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 Sussex Blazing Saddles’ exploration of the pioneering heritage of women & cycling, we were thinking about how perceptions of cycling clothing today – lycra, helmet hair etc – discourage women & girls from riding bicycles. We invited local women & girls to join the conversation.
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SBS ran a series of free sewing workshops, in each of our partner locations, to Re-Imagine, Re-Frame & Re-Make women’s clothing for cycling, or any time. Participants also found out about the heritage of women cycling & how this related to our sewing workshops. They developed new ideas for revitalising & remaking old clothes, learned new sewing techniques or tried out sewing for the first time.
This element of SBS started with a series of creative conversations in Worthing & Bexhill. Local people & organisations came to learn about the project, help us develop ideas & frame how we might work together:
Worthing – Saturday 24 February 1.30-3pm at the Stitch It Don’t Ditch It session at CREW, Climate Resilience Centre, on South Street, &
Bexhill – Monday 26 February 1.30-3pm at Bexhill Museum
We evolved an initial plan to create a dressing up box of bloomers upcycled from men’s shirts, for the Sussex Blazing Saddles exhibition & ran sessions in:
WORTHING – 13 April, an all day or drop in workshop at CREW (Climate Resilience Centre Worthing) in South St 11am-4pm
BEXHILL – 10 June, two drop in sessions iwith Community Supporters at the Eco Hub on Western Road, on: 10 May & 1 June – 10.30am-12.30pm & 1pm-3pm
In Newhaven, we also ran an initial, though unsuccessful, session on a very wet & stormy night in Hillcrest Centre on 22 May 6pm-8pm. We were advised to present specific ideas & people would come.
So, we evolved our theme to remake modern day bloomers by upcycling old leggings. We re-imagined cycle clips (unchanged since the 1800s), & made bumbags from pre-loved materials & invited local & budding seamstresses to sessions:
BRIGHTON – 13 July, Sew Fabulous, The Open Market 12.45pm-2.45pm & 3pm-5pm
NEWHAVEN – 31 August, Hillcrest Community Centre, Newhaven 12noon-6pm
NEWHAVEN – 25 September, Youth Club at Newhaven Youth Centre, 6-7.30pm
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Click on the images below to see what happened:
WorthingBexhillNewhavenBrightonSBS dressing up boxCostume Archive Training
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Huge thanks for all the wonderful seamstresses who led workshop sessions & everyone who participated, & special thanks to Re-Imagining Re-Making Project Manager, Kate Laird.
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.
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.
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
Sussex Blazing Saddles is a project by KP Projects CIC, exploring the pioneering heritage of women & cycling since the 19th century. The role of the bicycle on the transformation of women’s clothing, society & the suffrage movement across Sussex.
Between 2023 & 2024, we delved into local stories & archives, with volunteers, to create a touring exhibition, ran Taster Bicycle Ballet workshops & sewing workshops where we Re-Imagined & Re-Made cycling clothes for today, & presented free, outdoor performances of Blazing Saddles in Worthing, Brighton & Hove, Newhaven & Bexhill.
WATCH the film above & FOLLOW the images below to explore the online SBS exhibition & find out more about the project, or check out our Linktree
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SBS NewslettersSBS Digital ExhibitionSBS TalksPerformancesRe-Imagining & Re-MakingSBS Pop up ExhibitionArchive VisitsTaster WorkshopsFunders & Supporters
Loads of FREE activities & workshops, exhibitions & events, & performances across Sussex this year.
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Amazing news!! Sussex Blazing Saddles has received funding from Brighton & Hove City Council’s Shared Prosperity Fund & is also delighted to receive Newhaven Arts Growth Funding to expand our work in both Brighton & Newhaven around the revolutionary heritage of women cycling.
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SBS DATES for Your 2024 Diaries – loads of FREE activities & events happening in our partner locations over the next few months, details HERE
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SBS Newsletters
Our latest Newsletter is out now: updates, events & favourite discoveries from the archives. Read on – https://bit.ly/SBSnewsletterJune24
If you’d like to receive the newsletter, please sign up HERE
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SBS Events for Heritage Open Days Festival Sept 2023 – for info on these, check out our winter 2023 newsletter above
9 Sep – Blazing Saddlesperformances in Pavilion Promenade, Worthing as part of Spin Out Festival, presented by Worthing Theatres & Museum & Sussex Blazing Saddles. Shows at 11.30 & 1.30
10 Sep – Blazing Saddlesperformances Heritage Bandstand, Bexhill, as part of Sussex Blazing Saddles, in partnership with Bexhill Wheelers at 1pm & 3pm
16 Sep – Blazing Saddles & The Bicycle Ballet Co Taster Workshop, The Sidings Newhaven, as part of Sussex Blazing Saddles, in partnership with SCDA & the Active Travel Hub 10.30am – 12.30pm Limited tickets, more info & booking
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Have a listen to SBS Creative Director, Karen Poley, talking about SBS on Radio Reverb 22.8.23. Starts about 13.25 HERE
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First Archive Discoveries June 2023
SBS volunteer Irena, has uncovered The First Brighton Ladies Cycling Club set up by Tessie Reynolds in 1894. Find out more HERE
Skirts vs Knickerbockers A surprise for one of our new volunteers when she discovered her grandmother’s role in the cycling rational dress movement.… more HERE
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SBS’s Volunteer Call Out is out! We’re looking for history detectives to help us uncover evidence of the impact of bicycles on women in Sussex from 1890s to 1928. This was an important time of revolution for women, when bicycles spurred the suffrage movement, transformed women’s clothing & cause media sensations. More info HERE
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We’re delighted to share Sussex Blazing Saddles’ project logo, featuring Brighton’s own Tessie Reynolds who cycled a record, & taboo, breaking Brighton-London-Brighton ride in 1893.
A new project by Brighton-based KP Projects CIC explores the pioneering heritage of women and cycling since the 19th century, the role in the suffragette movement and the transformation of clothing and society across Sussex as a result.
Blazing Saddles will aim to reveal untold stories of Sussex’s women’s cycling history, such as Tessie Reynolds, the 16-year-old Brightonian who set new records in 1893 whilst wearing bloomers. Or Bexhill’s pioneering ‘bicycle boulevard’ and bike hire chalet, which opened in 1896, led by Muriel Brassey, wife of landowner Gilbert Sackville, 8th Earl De La Warr, which provided women cyclists a place to exercise their new hobby, despite disapproval.
With support from National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery Players, the project will run from 2022 to 2024, with activities based around four main locations— Bexhill, Newhaven, Worthing and Brighton & Hove.
The project will explore cycling history from 1890s, capturing the later voting rights for women over 21, to present day, addressing issues such as environmental sustainability and the shortage of women cycling— 50% fewer women than men cycle regularly, according to charity Sustrans, stating fears about appearance and concerns about safety.
Blazing Saddles will engage local people in this exciting heritage through participatory public events, open access workshops, bike rides and heritage cycling routes and maps, volunteer archival research sessions and training, online exhibitions and digital resources and more.
KP Projects CIC is a creative company developing national and international outdoor arts projects including cycling, sustainability, healthy living, environmental issues.
Local partners include The Keep, 1066 Cycling Festival, Cycling without Age, the BMWs (Brighton Multicultural Women’s Cycle Club) Bexhill Museum, Sussex Development & Community Association, Worthing Theatres and Museum, South East Dance, Rother Boroughs Council and Newhaven Festival.
The project will provide activities to support women getting into the saddle, from signposting learning to ride & bike repair workshops, to group bike rides stopping at sites including meeting points for suffragette rallies and places of historic relevance, giving cyclists chance to discover more about key figures past and present, and their mark on Sussex.
Costume, sewing and making workshops will also help to bring the past to life for all ages including:
Banners
Suffragette cycling sashes
Bloomers
The Blazing Saddles project will run from 2022-2024. More information soon.
Before the pandemic, we ran a pilot project, touring to community, visitor & arts venues, an aquarium, museum & an outdoor event. We also experimented with working in schools, engaging primary & secondary year students. An incredible 2,455 people dived underwater with us & the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many inspired to change their behaviour to help conserve the marine environment.
Have a look at this short film to get a flavour:
An incredible 2,455 people dived underwater with us & the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many inspired to change their behaviour to help conserve the marine environment.
499 drawings by younger users & school students were made into this amazing online mosaic. Click HERE to explore
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Bite Sized Talks at Brighton Museum offering a deeper insight into the MCZ & the chalk cliffs.
Our Amazing Marine Chalk Reef – Sarah Ward, Living Seas Officer for Sussex Wildlife Trust talks about the MCZ’s unique chalk reef, watch the talk here…
Ships, Shafts & UBoats – Lara Band, Discovery Programme Officer from CITiZAN tells some of the fascinating stories behind intertidal, archaeological remains in the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone, watch here…
