Steve & Rosemary Blasdale

Glastonbury Festival 2024 – Wednesday

Posted on June 26, 2024 by SteveDecember 3, 2024

26th June 2024

On Wednesday, I set off to the Glastonbury Festival 2024, I was taking Selina and Phil to the festival. The first time for Phil, the third time for Selina (98, 99, 24) and the fourteenth time for me (98, 99, 09, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, 24). The only gap for me was between 1999 and 2009. The other gaps in the years were when Glastonbury had a fallow year or Covid circulated. We were going to be staying at a glamping site called Love Fields.

We set of at 10.30, stopping at Starbucks near Frome, intention of charging the car with some free BP electricity. Alas all chargers were in use. Arrived at The Love Fields just before 2. A note to myself, ignore Google Maps, it will see the holdups on the main roads around Glastonbury, and attempt to find a quicker route, this inevitably will take you down small single-track roads, and roads that are closed to non-residents during the festival.

I had booked a large Ash Yurt at The Love Fields for the three of us. This is in the VIP area, where there is a selection of accommodation at different costs. There are several bars in the VIP area, and other bars outside the VIP area, but still in Love Fields. There are a couple of stages are in the area, with some bands playing both here and in the main Glastonbury festival. I have always wondered if you could come to The Love Fields and not attend Glastonbury Festival.

The yurt came with electricity and double bed for Selina and Phil, and a single for me. Checking in was quick and easy, driving down to the yurt to unload, and then taking the car back the car park. Slight irritation was by the Friday, the parking was full, and some vehicles were parked in the driveways. We picked up our wrist bands and guides from reception. The glamping site is very convenient to the festival. Straight out of Love Fields and you are at Pedestrian Gate C to the festival. It is also not far to walk to the Pyramid stage. Many staying at the festival site would have a longer walk than us.

Not many bands are playing on the Wednesday, it’s an arrival day. We did go for a walk around the site so Phil and Selina could get their bearings. Met up with Ed for a pint at the Stonebridge bar and headed back to Love Fields to watch the fireworks. Missed Mary, she was initially coming to work, but unfortunately her brother had an accident a few days before, so she stayed behind to look after him.

There is an excellent view of the fireworks from Love Fields. We also got to see the drone display, a first for Glastonbury. To see this, we had to be in the upstairs bar in the “Barn”. I had a Negroni here, but timeline is hazy.

Afterward the fireworks I went for a walk around the site, visiting the Avalon bar, the Ribbon Tower, and then I headed over to Woodsies stage to see the new Tree Stage. Then it was back through the Wood, walking through the trees on a platform. Final walk back to Carhenge to see Fulu Miziki. A Congolese band that makes music from rubbish. Somehow missed them, but they are on again. Good to see Car Henge in the dark. Fabulous use of old American gas guzzling icons set up in the formation of Stone Henge. A nod to the origins of the new age travellers influence on Glastonbury. They had been cast out from Stone Henge in the Battle of Beanfield in 1985 .

This Wednesday, the weather was kind. It was sunny and warm. There had been several days break in the wet weather (we had been soaked at Download), and we were not going to receive any rain this weekend. There had been quite a lot of rain in the preceding weeks, but thankfully it had stopped, and the land had dried out to a considerable extent. Unfortunately, in preparation for continued rain, all the main stages had wood chippings laid out. This meant there was no lovely grass to sit down on at the West Holts stage.

It had been a lovely start to Glastonbury Festival 2024

Video from The Love Fields of the Glastonbury 2024 drone display.

Vintage Sports-Car Club Meet

Posted on June 20, 2024 by SteveAugust 19, 2024

20th June 2024

The Vintage Sports-Car Club has been a fixture in the British automotive landscape for decades. Known for their monthly gatherings at pubs across the UK, they foster a sense of camaraderie among enthusiasts of classic vehicles. The club’s local chapter holds meet at the Canaletto pub on the third Thursday evening of the month.

Despite its modest size, the village of Kingswood in Buckinghamshire has become a hub for automotive enthusiasts. The Aylesbury VM club also meets regularly, gathering once a month on a Sunday morning at the Akeman for a special breakfast and car show.

It’s a testament to the enduring appeal of classic cars and the vibrant community spirit of this small village that it can host two such events. The sight of vintage vehicles and VWs gleaming in the sunlight is a delightful treat for locals and visitors alike.

Here is an ERA (Englis Racing Automobile) from the 1930’s being started.

Download 2024 Festival

Posted on June 16, 2024 by SteveJanuary 18, 2025

16th June 2024

Selina and I vistited the Download 2024 Festival. This year we had a RIP (Rest in Peace) tickets for the campsite. This gave us a camping space with car parked next to it, showers, somewhere nice to eat, and access to an area where we could hang out with seats. We also had early access to the Arena and the Old Sarum Tattoo and Piercing area.

We took Morrison the van, and arrived Thursday at around 13.00. There were no queues this year, no traffic hold ups, sailed straignt into reception and then parked the van in the field on a large slope. Spent the afternoon tasting the various beers they have on sale in the farmhouse. There were bands also playing at the farmhouse, some of these playing the arena on the following day. We also heard how many bands had pulled out from playing the Doghouse stage in protest of Barclays sponsorship and their ties with the arms suppliers who were suppliing Isreal.

Download Friday

Very cloudy start to the day which turned into torrential rain. We started off at the Apex stage (main stage), migrated over to the Avalanche stage to escape the rain, and finished at the Apex stage for the Queens of the Stone Age.

The Blue Stones, a Canadian three pice band. Quite an enjoyable band.
Those Damn Crows:, it started to pour with rain. This did not dampen the apluase from the crowd. An Excellant performance from this Welsh Band.
The Struts: It stopped raining for the Struts, the sun even came out for this Derby band.
Polyphia: prog rock band from Texas, their virtuosic guitar playing was too complex.
Vukovi: The rain was still coming down, so we headed to the Avalanche stage which is undercover. We were met by the Scottish band, Vukovi, a blonde vocalist, guitarist and drummer. Balance was not good, she could have done with some extra volume.
Bayside: American punk band from New York. Enjoyable
Wheatus: Wheatus is an American rock band from Northport, New York and ended their set playing Teenage Dirtbag
Busted: Very crowded. English pop-punk band from Southend
Queens of the Stone Age: Back to the pyramid stage for The Queens Of The Stone Age. (now my third time seeing them)

Download Saturday

Slight delay in the opening of the arena, spreading of woodchips infront of the main stage. Yes there was mud, but not like Glastonbury mud, The ground was still very firm, but there was a layer of mud. It was yet again a wet day, with hot blue sun and rainbows. Check some of the early sections of the videos where you can see the rain bouncing off the stage. Yep is was a wet start to the day, the mud grew deeper, and the sun came out on occaisions to brighten up the day.

Bambi Thug Robinson is the first openly non-binary artist to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest,
Wargasm are a British electronic rock duo from London, Sam Matlock,and Milkie Way.
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes
Baby Metal
Tom Morello
The Offspring
Fall Out Boy

Download Sunday

Another delay in opening the Arena, where wood chips were spread in front of the stage. The mud was getting more gloopier and deeper. Don’t think is rained today, and there was plenty of blue sky. It was the wet gloopy mud which made for a hard day walking around. I don’t think Sunday was a particularily good day music wise.

Alien Weaponry is a New Zealand metal band from Waipu, formed in Auckland. Some of the band members have Māori ancestry and some songs sung in same language.
Creeper: an English rock band from Southampton.
Royal Republic is a Swedish rock band from Malmö. We saw them at Bloodstock last year.
Bowling for Soup is an American rock band formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1994
Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida
Avenged Sevenfold: (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999.

Impressions

As usual, the beer is expensive and crap, The beer in the RIP Farmhouse is good, but it is geared up for Wednesday and Thursday, after then it starts to run out and it is a long walk from the festival site. I wish there was more some choice.

With the mud, it was hard work on the Sunday, but nowhere as bad as Glastonbury mud. Quite a few choices of food, with many Veggie and Vegan options. Yes, I tend to avoid meat at these places, I have had some of the most disgusting burgers and hotdogs. There was also Bunnymans, and their hot Bunny Chow is hot.

France – Mike Eaton

Posted on June 9, 2024 by SteveApril 5, 2025

9th June 2024

Early in the year, we received the sad news that Mike Eaton had passed away. A celebration of his life was scheduled in France for early June. We wanted to attend, as did John and Carol. We travelled to France via the Channel Tunnel and stopped at Le Bec-Hellouin, which is near Rouen and approximately halfway to Linda’s location. We stayed here for a couple of nights, visiting the village for a meal. In the village, we decided to sit outside at the restaurant for lunch but hastily moved inside when the heavens opened. I also enjoyed some new walks in the area that I had not done before.

There were some interesting aircraft flying overhead, as it was around the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and several old planes were taking to the skies. I have an image of the G-BRKC Auster J/1 Autocrat flying over the campsite. This plane was a 1940s British single-engined three-seat high-wing touring monoplane built by Auster Aircraft Limited in Rearsby, Leicestershire. Numerous other old aircraft were flying, though none were posing for photographs.

Afterwards, we continued down to Arçais to camp in the local campsite. Here, we joined John and Carol, who were our neighbours for the next few days.

We joined them on various walks in the Marais, admiring the fauna and flora. John was very disappointed with the fauna; there were virtually no dragonflies around, and the dykes in the Marais were a disappointing brown colour from mud. The clear, weed-filled waters appeared non-existent. This was blamed on the heavy rainfall during the winter and spring.

The evening before the Celebration of the Life of Mike, we met up at Linda house for Pizza. The local Pizza shop was doing a roaring trade.

The next day many friends got up to speak about Mike, from his early days at university and through the jobs he had and the people he influenced. The speaches were in English and French, these were transalted by an English woman who was bilingual.

Moorhens and Foxes

Posted on June 1, 2024 by SteveAugust 19, 2024

1st June 2024

The weeks before we went on our Outer Hebrides holiday, I had been monitoring a Moorhen nest in our wild garden pond. Interesting visits from a fox who came around several times but gave up trying to scavenge the eggs. Foxy didn’t like getting wet. As fate dictated the eggs hatched when we were away on holiday. Luckily, they started to hatch as we left, so I did get some video footage of a couple of chicks. The constant movement of the Moorhen, and vegetation caused the trail cams memory card to fill up in two days.

Unusual Sunset

Posted on May 31, 2024 by SteveAugust 20, 2024

31st May 2024

The sun was setting in an unusual way. As it descended, it turned red, The sky looked overcast, with no red hues, making the fiery globe particularly unusual. As the sun approached the horizon, it seemed to disappear into a hazy layer, its lower portion blending into the sky.

This was a rare opportunity to capture the sun’s beauty with a zoom lens. The images revealed four distinct sunspots, dark blemishes on the sun’s surface caused by intense magnetic activity. Additionally, the sun’s circumference appeared uneven, with various solar eruptions, or flares, creating a jagged edge. These flares are sudden bursts of energy released from the sun’s surface, often accompanied by intense radiation and charged particles.

Scotland – Moffat Scores Two Ticks

Posted on May 30, 2024 by SteveJuly 14, 2024

30th May 2024

On packing up for the next part of the trip, R felt there was “something” on the back of her neck. I had a look. It seemed to have already been de-bodied (hairbrush), with only its legs visible, and head buried in her neck. I tried to remove it with a tick remover, but the head remained buried in the neck. Walked to the pharmacy to see if they could help. No, can’t remove the head you will need a doctor. Found the doctor and made an appointment for 12.10

We walked around the town for the next couple of hours. Had coffee and cake at the gin restaurant. Viewed the cemetery, not seen a churchyard with so many huge tombstones. A few notable ones were there. One in memory of several Royal Mail postmen killed in a storm in the Highlands.

Looked through the windows of many rather bizarre shops. One was still selling filament bulbs, seems to have a huge stock of them.

Visted the GP where the doctor gave R a numbing injection, then set to work with a scalpel to remove the head. If there was any doughnut shaped rash later, he said to contact our local GP for antibiotics. Strongly suspect our local GPs would not have done that, but how far were we from A&E?? (Two ticks cos one for the tick itself and another tick for the Moffat GP.) Soon we were on are way home to Buckinghamshire on the M6, M5 and M42.

Scotland – Moffat

Posted on May 29, 2024 by SteveJuly 14, 2024

29th May 2024

Packed away the van, and we headed off to another CCC campsite, this time at Moffat.

The trip took us to Inverness, where we stopped at the Tesco which Steve was sure he knew where it was. No, it was somewhere else. Found it, used the loos and bought lunch.

Continued down the A9 and then the road down to England. Twenty plus miles from the border we left the motorway, and a short distance to the campsite in Moffat. A very large CCC site probably used as a stop on the way to and from England. Have no idea what this town was like, unfortunately the gin lounge closes early on a Wednesday, so we missed out there.

I had a short walk around in the evening and it turns out to be quaint. Very few national shops on the street, all independent.

Track

Electric Vehicles Festival

Posted on May 28, 2024 by SteveAugust 19, 2024

28th May 2024

On a particularly rainy day, I joined a group of Polestar 2 electric vehicle owners for the Electric Vehicles Festival at Stanford Hall. We met at the M6 service station to capture a photo of our vehicles charging before embarking on a convoy to the event.

However, upon our arrival, we were met with disappointment. The Stanford Hall event had been cancelled due to heavy flooding along the River Avon. Despite the organizer’s attempts to stop people from attending, many had already made the trip. With no mobile phone reception, it was difficult to communicate the cancellation.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances, we decided to make the best of the situation. We lined up for a group photo in front of the flooded Stanford Hall and then headed to the nearby Motor Museum for a tour and lunch. While I returned home, many of the other Polestar owners continued their day exploring the area.

The organizers have rescheduled the Electric Car Festival for September 8th, but unfortunately, I will be unable to attend due to prior commitments.

Scotland – Poolewe – Inverewe Gardens

Posted on May 28, 2024 by SteveJuly 12, 2024

28th May 2024

Rained in the early morning. It should not have done so. Weather forecasts can be unreliable.

First, we walked to the village hall. There was a bookshop there, plus a market. We bought four second handbooks, including one titled “Warm or very Warm – the Story of a Scottish Summer”, which we thought hilarious. In the main hall there were a number of stalls. Bought three 500ml bottles of beer. Two stout and a light citrus beer. Brewed in Poolewe.

Walked to the Inverewe Gardens where we spent several hours walking around. The flowers and trees were spectacular. Parts of the gardens featured plants from different places in the world, or plant types, such as New Zealand and a bamboo garden,

Unfortunately, the restaurant there was a bit crap, offering pies and soup, not much more.

Back to the campsite by four when it started to rain yet again. Didn’t look like a chance of a sunset tonight. What was that book called? Suddenly out to sea, there was a break in the sky, and the sun was setting. Think most of the campsite was looking out to sea and standing on the water’s edge to see the sun dip below the horizon. A drone joined us for the spectacle. Must purchase one of these, a useful tool for photographers.

It had been a nice stay in Poolewe. The campsite was lovely, right next to the sea front, well kept & well landscaped. Some of the hardstanding was concrete, the floors of army buildings from the war. The property is owned by the Scottish National Trust. Unfortunately, they only give the CCC three-year leases. The short lease means that the CCC won’t take the risk of investing in the shower block. with the result the block is rather antiquated and inadequate.