We’re delighted to be able to offer two, FREE taster sessions in Newhaven for you to come & try out dancing with your bicycle, with huge thanks for the Newhaven Arts Growth, BN9 fund.
Dates to be announced soon. Please check back in a couple of weeks & follow up on Facebook or Instagram
All ages are welcome, we just ask that you have a level of cycling proficiency, recommended Bikeability Level 2.
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Newhaven on 7 & 8 Sept & Brighton 21 & 22 Sept
Come & dance with your bicycle & take part in a Sussex Blazing Saddles performance. The show is based on the moment women in the 1890s, transformed their clothing & society to be able to ride bicycles.
We will create the shows with local women & girls (you & your bike) over a weekend, starting with workshop/rehearsals & a ride around the performance sites on the first day; further rehearsal & performance on the second day.
You will learn the show’s choreographic structures & moves, as well as create your own moves & short sequences & work together safely as part of the cast. You will develop your cycling skills & confidence, improve control of your bicycle on the roads & as part of a group, & have the best fun doing so. Some of our workshop materials have been incorporated in the Bikeability programmes.
Come & join in, email to sign up – infoatsussexblazingsaddles.co.uk (please add in @, we get spammed if we’re not careful)
Previous Participants said…
& you can watch a short film of previous participants HERE
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You can take part in either the Newhaven or Brighton shows, or both if you have the time/energy. Rehearsals & performance will take a whole weekend.
Here’s a very rough, draft schedule for both weekends:
Saturdays 7 Sept in Newhaven or 21 Sept in Brighton
9.30am-10am – Arrival
10am-1pm – Introductions, workshop to learn core skills & basic choreographic moves & introduction to the show choreography
1-2pm – Lunch break
2-5pm – Ride to performance sites & around routes, rehearsing scenes
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Sundays 8 Sept in Newhaven or 21 Sept in Brighton
9.30am-10am – Arrival
10am-12.30pm – Rehearsal running through choreography
12-1.30pm – Lunch break
1.30-2.30pm – Costume call & prep
2.30-4.30pm – Ride to performance sites & around routes, rehearsing scenes
Sign up to get more information soon or check back here shortly… infoatsussexblazingsaddles.co.uk
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In the meantime… watch this short film of the show
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Loads of FREE activities & events throughout the year. The calendar below lists confirmed events only & we’re working on dates for a programme of FREE workshops to upcycle cycling outfits, dance with your bike & SBS heritage inspired rides. Follow us on Facebook & Instagram for updates
April
13 April, 11am-4pm, A FREE, all day or drop in sewing & remaking workshop at CREW 8-9 South Street, BN11 3AL. Remake your own cycling outfit from preloved clothes or help make bloomers for a dressing up box for the SBS exhibition. More HERE
May
22 May, 6pm-8pm, Hillcrest Centre Newhaven. Come along & help us shape the Re-Imagining, Re-Making programme in Newhaven over the next few months.
29 May, time tbc. SBS Director Karen Poley’s Pecha Kucha for Brighton & Hove Museum. More info soon
June
1-16 June, SBS Exhibition Bexhill Museum
16 June, Pleasant Sunday Afternoon, Bexhill – heritage rides, activites tbc
18-30 June, SBS Exhibition Worthing Museum
22 June, 10.30am – 12.30pm Brighton Blazing Saddles Taster Workshop, Preston Park
23 June, 10.30-12.30 Newhaven Blazing Saddles Taster Workshop, venue tbc
July
6 July, Blazing Saddles Taster Workshop with Our City Dances
August
31 August, Newhaven Blazing Saddles Taster Workshop, venue tbc
September
1-15 September, SBS Exhibition, Newhaven Library, as part of Newhaven Festival
7 September, Newhaven Blazing Saddles performance workshop & rehearsals 10am-4.30pm
8 September, Newhaven Blazing Saddles, rehearsal 10am-1pm, & performance 2-4.30pm
16-30 September, Brighton SBS Exhibition, Jubilee Library
21 September, Brighton Blazing Saddles performance workshop & rehearsals 10am-4.30pm
22 September, Brighton Blazing Saddles, rehearsal 10am-1pm, & performance 2pm-4.30pm
More soon…..
In the late 1890s, women embraced cycling & transformed their clothing to be able to ride safely in shorter skirts or bloomers, & breathe more easily without corsets. This was a revolutionary transformation sparking a significant backlash, that also helped fuel the suffrage movement.
As part of our exploration of the pioneering heritage of women & cycling, we’re thinking about how perceptions of cycling clothing today – lycra, helmet hair etc – discourage women & girls from riding bicycles.
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SBS is running a series of free talks & sewing workshops to Re-Imagine, Re-Frame & Re-Make women’s clothing for cycling or any time.
Come & transform preloved clothes – repairs or making them fit; transforming them completely adding splashes of colour or different fabrics; merging two or more completely different items in chaotic experiment. We’re also creating a dressing up box of bloomers upcycled from men’s shirts, to tour alongside the Sussex Blazing Saddles exhibition.
Get involved in the next planning sessions in Newhaven & Brighton to help us develop what we will do in each location. Coming up:
Wednesday 22 May, Hillcrest Community Centre, Newhaven 6pm-8pm
Brighton date tbc
Have a look at the images below to find out more
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This element of the Sussex Blazing Saddles project started in February 2024 with two conversations in Worthing & Bexhill. Local people came to hear about the project, help us develop ideas & frame how we might work together.
The initial sessions took place in:
Worthing – Saturday 24 February 1.30-3pm at the Stitch It Don’t Ditch It session at CREW, Climate Resilience Centre, Worthing, 8-9 South Stree, Worthing, BN11 3AL, &
Bexhill – Monday 26 February 1.30-3pm at Bexhill Museum, 47 Egerton Road, Bexhill, TN39 3HL
Following this, we ran:
A FREE, all day or drop in workshop at CREW (Climate Resilience Centre Worthing) 8-9 South St, BN11 3AL on Saturday 13 April, 11am-4pm
Next up:
Two sessions in Bexhill with Community Supporters on 1st June & 10th June & one more tbc. More info soon
Please contact infoatsussexblazingsaddles.co.uk for more information
There are two versions of TLC Undersea Experience for different types of events:
The HTC Vive version is a high-quality, vr installation, enabling users to move around an area approximately 3.5-4m2 to explore a virtual, chalk reef gully, similar to those in the MCZ. Users can follow their curiosity to explore, pick up rocks to see creatures underneath & see marine life all around. Scroll down for Technical Specs
The 360-film version, is suitable for schools & busy community events or festivals where there are large numbers of people. We currently have 8 headsets, each with the capacity for 8-10 users per hour, so 70-80 users per hour, depending on size of space available.
Scroll down for Technical Specs
more information coming soon….
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A surprise for one of our new volunteers when she discovered her grandmother’s role in the cycling rational dress movement.
“I have no sympathy, whatever with the skirt, in any shape or form, and if a woman is not prepared to ride in knickers(knickerbockers), I think she should not ride until she is.”
Home Chat magazine, June 27, 1896.
This fantastic quote is from London based 1890s cycling champion Monica Harwood. It was found by her Worthing based, grand-daughter also named Monica, who has become one of our first volunteers, and who has been digging into her family history. It appears before Monica Harwood married, she became a cycling champion, then joined Bert Howard’s troupe of lady cyclists and was Captain of the Chelsea Rational Cycling Club. She never mentioned her cycling career to her family.
Photo: Monica’s grandmother
It has been well documented in various blogs and books that Brighton 16 year old, Tessie Reynolds, made a record breaking cycle ride of 8 hours and 30 minutes from Brighton to London and back again in 1893. It caused a media sensation as she wore bloomers and rode a drop handlebar bicycle with a cross bar, paving the way for wider societal change. A new discovery in local newspapers by Sussex Blazing Saddles volunteer Irena, reveals more about the young Tessie’s organizational skills.
In May 1894 Tessie created Brighton’s first Ladies’ Cycling Club with 20 other women as reported in the Brighton Gazette newspaper. The following month The Worthing Gazette observed that this new club, with its proper title of Brighton and District Ladies’ Cycling Club, was growing ambitious: “Recently they had a ride to Worthing, and found the journey far too short!” Worthing Gazette 27 June 1894
