KP Projects CIC is running activities across Sussex this September to honour the pioneering heritage of women and cycling since the 19th century.
From September 9 – 16, audiences of all ages can experience performances, workshops and a special Pop-Up Exhibition celebrating the 130th anniversary of Tessie Reynolds‘ record-breaking Brighton-London-Brighton ride.
Sussex Blazing Saddles is a new project that explores women and cycling across four locations – Bexhill, Newhaven, Worthing and Brighton & Hove – from 2022 to 2024, looking at the role of the bicycle in the transformation of clothing, society and the campaign for women’s vote across Sussex.
Discover the shouts of support, public protests and media sensation around this remarkable 16-year old’s achievement, which spurred the transformation of women’s clothing, the suffrage movement and the transformation of society.
The Sussex activities include free outdoor performances of Blazing Saddles, in Worthing on September 9 and in Bexhill on September 10. The Bicycle Ballet Company‘s outdoor performance celebrates the impact of the bicycle on women and fashion. It is a visual narrative, using movement, character and humour, clowning, costume and cake to tell the story of a group of women caught up in the excitement and possibility of travel, freedom and independence.
There’s also a taster Bicycle Ballet workshop in Newhaven on September 16.
KP Projects will be running further taster workshops in 2024, when they will be working towards creating participatory versions of the Blazing Saddles shows, in Newhaven and Brighton & Hove – they are recruiting participants and also volunteers.
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 a Brighton-London-Brighton record on 10 September 1893 whilst wearing bloomers she designed and made herself. 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.
For more information, CLICK HERE
You must be logged in to post a comment.