St Neots Camping

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7th July 2022

We took the van to St Neots for five days of camping. The weather promised to be fine and did not disappoint. We managed to get a pitch on the river’s edge, with a tree for shade. There was a public footpath between us and the river and the fisher persons. It was just grand sitting there in the sun watching the world go by while sipping on our Negronis, Ricards.

Interesting to find other campers had not come far often for only a couple of nights. When we connected the electricity, we did think the point quite high off the ground. Turns out the campsite can flood. We met a Dutch chap who said it was his favourite campsite in England.

We managed to struggle into town on most days, stopping in the market square to consume coffees. We found an excellent pub; if I lived in St Neots this pub, the Pig n Falcon would have been my regular evening haunt, good selection of beers, and live music. What more could one want? We sat there on a quiet afternoon drinking our beers. There is the backside of a pig diving into the outside wall, and the head of the pig emerging in the bar. Very quaint.

On Sunday to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary we had lunch at The River Mill, on the Eaton Socon side of the river. The pub is in a converted mill which was/is owned by Jordans who make the eponymous breakfast cereal. Interestingly the mill was converted to a pub and flats when we lived in Eaton Socon in the early 1980s.

On another day we took a river trip from All Aboard Boating. We hired a small motorboat and headed downstream towards Huntington. Some good water lillies both yellow and white ones. Despite the recent lack of rain, there was still plenty of water flowing down the river to allow the locks to operate. We managed to operate a couple of locks before turning around at Great Paxton and heading back.

On other little walks we did, we visited our old home on the Great North Road. Nobody was in, so we could not look around. The hedge I planted was still there. I think now that it was a mistake planting a Leylandii hedge, especially as it was not maintained properly.

Glastonbury 2022 Sunday

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26th June 2022

Glastonbury festival goes so fast. This was already the last day. I had heard that George Ezra was doing a ‘secret set’ on the John Peel Stage. He was the third band playing. I wanted to see him and get up close, so decided to head on over there and watch the previous two bands. I did not want a repeat of Thursday where I had tried to get to see Bastille at Williams Green and failed to even get into Williams Green.

Just Mustard, John Peel 11:15 12:00

I arrived at the John Peel Stage and managed to get to the crowd barrier at the front of the stage, slightly to the right. I should get an excellent view from here. I had to watch Just Mustard play, a band from Dundalk in Ireland.

Sports Team, John Peel 12:30 13:30

The next band was Sports Team, an alternative rock band based in London. They met while they were studying at the University of Cambridge, often playing at the Portland Arms. The lead vocalist Alex Rice managed some crowd surfing and climbing the tent support. A remarkably interesting act.

George Ezra, John Peel 14:00 15:00

Now it was George Ezra. I was slightly pissed off because about 60 George Ezra groupies were herded into the photographers’ pit, with the barrier being moved towards the centre of the stage. My view was now restricted! Damn. His set was fine, I have some reasonable photographs and video of him. There must have been huge crowds outside the tent, because after the show it took me a very long time to get out of the John Peel area.

Six-minute video of the George Ezra show. This features four songs, Budapest, Listen to the Man, Shotgun and Pretty Shining People.

Search for Mary and Ed

Having escaped the mayhem of the John Peel Stage, I decided to meet up with Ed and Mary. Eventually I met them at Williams Green where we had a few drinks. Still tasteless beer, Covid has a lot to answer for. We headed to the Pyramid Stage to see the last few minutes of Elbow playing. It is remarkably easy to get reasonably close by walking down the matting track in the centre, down to the mixing booths. Must remember that for next year.

Elbow, Pyramid Stage 17:45-18:45

The Bootleg Beatles, Acoustic Stage 18:30-19:30

We all headed up to the Acoustic Stage to see the Boot Leg Beatles. After which Ed and Mary had to go to work, so I left for the West Holts stage.

Angélique Kidjo, West Holts 20:00-21:00

Angélique Kidjo is singer-songwriter, actress, and activist. Her musical influences include the Afropop, Caribbean zouk, Congolese rumba, jazz, gospel and Latin styles. This was an excellent performance, and she came into the pit, so was awfully close to me at one stage.

The rest of the evening descended into a blur, with much time spent in the theatre area, watching the walkabout theatre groups.

That was the end of Glastonbury 2022, and on Monday I headed back home with very little delay getting out of the site.

Glastonbury 2022 Saturday

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Another day started. No queues for showers, and yet again an excellent breakfast at The Love Fields. Yes, I ate a full English, but also breakfasted on a couple of large excellent pastries. I was spoilt. I headed down to West Holts, where I spent the early part of the day.

Kikagaku Moyo – West Holts 11:30 12.30

First up was a Japanese band who played easy listening music. A few members of their entourage came out into the pit to watch. Later on, some of the band members came out to watch other bands.

Brass Against – West Holts 13.00 14.00

Brass Against is a collective group of musicians who share the goal of creating music to inspire social and personal change. The band curates songs from a variety of influences from Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, Run the Jewels as well as their own compositions in a heavy brass filled symphony.

This Is a Work Event

After Brass Against finished playing, I had a message from Rosemary about a flag seen flying, ‘This is a Work Event’. It just so happened to be in the West Holts crowd. Rushed on over to the flag, and cajoled is owners to photograph me holding it. Interestingly it disappeared in 15 minutes, and I never saw it again.

This is a work event
This is a work event

Black Midi West Holts 14:30 15:30

After the picture opportunity I went back to watch Black Midi, an English rock band from London, formed in 2017 by Geordie Greep, Cameron Picton, Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin and Morgan Simpson.

Glass Animals Other Stage 17:15 18:15

Finished at West Holts and walked over to watch Glass Animals on the Other Stage. I was far, far away and did not have an unobstructed view. Watched them for a few minutes before attempting to meet up with Ed and Mary who had gone their separate ways. Tracked them down to the Williams Green and had a pint of beer with them before we headed over to the Pyramid Stage.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Pyramid Stage 19:15 21:00

We met up with Jon watching Noel Gallagher. It is quite easy to get down in front of the mixing consoles, there is a path in the centre of the arena from the back to the mixing decks.

Ralph McTell Acoustic stage 20:00 21:00

After Noel, we headed to the Acoustic Tent. We had quite an advantageous position to see Ralph McTell. Managed to grab a video of him singing his famous Streets of London

Glastonbury 2022 - Ralph McTell

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Glastonbury 2022 - Ralph McTell

The Waterboys Acoustic Stage 21:30 – 23:00

The final band on the Acoustic Stage was The Waterboys. The Waterboys are a folk-rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band’s membership, past and present, has been composed of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.

Theatre and Circus

I spent much of the late evening walking around the circus and theatre area, watching many walkabout acts, before finally watching a show at the Circus Tent, Briefs Bite Club, I had great expectations for the show, but it did turn out to be rather tedious.

Glastonbury 2022 Friday

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After a good breakfast, I walked down to the West Holts Stage. The West Holts tends to play Jazz, and World Music. It is one of the major stages of Glastonbury, and not overly crowded. You can easily get to the front, or just relax sitting on the grass. The stage is well provided with food and drink. The famous Brothers Bar and also the Goan Fish Curry stall are located on either side of the stage. The West Holts stage is also one of the few stages where they have artist signings.

Nubiyan Twist, West Holts 11.30 12.30

The first band today was Nubiyan Twist. They describe themselves as a UK Afro-Jazz 9-piece band lead by Tom Excell, fusing groove driven music with sound system culture and improvisation.

Nova Twins, Greenpeace 12:30 13:15

Having enjoyed watching the Nova Twins the previous day, I tried to go and watch them again at the Greenpeace Stage. A very short walk from West Holts. I was able to get up close to the barrier and grab some close-up pictures. This was a totally different experience to last night, a far tamer crowd more worried about climate change than moshing.

John Peel Stage

I walked over to the John Peel Stage, quite a trek and watched a couple of bands playing, Girl in Red, followed by Sigrid.

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss 18:15 19.15

Walking from the John Peel stage, along the track high up on the pyramid stage field, I spotted Robert Plant and Alison Krauss finishing their set. The crowd was thin, so I walked down to the edge to take some photographs.

Bonobo, West Holts 20.20 21.30

Back at West Holts there was an excellent set by Bonobo. Their music is soothing, combining club music with world music delving into jazz.

Little Simz West Holts 22.15- 23.45

The final band, the headline act on West Holts was Little Simz, a black woman rapper. I’m not particularly into rap, but she was good and got the crowd moving. As you can see, I was on the rail at the front, much to the annoyance of the younger generation around me. What was amusing, I received a DM tweet from Mark, someone I worked with years ago. During the performance, this tweet appeared, telling me I had been spotted on the Little Simz set. His daughter and wife had been watching the live set on BBC THREE. Yes, that is me with the hat, next to the rabbit.

Little SIMZ Glastonbury 2022, Friday West Holts stage.
Me on the Little Simz set.

Glastonbury 2022 Thursday

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On Thursday, the main stages have not opened, but some of the smaller stages get going during the afternoon. There are hordes of people crowded around the bars, and it can be quite a fight to get a drink. So, I did not bother. This year I drank extraordinarily little and carried around a few cans in my backpack to keep hydrated. Beer had temporarily lost its lustre for me, I could not taste the difference between cider, ale and lager, they all tasted the same, sweet water. COVID had caused me to lose my sense of taste. It was the same with the food, the delicious offerings tempted me very little. I tried, but nothing tasted as it should.

After a full British breakfast and some exploring, I headed to the Rabbit Hole. It is in The Park, which is terribly busy on a Thursday with Stonebridge bar doing roaring trade. I waited until the Rabbit Hole opened and watched three bands. The Rabbit Hole is a small tent with a small bar, DJ set and stage. Many famous musicians come here late at night. (I have yet to see one!) The Rabbitt Hole used to be further up the hill and required a little effort to reach it. The last two Glastonburys have seen it move down into the main area of the Park.

Thursday was a very sunny day, and I had forgotten to put suncream on my face and arms, so finding venues undercover was a promising idea.

Eva Scott Rabbit Hole 13:00 – 13:30

Sofy (Glastonbury Emerging Talent Finalist) Rabbit Hole 14:00-14:30

I had come to see Sofy, a band from the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition. They were well worth the wait.

Lewis Mclaughlin, Rabbit Hole 15:00-15.30

Beans on Toast, Truth Stage 18:20-19.00

After grabbing some lunch in The Park, I headed over to the Truth Stage in Shangri-La to see Beans on Toast. Beans on Toast is a singer songwriter who produces an album every year and is rumoured to have played Glastonbury more than anyone else. He will be playing at the Cambridge Folk Festival this year. His songs are political and easily sing-along-able.

Williams Green TBA 19:45-20:25

The Glastonbury programme always has several TBAs. The TBAs are the unannounced bands who will be playing. The secret for Glastonbury organisers is to spread the word to a few people to get someone along to watch the band. Sometimes this goes wrong, and the word is spread everywhere, and thousands of people descend on the stage. The secret sets are from quite high-profile bands. I had subscribed to a twitter account which announced the rumours, so I knew Bastille would be playing at Williams Green. I tried to get to Williams Green. The whole area was cordoned off, the crowds were dense. I got through the cordon, but nowhere near the stage. I gave it up as a bad cause and eventually headed back to the Truth Stage. If you want to see a TBA, get there at least while the previous band is playing, or better still the band before. I remember watching the band Pulp years back because I had heard a rumour. I had a good place to watch the band, but the Park Stage was also cordoned off long before the band started to play. So many people had descended on the stage.

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Truth Stage 20:30-21:15

I arrived to see the punk band Pigs Pigs …Pigs. and watched from the back.

Nova Twins (EARCHE) Truth Stage 21.45-22.30

After the 7 pigs, the crowd thinned, and I was able to get nearer the stage for the Nova Twins. They put on one fantastic show. I would go and watch them again at the Greenpeace Stage the next day. The crowd was wild, I did edge back a little to remain out of the mosh pit.

Glastonbury 2022 Walkabout

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I will be blogging each festival day with videos and pictures of the bands I saw. I have put together a short video and pictures of the different areas of the Glastonbury Festival site at various times and days. It is not complete. There are areas I did not visit, or somewhere I forgot to take photographs. For instance, I have yet to visit the pier at Glastonbury-on-Sea. I did walk past, but I have an anathema of queuing.

The video is of the Theatre area, where there are so many interesting walkabout acts to watch. The Theatre area is the first area you enter coming in from Pedestrian Gate C. I can imagine some people camping in other areas of the site will never get to this area.

The areas of the Unfairground, Block 9 and Shangri-La get going in the late evening and continue until the very early hours with the last music ending at 6.00am.

My three ex-work colleagues (John, Mary and Ed) from Walker / Elevon were working as stewards in the Silver Hayes are. This is a dance area and also goes on until 3 am and later.

The Peace Garden is located above Greenfields, near to the Stone Circle. In the sun it was a peaceful area to relax and catch up with some sleep.

I ventured onto the hill above the Park Stage, this is where the GLASTONBURY version of the HOLLYWOOD sign is located. At night there is a fabulous view of the whole site, with the Ribbon Tower in the foreground, and Arcadia in the background. I failed to get to Arcadia, the crowds were too much to get through, when there was any music playing. You need to get there before the main stages end. I made it just as the last DJ finished at 3am.

The old battered painted cars are at a ‘Drive In’ Cinema called Cineramageddon. To watch films, the cars need to be booked in advance .

Glastonbury Theatre Field

Glastonbury 2022 Love Fields

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Glastonbury 2022 Love Fields

We missed you Glastonbury! Three years since the last one. COVID causing the cancellation of the two previous years. But I was now on my way to the greatest music festival in the world. This would be my twelfth Glastonbury. Attended 1998,1999, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and now 2022. This was to be my sixth visit to Love Fields, an oasis just outside the festival site by pedestrian gate C, the entry to the Theatre Area.

I arrived in an eco-green car, driving my Polestar. Anticipated arrival at around 1pm. There were no holdups. On the way I stopped at a BP site to top up the battery. The return journey, though possible on the one charge, would leave little to spare for emergencies. Also stopped at an ASDA to purchase beer.

Love Fields had changed a little from previous years. It is always expanding. First came the self-camping sites and the large dining tent. This year I am sure there were far more yurts than previous years. I even had my own reception for the yurts, previously this was shared with the campers. Another update was that the yurts have a lock. This makes them secure; the yurt has an internal wood lattice which would require quite an effort to break through. Undoubtedly possible but would be noisy and very noticeable.

From Love Fields you can see the various sections of the site – The Glastonbury Sign, the Fireworks on Wednesday, The Ribbon Tower, The ‘Tree’ at Greenpeace. On the Wednesday, it is a beautiful place to have a drink, watch the fireworks and listen to one of their onsite bands. The breakfasts in the morning are ace, and there was no queuing for the showers or toilets. (Though in 2019 there were no showers for a day because of the general water shortage throughout the site.)

The Opening Glastonbury 2022 firework display from Love Fields

The Love Fields

Download 2022

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After three years a full Download Festival was held. I was to go with Ravi, and we were doing the RIP Hotel package.

Back in 2020, I had booked this package, which included the Radisson Blu hotel for three nights, after the 2020 festival had been cancelled. During 2021 the festival was again cancelled, but I elected to carry my tickets over to 2022. Now it was finally happening, and I patiently waited for my tickets. This was fraught, with several people panicking on the Download forum. Electronic tickets were replacing paper tickets. The process and information appeared to be different for different people, depending on which company the tickets had been booked through. But the tickets did arrive, and I stored them in my Google Pay wallet. They worked without a hitch.

Ravi arrived at our house a couple of days before the festival. A metal festival was on his bucket list, and I had organised two. During 2019, he and I had ticked off Glastonbury from his bucket list. Friday, we set off in the Polestar and arrived at the hotel. Parked, checked in with the RIP Reception where we were given our wristbands, programmes, t-shirts and especially useful waterproof backpacks. (We could not check into the hotel room; this was not yet ready.) The buses to the festival site ran once an hour, so we were soon on our way. The buses were exceptionally reliable, though at peak times they could be full, so you just had to wait for another. They normally put an extra one on to collect those left behind.

Friday

Arriving at the site, we walked to the Guest area, had a beer from the bar and some lunch at the Delhi Club, (Saag Aloo and rice). Friday was the warmest day; the other days were cloudier. Thankfully, there was no rain during the festival.

  • Theory 1.55
  • Cellar Door Moon Crow 2.50 (Dogtooth Stage)
  • Myles Kennedy & Company 3.50 (Opus)
  • Skindred 5.10
  • A Day to Remember 6.40
  • Kiss 8.50

Saturday

The breakfast at the Raddison was excellent. A good full English with freshly fried eggs, or omelettes made to order. There was also the option of cheeses, meats, and pickles.

Today I arrived from the hotel before Ravi, and spent time walking around the site, looking for real ale or craft beer. For some reason, the location moves around every year, and there is never any indication on the programme map to indicate its position. Found it, so Ravi and I were happy. We spent many an hour there, seated at the tables, talking with whomever we met. One couple had flown in from America for this festival.

  • The Raven Age 11.00
  • Monster Truck 1.35
  • Black Label Society 3.00
  • Deftones 6.10
  • Iron Maiden 8.55

Sunday

The highlights of Sunday were, for Ravi, the bands Wargasm and Alestorm, and for me. Biffy Clyro

  • Wargasm 11.00
  • Alestorm 1.45
  • Marianas Trench 3.50 (Avalanche Stage)
  • Volbeat 4.50
  • Korn 6.30
  • Biffy Clyro 9.10

Thoughts

This was the first time I had stayed in an hotel for a festival. It was nice, the food was good, the other guests were pleasant. There was no noise or throwing furniture out of the upstairs windows. For Download, I did miss the bar and bands which played late at night at the RIP camping. Instead, we were always on a deadline to catch the 23.30 bus back to the hotel. My preference is still to take the campervan to the RIP camping.

Ravi enjoyed the festival, or so he said. He expressed the opinion that it was more enjoyable than Glastonbury. Glastonbury is so huge, and it takes ages to walk anywhere, either for a drink or to walk to another stage. At Download, you can walk from the bar and be near the front of the stage withing minutes.

I managed to catch Covid, but I didn’t realise immediately I got back home, so I managed to pass it on to the wife. It did not make me popular.

My Download Festival

Rushmere Country Park

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27th May 2022

We have friends near to Rushmere Country Park. When they entertain us, we visit the park with them, for a walk. We went in May and November. I take my camera along, (cameras because the last three images are with the new camera) and snagged some portraits of the birds on the ponds. In May there were the baby birds, hitching rides on their mothers’ backs, the sun was shining, and the reflections and colours were gorgeous. In November, the birds were coming in close hoping to be fed.

Wotton Underwood

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22nd May 2022

We took a walk around Wotton Underwood Estate, only with my mobile phone, so I failed to get many shots of the wildlife. It is a shame to see the one old oak tree broken. It has always been magnificent with the strange spiral trunk. Now unfortunately it has been broken by the winds, still alive, but will be gone soon. It is a lovely walk, and you don’t get to see anyone, not even Tony Blair.