Traveling from Glasgow!?

[Krisesk]

Hello! First post here in about 4 years  I needed a long break after T in the Park 2012! Used to frequent that forum back then!

Me and my girlfriend are first timers at Glastonbury in 2017, and just looking at the best ways to get to the festival from Glasgow? National Express seems a bit restricted from here. 

Any other general tips are also welcome as it's my first festival not named T in the Park, and her first one ever!

Edited October 25, 2016 by Krisesk

[bexj]

Hi there. Cant help with the travel thing, but if you have a look in the chat section theres loads of tips for first timers.  You will have a completely different experience to T, so prepare to be blown away.  My advice would be to  wander as aimlessly as possible , stopping at whatever takes your fancy rather than go hell for leather around the main stages.  Enjoy x

[tolywoly]

You should PM theboilerman. He runs a couple of mini buses down from Glasgow every year. Don't think he'll be sorting them out til early in the new year. But drop him a line, let him know you're interested if there's space. 

I'm planning on travelling down with that bunch. Have done the last 4 times I've been. It's a great crowd. 

[Rubber Soldier]

Our group tends to hire a car and drive down. Then we fly back up on Monday night. The thought of an eight hour journey home after fives days at Glastonbury gives me the fear. 

[THEBOILERMAN]

16 hours ago, Krisesk said:

Hello! First post here in about 4 years  I needed a long break after T in the Park 2012! Used to frequent that forum back then!

Me and my girlfriend are first timers at Glastonbury in 2017, and just looking at the best ways to get to the festival from Glasgow? National Express seems a bit restricted from here. 

Any other general tips are also welcome as it's my first festival not named T in the Park, and her first one ever!

Hi Krisesk, we organize (been doing it for the past 6 years) 2/3 minbuses and a transit with all the gear in from Glasgow:-

leave on the Tuesday morning about 09:00, plenty  of stops on the way down with the last one being at the ASDA at Bristol to replace the booze drunk on the way down :). then onto a pub just outside Glastonbury where they make us very welcome and let us order pizza`s to be be delivered to there ( 2 for 1 Tuesday) we leave the pub about midnight then into the queue, normally on site and tents set up by 09:30.

We leave on the Monday 4-5 pm and stay in the Glastonbury Travelodge ( we have all booked our rooms and the prices have now gone up) or some stay in local B&B`s or the YA at Street.

We leave Glastonbury Tuesday morning about 09:00 for the trip back to Glasgow.

Most years there are about 30 of us ( always some new people each year) of all ages 18-65  

we do this at cost and it is normally about £70-£80 each.

I will be sorting this out in January (deposit £40) if you are interested PM me and i will add you to the preliminary list

[Krisesk]

On 26/10/2016 at 3:31 PM, THEBOILERMAN said:

Hi Krisesk, we organize (been doing it for the past 6 years) 2/3 minbuses and a transit with all the gear in from Glasgow:-

leave on the Tuesday morning about 09:00, plenty  of stops on the way down with the last one being at the ASDA at Bristol to replace the booze drunk on the way down :). then onto a pub just outside Glastonbury where they make us very welcome and let us order pizza`s to be be delivered to there ( 2 for 1 Tuesday) we leave the pub about midnight then into the queue, normally on site and tents set up by 09:30.

We leave on the Monday 4-5 pm and stay in the Glastonbury Travelodge ( we have all booked our rooms and the prices have now gone up) or some stay in local B&B`s or the YA at Street.

We leave Glastonbury Tuesday morning about 09:00 for the trip back to Glasgow.

Most years there are about 30 of us ( always some new people each year) of all ages 18-65  

we do this at cost and it is normally about £70-£80 each.

I will be sorting this out in January (deposit £40) if you are interested PM me and i will add you to the preliminary list

Just sent you a message there!

Thanks for the replies. 8 months out and I am already excited for it!

[festivalchick77]

we normally drive but this year got a coahc package from bristol so getting the train down then flying back::::::)

[SG87]

Whatever you do don't drive. Drove home to Glasgow last year and it still haunts me. Had to stop about 20 times to be sick. 

[glasto-worker]

On 25/10/2016 at 11:18 PM, Krisesk said:

Hello! First post here in about 4 years  I needed a long break after T in the Park 2012! Used to frequent that forum back then!

Me and my girlfriend are first timers at Glastonbury in 2017, and just looking at the best ways to get to the festival from Glasgow? National Express seems a bit restricted from here. 

Any other general tips are also welcome as it's my first festival not named T in the Park, and her first one ever!

now I am not getting at the Scottish {as I was born in Glasgow} but do yourself a favour

swap your notes for English Notes - at the Bars we still get jokers who show up with a Scottish £100 note.

It can take a good twenty minuets to track down a worker who is able to verify a Scottish note.

I certainly would not try to use such a large note at a festival but each year we do get them

and its not helped as three banks issue them  Bank of Scotland - Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank

so any Scottish note { even a £1 note }  will take far longer to process

Edited January 29, 2017 by glasto-worker

[Tartan_Glasto]

On 1/29/2017 at 8:15 AM, glasto-worker said:

now I am not getting at the Scottish {as I was born in Glasgow} but do yourself a favour

swap your notes for English Notes - at the Bars we still get jokers who show up with a Scottish £100 note.

It can take a good twenty minuets to track down a worker who is able to verify a Scottish note.

I certainly would not try to use such a large note at a festival but each year we do get them

and its not helped as three banks issue them  Bank of Scotland - Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank

so any Scottish note { even a £1 note }  will take far longer to process

It's been a long time since I saw a £1 note! Forgot about them!

[SG87]

On 29/01/2017 at 8:15 AM, glasto-worker said:

now I am not getting at the Scottish {as I was born in Glasgow} but do yourself a favour

swap your notes for English Notes - at the Bars we still get jokers who show up with a Scottish £100 note.

It can take a good twenty minuets to track down a worker who is able to verify a Scottish note.

I certainly would not try to use such a large note at a festival but each year we do get them

and its not helped as three banks issue them  Bank of Scotland - Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank

so any Scottish note { even a £1 note }  will take far longer to process

Ridiculous!

[eFestivals]

10 hours ago, SG87 said:

Ridiculous!

no more or less than expecting a shop in the UK to take euros or dollars.

If it's not your familiar currency it's just a bit of printed paper.

[SG87]

5 hours ago, eFestivals said:

no more or less than expecting a shop in the UK to take euros or dollars.

If it's not your familiar currency it's just a bit of printed paper.

Again, that's ridiculous. They should be familiar with 'Scottish money' - It's Sterling after all. 

[incident]

2 hours ago, SG87 said:

Again, that's ridiculous. They should be familiar with 'Scottish money' - It's Sterling after all. 

That's not realistic or reasonable.

If you count up across the BOE, Scottish & NI banks, the £5, £10, and £20 notes each have 10 different variants in active circulation.

So that's 30 different notes that someone (who's most likely there as a volunteer, and in some cases may not have any significant prior retail experience) would have to learn to recognise, check the different security features, etc. On top of all the other operational stuff they're being told.

That's not even factoring in the possibility of various different flavours of less common denominations like £1, £50, and £100 being offered. It's also not counting the outgoing BOE £5 note that'll have been officially withdrawn by the time the Festival comes around and technically shouldn't be accepted - though I bet will still get presented at bars etc. It's also not counting any "sterling" issued in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, which mostly (all?) have pictures of the queen on them and have been known to get mixed in with UK currency - not helped by the confusion caused by there being so many different notes to start with.

Hell, if I handed over a BOE £50 note at a shop let alone Glastonbury I'd expect a bit of a delay for it to be checked as the server may not be as familiar with it - in my part of England (Nottingham), it's very rare to see anything other than a BOE £5, £10, or £20 note. So it's entirely justifiable that a server wouldn't recognise a Scottish note, and that they'd need to check it with a supervisor who may be better placed to know that it's genuine.

On that basis it's very sensible advice to someone travelling from Scotland (or Northern Ireland) that if they want to avoid the chance of getting delayed on site while notes are checked, they should withdraw their cash from a bank that issues BOE notes.

[Tartan_Glasto]

Yeah, folks are just doing their job by being thorough so it's fair enough advice to stop off at a cash machine once in England to get your money.

[cammie81]

On 1/31/2017 at 1:41 PM, SG87 said:

Again, that's ridiculous. They should be familiar with 'Scottish money' - It's Sterling after all. 

We in Scotland seem to have a chip on our shoulder when it comes to this issue, but it's a different matter when someone hands us a note from Ulster Bank.

[eFestivals]

On 1/31/2017 at 1:41 PM, SG87 said:

Again, that's ridiculous. They should be familiar with 'Scottish money' - It's Sterling after all. 

but it's not. It's private notes of Scottish banks. Only the BoE issues Sterling.

Scottish notes are not legal tender. That means they don't have to be accepted in payment for anything - and as they're often refused by shops, I refuse them too. Money you can't spend isn't money.

If they were more seen down here then they'd be more usable in shops, but they're rarely seen in all the places i've lived. I see less than one Scottish bank note a year.

[Tartan_Glasto]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

but it's not. It's private notes of Scottish banks. Only the BoE issues Sterling.

Scottish notes are not legal tender. That means they don't have to be accepted in payment for anything - and as they're often refused by shops, I refuse them too. Money you can't spend isn't money.

If they were more seen down here then they'd be more usable in shops, but they're rarely seen in all the places i've lived. I see less than one Scottish bank note a year.

True facts. The famous Michael McIntyre bit has made everyone go "I think you'll find it's legal tender!" but alas, it is not. 

I've never had any issues myself when using Scottish notes down South but I know it does happen so tend to visit the cash machine once I get to England to avoid any issues arising. 

[eFestivals]

1 hour ago, Tartan_Glasto said:

I've never had any issues myself when using Scottish notes down South but I know it does happen so tend to visit the cash machine once I get to England to avoid any issues arising. 

yeah, some places are happy to take them. The problems are the places that won't - which turns money in useless bits of paper, for that purchase.

After having been caught a few times with money that can't be spent, I avoid the taking the notes to avoid that problem.

[THEBOILERMAN]

  Having Scottish notes at Glastonbury a couple of years ago did my friend a favor, while he slept a scrote cut open the side of his tent and removed his wallet from his jeans that was beside him, they took the English notes but left the wallet still with the Scottish ones in it. they got about £50 but left £120.