St.peter's school and lots of interesting old buildings.  Through Uttoxeter, over the A50 and up towards Rocester, are we in Derbyshire? What an amazing mill building transformed into a JCB Academy school- that would be interesting to go to, but blow its not in Derbyshire.  We go through the Derbyshire sign that confirms where we are, onto Marston montgomery with its art festival.  Cubley with the chapel and Alkmonton with its church.  At Longford there is a WI club, a lovely CofE Primary School and we think a thriving Live and Local venue- If they can films and theatre does that count as contemporary art?  This was a physically isolated place with lots of culture going on.  We saw a cycle 68 sign, a bit too prescriptive for our adventure.

So, how far can we go by bike in a day?  We could cycle 20 miles out and 20 back, stopping at various places on the way.  We could go by train to the south and and then ride back.  How would we get two bikes and trailer and artefacts on the train?  Is that pheasable?  Could anyone else support us?  Could we stay over? In B&B, or perhaps with people we know? Camping would mean more stuff to carry. Would we do it over a week and move around the boarders of the county?  What would it be like to ride on tandem?  that would look more spectacular, newsworthy and make us work in partnership- true collaboration!

What about the trailer?  Nina is going to lend us a trailor that she has used for art projects.  Sally L is going to collect it in a couple of weeks.  It's just a base, without a seat, a chassis on which we can build the museum.  Paul suggested aluminium as being lightweight rather than bamboo, but that is not within our skills and we like the idea of using every materials that people will recognise.  Aluminium is manufactured whereas it will be obvious that we will have made it when the materials are simple.  It is still important to make it a beautiful and well crafted object.

How soon can we be on the road?  Well, what do we need to do?  As well as the trailor and bike we need to talk to the man about objects cast in paper mache.  We need labels, hinges (could be made from belts and buckles).  What would we wear?  As well as helmets we could have printed t-shirts to explain our project as we go along? Our artefacts and their stories.  Sally recently encoutered Auto-ethnography, what does this mean?  Could we talk to Kate Pahl?

What is the impact of this project?
To leave behind a memory of the experience.
For people to think about their own stories.
For people to have better understanding of contemporary art practice.
For us all to have enjoyed the experience.
To highlight the value of slow movement- having time to appreciate and savour what we encounter.

That sounds good!

Making Plans

What is RURAL?

Rural is defined as settlements with fewer than 10,000 people.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/communities

We think it's a small place, a village, with a community space, village hall, chapel, school, post office, mobile shops.  It might be the distance from cultural opportunities, in the middle of nowhere, not passing through, off major roads, where others don’t go, few buses, occasional shops, a pub, mobile library service.

Who Can we ask?

Tourist offices

Council archives

Local Arts Officers

Planning officers

Rural artists

Accessibilty partnerships

Local Studies Library- Derby

Matlock Archive

Library Services-What is the route of the mobile library service?

Churches

Local interest groups- Women's Institute, BRAG

Who might sponsor us?

Letters to Bike Shops- Edinburgh, Wiggle, JE James, outdoor shops

Bike Manufacturers- Derby Mercian

Cycling weekly- letter and blog

Vegan cycling

SUStrans- Bike Belles

British Cycling

Olympic committee

Fitness Magazines

Environmental support/charities

Arts Officers

What shall we do next?

Find a bike...