So, last week, I saw the Foo Fighters for the third time (that I remember); this time at Glasgow’s Hampden Park. As expected, they were great.
On both past occasions, I’d seen them at festivals; Leeds 2005 and Glastonbury 2017. The stadium gig was obviously longer and better, but I think I preferred the festival atmosphere.
This last time was part of a larger family group, which I probably wouldn’t want to do again.
A little late, but we made a return (after a couple of years) visit to the Mighty Dubfest, in Alnwick.
We called off at Alnwick Brewery on the way, we had one of their empties in the bar. Their place is pretty cool, with a great tap room and beer garden. Lovely people too.
We knew what to expect with the festival; local bands and a limited choice of beer. But the weather was great and we bumped into a few people we knew, mostly through the bar (we don’t know many campervan people).
The hound seemed to have a good time too.
So, two years late, Glastonbury happened this year.
While a slow and expensive form of travel, the van made a huge difference to the experience. It wasn’t just down to sleeping in a bed (sort of); there was a lot more space than on the campsites and no need to carry everything from a car park.
This was going to be my last Glastonbury, but I’m already wondering about the chance of a ticket next year.
Unfortunately, the van’s new oil leak became something of an issue as we drove through Bristol.
This resulted in a large amount of smoke and the need to have a lengthy break to let the engine cool down.
Oh, and a wing mirror fell off.
Northern Kin, a dog friendly festival.
After meeting a bunch of nice people one night at Northern Kin festival, we promised we’d try out the buskers’ night at the Gin and Ale House (previously, the Albion) in Jarrow.
We’d stopped off at the pub a couple of times in the past, but only for a quick pint in passing.
After a delay of a few weeks, we finally made time for a longer visit last night. For some reason, we decided to walk. With a walk of almost two hours, we stopped off half way for a break at the Cricketers in Bill Quay.
That meant that we arrived a little later than intended, but it was definitely worth the walk. It was more of a traditional buskers’ night, with a more natural feel than the buskers’ nights I was accustomed to in the Schooner. We’ll be back next Thursday, although we might set off earlier.
Sadly, while we did meet up with festival acquaintances, the dog’s festival friend wasn’t there last night. Apparently she’ll be there next week though.
Last night also allowed us to test the challenge of the dog’s visibility in the dark.
So, we went to a festival; Northern Kin. Delayed over a year and relocated, but it was good to have some sort of normality.
While it’s a small scale festival and the line-up wasn’t exactly amazing, it was a lot better than I’d expected.
I hope they keep to the same formula next year.
The dog seemed to have a good time too.
She even made a festival friend.
I was briefly excited at the prospect of attending this year’s Glastonbury Extravaganza. It seemed the ideal way to get a tiny bit of the festival experience in a (second) year without the festival itself.
But dogs aren’t allowed.
My disappointment dissipated quickly when I read that camping will be possible on the site this summer.
And then returned when I learned that Campervans won’t be allowed. Well, not allowed for camping. My hopes were once more built up with the possibility of renting a pre-erected tent, leaving the van in the car park.
But, yes, you guessed it. Dogs aren’t allowed. Pah.
Several years ago, a mate and I set off on an adventure to Holland. A festival in Holland. Arriving in Calais, we decided to buy cheap beer rather than pay Dutch prices.
This involved a lengthy wait for a wine warehouse to open, since we’d arrived at a ridiculously early hour. Which meant we were pretty tired by the time a warehouse opened.
The choice of wine was impressive. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take glass bottles to the festival and only one brand of beer was on sale for a sensible price.
And that brand was Wanka. It was incredibly cheap and only a month or two out of date. Concerned about our schedule and the possibility of illness due to outdated beer, we left the Wanka beer and continued on our way.
We ended up buying overpriced beer from a Lidl in Belgium, shortly before entering Holland. During our time at the festival, we often talked about Wanka beer, wondering whether we could have avoided the medical tent had we purchased out of date beer.
We did have a great time at the festival, despite having to drink overpriced beer.
Tonight, while in our local corner shop, I spotted some cans of Wanka beer. Except it wasn’t. After telling many people over the years about the Wanka near miss, I now realise that tiredness had led to us mis-reading the can lettering in Calais.
So there’s no such thing as Wanka beer.
Well, the van has successfully completed its first festival. At the age of 41.
However, concerns about its ability to climb a grassy hill, which had a strong likelihood of imminent muddy ruts, led us to move it on Sunday morning.
Where the van found company.
Other vans were spotted over the weekend; for example …..
This was our fourth Kendal Calling, probably our last though. It’s one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to, but the weather’s just mental. On all four occasions, there has been mud.
Lots of it.
Anyway, the festival was great.
During Glastonbury 2014, I think, my beloved and I checked out the shop (then near the viewing hill) selling hammocks. Well, they were’t trying to sell them, but up to four people at a time could try one out.
Naturally, we needed to remove our wellies first. We were instructed as to how we should board our chosen hammock (sideways, sitting down, rather than lengthways, since these were the traditional, huge, Mexican variety).
And, like everyone else else, we loved it.
Afterwards, we searched for the most beautiful hammock, which we purchased. Unfortunately, that did mean that we needed to carry our new purchase for an hour or two until we could deposit it in our tent.
We used the hammock just two or three times that summer. My beloved’s 80+ year-old Dad liked it a lot too.
It’s not that we’d forgotten about it. We were either doing something else or, when we had time, the weather was rubbish.
So, after melting while doing some gardening in silly temperatures this afternoon, I dug the hammock out. It’s still beautiful.
I’m in it right now. With a beer and a decent book.
Just great.