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This was my favourite Glasto since 2000 - so much better for totally avoiding Babylon - the main and other stages, I still saw 45 acts and visited 32 bars. I thought the rain meant the mud stayed slushy and movable - if it dried out it would have been hell. More rainfall over the week than any previous year I reckon? Would I be right?

West car parks are decorated this year as we make our way into the festival. It’s looking a bit patchy weather-wise (weather seems to be theme this year) but the sun bursts out often enough to make carrying the kit a sweaty experience. Entry is easy except for getting programmes and the bag for them separately – thus not having a spare hand.

Once the tent is up and wood collected for the fire, little did we know about the weather, although we managed to light it on two nights, we set off for a wander around the site. Being Wednesday lunchtime many traders are still setting up and prices vary - £7 for a main meal? That means I hunt out meals for under £3.50 (successfully all week) and then bumble around the site covering everywhere but the new Park area.

Thursday consists of Leftfield and Late’n’Live to see bands properly on a Thursday, 3 Daft Monkeys ("we thought this was a beer tent") and Pama International set up my festie vibe in Leftfield! Woah it's a big tent now! And there’s another gathering at the cider bus in the evening.

Thank god for the Mrs arriving on Friday – she parks up miles off in East 6 which is the last car park so it is easy to get out - the mudbath we walk past once we are leaving to get to the car - had me worried – I hope people get off site ok. Turns out they didn’t and it was a bit of a nightmare.

Is it me or is Lost Vagueness a little boring? Nothing new this year, when it kept evolving it was so much better. Lets hope they pull out some new stuff next year, which can amaze and delight us and I never even made it to Trash City.

Avalon and Jazzworld made my weekend and we based ourselves pretty much in these two fields – the bars (a bar in Avalon!), the Wise Crone café and Bimble Inn for most of the weekend. All the headliners were great, Bellowhead and Saw Doctors especially.

Talking of the Bimble Inn, I had been worried that with a new tipi field the old one would be gone, but no - here it was the Bimble Inn, random great music - tasty beer, the two Chai Tents and even tipi nekkid mud wrestling – all combine to keep me grinning. Plus, meeting lots of random people late at night around the field from all corners of the globe gave the festival a more worldwide viewpoint.

Late n Live was also a god send, an oasis from the mud and some great future talent displayed, (I noticed coming back late Sunday night that Radio 1 are saying they've found these great acts – I think Glasto found them first!!!) and the DJs in the tent were superb - had me singing all day!

Forging iron on solstice morning was an unexpected bonus! The craft bit of Glasto sets it head and shoulders above any other festival! Make your own wooden sofa? Bargain! Plus real, traditional crafts, true expert craftsmen, some amazing designs and artists in attendance and much of the wares on display in the next field. I love the Greenfields at Glasto so much!

Talking of Solstice I thought the celebrations were rubbish - one solitary drummer? You drummers should be ashamed! Actually the Stone Circle even with the additional Banksy Loo-Henge just doesn’t have the atmosphere of the nineties. Yeah I should have made more of it myself – but I had no drum! The Banyan Tree Café was where it was at that morning anyway.

Park Field is a winner, a festival in itself. Shame about the horrendous mud, but in principle it looks lovely (nice feminine touches) and will be terrific on a drier year. Loved the rabbit hole although it did freak me out!

Corb Lund & The Hurtin' Albertans and Rise Kagona & Champion Doug Veitch were the finds of the festival for me. Guilty Pleasures Live - Suggs doing ‘Love is in the Air’ was fantastic! Fat Freddies Drop were the biggest energy of the festival. John Fogerty rocked, what a fantastic show! But his crew should be admonished for appalling behaviour stage side, pinning the stage manager!! which stopped Rodrigo and Gabriella being on time.

Seth Lakeman's new stuff sounded wicked. Eat Static exploded in the Glade. CSS and Duke Spirit were my flavour of new music. Screens at the other stage! Wow what a difference! Arcade Fire failed to deliver for me, although I think the wait and the cold did for me. And although I never went there (well walked passed briefly during Gogol Bordello) I heard the Pyramid was far too quiet sound wise.

Another bonus was that there appeared to be much less traffic clogging up the site this year.

The only downside was the huge amount of litter left behind, the most I’d ever seen, tents are so cheap now that festival kit has become disposable, but it sank this aging hippy to see the place in such an abandoned mess. I wondered whether the important messages got through to people who left the farm in such a tip. I hope it was just exhaustion and the conditions that contributed and people are better than that normally. But even in muddy years there’s never been so much left before. We’ve become a consumer disposable society and it certainly showed.

Regardless, it was a wonderful Festival, and VERY BIG THANKS must go to all of the dedicated workers who make it all happen and well done to everybody involved for keeping the festival running all weekend, despite the precipitation the mud never reached the depth of previous muddy years, nor the stickiness. Met loads of new friends and loads of old ones and had one of the happiest weeks in a long time.

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