Each participant from the Clarion house gathering on 19 September 2021 received a numbered and initialled copy of the publication.
A small number of the publication run are still available from Mid Pennine Arts, along with the specially produced musette. Please support their work if you are interested.
144pp plus cover, softback, with limited edition poster, packaged in a musette produced for the occasion.
ISBN. 978-0-9932606-1-2
London Clarion now also host a digital copy of the publication as part of their Clarion archive @ https://issuu.com/londonclarion/docs/i_am_clarion
Foreword to the publication #I_Am_Clarion
As an artist I’m a collector of stuff. I’m to be found buying things on eBay that will at some point in the future inform or appear in a project at an appropriate moment. These invariably include old maps, photographs and in particular ‘lost negatives’. Amongst my collection, there are numerous cycling related items. When Mid Pennine Arts approached me to discuss working on something to celebrate Clarion Sunday 2020, I immediately began to think of my old cycling maps and the journeys that have been made to Clarion House over the many decades.
At this point my engagement was loosely titled ‘Fellowship of the Wheel’ after William Morris’ reference. I began immersing myself in the Clarion culture and then suddenly we were engulfed by a pandemic. I’d just bought a gravel bike before lockdown and took the opportunity of my one hour daily exercise routine to explore the tracks and paths around the Mersey Valley on my doorstep, as a way of escaping the confines of the city.
As Clarion Sunday drew nearer it became clear that the event would have to be cancelled. I wondered about the route I might have taken on my new bike if I’d been riding there, and made a little video exploring the journey from my home to Jinny Lane. Partly inspired by the fly-throughs of Tour de France stage previews, it was a reminder of the varied landscapes we inhabit on our bikes, and a gentle nod to the celebration that couldn’t happen. A ride from a city, through its industrial heartland, out to the wide open countryside. Very much a journey referencing the liberation and mobility the bicycle gave the working classes in the formation of those first Clarion clubs. I launched the video online the morning of the 14th June 2020, the day we should all have been gathering at Clarion House. [link]
Somehow a year was lost to limited riding and Clarion Sunday 2021 was again delayed. Almost a year to the day of my video, mainstream press began running stories that the National Clarion Club had voted to remove references to socialism from its constitution, ‘after a majority of members decided it was “divisive and non-inclusive” and could alienate new members.’
As someone who believes strongly we are informed by our geographies, whether these are physical or metaphorical, it seemed particularly sad that those formative links were being written away, it’s what makes Clarion Cycling so unique – its USP in modern terms.
The commission suddenly took on a different energy. On two previous projects, I’ve adopted a character’s persona in making a piece of work (a journeyman footballer in one, and an engineer/photographer in another), and I began to do the same with this piece of work. I made a simple declaration #I_Am_Clarion and began sharing it on social media. I combined old glass negatives of cyclists with the statement and also made self portraits, using a 100 year old camera. I created a limited edition printed musette with the message as a visible yet abstract statement of identity. It was about sharing a pride in the heritage. I became a fully paid up Clarion cyclist, kit and all.
Others began using it in their social media, a club produced a bike frame sticker using the declaration. I realised, despite not riding with Clarion groups on club runs, I felt part of something, I had a shared identity and commonality.
Making this book is a small reflection of what being part of Clarion means. It appears the original foundations of the Clarion message may sadly not be universally acceptable, with some cyclists seeing the word ‘socialist’ as having negative connotations. But the basic belief and principle that society needs to be fairer and more just is increasingly prescient, and for that alone, its socialist roots and spirit should not be forgotten, indeed it should be widely celebrated.
It was a privilege to finally make this piece of work through the Pendle Radicals project funding, to collaborate with Charles Jepson, who has been so supportive in preparation, and to meet all the participants. I thank you for your time and written contributions, you have all made this what it is: a collective piece of work.
I look forward to riding out to next year’s Clarion Sunday and just being part of it, come rain or shine.
Alan J Ward
