‘‘One needs to be very brave to stand all that’’: Cycling, rational dress and the struggle for citizenship in late nineteenth century Britain

The article discusses changing ideas around citizenship through an analysis of first person accounts of women cyclists in Rational Dress in late nineteenth century Britain. A close reading of personal correspondence provides a sense of how it felt to cycle while dressed in new mobility costumes, such as bloomers, in urban and suburban English landscapes. Such attired and independently mobile women affirmed or unsettled onlooker’s understandings of how middle and upper class women should look and act in public. Some viewers subjected them to verbal and often physical assault. Others, in awe of their socio-technical sophistication were more supportive. Taking a ’bloomer point of view’ provides a unique socio-material way of gaining a deeper understanding of what enabled and also inhibited women’s claims to citizenship and freedom of movement, especially at a time when women were not citizens in a legal sense. I argue that through these richly described accounts we gain insightful glimpses into how individual sensory, embodied and political experiences collectively illuminate the becoming of ’citizen’ as it relates to mobility, gender and landscape

Studying Mobilities

This entry critically examines the study of mobilities in social science research. Mobilities encompasses the interdependencies and meanings arising from and attached to the movement of people, objects, images, ideas and information. Contemporary societies—or at least some elements of them—are increasingly on the move and mobile methods are being used in a range of interdisciplinary studies to explore macro and micro entities of mobility and immobility. In this context, the study of mobilities has expanded to include mobilities as both subject and method. This entry discusses a range of leading concepts, practices and projects in the social sciences. It highlights the potential of mobilising methods to make present different aspects of the world through an attentiveness to sensory, material, socio-cultural, historic and textual forms. Mobilising methods encourages researchers to reveal methodological journeys rather than just the results of those journeys. Overall, this entry examines the idea that mobile and immobile entities and methods are not just neutral connectors but live, dynamic actors in making and communicating knowledge

Matter in or out of place? Bicycle parking strategies and their effects on people, practices and places

This study explores what bicycle parking strategies tell us about the place of mobility objects in contemporary urban streetscapes. It examines the bicycle's liminality by combining approaches from practice theory with Mary Douglas' concept of ‘matter out of place’. Much research on cycling has concentrated on the bicycle in movement, yet in our research, based in four relatively high-cycling English urban areas, a common theme was concern about the bicycle when not in use. Bicycles at rest were perceived as threatened or threatening, risky or at-risk; affected by theft, vandalism, the weather, official and familial disapproval. In the study, we link this to the tenuous place of urban cycling in England; while bicycle ownership is widespread, everyday cycling remains marginalised and this shapes the place of the bicycle resting on city streets, in homes and in workplaces. Bicycles waiting for their owners are often ‘matter out of place’. This is seen within the context of broader motorised landscapes which have made driving easier through locating driving competences in the car itself, while comparable cycling competences remain on the outside—with the cyclist

Plynlimon research catchment hydrochemistry (2011-2016)

This dataset includes rainfall, cloud and stream hydrochemistry of the Plynlimon research catchments in Mid Wales. The data cover the period from June 2011 to March 2016. Sampling was weekly from June 2011 to December 2011 and then fortnightly from January 2012. Data for the whole period are presented for major anions and cations, pH, conductivity, alkalinity and in-situ measurements such as water temperature and stream flow. From June 2011 to March 2013 data are also presented for a range of metals. Data are presented for the whole period for six stream locations and one rainfall site. Data are also for presented for two streams, Nant Iago and Tanllwyth and one cloud site for the period from June 2011 to July 2012. Stream samples were taken using a grab technique. Rain samples were collected using bulk precipitation collectors. Cloud samples were collected using a Centre of Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Edinburgh pattern lidded harp type passive collector. This data presented follow on from the hydrochemical data presented in the dataset Plynlimon research catchment hydrochemistry (44095e17-43b0-45d4-a781-aab4f72da025) Fieldwork was carried out by CEH members of staff trained in the fieldwork techniques required. Chemical analysis was carried out by qualified CEH chemists at laboratories at CEH Lancaster and CEH Bangor The Plynlimon research catchments lie within the headwaters of the River Severn and the River Wye in the uplands of mid-Wales. Intensive and long-term monitoring within the catchments underpins a wealth of hydrological and hydro-chemical research. Monitoring is funded by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, and is ongoing since 1968