Glastonbury Fair - 1970(?) newsletter for your amusement

[zillah]

Hello beautiful people. I thought you might like to read this newsletter from one of the first glastonbury festivals -around 1970. I found it in my grandmother's belongings when she died. She went with my mum to the first few, and my mum took me when I was a kid, and I have been to most of them since then, so it has a very special place in my heart. I just got tickets in the resale (Yay!) See you in the sunny fields, peace and love man! ☮️xxx

[jimmillen]

That’s wonderful, thanks for sharing! 🙂

[Gnomicide]

Love it.

[drunk pumpkin]

That was fantastic. Thanks for sharing 

[Ayrshire Chris]

Lovely Mother’s Day post! Thanks for sharing! 

[Dillyblue]

I wonder who typed that.    A wonderful thing to keep Xxx

[BlackZeppelin]

Who spotted the UFO on Solstice night?

Lovely letter, thanks for sharing

[sabre-toothed tart]

Really enjoyed reading that, thank you for posting x

[stuie]

Bloody marvellous.

I wonder who the author was?  Surely not Michael on the typewriter in 1970?

Thanks so much for sharing. 

[paulshane]

For anyone who can't make out the text for any reason (tiny phone screen etc), I typed it up (to look busy at work mostly 🙂 ) I've kept in the spelling mistakes.

 

Well, we did it – we turned the clouds into sunlight and we know

that’s good. The fair is a beautiful event, now lets make the

place beautiful. Volunteers are badly needed for rubbish disposal

in many different locations. Will you pickup the vibes for a tidy

Fair? Collect three minutes worth of trash and we have an awesome

30,000 minutes of work done.

 

 

Last night (Tuesday 23^rd) a car toured the camping areas at fairly

regular intervals. It’s the Hassle Thrasher. If you run into a

hassle with anything at night, stop the car and tell the driver.

your woes are thus transmitted to the Hassle Thrashing Machine in

the Farm and “sorted out”.

 

 

Night trippers to Glastonberry wading through the green corn are

costing our neighbour hundreds of pounds and hundreds of broken

plants. Be gentle. Give the Man something nicer than weeds for a

Harvets.

 

 

Talking of harvests, there is enough food to go round, but water

can be ‘stretched’ by using it carefully. Actually, we haven’t

had a bad scene with either food or water. Can you share yours with

your neighbour today in Togetherness? Break bread with a ‘strang

soul – it isn’t a stranger at all.

 

 

Cars are useful, but maybe there are too many underfoot?

a beautiful person handed in a British Passport and a purse. This

makes three passports now waiting collection at the local Fuzz

Wagon. Two of these are American. If you know you havoe lost yours

you can get it back from the Farm if you call today or tomorrow.

 

 

     Hey! Who saw a UFO on Solstice night? A researcher wants

to hear from you if you did. Drop a line (or sentence or two) in

to the Farm lower office today. Win a trip to Venus (the Secretary

I guess).

           Whizz…..

                     Snap….

                           Crackle….POP! Young tree dies. WHY?

 

 

Ten thousand sighs turned on a hot day yesterday. Some cases of

sunburn came up. It’s a young year and a younger decade. Wear a

hat made of happy thoughts and look after yourselves in the shade.

 

 

A dreaded Plastic Spoon Eating Monster is loose among us! FEAR

FLOOD FIRE STORM * but PLEASE, give Sid back his plates and his

cutlery so he can go on feeding you and me? (Please?)

 

 

HEAD-LYNE of THE DAY: When Questioned about his reactions to the

Glastonbury Fair, The Gentleman from the Time replied: “Marvelous”

 

 

Local villagers have expressed displeasure at the volumes of noise

at night. We could help by not clapping quite so loudly, and not

breathing quite so often. (B)ut if you do walk through the village,

read the signs ; legend recounts that screaming stunts your growth

you know (you didn’t? Hell, nobody is perfect!)

 

 

People are asking when the Fair ends. It ends like a circle ends.

take it with you, the sounds, the smiles, the lights and the

scene. It isn’t just an experience is it? It’s a…a…(you name

it, it was probably IT)

T.V. Interviewer to individual: “How many Organisers are there?”

Answer: “Twelve thousand and one.”

                                End of Bulletin.

                The Beginning of the World.

 

 

 

 

 

Well.txt

Edited March 28, 2022 by paulshane
edit: removed the annoying 'capitalise each new line' thing in Word :)

[zillah]

Ahh so pleased you enjoyed reading it, and thanks for typing it out @paulshane! It is brilliantly written isn't it, you can imagine them sitting there in the sun on their typewriter, stream of consciousness pouring out. Funny how so much of it is still apt today - use water sparingly/ too many cars/ litter picking... my fave bits are: The Hassle Thrasher! Wear a hat made of happy thoughts, 'it ends like a circle ends'. 🥰 I have some more bits I can post, will dig them out... 

End of bulletin.

The beginning of the world.

[zillah]

Here is a MAP of what I assume is the Pyramid field (?) Thinking of wearing it around my neck and referring to it when I am lost at in the arse end of glasto, I think it will be a big help. Again from around 1971. Not as romantic as the other newsletter, but still interesting, coffee was 2p a cup, ok now I feel old! 

[glasto-worker]

14 hours ago, zillah said:

Here is a MAP of what I assume is the Pyramid field (?) Thinking of wearing it around my neck and referring to it when I am lost at in the arse end of glasto, I think it will be a big help. Again from around 1971. Not as romantic as the other newsletter, but still interesting, coffee was 2p a cup, ok now I feel old! 

very interesting - I suspect your previous post was also from 1971

it does mention Tuesday 23rd - easy to get the date wrong I think they meant Tuesday 22nd June 1971 { that year it was over the Summer Solstice and was known as  “Glastonbury Fayre”.} We know the first one was Saturday 19th of September 1970

Not Living Local - I had not a clue about any of these events and even in 1979 I only knew because a friends band was asked to play and I got roped in as I could drive.

Compare the two maps - but in 1979 a weekend ticket was £5 but it was a 3 day event.

All we had was a rough drawing of where it was - Pilton did not appear on a 
AA Car map at the time but we were told 'its near Shepton Mallet'

There was a VW Camper and my little mini 

but the big turning point was in 1981 when he got CND involved as they were selling tickets from CND shops { all over the UK } but the price did leap up to £8 for a weekend ticket.

I have never experienced trying to buy a Glasto ticket via the Internet - just dived into the local CND office and was out the door within seconds. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

14 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

very interesting - I suspect your previous post was also from 1971

it does mention Tuesday 23rd - easy to get the date wrong I think they meant Tuesday 22nd June 1971 { that year it was over the Summer Solstice and was known as  “Glastonbury Fayre”.} We know the first one was Saturday 19th of September 1970

Not Living Local - I had not a clue about any of these events and even in 1979 I only knew because a friends band was asked to play and I got roped in as I could drive.

Compare the two maps - but in 1979 a weekend ticket was £5 but it was a 3 day event.

All we had was a rough drawing of where it was - Pilton did not appear on a 
AA Car map at the time but we were told 'its near Shepton Mallet'

There was a VW Camper and my little mini 

but the big turning point was in 1981 when he got CND involved as they were selling tickets from CND shops { all over the UK } but the price did leap up to £8 for a weekend ticket.

I have never experienced trying to buy a Glasto ticket via the Internet - just dived into the local CND office and was out the door within seconds. 

Have ran out of upvotes,.

[Neil]

quite random, a girl who used to post here (Kim, tankgirl) had a German fella, whose German mother was at the first glasto. so it started off with an international contingent.

[glasto-worker]

1 hour ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Have ran out of upvotes,.

No problem Kev - No fancy phones in those days - I wish I had photographed some of them - you used to get ' Tristan I am here but cant find Our Tent ## Help ##  Nancy ' - the boards used to be covered in messages with only a slim chance the right person would see it.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

3 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

No problem Kev - No fancy phones in those days - I wish I had photographed some of them - you used to get ' Tristan I am here but cant find Our Tent ## Help ##  Nancy ' - the boards used to be covered in messages with only a slim chance the right person would see it.

Hello there (i don't think you want your actual name mentioned on here?),

I remember seeing those boards many a year. 

That has jogged another memory - it was seeing a bloke with a placard on it with a phone attached to it. The bloke was selling the use of the phone. Obviously don't know if it was his phone or he'd knicked it and wanted to earn off it until it was reported stolen and turned off. I do recall one thing about it though, and that's that it was one of them old brick type phones;

 

Incidentally - I read a non fiction book by an international drug smuggler. It was around the time that the above phones were just out on the market. He said they would get in their boat in Thailand and go out into the bay and make a call using one of those phones. Then they would drop that phone into the water. He indicated that there are hundreds of those phones on the sea bed in that bay. If you can recall just how expensive those phones were at the time, it shows you the scale of his drug running operation.

 

[zillah]

6 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

very interesting - I suspect your previous post was also from 1971

it does mention Tuesday 23rd - easy to get the date wrong I think they meant Tuesday 22nd June 1971 { that year it was over the Summer Solstice and was known as  “Glastonbury Fayre”.} We know the first one was Saturday 19th of September 1970

Not Living Local - I had not a clue about any of these events and even in 1979 I only knew because a friends band was asked to play and I got roped in as I could drive.

Compare the two maps - but in 1979 a weekend ticket was £5 but it was a 3 day event.

All we had was a rough drawing of where it was - Pilton did not appear on a 
AA Car map at the time but we were told 'its near Shepton Mallet'

There was a VW Camper and my little mini 

but the big turning point was in 1981 when he got CND involved as they were selling tickets from CND shops { all over the UK } but the price did leap up to £8 for a weekend ticket.

I have never experienced trying to buy a Glasto ticket via the Internet - just dived into the local CND office and was out the door within seconds. 

goodness me that map is cute! I think you are right about the year on my map being 1971, I think actually my mum and her mum went to the second one, not the first. So much history from those fields. I do remember the notice boards! and the queues to use the phone boxes. I also have a memory of being able to park next to your tent in the 80's? does anyone else remember that? or maybe that was a different festie! 

[Gnomicide]

23 hours ago, zillah said:

Here is a MAP of what I assume is the Pyramid field (?) Thinking of wearing it around my neck and referring to it when I am lost at in the arse end of glasto, I think it will be a big help. Again from around 1971. Not as romantic as the other newsletter, but still interesting, coffee was 2p a cup, ok now I feel old! 

Still worried about Neil Wainwright 'ere.

[glasto-worker]

10 hours ago, zillah said:

goodness me that map is cute! I think you are right about the year on my map being 1971, I think actually my mum and her mum went to the second one, not the first. So much history from those fields. I do remember the notice boards! and the queues to use the phone boxes. I also have a memory of being able to park next to your tent in the 80's? does anyone else remember that? or maybe that was a different festie! 

if you look at the 1979 map you will see a red dot and that was a camping field where you could park your car - in fact most of the site you could park and camp ' although you had to think about when you wanted to leave.

I am not sure when ' they imposed the one way exit system ' so more important to camp near the back Exit {East side} went into a tiny Country lane ' and if it was wet there was a river crossing the path of the lane !!!

so the first few years { when it was a 3 day event } we would park near the red dot and as it got more busy it made sense parking near east side exit.

There was no real markings where you could camp so the trick was to park two  cars ' next to the exit track ' but with a good gap so there was room to manoeuvre them out - if you only had one car ' you could be buggered if the car either side of you the drivers were out of it ' 

Clearly as it got bigger it made more sense to separate the cars from the tents but by then I was working at the festival so have no idea which year
the rule was imposed to force people to use a car park.

Its a shame they blocked off the original entry lane - its still there { I know because I used that lane to visit in the Winter - very odd seeing the pyramid field covered in snow }

No way did I think that I would still be going 43 years later 

the photos { not sure the year as they are paper photographs so no date stamp on them }

sometime before I snuff it - I will start printing some 35mm negatives - I have many thousands and its a major project to sort though them all - most are from 1979 to 1987 as I had more time to take photos during that period but they cover every year it was on.

Hope you find more hand typed notes { they were very interesting }

[glasto-worker]

13 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello there (i don't think you want your actual name mentioned on here?),

I remember seeing those boards many a year. 

That has jogged another memory - it was seeing a bloke with a placard on it with a phone attached to it. The bloke was selling the use of the phone. Obviously don't know if it was his phone or he'd knicked it and wanted to earn off it until it was reported stolen and turned off. I do recall one thing about it though, and that's that it was one of them old brick type phones;

 

Incidentally - I read a non fiction book by an international drug smuggler. It was around the time that the above phones were just out on the market. He said they would get in their boat in Thailand and go out into the bay and make a call using one of those phones. Then they would drop that phone into the water. He indicated that there are hundreds of those phones on the sea bed in that bay. If you can recall just how expensive those phones were at the time, it shows you the scale of his drug running operation.

 

don't worry Kev some people do know me as Brian {over the years I have met a fair number of people who post on efest }  - I spotted  wristband of a guy next to the notice board and it was yellow so had to be 1986.

There was some crackers and some jokers used to place a drug advert - 5th tent on the right down drug alley - best Ganja at Good prices .

Now I was told by a person who works in the information tent { Has Done For Many Years } that they used to clear the boards every 24 hours - now I did not see it myself but I would believe him - not sure if it was common knowledge but most people only had a 24 window for their notice would be spotted.

By the way Jim { Who Lives In Thailand } he had the model before that - the one that came inside a attache case - he bought it { cost a bomb } but he rarely took it out from his car as it was so heavy ## and he was well happy
when some Joker stole it as it was insured ##

I got him to call the phone ' and the thief answered ' and he wanted silly money for him to return it when we gave him the good news ' that he was getting bugger all' and we got the phone switched off that same day.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

4 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

don't worry Kev some people do know me as Brian {over the years I have met a fair number of people who post on efest }  - I spotted  wristband of a guy next to the notice board and it was yellow so had to be 1986.

There was some crackers and some jokers used to place a drug advert - 5th tent on the right down drug alley - best Ganja at Good prices .

Now I was told by a person who works in the information tent { Has Done For Many Years } that they used to clear the boards every 24 hours - now I did not see it myself but I would believe him - not sure if it was common knowledge but most people only had a 24 window for their notice would be spotted.

By the way Jim { Who Lives In Thailand } he had the model before that - the one that came inside a attache case - he bought it { cost a bomb } but he rarely took it out from his car as it was so heavy ## and he was well happy
when some Joker stole it as it was insured ##

I got him to call the phone ' and the thief answered ' and he wanted silly money for him to return it when we gave him the good news ' that he was getting bugger all' and we got the phone switched off that same day.

Hello Brian,

I hadn't known about the 24 hour window to get a message seen on the notice boards. I never had the need to use one myself, but did note the craziness of the whole message situation / desperation.

Yes, I remember the attaché case mobile phones too. They probably cost a fortune nowadays too, as they must be collectors items. I'd love one.

I am going to have to lie down no0w. Pulled an all nighter, and am feeling a little odd.

[zillah]

6 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

 

if you look at the 1979 map you will see a red dot and that was a camping field where you could park your car - in fact most of the site you could park and camp ' although you had to think about when you wanted to leave.

I am not sure when ' they imposed the one way exit system ' so more important to camp near the back Exit {East side} went into a tiny Country lane ' and if it was wet there was a river crossing the path of the lane !!!

so the first few years { when it was a 3 day event } we would park near the red dot and as it got more busy it made sense parking near east side exit.

There was no real markings where you could camp so the trick was to park two  cars ' next to the exit track ' but with a good gap so there was room to manoeuvre them out - if you only had one car ' you could be buggered if the car either side of you the drivers were out of it ' 

Clearly as it got bigger it made more sense to separate the cars from the tents but by then I was working at the festival so have no idea which year
the rule was imposed to force people to use a car park.

Its a shame they blocked off the original entry lane - its still there { I know because I used that lane to visit in the Winter - very odd seeing the pyramid field covered in snow }

No way did I think that I would still be going 43 years later 

the photos { not sure the year as they are paper photographs so no date stamp on them }

sometime before I snuff it - I will start printing some 35mm negatives - I have many thousands and its a major project to sort though them all - most are from 1979 to 1987 as I had more time to take photos during that period but they cover every year it was on.

Hope you find more hand typed notes { they were very interesting }

Oh wow, LOVE those photos!! Yes that is exactly how I remember it, I remember being camped/parked next to a row of trees like that, near the pyramid. I am getting my mum to have a look and see if she can spot our camp. The pyramid stage looks so cute, I have a very bad quality photo I will post... I don't have any more typed newsletters, but I do have some old newspaper clippings my nan had kept.

 

[zillah]

[Shelleyboots]

On 3/27/2022 at 3:02 PM, zillah said:

Hello beautiful people. I thought you might like to read this newsletter from one of the first glastonbury festivals -around 1970. I found it in my grandmother's belongings when she died. She went with my mum to the first few, and my mum took me when I was a kid, and I have been to most of them since then, so it has a very special place in my heart. I just got tickets in the resale (Yay!) See you in the sunny fields, peace and love man! ☮️xxx

Hi, Zillah’s mum here! The pic of the stage from the left hand side is King Sunny Ade on stage, he was wearing a bright yellow suit, and he danced brilliantly! Wonderful memories. Xx