It's been a busy few weeks here at Gravitate HQ, 2 months ago we launched our first pin drop in the Yorkshire Dales where 50 friends headed out on a rainy February afternoon for a hike around Ilkely Moor.

The Gravel Workshop last weekend was our first real attempt at creating a physical space in a city that embodies everything we’re aiming to create, experiences and goods that sits between craft, creativity, and exploration.

It can be pretty easy to fall into the same routine in cities. There aren’t that many chances to try something new or properly connect with nature, so we wanted to create a space where people could make something with their hands and then head straight out into movement.

TO GIVE A BIT OF BACKGROUND

Gravitate started 3 years ago, from our university bedrooms handing out flyers around our campus. The last time we tried to build something physical, we ended up strapping a plywood structure onto the back of a friends grandad’s boat trailer and towing it around Devon. So we knew this wouldn’t be straightforward...

This felt like a step forward and doing this inside Salomon’s showroom, with the support of people who understood the vision, made it a very special and important moment in Gravitate's journey.

THE SPACE

We took over the showroom and turned it into something that felt closer to a workshop. To start, NOTS, an accessories brand led a hands-on session using cord to create handmade bottle sling bags, blending traditional techniques with a more modern, outdoor-inspired approach. Their work draws from climbing culture and craftsmanship, which felt perfectly in line with what we’re trying to build at Pin drops.

Running through it all, we had tee printing station, and a series of films playing from our first pin drop across old CRT TVs throughout the space. The choice to use older screens was to reflect all the pin drops being shot on 8mm film, and we wanted the way it was shown to reflect that same texture and imperfection.

Seeing people come down who’d never made anything before, sitting, learning, getting stuck into something new and spending some time off our devices was a real special moment that we feel grateful to create.

A huge thank you to everyone who came down, we look forward to connecting with you at the next pin.