Where did you camp in 2022 and how was it?

[Tranquility of Solitude]

54 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

You'll be surprised to hear this but some people like to do the festival a little differently from you. I normally crash out at around 2 or 3, no desire to head to the SE corner to listen to some God awful drum and base until 6 am. Next morning I'm up, fed, had a chat to camp mates and normally in front of a stage by 11am.   

This is pretty much exactly how my festival goes.

[p.pete]

3 hours ago, aj6658 said:

Im getting a coach for the first time from Bristol at 6:30. If we leave on time, we get there between 8-8:30. Thought by that time the queues would be massive and by the time we got in Pennard would be pretty full? Or does coach go through its own gate?

I've not arrived by coach but pretty sure it's what @gfa said - Coach arrivals have their own queue into gate A.  My understanding is they have to prioritise that queue to prevent backlogs into where all the buses are trying to operate - whereas the other part of the queue are miles away from their cars.  If you're off the bus by 8:30 you've a good chance of getting to Pennard in time.  Still quite a trek a trek to there, but also compared to people arriving in cars your probably carrying less stuff and bus -> gate is a lot shorter than almost any car -> gate journey

[stuie]

1 hour ago, Gnomicide said:

You'll be surprised to hear this but some people like to do the festival a little differently from you. I normally crash out at around 2 or 3, no desire to head to the SE corner to listen to some God awful drum and base until 6 am. Next morning I'm up, fed, had a chat to camp mates and normally in front of a stage by 11am.   

There’s some good dnb too! It’s not all awful 😂

[Jacksamthompson]

We camped on Hitchin Hill as big ground was all full up. Surpised how quiet it was, but a nice vibe. The gradient isnt bad at all and easy access to Pyramid / John Peel / San Remo. 

[moogster]

12 minutes ago, Tranquility of Solitude said:

This is pretty much exactly how my festival goes.

Yup mine too. I quite like walking the festival "waking up" . 

[Skip997]

4 minutes ago, stuie said:

There’s some good dnb too! It’s not all awful 😂

Plus as I've said before there's loads of non DJ stuff in the SE corner. The Truth Stage, The Diner and The Rum Shack have live artists/bands.

[lukemack]

Oxlyers this year as always.

Was on the field at around 10:40, camped towards the back, and it was already chocker then, managed to get all our groups tents moderately close enough together, with a few other groups nearby offering to move there tents abit, tents where to chocker and close together to have our normal fire lot though this year, expect you would need to be on the field before 10 from now on to get enough space to do so.

Neighbours where all pretty sound, had one group/family near us in a massive steel framed tent, with around 80 guy ropes, that seemed furious behind the eyes when asked if we could move one of the ropes😆 they seems to spend most of the festival in there own self sectioned off, patch of grass infront of their tent😆

 

Will be looking at Sticklinch next year just for the ease of not writing off the Wednesday 

[the_arsonist]

Camped about halfway up Big Ground this year and found it a really great spot. Were looking at something quieter than Pennards/Oxlyers where we've camped in the past and it was ideal really. Close enough to everything without it being too overly loud late at night.

Only real downside is The Park is so far away but can't have it all.

We sleep in the queue every year and after joining the gate C queue about 4am this year I'm sure there was more people overnight than usual.

May well consider pre-erected options this year if we can persuade others in the group for an easier start to the festival!

[wiremog]

18 hours ago, Quark said:

Lime Kiln. Arse end of nowhere.  We got through Gate A on Wed afternoon with designs on Big Ground, had a chat with the stewards about where had spaces, changed plan and ended up at LK.

Pros: plenty of space, pretty quiet so got decent kip, nice and close to Gate A for both the tent pitch and the Monday morning return.

Cons: Repeat, arse end of nowhere. A slog to get to and from stages so really limited return visits. Bugger all on at JPT this year as well, and quite a schlep from all the decent food.

Depending on the pitch size you needed, you might have got into Big Ground. We found a decent sized space for 2 2-man tents early afternoon on the Weds, and there were others. Not so much for huge groups though, granted!

[BlueJeansAndWhiteTshirts]

I've done 6 years in kidney mead.  Part way up on the right. Always found it quiet enough to get some good sleep and close to enough to everywhere (bar The Park, obvs) to be able to nip back when needed. Close to toilets and markets for plentiful food options. Close to gate C for arrival and close to lock ups too.  No issues with neighbours or anything like that. 

Next year we've opted for Lovefields as arrival convenience is top of my need list this time round. So I'll see how the two compare after the festival. But I'll miss kidney mead for sure. 

[Skip997]

This topic has made me realise I have very little knowledge of where the various punter campsites are.

It's not really an issue though as I don't deal with punters, maybe the odd stray one, in an official capacity.

[Leyrulion]

On 11/15/2022 at 12:19 PM, lukemack said:

Oxlyers this year as always.

Was on the field at around 10:40, camped towards the back, and it was already chocker then, managed to get all our groups tents moderately close enough together, with a few other groups nearby offering to move there tents abit, tents where to chocker and close together to have our normal fire lot though this year, expect you would need to be on the field before 10 from now on to get enough space to do so.

Neighbours where all pretty sound, had one group/family near us in a massive steel framed tent, with around 80 guy ropes, that seemed furious behind the eyes when asked if we could move one of the ropes😆 they seems to spend most of the festival in there own self sectioned off, patch of grass infront of their tent😆

 

Will be looking at Sticklinch next year just for the ease of not writing off the Wednesday 

Weirdly if you went further in it wasn't that bad at all, space for 4 or even 5 tents all the way up to midday. 

[Leyrulion]

On 11/15/2022 at 11:47 AM, p.pete said:

I've not arrived by coach but pretty sure it's what @gfa said - Coach arrivals have their own queue into gate A.  My understanding is they have to prioritise that queue to prevent backlogs into where all the buses are trying to operate - whereas the other part of the queue are miles away from their cars.  If you're off the bus by 8:30 you've a good chance of getting to Pennard in time.  Still quite a trek a trek to there, but also compared to people arriving in cars your probably carrying less stuff and bus -> gate is a lot shorter than almost any car -> gate journey

This is the exact reason why I will never join Gate A. All the horror stories I've heard about 5 hour queues and people not getting in until 4pm have been at gate A. 

Always Gate D for me, they told us it was a 5 hour queue at 7am and we were in by 9. 

 

[kalifire]

On 11/15/2022 at 11:25 PM, the_arsonist said:

Camped about halfway up Big Ground this year and found it a really great spot. Were looking at something quieter than Pennards/Oxlyers where we've camped in the past and it was ideal really. Close enough to everything without it being too overly loud late at night.

Only real downside is The Park is so far away but can't have it all.

That’s what I’m considering doing next year. I’ve done five festivals at Pennards and have always had a great experience, although never any overly friendly neighbours. It’s never been too noisy, really convenient for proximity to the Park and the green fields, which is one of my favourite areas of the site. 

But, I’ve done that for five years and fancy mixing it up a bit. Big Ground always seems incredibly popular, filling up as quickly as anywhere else, but I keep hearing the atmosphere is just a little better there. Having the big open space of the Pyramid field on the Wed/Thurs would be a novelty and if it’s a bit quieter that would be a plus. I’ve heard BG suffers quite a lot of tent theft, something I’ve never witnessed at Pennards, but I think that’s just luck of the draw wherever you camp. 

[BambooShanks]

On 11/15/2022 at 8:38 AM, aj6658 said:

Im getting a coach for the first time from Bristol at 6:30. If we leave on time, we get there between 8-8:30. Thought by that time the queues would be massive and by the time we got in Pennard would be pretty full? Or does coach go through its own gate?

As others have said, Gate A is primarily for coaches.  The queues at 8-8:30 aren't usually too bad and you should be able to get a space in Pennards.  Depending on the size of your group / tent, it might be a struggle or you might not be camped as close together as you'd like but should be fine!

[p.pete]

On 11/18/2022 at 6:38 PM, Leyrulion said:

This is the exact reason why I will never join Gate A. All the horror stories I've heard about 5 hour queues and people not getting in until 4pm have been at gate A. 

Always Gate D for me, they told us it was a 5 hour queue at 7am and we were in by 9. 

 

On the other side I have the same peeves, but maybe it's not quite as bad (just what I've experienced), with Gate B.  I think a lot of the early parking gets sent in that direction, once the long run-up to the gate gets filled you then have lots of people joining the back of the queue from different directions.  Further to the front of the long run-up to the gate there are staff campsites and tangerine fields and other things that bypass 95% of the queue.  Having been through B & C a few times I don't think there's any difference in the size of the gates - like prioritisation of buses at A it's just what it needs to be to keep everything moving - once you've parked and you're not in the way (or dying in the heat) then you're fine to wait a bit longer.

[p.pete]

On 11/20/2022 at 4:18 AM, kalifire said:

. I’ve heard BG suffers quite a lot of tent theft, something I’ve never witnessed at Pennards, but I think that’s just luck of the draw wherever you camp. 

I've not heard or experienced that at BG.  Thoughts are usually that it's nearer to where police/security are based which would make it safer, but I don't really think that has an impact.  It's right by a route to an exit, with lots of points to dart through trees into and out of the field, so I could believe it'd be a prime location for people to have a go... 

[Popsider75]

I invested in a motorhome in 2017 so it's a different experience for me now. However, only missed 1 festival since 1995 and camped in various places.

Mostly in the late years travelled through the night Wednesday arriving on site first light about 5am Thursday. No traffic. Straight in. Through gate A no queue and camped many years in Darble. Was always loads of room. Bonus was high up so in muddy years no chance of getting flooded out. Not much passing footfall and never heard of much tent theft.

Last couple we went in the family camping near wicket. Didn't actually have kids but as 50 something's nobody queried us.

It's a bit of a walk back but tends to be chilled and uncrowded quiet and dry. Depends what you want I suppose! 

Easy walk in/out from car park 

Some of the camping areas look hellish. Saw a dangerous overcrowding situation one year and loads of peoples tents got trampled in the panic horrible situation.

Personally wouldn't camp anywhere in near proximity to the stages.

Wherever you stay have fun. Next year will be my 21st Glastonbury!

 

 

 

[Leyrulion]

2 minutes ago, Popsider75 said:

Last couple we went in the family camping near wicket. Didn't actually have kids but as 50 something's nobody queried us

That gig might be up, they specifically mentioned that as a problem in the debrief report the council produced.

[woyski]

Last couple of years we've done Dairy, and really enjoy it. Not too loud, 5 min walk to coop and then a bit past onto Other. 

Every time we were redirected from Gate D to Gate A... this year we'll definitely be doing A as we're getting the coach, but I'm so familiar with Dairy now that I'll still do the minor trek. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

How was Bushy last year? Camped there my last three times (2015-2019) and always really liked how chilled it feels and plenty of space. Think I saw someone in another thread saying it felt busier? We'll likely come by public transport so will be something in that ballpark anyway. I did Darble once but it was a fairly muddy year and the treks back home weren't fun.

[Avalon_Fields]

On 11/15/2022 at 12:25 PM, the_arsonist said:

Camped about halfway up Big Ground this year and found it a really great spot. Were looking at something quieter than Pennards/Oxlyers where we've camped in the past and it was ideal really. Close enough to everything without it being too overly loud late at night.

Only real downside is The Park is so far away but can't have it all.

We sleep in the queue every year and after joining the gate C queue about 4am this year I'm sure there was more people overnight than usual.

May well consider pre-erected options this year if we can persuade others in the group for an easier start to the festival!

We camped halfway up Big Ground for many years. In exactly the same spot always. It's a great view, better on a slope if it's wet, and not too bad to get about, either down muddy lane, or across the top to the Acoustic and beyond. I miss it!