A sunny bright July 2nd saw us take the Polestar 2 to Marlow to meet up with Richard and Andrea. Despite Covid, the high street was unbearably crowded, so we took a walk along the river bank. Thankfully the river walk was much quieter. Plenty of water activities taking place on the river, with multiple coaches yelling and shouting at their charges in the rowing boats. We had an enjoyable meal back at the Two Brewers pub.
On returning to the car park, my Polestar 2 had the company of another Polestar. This is the first time I have seen another Polestar in the wild.
Rosemary and I visited Valerie and Norman in Leicester, staying the night. Rosemary was persuaded to walk around the Botanical Garden, something I have already done. This time we entered the cactus hothouse to see some fabulous specimens. The sculptures in the garden intrigue me.
Ravi and Simon arrived for a pub lunch at the Cradock Arms. The place was heaving and we were lucky to be able to park. The pub was the start and end points of a club’s monthly walk trip. We all departed and went our own way after lunch.
Thankfully we had voted by postal vote, so did not have to rush home from Norwich. Instead, we headed to Essex for the Election Night. Horrible drive in torrential rain. The horror of the drive was the precursor for the awful night. The hospitality of Andrea and Richard was fabulous. It was good to meet up with Jon, over from South Africa for his mother’s funeral. The horror of the night was the election result. The closing polls were almost spot on predicting a Conservative majority of more than 80.
That was it. Glastonbury was over. We showered, packed up and The Love Fields at 7 am in the morning. Stopped off for a Costa and arrived home.
Ravi and Simon stayed over, so we entertained them to some local village life. The Ludgershall Bike Night. Thousand of bikes parked up in the village from 6 to 9. Stalls selling beer, fish and chips, burgers were doing a roaring trade. We opted for the pig roast which was run by a local Kingswood man. Was accosted by the Air Ambulance, who saw we had been to Glastonbury and then talked at great length about the event.
There was a fabulous American truck unit on display. Rosemary saw it pass our house that evening. The event earns money for the Air Ambulance and other charities.
Our last day at Glastonbury, up early to the loo and the showers were still closed. Looked out again shortly before 9 and they were in the process of being opened. Quickly told Simon and Ravi and then I dashed off to the showers before there were any queues. The word spread around the yurts like wildfire.
Today I was heading over to see Jeff Goldblum at West Holts and Vampire Weekend and TheCure at the Pyramid Stage.
Ambled over to the West Holts and stopped in the Circus Field to watch a musical performance. Interested in the patter that got me into the little stage area, anyone walking by who peered in was fair game for the compere, and if you walked on by, you were grossly insulted.
After this brief entertainment, I stopped at the model of Glastonbury, many clay figures on the ground with caricature models of the stages and festival areas. See some of the pictures below. This was at Glastonbury before but looked more expanded this year.
At the West Holts stage, I was in time to see Hollie Cook, a dramatic reggae singer who was a former member of The Slits. It was fun, pop, reggae with a nice dancing beat.
With a Brothers cider beside me, I waited for Ravi and Simon to arrive for Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer band. Jeff was on stage chatting with the audience during the soundcheck, he also had a humorous repartee with the BBC woman who came on stage and asked him when he was starting. His response was he had already started, at which point the microphones were cut off until the official start time. Jeff also did a signing, and despite the long queue, I bought a vinyl album which he signed for me, and I shook his hand.
While I was queuing, This is the Kit played, earthy indie-folk music, and then the Fatoumata Diawars. At this point, I raced back to Love Fields and dumped my Vinyl and headed over to the Hospitality Area. Simon and Ravi had seen Kylie Minogue and I assumed they would be watching Miley Cyrus. I grabbed a drink and a burger, and then found Simon and Ravi in the Hospitality area also eating. They had given Miley a miss.
I headed off to see Vampire Weekend, quite close to the front and then moved further forward for The Cure. While waiting for the Cure, I spotted Mark S (Walkerite) and his daughter across the other side of the barrier. The atmosphere waiting for The Cure was intense. They came on and played for two hours. Just music, no fireworks, no flares, no paper, just music and lights. For the final song ‘Boys don’t Cry’, I was grabbed by a girl who wanted a quick final dance with me. It was such a beautiful and intense moment. All the old classics played. My recording of The Cure on my phone is absolute crap. Good pictures, bad sound. I have now bought an external microphone for the phone, I will be testing it at Latitude.
I waited for the crowd to disperse and said hello to Mark and his daughter while they did the mandatory selfies.
Disaster, the showers were all closed this morning and would remain closed for the rest of the day. The Love Fields and other glamping sites had been requested to close their showers. The water supply in the festival site was in a dire situation, and with a very hot Saturday forecast they did not want the water to run out. My only comment is, who drinks water at festivals when there are Brothers cider and real ales in abundance?
We started the day at the Pyramid Stage to watch The Proclaimers. (Watch and hear Ravi singing along in the video.)
The rest of the day appears to be a haze, spent mainly at the West Holts Stage watching The Ezra Collective, Slowthai and Lizzo. I think it must have been the Brothers cider and the hot weather.
In the evening there was an abrupt change in temperature, the wind changed and the temperatures plummeted, the showers were still closed.
The evening was spent at a bar next to the Acoustic Tent where I had a JD, (no queues) and then some Real Ale. Simon bought some comfort food, Cheese Mac. So simple and so delicious. Suitably fortified we were then ready for Hawkwind. Simple, no graphics just smoke and flashing lights accompanied by their layered acoustics. Not a big crowd, but then The Killers were headlining the Pyramid Stage. You can see the age profile of those attending Hawkwind by looking at the bar photographs. A nice crowd though.
We three then went for a walk around the South-East corner before the crowds arrived, visiting Block 9 East (IICON), The Common (The Temple and Rum Shack), across to Shangrila to read the slogans on The Lanes and listen in at the Truth Stage. Leaving through the Unfairground, we went across into Block 9 West to see the Meat Rack. Was unable to persuade Ravi and Simon to enter the Meat Rack.
We parted ways, so I left R and S to walk through Avalon home, while I headed off down the railway line (busy) and diverted through Green Fields, to miss the crowds, and up to Strummerville where I sat near the fire and listened to the DJ. Headed down to The Park and hopefully Pangea. It was absolutely heaving in that area. I gave up trying to get anywhere near the dance area and only viewed Pangea from the distance. I had wondered what the huge sphere built around the base of the crane was. It was a screen, and what I saw was a huge iris and pupil rotating around looking like an eyeball. Watch at the end of the video. Fabulous, they will be next year, as I believe the crane will be there for four years.
I decided to head back to Love Fields. Showers still down.
Yey, another bright and sunny day, it could though become a problem, because Saturday is forecast to be very hot. Already there are problems with the mains water pressure being low, and not filling the reserve tank for the showers fast enough, resulting in some of the showers being closed early this morning. Still, I was up early, showered and ready for breakfast. Those Pain Au Chocolate are something to die for.
Today was the first day the main stages were open. The first stop for me was to watch the Vaccines on the Other Stage, while Ravi and Simon watched Bjorn Again on the Pyramid. Back into the Hospitality Area for a beer to wait for R&S to materialise. They had been on the front barriers singing along to Mamma Mia and were very thrilled.
We then went onto watch Sheryl Crow and Bastille on the Pyramid Stage. (See Ravi dancing to Sheryl in the video.) S&R departed for dinner at West Holts. This was the last time I would see them until the morning. They had their eyes on Stormzy who provided an epic performance and plenty of Fuck Boris chants.
I moved near to the front of the crowd to watch Ms Lauryn Hill. She was late on and we were entertained by her DJ. Apparently, this is fairly typical. There were gaps between each song as she asked for her sound monitors to be readjusted between each song.
Supper and then I made my way over to the South-East corner to listen to a metal band Gojira, playing on the Truth Stage in Shangri La. Was an excellent choice. Decided to wait for a punk band called The Idles. While I was waiting, another Walkerite texted to say he was heading to the Truth stage for The Idles. Waving phone lights we found each other and enjoyed the show. This was the second time they had played today. Earlier in the day, they played at The Park.
We separated after the show, and I wandered back, stopping at the Unfairground to film a show with flames, and then the Avalon Cafe where there was a Sikh band playing.
The Thursday is another quiet day at Glastonbury, none of the main stages are open, some of the small stages open and areas such as the South-East corner (the naughty corner) and Silver Hayes open. Quiet might be a misnomer because the quiet areas are very full with thousands of people ambling around. They would normally be at the Pyramid Stage. So areas like Green Fields can be busier on the Wednesday and Thursday.
We (Ravi, Simon & I) all met for breakfast at 9.00am after having showers earlier. No queues, water surprisingly warm and fast-flowing, and a large cubicle you could party in (I wish). Breakfast was good, especially the Pain Au Chocolates and Almond Croissants. I emailed Sam’s Kitchens and this is the reply I received. “I was up at 4.30am baking them fresh daily. We buy them frozen from an amazing French company, prove them overnight and then bake for 20 minutes so they are served perfectly. The almond croissants were yesterday’s plain with the addition of our own frangipan and some flaked almonds.” Cooked breakfast as well.
The day was bright and sunny with a strong cool breeze, amazing how much warmer it was when you descended into the festival area. Our first stop was the Tor Lookout, a scaffold construction on the North side of the Theatre Area. This structure is used for abseiling type dance performances. When not used for these you can climb to the top and look over the festival site.
We walked on to the Green Futures area and headed for Speakers Forum to hear Professor David King talk about climate change. David King had been the head of Chemistry at Cambridge University then the government’s Chief Science Advisor. While we waited for him to arrive (rather late), we heard from Gail Bradbrook one of the founders of EXtinction Rebellion. She explained how the XR group operated and their plans for the future. I don’t think I will be booking any air travel in the Autumn when they plan to restart their protests. Quite a few audience members were XR members and some had stuck/padlocked themselves to the Pink Yacht in London.
David King duly arrived and congratulated XR on their rebellion and told everybody how we must start to reverse climate change. The 1.5C and even 1C rises are too much, Greenland ice is melting at a rate far faster than predicted, modelling of some acceleration factors in ice melting had been missed. We must start to remove CO2, and one way they were looking into it, especially after the recent Pacific volcano, was to research the effects of creating algae blooms in the oceans by fertilising the oceans.
The whole discussion was repeated again for the BBC who recorded the show for later transmission.
Afterwards, we walked onto The Park, by way of The Wood, Silver Hayes, the CO-OP, and Glastonbury on Sea, yes a long way round. The Wood was disappointing, because it was busy because it was a Thursday. Glastonbury on Sea was busy with huge queues, so we gave it a miss. At The Park, we went to view a recently unveiled billboard from the anti-Brexit artists Cold War Steve and Led By Donkeys that overlooked the entire festival site. A beer was called for and drunk.
Back now to the West Holts Stage for some ciders and dinner.
At The Love Fields, Simon and Ravi listened to music in the bar, by all reports it was very good. I headed out after dark to meet up with Jon M. Jon worked for Walker and was planning to come to Glastonbury working with other Walkerites, Ed and Mary. Ed and Mary cancelled leaving Jon to come on his own. He was working that evening at the Blues Gully in the Silver Hayes.
I set out to the Silver Hayes via The Wood. It always looks brilliant at night, and this year was no exception. They had mist generators under the walkways adding a spooky look to the lighted ponds. Met up with Jon, so we chatted for a few minutes.
Continued my walk up to The Park, Green Fields and then the South-East corner. I was a bit disappointed by the area this year. It didn’t seem quite so good. The buildings in Block 9 were missing the crashed underground train, I never saw dancers in the windows of the broken down hotels, indeed the whole area appeared rather sanitised this year. I wonder if others thought the same because on another night I could not get near the new Pangea (the dock crane which replaced Arcadia) below The Park.
I am not one of those who queue up at the Glastonbury gates overnight, waiting to be let into the area at 8.00 am Wednesday morning. I can understand those who do, it is the only way to get the best camping spots and to be camped with your mates. I have upgraded to the soft Glamping experience and stay at The Love Fields This year I and two university friends made it to Glastonbury. For Ravi he was ticking of a bucket list item, and for Simon, well he is a musician, and all musicians should visit Glastonbury even if it’s not to perform. For me, it was my eleventh Glastonbury, the 9th in a row.
We set off from here early haveing been forcibly ejected by Rosemary, stopping on the way for a coffee and cakes at the Folly Row Cafe in Kington Saint Michael. After our coffee and loo break, we headed on to Glastonbury, taking the blue route which takes you along Pylle Lane. Very few holdups on the way. Drove into Love Fields and we were soon checked in and had emptied our belongings into the yurts. Simon and Ravi had two double beds while I had the one.
Our next step was to enter the festival site with our hospitality tickets from Love Fields and make our way over to the hospitality area behind the Pyramid Stage. Here we were issued with wrist bands. The hospitality area does allow you a greater chance of seeing some celebrities close up, and also allows you to get between the Other and Pyramid Stages a little faster. It is also an oasis from the outside crowds and a place to meet up.
Our next agenda item was a grand tour of the Glastonbury site, we headed to the Other Stage, then to Silver Hayes and way over to the west side of the campsite, I hadn’t been to the far west side campsites for years, this is where I used to camp. A walk up to the Park Area above the Ribbon Tower and then past the tepees and the new Glastonbury on Sea pier, not yet open. Supper at the West Holts Stage, tour of Avalon and then tried to get into the South East corner. But this was still under construction and was not due to open until Thursday.
Back at Love Fields we stopped at the bar for some drinks and listened to an array of bands who were playing. Unfortunately there was a strong wind which put us in a wind tunnel so we had to wrap up with blankets. The evening progressed with more ciders and some flat-breads with spicy toppings. At around 10.30 the bonfires on the festival site were lit and the firework display began. The Festival was now officially open.
Weekend away in Leicester drinking Whiskey in the National Space Centre. Poor R had a dry weekend, Whiskey or Whisky is not her favourite drink.
As some weekends start, we loaded up the car with a chainsaw and hedge trimmer and headed off to Leicester by way of Nuneaton. We needed to pick up the ashes of my Aunt Margaret who had been cremated on August 30th after she died on the 30th of July.
Arriving in Leicester in time for lunch at the Halcyon Kitchen. I had a lovely veggie salad dish, though missed the black pudding which should have come from Norman’s all day breakfast. A coffee in the Northern Cobbler before the gardening starts.
My favourite gardening is always with a chainsaw, cutting and destroying must have been instilled in me from the Doom Computer Game. I started off well with the carnage and destruction, but the chain oil reservoir had not been closed properly and a trail of oil was dripped through Valerie & Norman’s whole house. Oops, thankfully the route taken was on tiles. Phew! So a spot of decimation in the garden, opening up the canopy with the removal of some trees and ivy, all completed before nightfall.
Viv and Bill arrived for an early supper, a lovely bean stew/soup. Then it was on to the Space Centre for the Whisk(e)y tasting organised by 23 wine and whiskey.
You were given a tasting glass and a map of the Space Centre with the locations of the different whisk(e)y stands. These were peopled by 23 wine and whiskey, or by the actual company distilling the whiskeys. You went from stand to stand to try the different drinks, trying to act intelligently and making cerebral comments. This becoming more difficult as the time passed. The samples were small, but there were many to try.
Master Class
Moon Landings
At the same time, there were master classes, these were sold out well before the day. They took a theme, mine was American Whiskeys. On show were Bourbon, Wheat Whiskeys and Rye Whiskeys. This class took an hour and was fun, with a very knowledgeable and entertaining compere.
In the main hall, there were whisk(e)ys from Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, America, Canada, Japan, Sweden and India. The Indians even produced a peat tasting drink with peat imported from Ireland and Islay.
Was a very enjoyable evening. My regret was, unlike Rosemary, I did not see much of the Space Center. The positive of this I will have to go back.
The next day, after a slow and late rise, was breakfast, a walk and lunch at the Cradock Arms. I was amused when we all ordered out pints of ale, Tiger, and Rosemary also had a pint. One taste of it and you could see she realised her mistake. For some reason, she thought we all had ordered a lager. I ate a traditional Sunday lunch of pork belly, once Rosemary realised I had been served Viv’s turkey, and Viv had been served my pork belly.
