NEW CYCLIST
The All-cycling, All-moving
The bells of some
2000 bicycles
ringing
simultaneously is
not an unpleasant
sound: it's different.
Everything had been different
for me since coming to the
Netherlands. I was being re-
educated in using a bike. The
last time I used one was in
1953 after my Army National
Service, when I bought a 531
Special with a slim frame and
high gearing.
2000 bicycles
ringing
simultaneously is
not an unpleasant
sound: it's different.
Everything had been different
for me since coming to the
Netherlands. I was being re-
educated in using a bike. The
last time I used one was in
1953 after my Army National
Service, when I bought a 531
Special with a slim frame and
high gearing.
It comes as a shock thirty
years later, to realise that I had
lost so much in rushing
around in a car. I found the
bells wonderful. It was the
start of the seventh day of the
Oerol Festival. Oerol, an old
Fresland word, can either
mean 'the liberation of spirit',
or 'a wonderful chaos'. For
the eighth year running, Joop
Mulder, a one-time dancer
from Amsterdam, and now the
owner of a small pub on the
island of Terschellmg, had
organized an international
festival of street, beach, dune
and woodlands.
years later, to realise that I had
lost so much in rushing
around in a car. I found the
bells wonderful. It was the
start of the seventh day of the
Oerol Festival. Oerol, an old
Fresland word, can either
mean 'the liberation of spirit',
or 'a wonderful chaos'. For
the eighth year running, Joop
Mulder, a one-time dancer
from Amsterdam, and now the
owner of a small pub on the
island of Terschellmg, had
organized an international
festival of street, beach, dune
and woodlands.
A theatrical
bicycle ride with a difference...
BILL HOLDSWORTH
reports on an
unusual Dutch island event, the OEROL FESTIVAL held each June
This year some 180 street
performers, actors, sculptors,
musicians and dancers, had
come to this island, one of the
string of Frisian Islands that
protect the north west coast of
the Netherlands.
performers, actors, sculptors,
musicians and dancers, had
come to this island, one of the
string of Frisian Islands that
protect the north west coast of
the Netherlands.
Terschelling is an island
that keeps cars to an absolute
minimum. Since the 1300s the
people, whose Fres dialect is
understood in part from
Norway to Norfolk, have
transformed a sand bar into a
peaceful haven, a land of
human scale. To the north
west some 20 miles of corn-
coloured sands are protected
with man-made dunes. Then
there is woodland with a
delightful mix of conifers and
deciduous trees, small farms
protected by a dyke wall on
the eastern side, and clusters
of 17th-century houses with
the ranks of Whaling Captain
and Mate indicated by
different bands of red
brickwork.
that keeps cars to an absolute
minimum. Since the 1300s the
people, whose Fres dialect is
understood in part from
Norway to Norfolk, have
transformed a sand bar into a
peaceful haven, a land of
human scale. To the north
west some 20 miles of corn-
coloured sands are protected
with man-made dunes. Then
there is woodland with a
delightful mix of conifers and
deciduous trees, small farms
protected by a dyke wall on
the eastern side, and clusters
of 17th-century houses with
the ranks of Whaling Captain
and Mate indicated by
different bands of red
brickwork.
On this island the bicycle
reigns supreme. And none
more so than on the day of
Malcolm's Oerol Bicycle Tour.
reigns supreme. And none
more so than on the day of
Malcolm's Oerol Bicycle Tour.
Left:
symbolizing the
fate of Earth - a
member of the
Russian theatre
troupe 'Derevo
fate of Earth - a
member of the
Russian theatre
troupe 'Derevo
Below: West
German group
'Panopticum'
provide Tibetan
music and wind
sculpture
amongst the
Fresland dunes
German group
'Panopticum'
provide Tibetan
music and wind
sculpture
amongst the
Fresland dunes
Right:
grand piano
solo in the
woods
solo in the
woods
All pictures by
Bill Holdsworth
Bill Holdsworth
