How successful was your exit strategy this year?

[Foxyknoxy]

We got see tickets coach got on Leeds 1130 (didnt leave until 1310) bus instead of our scheduled 1330 bus unfortunately our bus had a tyre blow out on the M5.  Ended up back on the 1330 l3eds bus as only 10 people on, we are still travelling to Teesside now at 2330 🫣😭😴 however doesn't take away the fantastic time we had 💙

 

[gblock]

2 hours ago, monday said:

Left Pink 47 at 6.45am and it was an absolute sh*t show.

We left pink 47 and 48 just before 11am, probably queuing for about 10 minutes before we were out onto the road. The car park was already well over half empty by then mind.

[theciderviking]

Just arrived back in Warrington.

 

carried on the party until about 7am up at the Stone Circle for sunrise, after experiencing something which there are simply no words to describe in the piano bar! 😂

 

I have “form” for missing coaches, so didn’t risk going to bed and instead spent the morning drinking leftover cans until heading for my 14:30 coach. It was caught up in the chaos getting to site, so didn’t leave until 16:30. Arrived into Liverpool 22:30, scrapped the train home and treated myself to an Uber.

 

Now home, takeaway ordered enroute has just turned up. My feet hurt, but not as much as setting that 6am alarm just did! 😫😭 Work is going to be…interesting tomorrow! 😂

Edited Monday at 11:02 PM by theciderviking

[Pipine]

A bit of a queue getting into the coach station and the Sheffield 7.30 coach was more like 8am.. but once on we were straight out and home by 1.30. 
 

 

[incident]

16 hours ago, Simsy said:

Not my most successful exit. Nat ex to Bath left 2.5 hours late, they really need a food truck in the coach park.

 

I'm pretty sure they've had one at least once and possibly more than that in the past, but presumably it didn't do enough business.

[philipsteak]

5 minutes ago, incident said:

 

I'm pretty sure they've had one at least once and possibly more than that in the past, but presumably it didn't do enough business.

 

Pretty sure I've used one there when working on Gate A. Good few years since I've worked on A though.

[Durkin95]

First timer

 

National express coach to manchester (10am) clipped the gate and at the services 2 hours later the driver checks the luggage door and realises it could have fallen off on the M5

 

In good spirits we all tried to help move everything across, what was supposed to be 15 minutes and 1/2 service stops became 1.5 hours waiting for a replacement

 

Up at 7am, packed at 9am and boarded at 10:30am, home at 6:30pm

 

Can’t fault the driver for refusing to drive it, hurting his hand and continuing on 5/5 stars

 

Same gate as Leeds maybe NX15 gate was cursed

[pie_and_a_pint]

17 hours ago, SighMo said:

Worst exit experience of any festival. Big night so late to get going but still shouldn’t have been this bad. Have no ideas why either. Moved the car down to near the icecream van at Ped B, Purple Parking then got loaded by 1pm. Took 4.5 hours to get up the hill and out of the first field. We are normally up and out by 9 or 10.  Please tell me this isn’t normal at this time. We just didn’t move for hours. 

Happens every year. Last year our friends left the campsite at 1pm and we left the campsite at 6pm. They pulled out of the car park onto the road just a few minutes before we did.

[svphie]

We got in the car in pink at 11am and got out the car park instantly. We were baffled! But maybe we were just in a lucky spot?

[gigpusher]

Very easy exit but we always leave before 6am so never have trouble. We did 2 stops and were home by 11:30. 

[monday]

19 hours ago, gblock said:

We left pink 47 and 48 just before 11am, probably queuing for about 10 minutes before we were out onto the road. The car park was already well over half empty by then mind.

Probably because they turned the exit sign the correct way by this point as there was an exit to the tarmac road just in the next field, but instead they initially sent us up the field in to the gridlock before I got out and noticed the free-flowing traffic behind me.

[fullfathom5]

Great. Although wanted to see The national we dipped out after The Farm and left about 9:30, back in Leicester for 1am.

[eatingglitter]

We packed up our campervan offsite on Sunday morning, went in and had a great day. Stayed to watch as much Bob Vylan as we could from outside then grabbed some scran and walked out to head off. We ended up back in the Portsmouth for about midnight and did a cheeky stealth camp in a layby (we wouldn't be able to get parked near our house that late at night), then off to Mick's for a coffee at 5:30am and home by 6am. 

If there had been a big pull or headliner we wanted to see, we would have stayed but nothing grabbed us. 

[CanWeRest]

My strategy of being in my car and ready to go by 5am on the Monday was extremely successful. Home by 9:30am with the help of Red Bull, and straight to bed.

[Nobody Interesting]

Stayed in Lovefields. Left at 6.30am Monday.

Apart from being forced to turn right onto A37 (I think) and then doing a Uturn so we were going in the right direction it was smooth and easy. Had to share driving as my eyes got heavy half way home, did load of washing, had brunch and slept.

[Avalon_Fields]

By my own standards, it was a late exit at 08:30, took 50 minutes to the A57 from Pyle Lane in my CV, with it's enforced right hand turn only. In recent years, when I'm very early and it's quiet I manage to do a U turn and head North, but couldn't on Monday so forced to do a lengthy drive South, West and join the M5 by Bridgewater. Does anyone have a better way to get to head North from Pyle Lane? I presume it's a traffic management system to ease congestion through Shepton Mallet but it's wasteful, and environmentally unfriendly to have to do an extra 30-40 miles. Last few years it's taken me no more than 15 minutes to leave the site, I leave when I wake up and that can be 4 or 5am.

[Nobody Interesting]

7 minutes ago, Avalon_Fields said:

By my own standards, it was a late exit at 08:30, took 50 minutes to the A57 from Pyle Lane in my CV, with it's enforced right hand turn only. In recent years, when I'm very early and it's quiet I manage to do a U turn and head North, but couldn't on Monday so forced to do a lengthy drive South, West and join the M5 by Bridgewater. Does anyone have a better way to get to head North from Pyle Lane? I presume it's a traffic management system to ease congestion through Shepton Mallet but it's wasteful, and environmentally unfriendly to have to do an extra 30-40 miles. Last few years it's taken me no more than 15 minutes to leave the site, I leave when I wake up and that can be 4 or 5am.

 

Apart from taking the back lanes as soon as able (easy to get lost) the Uturn is the only way I know of.

We used a small lane on the right but the road qas quiet, I recall there being  alayby about 5 mins up the road we used in the past.

[gazzared]

I wasn't sure when I was going to leave and had stopped drinking at 6pm on the Sunday but then started again during The National and stayed out to watch Doreen Doreen and was in bed for 3am. Chilled all day Monday and had a walk back into the festival to get some food. Noticed the queues to leave reduce at 16.00 so left then and was in the main road in 15 minutes. Got to the m5 for 17.15 but after 10 minutes they're was a pile up and a 1 hour 20 minute delay 😭 after that though it was fine and I arrived home in Ellesmere Port at 21.20.

 

I'll do the same next year 👍🏼

Edited yesterday at 04:54 PM by gazzared

[theDandy]

Packed a lot of things up Sunday morning after waking up. Just drinking Sunday and took it easy, went to bed for about 1am, alarm set for at 4:30am Monday morning and packed everything else up, was in the car driving to Liverpool for about 05:50am with absolute no queues whatsoever. Stopped twice on the way up for coffee, breakfast and fuel, got home at about 11:50am 🧘🏼‍♂️

[dulcificum]

Don't really understand what happened. Were packed by 12, at the car by 12:45 and out of carpark before 13:00.

 

Somehow despite few traffic issues it took 4.5 hours to get to Reading. Not sure where we lost 2.5 hours there...

[Derhammer]

On 7/1/2024 at 8:31 PM, dotdash79 said:

Wanted to be in the car all packed and ready to leave at 10 am. I hit that exact time, managed to leave the pink car park straight away, with only 1 emergency break as someone wasn’t looking and pulled out on me. 
 

ended up going through cheddar and to the M5 at western super mare, missed the accident and was mostly clear to Manchester for 3:30. 

Same exit strategy for us (although not me causing the emergency stop!). 
Glad to get to Gloucester Services for a breakfast recharge before next 2 hours on road 

[4AssedMonkey]

Left Holt Farm at 9:45am fearing the worst. Straight out, bit slow (but moving) west through Glastonbury & Street but then no bother after that. Lucky to miss the M5 issues. Couple of services stops, dropped my nephew in Sheffield at 2:45, home in Huddersfield by 3:45. Result really leaving at peak time.

[Talcroft]

Wanted to leave at 7.30am but campmate was up late so was 8.30am. Straight out of purple 4 car park, just over an hour to Bristol, then flew up back to Manchester and home for 2pm after a couple of stops for heavy eyes. Lovely stuff. 

[irnkrtn]

Left site at 1915. Took 45 minutes to complete the Pylle Lane silliness but then smooth roads! 

[Upside down frowner]

Packed awning away Sunday morning and as much in car as possible. Left the festival after Justice/food, ear plugs in - slept 1am-6:30am. Probably still took an hour to leave, Pyle Lane and forced right. Blag journey South/East and Bridgewater with the satnav telling me to take country roads all the time. Previously i have taken the little u-turn on the left but doubt caravan would do it. 

 

Breakfast and half hour aleep in the caravan at Gloucester. Dropped caravan at storage in Garstang, back to East Lancashire by 5pm to pick our son up 😅