T. DAY

[oneeye]

[vintagelaureate]

[glasto-worker]

19 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello glasto-worker,

I remember the days when you could go in to a record shop, walk up to the counter, and buy as many tickets as you needed. No F5'ing, no queues etc. Who would have thought then that it would be such a ball ache to get tickets in years to come.

By the way - I'll get back to you on your last two emails later. I'm meant to be doing chores right now, so shouldn't really be on the compter at all. If I don't get off it soon I'll waste the day.

No problem just reply when you have time.

At the time I was staying in Wandsworth near the Northern line tube station so reaching ' Old Street ' was easy - it was the CND HQ and shop - all went well until I was buying the tickets for Glasto 1987 - walked up to the shop and there was a sign on the door - ' Shop Has Moved '  - I think the shop had moved to near Caledonian Road tube station ' Holloway ' - very near  HM Prison Pentonville  !!! - not a area I know well - they must have just moved because they did not even have the CND sign up above the shop - so I was not even certain it was the right shop - I walked in - asked him ' are you CND ? ' and was glad when he confirmed it was and then asked him the Crucial question - ' You are selling Glastonbury tickets ? ' - I think he said ' we have loads '

As you will recall the Adverts in the music press would have a list of all the places they could be bought and I think there was a address where people could send their ' Postal order ' to and they would be posted out - stuff that ' no way would I do that ' - once they were on sale I was keen to get my hands on them even although at first - people wont believe this ' they were on sale at that little booth just as we drove in ' { red dot on the map }

now as to how many was sold on the day I cant say - we always bought them in advance but I did see two people buy them on the door - it was not even a Portacabin - it was a garden shed !!! - people will think I am making this up but there was a garden shed just before the Security barrier.

can you imagine if they did that now ? there would be a 20 mile long queue !! 

Edited May 1, 2018 by glasto-worker

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

2 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

No problem just reply when you have time.

At the time I was staying in Wandsworth near the Northern line tube station so reaching ' Old Street ' was easy - it was the CND HQ and shop - all went well until I was buying the tickets for Glasto 1987 - walked up to the shop and there was a sign on the door - ' Shop Has Moved '  - I think the shop had moved to near Caledonian Road tube station ' Holloway ' - very near  HM Prison Pentonville  !!! - not a area I know well - they must have just moved because they did not even have the CND sign up above the shop - so I was not even certain it was the right shop - I walked in - asked him ' are you CND ? ' and was glad when he confirmed it was and then asked him the Crucial question - ' You are selling Glastonbury tickets ? ' - I think he said ' we have loads '

As you will recall the Adverts in the music press would have a list of all the places they could be bought and I think there was a address where people could send their ' Postal order ' to and they would be posted out - stuff that ' no way would I do that ' - once they were on sale I was keen to get my hands on them even although at first - people wont believe this ' they were on sale at that little booth just as we drove in ' { red dot on the map }

now as to how many was sold on the day I cant say - we always bought them in advance but I did see two people buy them on the door - it was not even a Portacabin - it was a garden shed !!! - people will think I am making this up but there was a garden shed just before the Security barrier.

can you imagine if they did that now ? there would be a 20 mile long queue !! 

Wow, look at that site plan. Talk about rudimentary. It did the job back in the day though, I suspect.

[oneeye]

[glasto-worker]

2 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Wow, look at that site plan. Talk about rudimentary. It did the job back in the day though, I suspect.

well it made things a lot easier - no need to go hunting for friends as we knew where they were and it made the stagger back so much easier - we used to park and camp beside our cars - where the blue dot is - just though the hedge and into the craft area and there was a handy toilet - so what more did we need ?

and the good part was we were at the top of a hill - my mates had a Campervan that they fitted with a big fridge { we are not daft } just in case there was a heat wave - cant remember many of them and then ' 85 came up ' the very first year of the Mud - I survived 85 !!!

Edited May 1, 2018 by glasto-worker

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

34 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

well it made things a lot easier - no need to go hunting for friends as we knew where they were and it made the stagger back so much easier - we used to park and camp beside our cars - where the blue dot is - just though the hedge and into the craft area and there was a handy toilet - so what more did we need ?

and the good part was we were at the top of a hill - my mates had a Campervan that they fitted with a big fridge { we are not daft } just in case there was a heat wave - cant remember many of them and then ' 85 came up ' the very first year of the Mud - I survived 85 !!!

One of my brothers used to go to the festival before I ever attended. He had told me that people used to camp next to their cars. Although that would be heaven in terms of not having to lug all your stuff across the site, I can see why it would be deemed to be a major health and safety issue. 

I remember when I first went that there was an unofficial stall next to where we were camping. All I can remember of it though was that they had a big hot water urn to make tea, and that it sold rolling tobacco papers which came in a white packet with the name of a prison on them. I never thought to ask if these were joke packets or whether they had been 'acquired' from the prison service. The place was there for a few more years after my initial visit, but then it was gone. I suspect that that was when the festival started clamping down on 'rogue' traders. I tell you what though - that little stall must have made a small fortune because people were getting tea from it all the time - myself included.

[parsonjack]

Street bread.....?

[guypjfreak]

[vintagelaureate]

[glasto-worker]

6 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

One of my brothers used to go to the festival before I ever attended. He had told me that people used to camp next to their cars. Although that would be heaven in terms of not having to lug all your stuff across the site, I can see why it would be deemed to be a major health and safety issue. 

I remember when I first went that there was an unofficial stall next to where we were camping. All I can remember of it though was that they had a big hot water urn to make tea, and that it sold rolling tobacco papers which came in a white packet with the name of a prison on them. I never thought to ask if these were joke packets or whether they had been 'acquired' from the prison service. The place was there for a few more years after my initial visit, but then it was gone. I suspect that that was when the festival started clamping down on 'rogue' traders. I tell you what though - that little stall must have made a small fortune because people were getting tea from it all the time - myself included.

its my famous ' Yes - No answer ' - yes its true you could park beside your cars - although they did restrict where - take this image - I reckon that white minivan { middle right } was just dropping off camping gear and I reckon it was moved later on.

yes for sure it was dead handy ' but you had to think ahead ' - all well and good at the start but a right pain in the arse when you wanted to leave .

When they made the site a bit larger they opened up a new exit so we moved down { to camp and park } - the car or cars would be parked right at the edge of the track and the tents would be on the right - this meant on the Monday - load up the tents and just turn onto the track and ' Bobs your uncle ' - straight out - some people who were in the middle of a field would then discover ' they were trapped until all the cars on their left and front had moved.

Yes I know its wrong - it was so funny watching them on the Monday trying to work out how the hell to leave.

yes for sure they would never do that now but I cant recall any serious fire caused by a car next to a tent - 

it was good as long as it lasted.

---------

Now I don't drink Tea nor would I ever need rolling tobacco papers but Bud did so if there was some stall ' he would have found it ' and he would be using which papers with ' HM prison ' on it - have no clue where they came from but as he was a avid smoker he used to go though a lot.

Its another of these little mysteries that we will never find out the answer  

There was all sorts of places from small stalls up to the very large Reggae Tent { run by Rastafarian's from Bristol } which claimed was 24 hour cafe but you could buy anything you want { legal or illegal } - it lasted for so many years in the 80's and then all of a sudden it vanished.A real shame as they used to play good music.

Edited May 1, 2018 by glasto-worker

[Ex_ollie]

Off topic, but can I just say one of my favourite things on this forum is when @glasto-worker gets involved with a thread and shares all the old pictures and knowledge. As I've been only going for 5 years I love the background and history you bring, so thank you. I read every one of your posts with glee. 

[glasto-worker]

there is a reason why I have posted this here - its the only punter wrist bands I can find in my collection { I have every year of my Crew wrist bands }  but Note 1986 - Yellow !!!

Edited May 2, 2018 by glasto-worker

[glasto-worker]

15 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

One of my brothers used to go to the festival before I ever attended. He had told me that people used to camp next to their cars. Although that would be heaven in terms of not having to lug all your stuff across the site, I can see why it would be deemed to be a major health and safety issue. 

just in case you miss them kev

4 hours ago, Ex_ollie said:

Off topic, but can I just say one of my favourite things on this forum is when @glasto-worker gets involved with a thread and shares all the old pictures and knowledge. As I've been only going for 5 years I love the background and history you bring, so thank you. I read every one of your posts with glee. 

I am glad you enjoy my rambles - I am sure the Moderators are well wound up as to what direction I am going ' in actual fact I never know myself ' because I have had two previous strokes and that does affect my memory so it helps me to remember  

Shame there was no drones in those days because the reason why I took that photo { above }
is because 50% of the tents in that photograph were in a ' no camping area '

they were certainly over the boundary but as to if they were ever asked to move I certainly don't have a clue - the stage you see in your visits is not square to the field anymore - the old one faced the farmhouse but when that burnt down - they pointed it at a different direction { which was a real shame  because from the back of the Mandela Bar we used to get a bloody good view of the stage - its a Bar I have never worked in but would meet WBC friends for drinks when I was not on my shift and it was a excellent spot to watch the music } 

once I settle in { I have recently moved into a Housing trust flat and with any luck I will never have to move again } I will then have time to go though the many thousands of negatives I have - they cover from 1979 until I stopped using a SLR { that used negatives } - I have a friend who has a professional negative scanner/digitiser and if all goes well - I will be making up loads of new images that no one has seen on this board - I have a Huge box that you can fit a fridge into and they contain paper photographs and that will take a long time to go though them. 

anyway I came across these - they are from 1986 as I spotted a yellow wrist band - my attempt at a panoramic shot - dead easy to do with a digital camera but difficult with a SLR.

Now its remarkable that so many showed up in 1986 because 1985 was a Mud swamp but of course back then it was not on TV so very few people { apart from the 40,000 who bought tickets } would have been aware about it - 1986 was the year they doubled their ticket allocation to  80,000 and the reason why I took the photos as there was a lot more people.Now these days with a click of a mouse ' you can find out how many tickets they intend to sell ' but in the 80's we had not got a clue and we certainly were not expecting the audience to double.

 

[glasto-worker]

my mistake - it should have been ticket allocation 60,000 still a 50% increase from the year before.Not sure who was counting as it did feel a lot more busy than 1985

[oneeye]

[parsonjack]

[guypjfreak]

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

7 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

just in case you miss them kev

I am glad you enjoy my rambles - I am sure the Moderators are well wound up as to what direction I am going ' in actual fact I never know myself ' because I have had two previous strokes and that does affect my memory so it helps me to remember  

Shame there was no drones in those days because the reason why I took that photo { above }
is because 50% of the tents in that photograph were in a ' no camping area '

they were certainly over the boundary but as to if they were ever asked to move I certainly don't have a clue - the stage you see in your visits is not square to the field anymore - the old one faced the farmhouse but when that burnt down - they pointed it at a different direction { which was a real shame  because from the back of the Mandela Bar we used to get a bloody good view of the stage - its a Bar I have never worked in but would meet WBC friends for drinks when I was not on my shift and it was a excellent spot to watch the music } 

once I settle in { I have recently moved into a Housing trust flat and with any luck I will never have to move again } I will then have time to go though the many thousands of negatives I have - they cover from 1979 until I stopped using a SLR { that used negatives } - I have a friend who has a professional negative scanner/digitiser and if all goes well - I will be making up loads of new images that no one has seen on this board - I have a Huge box that you can fit a fridge into and they contain paper photographs and that will take a long time to go though them. 

anyway I came across these - they are from 1986 as I spotted a yellow wrist band - my attempt at a panoramic shot - dead easy to do with a digital camera but difficult with a SLR.

Now its remarkable that so many showed up in 1986 because 1985 was a Mud swamp but of course back then it was not on TV so very few people { apart from the 40,000 who bought tickets } would have been aware about it - 1986 was the year they doubled their ticket allocation to  80,000 and the reason why I took the photos as there was a lot more people.Now these days with a click of a mouse ' you can find out how many tickets they intend to sell ' but in the 80's we had not got a clue and we certainly were not expecting the audience to double.

 

Lovely photos. That top photo reminds me of my old style tent, which I did about seven Glasto's in. Loved that tent.

[Fishman]

18 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

 

Love this tent picture .... I was given one of those 2 man blue Millets things as a kid in the early 80s for camping in the garden.

It's still going strong .... and here it is pitched and ready in 2017. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

57 minutes ago, Fishman said:

Love this tent picture .... I was given one of those 2 man blue Millets things as a kid in the early 80s for camping in the garden.

It's still going strong .... and here it is pitched and ready in 2017. 

Wow, you've had some mileage out of that tent. My old one of those tents lasted me for a fair number of Glastonbury's, and also for loads of other camping trips. I'm not sure how, but one of the metal poles for it got snapped in two. On top of that the nylon started to be too saggy, and I think that it had it's fair share of patched up cigarette holes in the ground sheet. I still remember coming to the conclusion that I needed to get a new tent. Throwing the old one out though felt a little like having a pet put down. 

[oneeye]

15 hours ago, Ex_ollie said:

Off topic, but can I just say one of my favourite things on this forum is when @glasto-worker gets involved with a thread and shares all the old pictures and knowledge. As I've been only going for 5 years I love the background and history you bring, so thank you. I read every one of your posts with glee. 

Upvoted (heart thingy) if only for using the word glee

 

[oneeye]

4 hours ago, parsonjack said:

Beauty 

[vintagelaureate]

[parsonjack]