Welcome to our little home on the net. We are Steve & Rosemary and live in Buckinghamshire, UK. This is a blog of our life, sometimes interesting, but mainly boring. It is very picture orientated as Steve loves to take pictures, especially of wildlife. Sometimes he has his arm twisted by Rosemary and takes the odd snap of a weed.
Glastonbury 2022 Thursday
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
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
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
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
St Brides Major and Heritage Coast Campsite
Sunday 8th May, we packed the van and left Fforest Fields campsite at 7.45 and headed south to St Brides Major. We were making good time and paused for a bacon butty on the A470 in the Brecon Beacons. The van was doing a roaring trade catering for the hordes of bikers who were enjoying the road.
We made it to St Brides Major and met up with our other club members, and then headed off to the quarry for the shoot. We managed to lose this leg of the shoot. Lunch was booked at the Star Inn, Wick, so I dropped Rosemary off and drove to the campsite we were staying at. It had been our intention to stay overnight there the night before, but because of a wedding, there had been no camping on the Saturday night. I arrived and dropped the van onto a pitch and raced back up the hill for lunch, on foot it was a little over 20 minutes fast walking and jogging.
A traditional Sunday lunch and some excellent ales, speeches and prize giving and then we were on our own as everyone left for home. We walked back down the road to the campsite and met the owner. Tale of woe, their cafe wasn’t open due to lack of staff. Chefs were hard to come by and could command a high salary.
Next day R and I walked to the coast, over the local stone stiles in places. R was incredibly pleased with the local flora. I continued down the coast, walking into Marcross and back to the campsite. Also walked over the old ruin of an Abbey in Monknash. Nothing to see other than masses of stone and a few ruins.
The next day we headed home. I decided to fill the van with diesel, the first time I had to pay more than £100 to fill the van and it wasn’t exactly empty with 150 miles to go.
