Down In The Valley by Charlotte Greig.

Today I thought I’d tell you about an album that I’m listening to at this very moment. The mood of it is quite fitting for this cold and cloudy December day. It is called Down In The Valley by Charlotte Greig recorded in 1999. I discovered her music while reading about another singer Anne Briggs. The article said that Anne was an influence on Charlotte, so I checked Charlotte out on YouTube and decided to order an album. I also discovered that Charlotte Greig was a bit of a polymath. As well as being a singer songwriter, she was also a playwright, novelist, and journalist.  On this recording there are eight songs written by Charlotte plus four traditional songs. As well as singing, Charlotte also plays harmonium and dulcimer which reminded me of Nico and Joni Mitchell. I did read that Charlotte also cited Nico as an influence. She is accompanied by Julian Hayman on guitar; there is also bass and drums.

The opening song Trees has a pastoral and melancholy mood and contains samples of a traditional folk song The Trees They Do Grow High sung by Walter Pardon. Trees are a recurring theme through several of these songs. The Cruel Mother is a traditional song that has been recorded by many artists over the years including Shirley Collins, Joan Baez and my personal favourite Anne Briggs. The title song Down In The Valley to my ears is the most accessible song on first listen with the title being the refrain last line of every verse. Black Name is quite a brooding song as the title would suggest. Take Me Home is an intimate love song (See video below) The next track The Wondrous Cross is a well-known hymn written by Isaac Watts in 1707. House Of Pain and Here I Stand continue the mood of underlying melancholy that pervades many of the songs. 

I much prefer To Make You Stay composed by Lal Waterson who I have written about previously on this site. The Bells Of Paradise is another trad song given a drone like arrangement by Charlotte. All Through The Night is like a sister song to Down In The Valley where high trees are again mentioned. Shadows as well as trees are a recurring image throughout these songs as in Shadows In A Dream  a short and sweet song to bring the album to a close. Sadly, Charlotte died at the relatively young age of 59 which is a tragic loss because she was obviously a very talented creative artist in many fields of expression. I was pleased to see on Wikipedia that both her sons are musicians as well. I have enjoyed listening to her music again this afternoon. 

However, I suspect that this recording doesn’t represent her best work. I wonder if her fans who are more familiar with her work than me would consider it one of the best of her six albums. I say that because when I first searched her music on youtube I liked other songs like Rosalie, I Wish, I Wish, Seven Seas, and Twin Stars (Shared Below) more than many of the songs on Down In The Valley. I don’t regret buying this album though and am very grateful to have discovered her music. Listen to the videos below and decide for yourself. Cheers.

Charlotte Greig Take Me Home

Charlotte Greig -Twin Stars

Jimmy Cliff Many rivers to cross Live at Glastonbury 2003

R.I.P. Jimmy Cliff.

End Of The Middle by Richard Dawson

Sorry I haven’t written anything for ages. I guess I just lost interest for a while, and I don’t know why. I have had tickets to go to various events that I was meaning to tell you about, but when the days came to go to them, I just couldn’t be bothered going. For instance, I had a ticket for a talk by legendary record producer Joe Boyd at Toppings bookshop in Bath, but I never went. They were kind enough to send me a signed copy of his book though. It is about 920 pages. I have read the first chapter but doubt if I’ll ever get through the whole thing. I also had a ticket to see one of my favourite bands of the 1970s which is Lindisfarne, but when the night arrived it just seemed easier to stay in by the fire. A couple of months ago I was in the kitchen doing the washing up and this amazing guitar music came on the radio, probably BBC6 Music and I thought, “Brilliant, that’s John Fahey”. But when it ended the radio presenter said that it was Gwenifer Raymond. I had never heard of her, so looked her up on the internet. 

I discovered that she was playing in Bradford On Avon on a double bill with Richard Dawson. I also hadn’t heard of him but after reading about him on Wikipedia and hearing a couple of songs on youtube I bought a ticket for the gig and ordered a copy of his latest album. I didn't go to that gig either which I regret now because I love his album. A few days ago I read that one of the music magazines, I think it is Uncut placed it at number 14 of their top 50 albums of the year. (Van Morrison’s Remembering Now was placed at number 25 by the way) Anyway; to pass the time on this cold November afternoon I thought I’d make the supreme effort to overcome my lethargy and tell you about End Of The Middle by Richard Dawson. Richard’s music is very hard to describe. Quirky might be a word people could use on first listen. It is very experimental, like taking folk music apart and reassembling it with some free jazz added to the mix.  

I think people who enjoy English freak folk music would like this album. I was reminded once or twice of Jake Thackray or Barry Booth because of the storytelling elements of the songs. They sang about fictitious people, but with Richard you sense that he is singing about real events and real people from his own life. There is a lot of humour, but also bleakness and sadness in the lives of the people he depicts. It is a very simple recording with just Richard on guitar and vocals, Andrew Cheetham on drums, Faye MacCalman on clarinet, and his partner Sally Pilkington on synths and vocals on one song. The opening song Bolt is about a true-life incident which happened when Richard was a kid. The roof of their house was hit by lightning which ran down the phone line from room to room before vanishing with a deafening boom. Daytime television like Good Morning Britain and Deal Or No Deal is mentioned in many of the songs such as Gondola which concerns the lost dreams of an ageing lady who always wanted to go to Venice. 

Bullies’ concerns being beaten up at school by Anthony Pape who gets expelled for something else entirely, then the same kind of behaviour is repeated by the next generation. The Question is about a girl called Elsie who has an apparition of a railway worker who committed suicide. Boxing Day Sales is a bleak tale of post-Christmas shopping in bad weather for stuff that people don’t need. Knot concerns a drive to an awful wedding which is the height of bad taste. Richard’s lyrics say, ‘my soul is sick, a herring gull in an oil slick’. Polytunnel is my favourite track on the album (See video below). Richard is obviously very fond of gardening, and his allotment is his ‘happy place’. I read on Wikipedia that his allotment shed where he does all his work was blown over during last year’s Storm Jocelyn. Removals Van is about domestic turmoil of two generations and having to move house due to being made redundant from work.  More Than Real is co-written and sung with his partner Sally Pilkington and would appear to be about not wanting to repeat the mistakes of the past. It brings the album to an end on an upbeat optimistic note. I have enjoyed listening to this music again this afternoon, and I hope I feel inspired to tell you about something else soon. Cheers.

Richard Dawson - Polytunnel

Review: The Songs of Joni Mitchell, Komedia, Bath October 16th 2025.

It is quite a nice day here, so I’ve got to get myself back to the garden before the rain arrives, but first I just thought I’d tell you quickly about a most enjoyable concert that me and my sister Margaret went to at the Komedia in Bath in Bath on Thursday night. It was called The Songs of Joni Mitchell, a celebration of Joni’s music featuring Kate Stables, Jesca Hoop and Lail Arad, accompanied on piano by Richard Sears. Sadly, Lail wasn’t able to sing on the night due to laryngitis, but she bravely played guitar on several of the songs. I have become quite a fan of Kate Stables in the last few years after buying two albums Bashed Out and Careful Of Your Keepers, and you may recall I wrote a review of her band This Is The Kit when they played in Frome last year. 

I knew a little about Jesca Hoop before this concert because a while ago a friend sent me a compilation CD featuring one of her songs which encouraged me to listen to more. Interestingly, I found out recently that Jesca used to work as a nanny for Tom Waits children, and Tom and his wife Kathleen became her early mentors. Tom described her voice as, ‘like a four-sided coin. She is an old soul, like a black pearl, a good witch or a red moon. Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night’. I have looked at Kate and Jesca from both sides now, but I really don’t know Lail at all. However, I think she is the organising power behind this tour where all three have taken time out from their own projects to celebrate the huge influence of Joni on their lives. We had much better seats in this intimate little venue than when I saw Nick Lowe here earlier in the year. 

Kate

The show began promptly at 8.00 with just Jesca and her guitar performing an exquisite Morning Morgantown from Ladies Of The Canyon. This was followed by one of Joni’s lesser-known songs That Song About The Midway from the Clouds album. Then she was joined by Kate for This Flight Tonight from one of the greatest albums ever recorded which is Blue. One of my highlights of the evening was Kate performing California and proving what a great multi-instrumentalist she is, accompanying herself on the dulcimer just like Joni. Kate then explained that Lail was unable to sing and introduced Richard who demonstrated what a great electric piano player he is. Jesca then sang another aviation inspired song Amelia from Hejira, a Joni album that passed me by when it was released in 1976, but as I’m now realising contains some of her greatest songs. Before the interval there was another song, but I didn’t recognise it.

Jesca

After the break Jesca and Richard performed another song that I didn’t know, but it might be Night Ride Home because it mentioned the 4^th of July. It was excellent anyway. Free Man In Paris from Court & Spark featuring all the ensemble was performed sublimely. I filmed most of their splendid version of Woodstock which you can see below. Shine from 2007 is a lesser-known Joni song but the lyrics referring to such horrors as evaporating seas and Frankenstein technologies are very powerful and relevant to today’s world. The sombre tone of that song was uplifted with Carey which is a mean old song, but it’s out of sight. A seasonal song from Blue is River which reminds us that soon it will be Christmas, and they will be cutting down trees. Due to gaps in my Joni knowledge I think I haven’t mentioned some songs because I didn’t know them. The evening ended with Both Sides Now which was wonderful, and the audience were encouraged to sing along with some of the verses.

Lail.

At the end of the song Kate, Jesca, and Lail applauded the audience. At the merchandise table on the way out I bought a recent EP they have recorded of Joni songs containing Raised On Robbery, Morning Morgantown, Big Yellow Taxi, and A Case Of You which I am listening to at this very moment. I also bought Margaret a poster of the evening to thank her for getting me a ticket. Kate, Jesca & Lail all signed it for me, and I thanked them for a nice evening. Then we headed for the train station. What a great night it had been. 

Jesca, Kate & Lail at the merch table.

Kate Stables, Jesca Hoop, & Lail Arad. Woodstock.

Spiegel im Spiegel for Cello and Piano (Arvo Pärt)

Happy 90th Birthday to Arvo Part.

I just realised that today marks the 90th birthday of Arvo Part who was born  in Paide, Estonia on September 11th 1935. He is possibly the most popular living composer of classical music in the world, so I thought I would dust off this little piece I wrote a few years ago.

.................The small Baltic republic of Estonia only has a population of 1,329,460 people, but they can be justly proud, because one of that small number is arguably the greatest living composer in the world today. His name is Arvo Part who was born in Paide, a small city in Estonia in 1935. I had not heard of him until a few weeks ago. My awareness of his music came about through my growing interest in minimalist or ambient music. I see my discovery of Arvo Part’s music as a progression from other work I like such as Terry Riley, Virginia Astley, Tony Scott, the piano improvisations of Keith Jarrett and other such music. I like to think that I have an eclectic taste in music and do not think there is any genre of music that I would refuse to listen to. However, there are times when I do not want to listen to songs, I just want to listen attentively without having to think. Minimalist type music is perfect for a meditative state of mindfulness.

Reading about music online, the name of Arvo Part kept being recommended as an example of minimalist music. I decided to order a CD but had no idea what the best recordings of his compositions were, so settled on a double CD called The Very Best Of Arvo Part. It is a 2010 compilation of nearly 160 minutes of music by various artists, orchestras, and choirs. I thought I knew nothing about this music, but some of it sounded quite familiar. That is probably because film makers have often used his music in soundtracks. I do not really feel equipped to discuss this music in depth because I do not know enough about classical music and the techniques involved in composition. When I hear about terms like counterpoint, polyphony, tonality, or dissonance, I must look them up to see what they mean, and even then, I don’t understand it. I just like the music.

I gleaned from the sleeve notes that Arvo Part developed a radical new approach to music that he called Tintinnabuli meaning little bells. Many of his early pieces in this new style, including Tabula rasa (1977) and Spiegel im Spiegel (1978), have become some of his best-known compositions. Both of those compositions are included in this collection. Tabula Rasa is 28 minutes long and is exquisite. In Part’s music you can savour every note, harmony, and silence between the notes. I think all great musicians understand the importance of leaving spaces in their work.

Arvo Part suffered under Soviet rule. The censors banned his work from being performed. He was branded as ‘a traitor to the fatherland’. His reputation grew in the west however and the authorities finally granted him an exit visa in 1980 and he resided in Berlin where he stayed until 2010 before returning permanently to Estonia. Along with John Williams he is now the most performed composer in the world. There may be better recordings of his work, but as an introduction to Arvo Part I am very happy with this collection. It features music by such people as The Choir Of Kings College Cambridge, The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and many others. I was particularly taken by the violin playing of Tamsin Little and the piano of Martin Roscoe. This is very spiritual music. Arvo Part is a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, but you do not have to be religious to be moved by this music. By spiritual I mean in the sense of transcendence. To quote Van Morrison you could say this music really is ‘hymns to the silence’. I am extremely pleased to have discovered this wonderful music.

Seeing Yusef / Cat Stevens, at Bristol Beacon 8/9/2025.

I have been a Cat Stevens fan since the 1960s, but it was in the early to mid-1970s that he became one of my favourite singer-songwriters with such albums as Mona Bone Jakon, Tea For The Tiller Man, Teaser & The Firecat and Catch Bull At Four. I have always liked music with a spiritual content and Cat’s songs certainly had that in abundance. My interest waned after that, and Cat Stevens withdrew from making music and changed his name to Yusef (which translates as Joseph). In recent years though he has re-emerged from the moon shadows and started performing again under the name Yusef / Cat Stevens. I finally got to see him play live when he gave a magnificent performance at Glastonbury two years ago in the Sunday afternoon legends spot. This year it was announced that he had written his autobiography On The Road To Find Out and was performing a tour to promote the book. One of the dates was at Bristol Beacon, so I snapped up two tickets in the pre-sale for myself and a friend. On the night my friend sadly couldn’t go due to illness, so I gave her ticket to another friend who lives in Bristol. Before the show began I was pleased to meet up with three other mates who I know from Van Morrison gigs. When we took our seats, I was slightly annoyed to find that the start time had been put back by half an hour, from 7.30 to 8.00 because I was hoping to catch the 10.25 train home. More about that later.

I must say that the stage set and lighting for this performance was magnificent and theatrical. There was a small table on the stage with a teapot and cup just like the cover of Tea For The Tillerman. The entire show had a changing backdrop of Cat’s own artwork, old photographs, rare videos, and scenes from his life. He was accompanied by just two other musicians on guitars, keyboards and various other instruments. The show began with Cat walking on from stage left, playing his acoustic guitar and singing Miles From Nowhere. Then he sat by the little table and began to sing songs and recount his life story which began above his Greek Cypriot parents Moulin Rouge restaurant in London’s West End. He attended a nearby catholic primary school which was run by nuns. This led to a little snippet of Days Of The Old School Yard. 

He originally wanted to be an artist or cartoonist. You can see he was talented in art from the album covers which he created. Then he heard The Beatles and Stones and that was it. He persuaded his father to buy him a guitar. Mike Hurst of The Springfields (Dusty Springfield’s group) heard his songs and got him a deal with Deram records and Cat had early hits with I Love My Dog and Matthew & Son which was only kept off the top of the charts by The Monkees. He was in a dark place emotionally however which led to such songs as Trouble and A Bad Night. Disaster struck and Cat was in hospital for 18 months with TB. When he recovered eventually, everything including his music had changed. He was writing a musical based on the Russian revolution and one of the songs from it was Father & Son. Chris Blackwell of Island records offered him a contract which led to his most successful period as a singer-songwriter, but Cat was on a spiritual quest. He used to frequent a bookshop called The Bodhi Tree where he discovered a book called Zen Flesh, Zen Bones which influenced the Catch Bull At Four album which went straight to number one on the Billboard charts.

A turning point in his life was when Cat almost drowned while swimming in the sea off California. He made a deal with god that if his life was saved he would work for him. I think the last song before the interval was one of my favourites The Wind. After the interval Cat sang another wonderful song Lilywhite and then recounted how his brother gave him a copy of The Koran after visiting Jerusalem. This led to him eventually visiting the mosque in Regents Park, becoming a Muslim, being introduced to the Hard Headed Woman he was seeking, getting married and having children. He lost interest in music and dedicated his life to family, creating schools, and humanitarian charity fundraising. It was the horrors of the Bosnian war that brought him back to playing music and writing songs, also his son encouraging him to pick up the guitar again. I must say that I didn’t know anything about his music of recent years, but one song The Little Ones about the children of Bosnia was particularly moving. 

However, I was getting fearful of missing my train and had to leave. I found out this morning that I missed hearing Peace Train, If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out, and the encore which was Wild World. I grabbed a taxi outside and headed for Temple Meads Station where I found I had just missed my train. I realised that I could have seen the end of the show after all. I caught the next train at 11.06. At Bath I had to get off the train due to engineering works and catch a replacement bus service. After I finally got off the bus I still had a twenty-minute walk home. I got through my front door at 1.00am exhausted, but still happy that I had witnessed a brilliant concert by the legend that is Yusef / Cat Stevens and will certainly be buying his book when it is published on October 2nd 

I might have made some mistakes and this list might be in the wrong order, some of these songs were just snippets, but I think the concert setlist was Miles From Nowhere, Days Of The Old School yard, I Love My Dog, The First Cut Is the Deepest, Trouble, Father and Son, Sitting, Joseph, The Wind, Lilywhite, On the Road to Find Out, Hard Headed Woman, Bitterblue, Moonshadow, Cat In The Dog Trap, Oh Very Young, The Little Ones, How Good It Feels, Peace Train, If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, Wild World.

Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Wild World (Glastonbury 2023)

Happy 80th Birthday to Van Morrison

Kate Nash: The Cheese & Grain, Frome, 24/7/2025.

For the last three weeks or so I think I have had a mild case of the post-Glastonbury blues. Ordinary life has seemed a bit dull and boring, and watching the news only adds to the depression. There was also the feeling that summer is slipping by, and I’m not getting out and about enough and enjoying the nice evenings. Anyway, on Monday night in my local pub I saw a What’s On guide for The Cheese & Grain in Frome. We are very fortunate to have such a great local venue because they have had lots of famous acts play there recently such as Supergrass, CMAT, The Libertines, Wunderhorse and The Selector all of whom played at Glasto. I read that Kate Nash was playing there on Thursday, so decided to get myself a ticket. I must have bought one of the last tickets available because by the time Thursday arrived it was a complete sell-out. I must admit that I knew very little about Kate Nash beforehand. She had played at Glasto on the Leftfield stage which made me think that her heart was in the right place. Also, I knew that she had made a number 1 best selling album a long time ago and the couple of songs I had heard on youtube reminded me of Lily Allen because of her London accent. Even if I wasn’t very familiar with her songs, I figured that any live music would lift me out of the doldrums. 

My main concern was that I would be the oldest person there by about 30 years.  However, when my taxi dropped me outside the hall and I surveyed the queue of people entering I was relieved to see that all age groups were represented from youngsters to oldies like me. They have a nice outdoor bar area which is perfect for a pleasant summer evening, so I got myself a pint of  cider and sat out there for a while until it was time for the support band who were called Nobody’s Dad. They are a four-piece, two male, two female, young indie rock band from Bristol who played a short, loud and entertaining set of songs. One of the songs was about a pet goldfish called Margo. The girl on guitar and vocals was particularly impressive. They were obviously very pleased and grateful to Kate Nash for giving them the opportunity to play to such a large audience. 

Nobody's Dad.

During the interval I sat outside again and enjoyed the last of the evening sunshine. One good thing about a standing gig at the Cheese & Grain is that it is quite easy to get near the front by walking up the side of the hall. However, when Kate came on stage promptly at 9.00 to huge applause from the packed hall although I had a great view of herself, I couldn’t see all the band from my side position. I can’t give you a setlist I’m afraid because I only caught the names of about four or five songs and guessed what some other songs were from the lyrics. I filmed two songs called Ray and Mouthwash (See video).

Kate also sang a new song which I think was called Rage. Other songs I hope were called Wasteman, Dickhead, Germ, Foundations and My Bile. I was very impressed with Kate as a charismatic performer. She has great stage presence and knows how to get the audience on her side. The audience were obviously a lot more knowledgeable than me and sang along to many of the songs. At one point Kate went into the audience and disappeared from sight. I bet the security staff were relieved when she finally reappeared. Before the show I had this idea that she was a kind of cockney folkie type singer, but nothing could be further from the truth. I would describe the music as loud indie pop/rock.  The subject matter of some songs seems to be about such topics as mental health, and dealing with relationships (often toxic relationships). There is a large political element to her music as well, and she went to great lengths explaining things that make her angry at the moment. 

At one point she produced a Palestinian flag and made a speech denouncing Keir Starmer and the government for classing people who are active in support of the people of Gaza as terrorists. By the audience response you could see that most of them agreed with her. Later in the show she voiced her anger at feminists who are transphobic (probably referring to the likes of J.K. Rowling). Some of the song titles and the subject matter might seem a bit depressing, but the audience obviously love Kate Nash, and she loves the audience. I enjoyed the show immensely and felt quite uplifted by it. On the way out I bought her most recent album called 9 Sad Symphonies which I have played several times now, and like it more with every play.. It is an excellent well produced album, very cinematic with lots of lush orchestral arrangements. Thank you very much Kate Nash, Nobody’s Dad and The Cheese & Grain for a most enjoyable evening in Frome.

Kate Nash in Frome. Mouthwash

My Glastonbury Adventure 2025: Part 1, 'A Tent Called Brian'.

 

Since I first went to Glastonbury 46 years ago in 1979, I think I have only missed about five festivals which was mainly due to Kim being ill. However, 2025 was the first year where I seriously considered not going. This was due to worrying about being at 73 too old for it, and not being up to all the walking, and suffering in the heat. Also, I had usually worked the morning shifts which meant I got the work out of the way by mid-day and didn’t miss any music. This year I had been put on evening shifts at the Park Stage which is on the opposite side of the valley from our camp site at Tom’s Field. With the walking involved this would have turned a 6 hours shift into 8 hours. Even worse, I would have missed seeing Neil Young. Happily for me, an angel came to my rescue which was Kate who has arranged my lift to Glasto for the last four years. Kate is a team leader on the Backstage crew at the famous Pyramid Stage and managed to get me transferred to her team, also it meant I was reunited at work with Odele my Glasto friend since 2013. So, in the end there was nothing to worry about, and Glastonbury Festival turned out to be just as magical as it ever was. This is what happened.

Heidi, Julie, Kellie, Me, Donna, Kate.

On Sunday morning I was up and about by 4.30, and my rucksack and tent were ready to go. At 7.00 I got the message that the convoy was on the way and got outside on Westbury marketplace. Soon three cars arrived driven by Kellie from Frome, Donna from the Isle Of Wight, and Russell from near Devizes. It was wonderful to see them all again after a year. I travelled with Kellie who we first met three years ago when purely by chance she camped next to us, which is often how friendships begin at Worthy Farm. Kellie is kindness personified and always brings me a chair and 8 cans of cider. She also has a wicked sense of humour. There were no traffic problems, and we soon arrived at the car park where we found Heidi and Julie. (Later in the week Heidi was to become a radio star, but I’ll tell you all about that when I get to it). We met Kate in the long queue at the recyclers cabin which had opened at 8.00, so we had wait patiently to collect our wristbands for Glastonbury and Tom’s Field. Once inside we made our way to our usual spot near the far end of Tom’s field which was already filling up. I had bought my little tent in Lidl for only £19 and was a bit concerned that it wouldn’t be up to the job, especially if it rained. 

Brian.

I called my tent Brian in tribute to the late great Brian Wilson who was my favourite ever Glasto performance exactly 20 years ago. Brian the tent proved to be well up to the job and looked after me for the next 8 days. Shortly after we got the tents up there was a couple of quite heavy rain showers, so we sat in the porch of Heidi and Julie’s huge posh tent until the rain stopped. Our little encampment was completed when Donna And Leon arrived. They are a brilliant, fun, positive couple who live only a few miles away. In Tom’s Bar it was great to meet up again with my friends of many years now Peter, Helen, Paul and Greta. There are about 30,000 workers at Glastonbury, so there are crew bars everywhere behind most of the main stages. On Sunday evening we made our traditional way to the Tow & Hitch which is the crew bar at Arcadia. You can also get food there which kept me going for the evening.

Pyramid, Sunday Evening.

After two pints I was getting tired and decided to be sensible and head back. Halfway home I stopped at the Bread & Roses Saloon and after another pint I seemed to revive, so decided to make my way home via the Acoustic Stage Crew Bar. I chatted to the barmaid who was from Dilton Marsh just outside Westbury and knew lots of people and pubs that I know including Rob Pike who always provided the marquee for this bar, so that was interesting. I also had a good chat with this guy who has helped build the Kidz Field for the last 20 years. Finally, I made my weary way home and crawled into my sleeping bag about 12.30 and fell asleep almost instantly. Little did I realise all the amazing adventures, chance encounters, great music, and excitement that was to fill the week ahead.

To Be Continued…………………………………

 

My Glastonbury Adventure 2025: Part 2, 'A Dramatic Incident'.

Michael & Emily Eavis.

I emerged from my tent all bleary eyed on Monday morning at about 6.30, quickly pulled on my boots and made a dash to the loo. It is a myth about how bad Glastonbury’s famous long drop toilets are. These days they are kept adequately clean by teams of volunteers from Water Aid who I call the Poo Fighters. So, total respect to them. After a quick wash I made my way to the workers marquee for breakfast. We didn’t have meal tickets this year. We were given a bar code when we collected our t-shirts and gloves. The bar-code had to be scanned every mealtime. I must say that the catering was a vast improvement on last year and the food was delicious. I’m not famous for my cooking and I ate better at Glasto than I do at home, so congratulations to the hard-working catering staff. This year I was determined to cut down on any unnecessary walking because the previous year I had walked about 15 miles a day all over the 900-acre vast site. My aching feet were so blistered and sore I could hardly walk by Sunday night. Therefore, I never left Tom’s Field until the early evening, just sat around chilling and chatting with old friends until Kellie announced it was Beer O’clock and I cracked open a can of cider. 

Kellie.

After dinner on Monday evening Me, Kate and Kellie walked down to the Acoustic crew bar where they met Kate’s friend John, and I sat with Peter, Paul, Greta, Helen, and some other people whose names I can’t remember. Peter said that it was going to be very hot later in the week, so it was important not to look at The Sun,…or the Daily Mail, ..or The Express, which is the only joke I can remember. Finally, it was time to make our way home. “Come along children”, I said, guiding them back up Muddy Lane. Back at base, me and Peter decided to have one last drink in Tom’s Bar. I asked for two cold ciders and Lawrie who has run the Bar for at least 20 years said, “Those drinks are on me, I’ve known you boys a long time”, which was another example of the kindness of Glasto folk.

Kate, Heidi, Me, John.

I thought Tuesday would be another quiet day of just hanging out and chilling. It began quietly enough but ended with some high drama in the evening. I could hear the pitter-patter of rain on my tent when I awoke, so I just turned over and went back to sleep until 9.30. I had missed breakfast, but never mind, 8 hours sleep is great by Glasto standards. The programmes had arrived, so I picked one up at the office and sat outside the marquee drinking tea, reading the programme, and talking to old mates like Pete, Bob & Paula from Nottingham, and Mani who drew mine and Odele’s portrait last year. In the afternoon Leon and Donna who had gone home on Sunday for work returned and we even had a glass of champagne. I kept telling my fellow campers stories about my previous experiences which always began with, “In the old days at Glastonbury”, until Kellie said I reminded her of Uncle Albert in Only Fools & Horses who always started a tale with “During the war”.

My Wristbands.

Odele messaged to say that she was arriving late and would probably miss the annual recyclers quiz at 7.00. That was a bit of a blow because our team The Glastafarians were the reigning champions. Greta and Paul were also meant to be in our team, but we wondered what had happened when they didn’t show up. So, our depleted team was just me, Peter, Helen, and Robin. When the first question was ‘In what year did Brian Wilson give a memorable performance on the Pyramid Stage?’ I thought it was a good omen that we would win again. Sadly, we only came 3^rd, but we still have the best record of any team, with our two previous victories. The entry fees always go to charity which makes it all worthwhile. Right at the end Greta’s husband Paul arrived and told us the reason for their absence. 

Festival Medical Services.

Earlier in the evening Greta and her friend Mary went to the carpark to bring in more stuff. On the way there they saw a man collapse on the ground. He was having a heart attack. Greta and Mary are both nurses and knew exactly what to do without panicking. They performed CPR on the man and contacted Festival Medical Services. An ambulance arrived within two minutes because they are already on site. The ambulance staff used a defibrillator on the man and transferred him to the air ambulance. Within a few minutes he was flown to hospital in Bristol. The good news is that he survived. He is a very lucky man because he would have almost certainly died if Greta and Mary hadn’t been there. 

Opening Ceremony.

Later that night I met up with Odele and talked with her and Steve until retiring early just past midnight. There was to be lots more excitement the next day. The gates were to be opened, and 130,000 people would pour onto Worthy Farm. Thousends of people were already in the queue and sleeping in cars outside, eager to get a good spot for their tents. There was to be an opening ceremony, and also, our friend Heidi was to appear on the Vernon Kay show to millions of listeners on BBC Radio 2 live from Tom’s Field. I’ll tell you all about that in the next instalment.

To Be Continued...........................

 

My Glastonbury Adventure 2025: Part 3, 'Make Tea, Not War'.

Odele & Me backstage.

It was Wednesday morning at Glastonbury, the sun was shining, the gates were open, thousands of excited music fans were pouring onto Worthy Farm, and I felt better than James Brown!. I decided it was high time I took a long walk to one of my favourite places which has been in the same spot at Glasto since 1992. It is The Tiny Tea Tent. The people who run it are wonderful and some of them remember me from previous years. It is a great place to sit, have a cup of tea and just watch the world walk by. In past times I used to sit here and write a few postcards but couldn’t be bothered with that this year. 

If you sit outside the Tiny Tea Tent for long enough everyone you know at Glasto will walk by eventually. I got talking to these two Irish guys who were working at the Theatre & Circus Field. It was their first Glastonbury, so they were blown away by it. Then Bob from Nottingham strolled up, other people came and went, and three pleasant hours were wiled away until I decided to move on. Although the main stages didn’t open until Friday there was plenty to see, such as this Australian lady held aloft on a surfboard by four lifesavers while operating about six hula hoops. I bumped into Kate, Kellie, Heidi and Donna and we ended up in a crew bar where the New York Brass Band entertained us for a while (They aren’t really from New York!).

That evening, I met up with Peter, Helen, and their gang by the Ash tree at the back of the Pyramid field for the opening ceremony. Last year they had hundreds of drones flying about. This year they had a 1,000-voice choir of which Odele was one, acrobats, high wire performers and other acts. There were probably 50,000 people in the field, it might have been spectacular on the television, but it all fell a bit flat for me, the choir were un-miked so we couldn’t hear them from the back and couldn’t see much on the big screen. I went back to Tom’s before the end to avoid the rush. 

Opening Ceremony.

Back in Tom’s bar it was great to see Greta’s sister Berna who had just arrived from Dublin. Her journey here had been eventful and hilarious. She had taken a Uber taxi from Bristol airport, but it had dropped her at Gate A instead of miles away at Gate B where she had to pick up her wristbands before the cabin closed at midnight. She ended up getting a lift in the cab of one of those sludge gulping tanker lorries which empty the long drops. She made it in time, so all’s well that ends well.

Heidi Wins!

Thursday was to be a very eventful day for us. Firstly, I’ll tell you about Heidi being on Britain’s most popular radio show. The Vernon Kay show has an average of 6.73 million listeners every weekday morning. It includes a quiz called Ten To The Top in which two people compete against each other, and the one who gets the most answers right wins a smart speaker. They wanted two people who were both at Glastonbury to take part. Heidi applied and was chosen to compete live from our little encampment in Tom’s Field. She was competing against a lady who was camped in the northeast corner somewhere. Although it was Thursday, Heidi had to pretend it was Friday when the BBC Glastonbury coverage began. Heidi was nervous, but she scored 8 points, her opponent only got 2 answers right, so Heidi won! Brilliant. We had to wait until next day to hear Heidi broadcast on the radio.

As with last year I took a walk to the Peace Garden in Kings Meadow for the Peace Ceremony. Although it is nice to get away from the likes of that orange thing in Washington for a few days, everyone is still aware of the horrors going on in Gaza and elsewhere. Nothing has improved since last year. It was nice to see an Israeli and a Palestinian peace activist together on stage appealing for peace. There was also an opera singer from Ukraine who had joined the army, was seriously injured and was now working for peace. He sang Nessun Dorma. I listened from a bench under the shade of a tree and had a chat with a nice London Jewish lady called Debs who was running one of the bars at Glasto. We didn’t really agree about Gaza, but could discuss it without hating each other, which is always a good thing.

Hodmaddodery

After that interlude, I thought I’d go back to the tea tent for a sit down, but I had trouble getting there because it is opposite the Greenpeace Field where they have a death-defying huge slide. There was a girl on the top who had lost her nerve and couldn’t decide to slide or not. Everyone on the walkway stopped to watch, cheer, and encourage her to go. This created a people jam on the road, until finally to a huge cheer she slid, and the crowd dispersed, so I could get my cup of tea and a flapjack. The last few years it has been a tradition with me to go and see an old friend Tony Carter and his mate Steve who are a folk duo called Hodmaddodery and always play on Thursday at 2.00 on the bandstand in the Market Area. I was a bit late this year but caught the last three numbers which were The Well Below The Valley, a song about Down End in Bristol, and a Led Zeppelin song The Battle Of Evermore. They are great, go and see them if you live near Bristol. I went back to base then for a rest because my first work shift was at 6.00. It was really nice to see my fellow Van Morrison fan friend Emer from Dublin who has also been on the recycling team for the past two years.

3 Bin Rats, Kate, Kellie, Me.

Our team all met at 5.30 at our camp and walked down to the Pyramid Stage backstage gate together. Kellie christened our team The Bin Rats. We were Kate (Our Leader), Me, Odele, Kellie, Donna, Russell, Julie, Heidi, Donna & Leon, and a nice couple from Liverpool called Spike and Sharon. The shift was only four hours until 10.00 and the time passed very quickly. There were various jobs to do and Odele and me had the task mainly of making sure the bins in the hospitality area didn’t overflow and change the bin liner bags when they were getting full. Also litter pick anything on the ground. After work ended, I was too tired to do anything else, so just had my first alcoholic drink of the day back at base. I was in bed by midnight. Tomorrow, six days after we arrived at Worthy Farm, the music at Glastonbury 2025 would finally begin!.

Photo by Andrew Allcock.

To Be Continued…………………………….