Get on your bike! Sussex Blazing Saddles brings two weeks of practical and delightful cycling-themed activities to Bexhill this June.
We are celebrating the transformative impact the bicycle had on women and society from the 1890s to 1928, when women won the right to vote. The programme includes a variety of events and activities including upcycling sewing workshops to remake cycling fashion, talks, cycle repair sessions, an exhibition at Bexhill Museum, and free outdoor tours.
Sussex Blazing Saddles (SBS) explores the pioneering heritage of cycling in the transformation of clothing and society across Sussex, and its part in the suffrage movement. Created by KP Projects, the SBS programme is touring to Worthing, Brighton & Hove, Newhaven, and Bexhill. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the events are free. Come and join in!
Bike Safety check for women & girls: Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd June 12- 3pm. Experts from popular local cycling group Bexhill Wheelers will give your bikes a free safety check. Women and girls are especially encouraged to come along. Meet at the bay area behind Bexhill Museum in Egerton Park.
Re-Imagining Re-Making Workshops I: Transform preloved clothes—repair or refit; add splashes of colour or different fabrics or help create a dressing-up box of upcycled bloomers and sashes for our exhibition with Community Supporters. Saturday 1st June – 10.30-12.30 & 13.00-15.00 at the Eco Hub, Unit 2/3 The Mall, Western Road, Bexhill, TN40 1DX.
World Bicycle Day: The United Nations General Assembly declared June 3rd as World Bicycle Day in 2018. Its founding resolution recognises “the uniqueness, longevity and versatility of the bicycle, which has been in use for two centuries, and that it is a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transport”. Quite right.
Bike Week 2024: Held throughout the United Kingdom, Bike Week recognises and celebrates the many benefits of cycling. and this year is running from Monday 10th to Saturday 16th June. Organisers Cycling UK have described Bike Week as “an annual opportunity to promote cycling and show how cycling can easily become a part of everyday life”.
Re-Imagining Re-Making Workshops II: A second chance to join Community Supporters at the Eco Hub, upcycling preloved clothes for your own use, or to add to a dressing-up box of upcycled bloomers and sashes for our exhibition. Saturday 10th June – 10.30-12.30 & 13.00-15.00 at the Eco Hub, Unit 2/3 The Mall, Western Road, Bexhill, TN40 1DX.
Talk – Bexhill, Bicycles & Brasseys: Rother District Curator Julian Porter explores the local history of Bexhill and cycling – the groundbreaking Bexhill cycle track, the Bexhill Pleasant Sunday Afternoon cycle club, and Lady Brassey’s passion for two wheels. 2.30 pm Friday 14th June at Bexhill Museum, Egerton Road, Bexhill, TN39 3HL. Admission is free to the lecture only.
Exhibition – Sussex Blazing Saddles: Exploring themes from clothing to rides, races and events, female cycling superstars, clubs and cycling suffragettes. Plus, a look at the works of modern cycling clubs promoting safe training and bike maintenance sessions for women. Saturday 15th to Sunday 16th June at Bexhill Museum. Admission is free to the exhibition only.
Talk – The Blazing Saddles Project: KP Productions artistic director Karen Poley introduces the project and its activities across Sussex in 2024. Its myriad activities combine health, wellbeing, history, culture, women’s rights – and bicycles. 2.00 pm Friday 14th June at Bexhill Museum, Egerton Road, Bexhill, TN39 3HL. Admission is free to the lecture only.
Pleasant Sunday Afternoon on Sussex Day: Inspired by Bexhill’s Pleasant Sunday Afternoon cycling club of the early 1900s, come and join us for a pleasant afternoon on Sunday 16th June. Meet at Bexhill Museum at 1.45pm, look around the Exhibition and hear an introductory talk by Karen Poley (see above). Then cycle off on a Bexhill Women & Cycling Heritage Ride led by Ian Hollidge of Bexhill Wheelers. The route will last about an hour, taking in the site of the seafront cycle chalet built by Muriel Brassey and the old cycle track itself. Enjoy a musical finish with The Other Band at the Coronation Bandstand, and then if you wish, bring your own snacks and cycle back to Egerton Park for a friendly picnic with your fellow riders at 7.30pm.
A full list of all the Sussex Blazing Saddles (SBS) events taking place across Sussex in 2024 can be found here.