Well it’s over for another year, and how do I feel about it this year. Mixed feelings really. I suppose the weather had a lot to do with it. The continuous rain on Friday, left me feeling very depressed. Then there was the mud, which really made the weekend, very hard work. I know festivals are supposed to be wet and muddy, but ….

We did not camp after the Thursday night. S****’s tent got a quite a bit of water inside. One of the door flaps did not get closed properly, so the floor of the tent was quite wet. Some rain got under the roof vent on my tent and leaked a bit. We only live a couple of miles away, so it was as easy to go home to sleep. With the added benefit of a cooked breakfast.

On Saturday, they had the bright idea of laying straw on top of the mud !! I’m sure I read, that they used to make houses out of straw and mud !! The walking was a bit easier, but the mud had started to dry out and was very thick. Sunday was much dryer, in fact it was very pleasant. We did get to see a number of bands, but never even went near the comedy tent. For me, the highlight of the whole weekend, was seeing Seasick Steve. A real experience, made even more so by the fact that before his second song, he brought on John Paul Jones, bass guitarist from Led Zeppelin !! Such a legend.

This was followed a bit later by Madness. I’m afraid, I did get a little carried away with Madness. I’ve always liked them, and when you’re in the middle of a large crowd, close to the front and wedged in, there is not a lot you can do. you just have to go with the flow. I paid for it later though. My legs were like lead weights for a couple of days !!!

All in all, I probably enjoyed it more than I think. Next year ?? Well I don’t think I/we will be camping this time!