Monthly Archives: June 2017

Glastonbury 2017

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Glastonbury 2017 was greeted with great expectations.  There had been a long period of dry weather during the build up to the festival.  The few days before there had been a heat wave with temperatures in the 30s. The weather forecast predicted no more than a couple of millimetres of rain. I set off early on Wednesday, did some Tesco shopping for drinks and arrived at Love Fields with hardly a car on the way.  

Collected my Glastonbury EPO wrist band (Easy Pass Out) from Love Fields and made my way into the festival.  The EPO wrist band means you do not need to show a ticket and re-entry pass when you go in or out.  It is fast as it also bypasses the queues.  Most volunteers get these bands.  The other neat thing I found with the EPO was that it enabled me to enter some of the back stage bars when I was accompanied by my friends who were working at the festival.  I was also helped by my Love Fields band which matched the colour of their bands. 

Wednesday

The Wednesday was hot, and you heard cheers from the crowds when a fleeting cloud covered the sun for a few moments.  Wednesday was a getting-acclimatised-day. I met up with Ed, Bob and Mary for a pint on the Park area just after sunset. and we all watched the fireworks.  We then made our way to Avalon, going through the closed barriers where the one way system had just been started (EPO band working) and had a few cocktails in the Avalon backstage bar (EPO band and Lovefields band).  Really quiet oasis from the madding crowds around us. Cocktails were good as well.

Thursday

Thankfully it was cooler from now on, with the occasional very light drizzle.  Today spent most of the day exploring in the circus /theatre/acoustic/Green Fields area.  Also spent an hour trying to Salsa at Glasto Latino.   Not a success, but fun.  The evening was spent in the South East corner where I saw Napalm Death play, and Son Yambu.

Friday

The first full day of Glastonbury.  I saw Confidence Man at Williams Green, then watched Lucy Kitt at the Acoustic Stage, apparently Ed Balls was in the crowd.  The crowd was small so I am surprised I did not see him.  Spent some time looking at and filming the people and acts in the Theatre and Circus area.  Then on to The Other Stage.   Late evening spent some time in Shangri-La, The Common, Block G, Unfairground and Glasto Latino, so missing out on Radiohead.  Just before dawn, I walked over to The Park and had a beer at the bar.  Watched the sun rising.  Not a spectacular event, there was a very light drizzle and the night just got slowly lighter. Amazed at the number of people who asked when the sun was going to rise, it had already risen an hour before.  Maybe that is the result of living in cities.

Saturday

Walked over to The Wood.  Never been there before, an oasis of ponds, trees and paths.  There were some Moorhens being aggressive to their chicks.  Rushed back to the acoustic stage to meet Ed and Mary.  Later Jeremy Corbyn was on at The Pyramid Stage, and then came over to The Left Field stage where he spoke for an hour.   I listened to his longer speech at the Left Field.  Then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching the headliners on The Pyramid Stage, finished with an excellent set from the Foo Fighters

Sunday

More band watching finishing with Ed Sheeran on the main stage.  Ed and Mary had been let off their stewarding duties, so I met them at The Wood bar.  Arrived just as it closed.  They thought of trying the John Peel back stage bar as it had some good reports.  We arrived and entered easily.   There was music there, including the organiser of the John Peel tent area playing and singing.   We then moved on to the Silver Hayes bar where we stayed until 6ish.  I walked back to Love fields, getting there at 7.00. for some recovery time.  

Monday

It was peculiar watching people leaving the Glastonbury site for home site at 5 am in the morning, they were in total silence.  They all must have been feeling sad because they were leaving after a dry and superb Glastonbury .

 

 

Jeremy Corbyn at the Left Field

On the 24th June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn spoke first at the Pyramid Stage and then at the Left Field stage. This is his full speech at the Left Field stage. Sound only.

The South East Corner (aka the Naughty Corner)

Glastonbury 2017 #Glastonbury2017 #Glasto2017 The naughty corner, the south east corner, shangri-la, block 9, the common, the unfair ground. Napalm Death, STEVE IGNORANT’S SLICE OF LIFE

Circus, Theatre and Cabaret

Starting with a view of the circus field from Love Fields above pedestrian gate C. I quick amble through the theatre and circus field sees all sorts of entertainment.

Napalm Death at the Truth Stage

Napalm Death playing at Glastonbury 2017 on the Truth stage, Thursday afternoon.

Glasto Latino with Son Yambu

Son Yambu playing at Glasto Latino on Thursday evening

Confidence Man

Confidence Man played Williams Green on Friday

Lucy Kitt

Glastonbury 2017 Lucy Kitt at the Acoustic Stage. Apparently Ed Balls was here as well.

Halsey

Halsey playing the Other stage at Glastonbury 2017. Loved the inflatable balls at the end.

John Peel backstage and in the wood

Various cuts from the glade, the park, the wood and finally backstage at the John Peel stage. Jim Fox the organiser of the John Peel stage singing on the Sunday night.

 

The end

Visit to Eaton Socon, Grimes Graves & Norwich

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We visited Ann, Liz & Bob in Norwich and stayed a couple of nights.  On the drive over we stopped at Eaton Socon and had a coffee in a pub called The Rivermill.  This was a converted mill building on The Great Ouze. They were quite happy to serve coffee, In fact they seemed to have a morning coffee and-cake special running.  Rosemary was quite taken with some flats overlooking the river. Nothing was as we remembered it. We then drove past are old house, 183 Great North Road, which was still standing as was the Leylandii Hedge that I planted in the front in the late ’70s.

We stopped in the park by the river in St Neots and ate our picnic lunch before heading on to Norwich.  As we had plenty of time we stopped off at Grimes Graves.  These are prehistoric flint mines in the Brecklands.  I last visited then in the ’60s and Rosemary had never seen them.  You can still go down one of the mines.  There are a couple of others which have been excavated.  The landscape outside is Breckland grass, but here there are lots of round dips caused by the pits.  There are many pits which all apparently inter-join below ground. 

On to Norwich where we all went to the theatre to watch The Play that Goes Wrong.  A comedy about a play that goes wrong from beginning to end.  This had been recommended to us. Amazing timing by the actors as scenery fell down around them. An audience member got to the stage of laughing where they just squeaked intermittently. 

The next day, we raced off to my favourite online camera shop. I’d never seen the bricks & mortar shop. Later, we accompanied Bob on a walk to the local Waitrose via the club where he plays golf. Lovely scenery and very edible wild cherries. Expanding our local geography even further, In the afternoon, we took a walk in Eaton Park, where Liz jogs.  A huge park in Norwich which was created after the First World war.  It has a large boating pond, and tracks for miniature railways. Despite going to school in Norwich, I had never been to either place.

On the Saturday we returned via Cambridge for the Caius benefactors May week garden party where we met up with Richard and Andrea. (And yes, it was June, but that’s Cambridge for you.)

Ludgershall Village Fete

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Visited the Ludgershall Village fete held at the Old Rectory.  The weather turned out reasonable, so I was able to site outside and eat my promised cream tea.  We spent quite a time there, exploring the gardens and woods which back on to the Marylebone / Birmingham Snow Hill line.  The vegetable garden is pristine, no weeds, neatly tilled and presumably no rabbits.  There were also a number of vintage cars and vintage tractors.  Jim was doing tractor rides around the gardens.

 

Southwold Camping

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Oyster Catcher and chick at Southwold harbour

Oyster Catcher and chick at Southwold harbour

Oyster Catcher at Southwold harbour

Oyster Catcher at Southwold harbour

Monday we set off in Van the Van, .to Southwold for a camping trip with Robin and Tessa  We drove a round about route as I wanted to stop off at Norwich Camping and Leisure store in Blofield.  This was a large camping shop, garden centre and farm shop.  I was incredulous at the size of the gas fired BBQs they stocked.  The designs were also fabulous with one which looked like an engine from a motor car.  We searched around and found a Kampa Air Pod canopy.  It allowed all the sides to be removed  for when the sun is out and the weather is hot.  It was a little bigger than the canopy Rosemary envisaged. We purchased this along with a collapsible table with integral cupboard which will be used for storage and cooking in the pod.

Off we set again onward to Great Yarmouth to purchase some fuel and goodies, We ate a picnic overlooking the grey North Sea at Gorleston-on-Sea. Back in Van the Van, we headed to Southwold.  Alas one of the crossings at Oulton Broad was closed, forcing us to redirect  to Lowestoft where we were caught in a traffic snarl-up for a longtime.  We arrived at Southwold long after Robin and Tessa.  Parked and then proceeded to erect the canopy.  I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, the wind was strong, but peer pressure and help from Robin soon had it installed and pegged down.  

Southwold Harbour

That night we ate in Robin and Tessa’s van, a lovely fish stew with fish locally sourced at the harbour.  

That night the wind blew, the rain tipped it down and the canopy generally thrashed around, keeping me awake. Finally, it came off the rail connecting it to the van,  First job in the morning was to take it down and pack it away before the rain set in. Rosemary muttered on about how the whole point of a campervan was No More Soggy Tents. I ignored her.

The rest of the day was wet, very wet & windy, too.  We all walked along to the harbour eventually succumbing to the elements by sheltering in a cafe from where we sent Robin back to the campsite to get their car.  The harbour was really pleasant. No doubt, even better in sunshine. We drove the short distance to Southwold town which was absolutely drenched in rain, but I still managed to purchase a limited edition Fat Face top to add to my collection. Rosemary came away with two large silver-plated tablespoons for Van the Van. Supper eventually ended up as lunch in the Sail Loft, with asparagus & Tessa’s own artichokes for a post-snooze supper . Somehow we managed to have a preprandial drink at the Harbour Inn.

A short visit to Southwold, but we will definitely be back this year, hopefully with less inclement weather.  The harbour area looked interesting, and I must also do a brewery/distillery tour. These were sold out when we were there.

 

Fawley Hill Museum

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The Berkshire Cambridge Society visited Fawley Hill Museum on an open day on the 4th June 2017 on one of the four annual slots available for community groups to visit and ride on Sir William McAlpine’s private railway on his estate at Fawley, Oxfordshire.  A life-long railway buff, Sir William has over the years amassed an extraordinary collection of redundant railway artefacts and memorabilia and now has his own station, engines (steam and diesel), rolling stock and 1.25 miles of track. There are about 12 trips a day and each trip takes about 15 minutes. Visitors are free to travel as often as they wish. There is also a magnificent carousel, which was working, a museum, a model railway and an animal sanctuary. 

We rode the Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST No.31 and the Class 03 0-6-0 diesel locomotive, no D2120, on its first official passenger outing. All great stuff.