Guest post by David Craig
Spit Nolan was a champion trolley rider. He loved nothing more than spending all day tweaking his designs. Come evening time, he would head off to Cemetery Brew to race. Racing “belly down” on his trolley like a skeleton bobsleigh racer, he knew every corner and every contour of the track.
Inspired by the Spit Nolan Story, Interplay is hosting a day of cart racing on the 6th July at Armley Park. I first spotted the event on Twitter, and it instantly clicked with me. It clicked because it is all about Play, making stuff and a bit of competition.
As a child, I played. I played as much as I could, and as often as I could. If I got my way I’d be out on my BMX or up a tree from sunrise to sunset, dashing back to the house for a quick wee and a sandwich, then back out again until tea time. As I grew up I inevitably found myself having less and less time for “play”. Now I am a Dad, and one of the best bits about Fatherhood is having a good excuse to play again.
Watching my children grow and develop has made me think more and more about my childhood. My parents will be delighted to know that I think I had a really good childhood; it’s shaped who I am today and I hope that I can give my children similar opportunities. Now I am a grownup I spend my time designing buildings, furniture, products and interiors. I’m lucky, because I’m one of those annoying people who has found a job they really love doing; the feeling of making a difference through something I have designed is a drug to me. So how did I end up here? I believe the recipe has 3 main ingredients: Play, creativity and a bit of competition.
Watching my Daughter experiment with my bike pump and a glass of water the other weekend made me think about play. Having space and time to play, to make sense of the world around you by experiment and failure, and having the choice to follow your own interests and passions has shaped the person I am, indeed it informs the way I approach design, or any other project for that matter. Learning through play is why I’m involved with my local Nursery School and Children’s Centre too.
I wasn’t particularly good at writing or reading when I was young, but making something, or drawing a picture, I got that. At primary school during our ubiquitous mini beast project, whilst other children were writing stories about bugs and spiders or creating a log of all the beasties they caught, I was busy drawing scale pictures of earwigs and worms and making a pull along toy woodlouse out of papier-mâché and chicken wire. Pictures and making stuff made sense to me; it’s just how my brain works. That’s probably why I love Lego so much too. Nowadays, 70% of my job today is either drawing stuff, or making things. I don’t think I would be able to do that if I had not been given the freedom to follow my passions and skills.
I loved racing as a child. Anything with wheels would do. If I wasn’t following my Dad around the forests of Wales whist he spent my inheritance on racing rally cars, I was down the BMX track, or racing my Scalextric set. A bit of competition is healthy if kept under control. It teaches you the importance of perseverance, that you can’t win every time, and that no matter how good you think you are, there is always someone out there who can beat you.
So, on Saturday I’m off with 40 competitors who have all made their own carts and I plan to hurtlie down a hill with my 6 year old son. I have been assured that nobody will end up like poor Spit Nolan. There will be prizes, live music, a retro sweet shop, old fashioned games, crafts, the Marvellous Tea Dance. I will be there racing a Product I am developing with the Cool Cart Co. Combining my passion for Play, Making Stuff, and a bit of competition. So put your skid lid on, get ready to push, 3,2,1 and its go, go go!