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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: OK, 'o's gooin' Greenbelt?
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mark_in_manchester
not waving, but...
# 15978
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Posted
I was working (site stuff) for some of the weekend, but wife and 2 kids came, and we are all just about still speaking to one another. I enjoyed Nadia do-dah and John Bell, and felt (as usual, amongst volunteering and family stuff) a lack of time for worship and contemplation which was heightened as I caught the last 15 mins of a Taize session on Mon eve in heavy rain.
Practical tip - if you own a wheelbarrow and can tie it to the roof of your car, it doesn't half help matters with camping gear and remote parking!
I'm less of a volunteer than I once was, and no longer party to any 'how are we going financially' discussions. I'm nervous for GB - if it follows the pattern of Deene this site will have been more expensive to hire and a lot more expensive to set up than Cheltenham (not that Chelt. was any longer an option) - I hope it's sustainable.
Anyone put off by the hassle-factor of family camping a long way from the car? GB has a lot more families / a lot fewer independent, hardy youth groups, than 25 years ago. I saw quite a few stressed families getting out this morning.
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"We are punished by our sins, not for them" - Elbert Hubbard
(so good, I wanted to see it after my posts and not only after those of shipmate JBohn from whom I stole it)
Posts: 1596 | Registered: Oct 2010
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geroff
Shipmate
# 3882
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Posted
We seemed to spend a lot of Greenbelt bumping into people - I think it was on Sunday that we took an hour to get from the Big Top to the Glade because of all the people we met - but I suppose that is what happens when you have been to an event for 36 years ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
We met the Cat, Jay-Emm, Welsh Dragon, Dave the Bass, Esmerelda. Didn't go to TTT, because we prefer the coffee at Calums and Mocha Mania.
We must admit that we didn't get to site on Monday morning because it was already raining steadily when we left our B&B. The first time we have ever left early, but it was a good site - did anyone notice how quiet the site was without the cars and without all the hard surfaces?
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"The first principle in science is to invent something nice to look at and then decide what it can do." Rowland Emett 1906-1990
Posts: 1172 | From: Montgomeryshire, Wales | Registered: Jan 2003
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
Alas, I was in the Haven for most of the festival so didn't do much bumping into people! Did make Beer & Hymns though which was great. Alethiophile, Tiny Tea Tent was just inside the festival village entrance, opposite Barn Bacon. I had a lovely orange and coconut tea there after an exhausting Friday - I was on disabled camping from 8am to 6.30pm helping people get sorted.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mark_in_manchester:
I'm nervous for GB - if it follows the pattern of Deene this site will have been more expensive to hire and a lot more expensive to set up than Cheltenham (not that Chelt. was any longer an option) - I hope it's sustainable.
Is it more expensive to hire? I would have though it was cheaper, because there was less infrastructure. Cheltenham was becoming more expensive, and would have been unreasonable after the redevelopment. (setting up costs would definitely have been greater)
It does have the space for huge expansion. If they can achieve this, it would bring in more money, which would be a good thing. Yes, it will have a difficult few years, but there is a potential for the festival to grow significantly.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Emma Louise
Storm in a teapot
# 3571
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Posted
Yup Mark. The fact I could drive car to site, empty can and children and deive off was a previois attraction of gb. With 2 small children the logistics of carrying huge family tent and accompanying gumpf is a bit of a disincentive.
To be fair we'd been looking at camp bestival near us which is the same (although similarly put us off along with the price!)
Posts: 12719 | From: Enid Blyton territory. | Registered: Nov 2002
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Dinghy Sailor
Ship's Jibsheet
# 8507
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mark_in_manchester:
Anyone put off by the hassle-factor of family camping a long way from the car? GB has a lot more families / a lot fewer independent, hardy youth groups, than 25 years ago. I saw quite a few stressed families getting out this morning.
As a single twentysomething arriving by public transport, I found it a lot harder to get to than Cheltenham: when I arrived on Saturday I needed to take a train and two buses (with far-from-slick connections) before walking halfway round the Boughton perimeter because the (service) bus had dropped me off on the wrong side of the site. Families will tend to get there by car whereas singles will be more likely to get there by public transport, so the new site was definitely less accessible for me. Part of that is the location and part of it is my particular circumstances, but hopefully they'll improve the transport links from Kettering and the signage (both in Kettering and around the site) next year.
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Preach Christ, because this old humanity has used up all hopes and expectations, but in Christ hope lives and remains.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Posts: 2821 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Chocoholic
Shipmate
# 4655
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Posted
As a rubbish camper I did value the access to hot water and proper loos at Cheltenham, along with the drive onto site. This weekend left me wondering if I would camp there again.
Posts: 773 | From: London | Registered: Jun 2003
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mark_in_manchester
not waving, but...
# 15978
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Posted
I should perhaps add that I'm a camping fan, I like the new site, I think the work put in by volunteers to keep the show on the road when continuing at Cheltenham became impossible is amazing, and I give regularly to GB and want to see it succeed. I'm not therefore sniping about new camping arrangements - but if there are any significant problems, this is the kind of place to air them and give GB a chance to come up with some patches.
Oh - and ETA my guesses about relative costs are just that, and based on my memory (in which I have some confidence, though I may be corrected) that the first Cheltenham cost less that half of the last Deene festival to run.
[ 27. August 2014, 10:05: Message edited by: mark_in_manchester ]
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"We are punished by our sins, not for them" - Elbert Hubbard
(so good, I wanted to see it after my posts and not only after those of shipmate JBohn from whom I stole it)
Posts: 1596 | Registered: Oct 2010
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Chocoholic
Shipmate
# 4655
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Posted
Agreed, the volunteers, organisation was amazing, my comments were more from my own feelings about camping which would be the same on any greenfield site. The cold/wet was an added issue this weekend which made me wonder if I would repeat it.
Cheltenham had a few facilities which just made it a little easer for campingphobes!
Posts: 773 | From: London | Registered: Jun 2003
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Emma Louise:
Yup Mark. The fact I could drive car to site, empty can and children and deive off was a previois attraction of gb. With 2 small children the logistics of carrying huge family tent and accompanying gumpf is a bit of a disincentive.
Yes, we are camping fans, my husband has been to every Greenbelt for nearly 30 years and we've been together there for over 15 (we started dating at Greenbelt). But packing up and finding no trailers for us was very stressful for me (my bipolar disorder means I get very anxious about uncertainty, I was still in tears yesterday evening even after being home several hours, and I also suffer from fatigue so am of little practical use either) and tiring for my husband as he had to carry for 4 people. We loved the new location but the experience has me doubting if we can camp next year as it will just make me anxious in advance. We live near enough to commute if necessary but camping with friends is a part of Greenbelt we enjoy.
Having said all that, I am sure the organisers have learnt a lot from how the weekend panned out and will be scrutinising the issues and looking for solutions. The trustee who helped me yesterday was both practical and empathetic.
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
Dog Activity Monitor
My shop
Posts: 2831 | From: Trumpington | Registered: Jan 2008
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
I posted this on the "Truth Universally Acknowledged" thread thinking it was this one -
"We didn't make it to GB this year (didn't work out with timing of other holiday), but I'm curious to go next year. As we are based in Scotland we only have a few years left that we *can* go to GB, before the Elf Lass starts school (up here they start back mid-August and no August Bank Holiday, so coming to GB would mean taking her out of school)."
I've been following a lot of the comments on the GB facebook group (negative and positive) and am thinking about how we can try and travel as light as possible (did you see what I did there? ![[Smile]](smile.gif) ) to try and mitigate against the worst of the problems identified this year. Admittedly as we are both able-bodied then that will be much easier for us than others. Seriously thinking about the practicalities of not bringing a buggy (bonus: more space in the car for the bigger tent required). Luckily we don't tend to go to millions of things at the festival anyway (just one or two things a day), mostly we seem to just bump into people and that is our festival. And of course if all else fails, my parents live close enough that we could if necessary decamp there - again not an option available to most.
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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mark_in_manchester
not waving, but...
# 15978
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Posted
Small tangent regarding the few bits of camping gear I rescued from the bin at the end of GB.
Me (to elder girl, age 9): I don't know why someone didn't take that self-inflating mat, stove and sleeping bag home and fix them.
Elder kid: Maybe they were cool people.
Me: What do you mean, cool?
Elder kid: You know. Cool people who don't have pliers.
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"We are punished by our sins, not for them" - Elbert Hubbard
(so good, I wanted to see it after my posts and not only after those of shipmate JBohn from whom I stole it)
Posts: 1596 | Registered: Oct 2010
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Yangtze
Shipmate
# 4965
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Posted
Don't be put off by the Facebook group comments! The number of people who are members of the group is tiny in comparison with the number who attend Greenbelt and the number who actually post is smaller yet again.
For the majority of people who do not have specific access needs (whether age or health related), the site is fine. Sure it's a bit of a pain to to walk carrying kit and that might mean some shifting in how we camp and think about tent size, food, group hangout space, bringing own trolley etc, but it's a campsite, it has loos, it has water, it's all OK.
For people with specific access needs, camping at a festival (or even coming as day visitors) is always going to be more of a challenge than everyday life and clearly Greenbelt tried this year and will have been able to see what worked and what didn't and what needs to be better. (FWIW, the people I spoke with in this category were mainly positive, said there were a few things that could have made their lives easier but mainly it was manageable, but I'm aware that everyone has different needs.)
I'm thinking families with small children fall somewhere between those two groups and single parents coming with small children even more so. So perhaps there's something there about finding ways that such people can group up with other hale & hearty folk beforehand to help them with the shlep.
Also, it seemed that buggies were rather useful in carrying kit, so you might want to bring one Jack.
Posts: 2022 | From: the smallest town in England | Registered: Sep 2003
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
One of the suggestions that I am going to make is that they need a really good, proper, taxi service from the car parks to the camp site. I know that this will cost, and it will involve more volunteers, but it would make a huge difference.
I was staying off site, and the walk to and from the car each day was a pain. On Sunday, I forgot my normal glasses in the car, so had to wear sunglasses all day. It was generally fine, but at Cheltenham, I would have popped back to the car to get them - the 45 minutes it would have taken me was off-putting.
There were taxis for £1 (intended for the disabled), but they stopped early on Sunday. They were excellent when they ran. If they could provide a proper service, that everyone could use, it would ease the pain of the transport.
On the Tuesday, my son could hardly carry anything, and we could not have carted his stuff to the car ourselves (well, it would have taken over an hour). If he had been on his own, I don't know how he would have managed.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
One of the suggestions that I am going to make is that they need a really good, proper, taxi service from the car parks to the camp site. I know that this will cost, and it will involve more volunteers, but it would make a huge difference.
I was staying off site, and the walk to and from the car each day was a pain. On Sunday, I forgot my normal glasses in the car, so had to wear sunglasses all day. It was generally fine, but at Cheltenham, I would have popped back to the car to get them - the 45 minutes it would have taken me was off-putting.
There were taxis for £1 (intended for the disabled), but they stopped early on Sunday. They were excellent when they ran. If they could provide a proper service, that everyone could use, it would ease the pain of the transport.
On the Tuesday, my son could hardly carry anything, and we could not have carted his stuff to the car ourselves (well, it would have taken over an hour). If he had been on his own, I don't know how he would have managed.
Actually the taxis were for everyone, there just weren't enough. Access had two taxis designated for disabled use.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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The Kat in the Hat
Shipmate
# 2557
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Dinghy Sailor:
As a single twentysomething arriving by public transport, I found it a lot harder to get to than Cheltenham: when I arrived on Saturday I needed to take a train and two buses (with far-from-slick connections) before walking halfway round the Boughton perimeter because the (service) bus had dropped me off on the wrong side of the site. Families will tend to get there by car whereas singles will be more likely to get there by public transport, so the new site was definitely less accessible for me. Part of that is the location and part of it is my particular circumstances, but hopefully they'll improve the transport links from Kettering and the signage (both in Kettering and around the site) next year.
That sounds as if you didn't know about the shuttle bus that was running at least every hour from the train station to the site. Admittedly you would still have had to walk from there into the camp site.
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Less is more ...
Posts: 485 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
One of the suggestions that I am going to make is that they need a really good, proper, taxi service from the car parks to the camp site. I know that this will cost, and it will involve more volunteers, but it would make a huge difference.
I was staying off site, and the walk to and from the car each day was a pain. On Sunday, I forgot my normal glasses in the car, so had to wear sunglasses all day. It was generally fine, but at Cheltenham, I would have popped back to the car to get them - the 45 minutes it would have taken me was off-putting.
There were taxis for £1 (intended for the disabled), but they stopped early on Sunday. They were excellent when they ran. If they could provide a proper service, that everyone could use, it would ease the pain of the transport.
On the Tuesday, my son could hardly carry anything, and we could not have carted his stuff to the car ourselves (well, it would have taken over an hour). If he had been on his own, I don't know how he would have managed.
Actually the taxis were for everyone, there just weren't enough. Access had two taxis designated for those with access needs.
Yes, people with access needs (not just those who consider themselves disabled) will struggle at most events aimed at non-disabled people but it doesn't have to be that way. I think the biggest issue was Greenbelt describing the site as being 'flat and level with short grass' - really not the case at all, and many people struggled with the molehills and pot holes, which in turn made the white tracking bouncy and not very helpful for those with stability issues.
I did have a good time and am looking forward to next year, but I am concerned that disabled people bringing up genuine issues are getting labelled as 'moaners'.
On the upside, Beer & Hymns was fantastic! I had a very nice pint of Crazy Goat.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
I did say "intended", because there were so few, those who really needed them were clearly a priority.
The hillocks were a problem for everyone - wandering around when it was dark (especially) was problematic. I think more tracking would be good, maybe the metal stuff, which was a lot more resilient. I wonder if matting across more of the site would help too.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Jay-Emm
Shipmate
# 11411
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
I did say "intended", because there were so few, those who really needed them were clearly a priority.
The hillocks were a problem for everyone - wandering around when it was dark (especially) was problematic. I think more tracking would be good, maybe the metal stuff, which was a lot more resilient. I wonder if matting across more of the site would help too.
With the benefit of hindsight and not actually having to do it. A few thoughts...
At least a little bit more tracking (it seems to me) would make a big difference. At least getting people into the field rather than ending it in a funnel.
It might have been worth fencing bits of the path a lot quicker than they did (there was no excuse to cut a few corners, it just made the track muddier, did I manage to pass this thought on to my feet or notice the nice path to the Canopy?)
While wishing and able to ignore little things like practicality:
Also although the main tracks in the camp site were good (I was impressed at all the lighting), reserving a few bits at smaller intervals would mean the final 200m was a bit straighter.
And given people are coming from town and the hotel, could something more direct be done at having a few more stops in Kettering and perhaps going further into the site. Though I'm not sure what the bus was like. So not sure how it could work.
(or a decent footpath down the ex-A43 and have a good pedestrian entrance, but that might have other issues-not least that the council might not want to do the work, people parking badly).
Posts: 1643 | Registered: May 2006
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Uriel
Shipmate
# 2248
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mark_in_manchester:
Anyone put off by the hassle-factor of family camping a long way from the car? GB has a lot more families / a lot fewer independent, hardy youth groups, than 25 years ago. I saw quite a few stressed families getting out this morning.
I've been to every Greenbelt bar one from 1992 to 2013, the last ten with children, but gave it a miss this year. This was in part due to some external work factors, in part because we felt it would be good for us to have a year away from the festival (it does get a bit repetitive) but mainly due to concerns over logistics.
We do camp as a family, but there is a big difference between going to a regular campsite where you can park your car next to your pitch, be close to running hot and cold water and decent facilities, and what is available at festival sites. This wasn't an issue in the 90s as I (and later on the newly acquired Mrs Uriel ) was happy to rough it. Then when kids came along the site had settled in at Cheltenham, and their better facilities, tarmaced roads and indoor venues made the whole experience manageable. But the idea of going back to the 90s green field experience doesn't fill us with warm happy feelings. And we've experienced a lot on the camping side of Greenbelt - the storms of '92, the mud of '97, the one at Cheltenham where cars weren't allowed on site and all kit was carried on by hand, etc. etc.
We're waiting to see the post-festival response to see how it went before we decide what we will do for 2015, and thus far I'm not convinced. Next year might be a case of us visiting family in the Midlands and coming along on a day ticket for the Saturday. It will also depend on whether friends decide to go. In previous years we have camped with a group of 15 to 25 friends, which includes a core of three families who have known each other since going as teenagers in the early 90s. This year none of them went.
Posts: 687 | From: Somerset, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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iamchristianhearmeroar
Shipmate
# 15483
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Posted
How greenbelt responds to the, admittedly serious, access and accessibility issues will depend heavily on money and projected ticket sales for next year.
I was chatting to Andy Turner in the TTT on Monday afternoon, who told me GB had budgetted to lose an arm this year but would probably lose an arm and a leg. It's worrying, as to return to profit GB needs to attract a lot more people again. The issues this year might make that more difficult. Could be a rough patch for the festival. It's going to need our support!
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My blog: http://alastairnewman.wordpress.com/
Posts: 642 | From: London, UK | Registered: Feb 2010
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welsh dragon
Shipmate
# 3249
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Posted
I really enjoyed it for the most part and the volunteers were great.
However, the access really is a major problem with small kids. There really were health and safety issues getting back on the last day, despite everyone's goodwill, thank God there do not seem to have been major accidents. I would like a cogent explanation of how access is going to be improved before taking a child under 5 again, though I certainly want to go on Greenbelting, my kids loved the stuff laid on for them.
Despite supporting the festival, I very much agreed with the comments on Facebook. Greenbelt now has a "congregation" containing a lot of families, a lot of people over 50, a lot of people
with disabilities. The great access at Cheltenham made this inclusivity possible and I think it was fantastic, I loved it that my mother in law could come as a day visitor in her 80s. I don't know how that openness across age and level of fitness can be continued at Boughton. It is a very beautiful site but is not inclusivity worth more than that?
Posts: 5352 | From: ebay | Registered: Aug 2002
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Rev per Minute
Shipmate
# 69
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Posted
The Facebook group seemed determined to shut down any criticism, saying that we shouldn't criticise because everyone working was a volunteer. I'm happy to say that the volunteers did a great job, but like Welsh Dragon and others I think there were major issues of access that need to be addressed.
We camp regularly and yes, we are used to parking near the tent. But with two adults and two teens, any 'travelling light' will involve a couple of tents (or a large and heavy one), cooking and eating equipment, bags of clothes and sleeping bags. The four of us had to make three trips, each round trip taking about an hour on Friday morning and Monday afternoon. IMHO, it was too far from the car park to the campsite and the barrows were too small and too unwieldy.
The car parks themselves were always going to be difficult when wet because of the slope - the same applied to the routes out of the campsite. More tracking was needed and the taxis needed better tyres or better surfaces to work on - watching one trying (and failing) to tow another up the hill was depressing. Not as depressing as seeing a notice asking people with disabilities to consider whether they really needed a taxi to carry their equipment...
I'm in two minds whether to go back, though the family may have different ideas. I will pass on my comments to GB 'management' and see what happens before making a decision. I realise that I like a moan, and that depression doesn't make me a flexible person when things become difficult, but I really didn't enjoy much of this year's GB because of these problems.
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"Allons-y!" "Geronimo!" "Oh, for God's sake!" The Day of the Doctor
At the end of the day, we face our Maker alongside Jesus. RIP ken
Posts: 2696 | From: my desk (if I can find the keyboard under this mess) | Registered: May 2001
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Dinghy Sailor
Ship's Jibsheet
# 8507
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Kat in the Hat:
quote:
Originally posted by Dinghy Sailor:
As a single twentysomething arriving by public transport, I found it a lot harder to get to than Cheltenham: when I arrived on Saturday I needed to take a train and two buses (with far-from-slick connections) before walking halfway round the Boughton perimeter because the (service) bus had dropped me off on the wrong side of the site. Families will tend to get there by car whereas singles will be more likely to get there by public transport, so the new site was definitely less accessible for me. Part of that is the location and part of it is my particular circumstances, but hopefully they'll improve the transport links from Kettering and the signage (both in Kettering and around the site) next year.
That sounds as if you didn't know about the shuttle bus that was running at least every hour from the train station to the site. Admittedly you would still have had to walk from there into the camp site.
Oh I knew about it, but my previous bus dumped me on the other side of Kettering from the rail station so I missed the shuttle and was faced with the choice of an hour's wait or a service bus. With hindsight, the former option would probably have been faster! It's an unavoidable issue with a not-particularly-well-connected town like Kettering, but one that could be ameliorated by signposting the shuttle's town centre stop more clearly - I think I might have found it but I had no idea at the time.
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Preach Christ, because this old humanity has used up all hopes and expectations, but in Christ hope lives and remains.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Posts: 2821 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
I have sent a feedback email to them suggesting a better taxi service. I think, if there was a good taxi service, providing transport between the car parks and the camp sites/entrance. If they had been able to provide this, I think there would have been a lot more happy people.
If they did that, running the taxis on tracking, I think a whole lot of the issues would have resolved themselves. The site would have been less muddy, and people would have been able to get around the place.
I do suspect that the facebook group attracts complainers. Apparently, some people didn't like the Sinead set. Sorry, if you didn't like that, I have nothing to say to you. She rocked.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Rev per Minute:
The Facebook group seemed determined to shut down any criticism, saying that we shouldn't criticise because everyone working was a volunteer. I'm happy to say that the volunteers did a great job, but like Welsh Dragon and others I think there were major issues of access that need to be addressed.
We camp regularly and yes, we are used to parking near the tent. But with two adults and two teens, any 'travelling light' will involve a couple of tents (or a large and heavy one), cooking and eating equipment, bags of clothes and sleeping bags. The four of us had to make three trips, each round trip taking about an hour on Friday morning and Monday afternoon. IMHO, it was too far from the car park to the campsite and the barrows were too small and too unwieldy.
The car parks themselves were always going to be difficult when wet because of the slope - the same applied to the routes out of the campsite. More tracking was needed and the taxis needed better tyres or better surfaces to work on - watching one trying (and failing) to tow another up the hill was depressing. Not as depressing as seeing a notice asking people with disabilities to consider whether they really needed a taxi to carry their equipment...
I'm in two minds whether to go back, though the family may have different ideas. I will pass on my comments to GB 'management' and see what happens before making a decision. I realise that I like a moan, and that depression doesn't make me a flexible person when things become difficult, but I really didn't enjoy much of this year's GB because of these problems.
I feel your frustration with the FB group! As a volunteer (and an Access volunteer especially) I don't feel criticised when people bring up the very real access issues. It was frustrating for us as a team to see the problems and not being able to do anything about it.
The problem with the white tracking was the unevenness of the ground beneath it - it made it bouncy, and you could still go into a pothole! It was a real problem for those with balance and mobility issues.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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Lucia
Looking for light
# 15201
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Posted
It took me a while to settle to enjoying Greenbelt this year as I was so exhausted and hacked off on Friday after having to carry heavy loads down to the campsite. We had queued for an hour and a half in the car to get onto the site and then it took several hours to unload and set up camp, by the end of which I was tired, fed up and hurting physically. We then made it down to the site only to find no festival guides were available in G shop, even though we had pre-ordered one, so we were even more fed up as we couldn't even plan what to do that evening. Fortunately they turned up a bit later but there were no additional daily diaries available unlike previous years. I didn't like the new A4 size format either, it was too large to carry around easily. I felt the programme felt a bit thin this year. There seemed to be fewer well known speakers and music acts but I would imagine that with all the costs of moving to the new site there were probably quite marked constraints on the finances for the programme. I did enjoy Sinaed O'Connor even though her music is not really my normal taste. I thought she put on a good performance. I liked the atmosphere of the Canopy and enjoyed various bits of acoustic music there. Friends encouraged us to try out Disrali and the small gods which also turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable! And dancing to the Saharan blues of Tinariwen in the pouring rain was a slightly surreal experience! Other highlights were Nadia Bolz Webber and Sarah Miles talking about welcoming the stranger in your church and the wonderful performance of the Square Peg Circus based on the Rime of the ancient Mariner.
I looked out for a potential Shipmeet on Saturday afternoon in the TTT but didn't spot a likely group although I recognized Schrodinger's Cat around the site from last year.
As far as the future is concerned, I hope Greenbelt can find a way to make the new site work better for people. It is a lovely setting and I love Greenbelt but I'm not sure that I want to repeat the load carrying experience. We can't really afford to B&B nearby at present or to eat on site to reduce all the food carrying, so unless Greenbelt can come up with a plan to improve the situation we may have to give it a miss until we can afford to do it a different way. I think Greenbelt probably have a massive headache on their hands as numbers definitely looked down on previous years and I suspect more people may be put off from returning after this year's access issues. But without the punters they won't have the money to invest to make the festival work. It could be a rocky few years ahead, I hope they make it...
Posts: 1075 | From: Nigh golden stone and spires | Registered: Oct 2009
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Miffy
Ship's elephant
# 1438
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Posted
I loved the compactness of the festival village even if there were still places that I never discovered or got round to exploring. (Blue Nun anybody?). Debating whether to sacrifice peace for convenience and camp in Volunteers rather than Early Curfew in future; I'd not realised that it was going to be quite such a long walk, the only people further away than myself must have been those in Youth Camping! It made for a glorious two nights pre-festival though - glorious woodland setting, only a couple of tents in the entire area, dropping off to sleep with only owls hooting and the distant sound of sheep and cows as a lullaby.
Agree and fully sympathise with the concerns about access. I'm relatively able-bodied and fit, well apart from putting my back out pitching the tent, but I struggled with shifting camping gear, bouncy bouncy walkways (might have been why I hardly bumped into anybody. I was too busy looking down!) and don't get me started on the queues for the loos. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
Gripes apart, loved my stint volunteering up at The Mount, with happy memories of duck poo (don't ask), a liturgical tortoise and a Sunday dawn service.
Caught a bit of Sinead, (the floor of G Source was vibrating) and slipped out front to get a close-up view as well. Dave Tomlinson, thought-provoking as always, Linda Woodhead et al's panel on the future of the C of E less so, bit self-referencing imo though redeemed by the final contribution from a member of the audience. I'm sure I managed to get to other stuff, just it all begins to blur into one after a few days.
Probably my quietest, most low-key Greenbelt.
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"I don't feel like smiling." "You're English dear; fake it!" (Colin Firth "Easy Virtue")
Growing Greenpatches
Posts: 4739 | From: The Kitchen | Registered: Oct 2001
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Carys
Ship's Celticist
# 78
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Posted
I mostly loved it. Being hit on the head by a falling crucifix while setting up the Franciscan Chapel tent wasn't on the agenda, but was impressed by the First Aid support available. And the fact that it was 7pm before we got off site on Tuesday was not great. A pop-up friary takes some doing and not being able to drive to site (or have taxi trailers on the way out) meant a lot of barrow journeys. We weren't as well organised as we could have been because out of a team of 10 + hangers on only 4 or us stayed beyond 11am, so we need to think about how we organise things ourselves given the constrictions of the new site.
Met up with lots of Twitter people and a few MethSoccers and Riding Lights people and lots of Franciscans but not many ship people (although a couple of people in those former categories are also ship people). Many very good things but I miss Soul Space lots though.
It felt different to me, but I'm not sure how much that was the new site and how much was other factors such as: losing Friday really due to the head injury; feeling I very much needed to prioritise Franciscan stuff as I was there on a contributor's ticket (but that was true in 2011 &'13); a good friend not being there.
Carys
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O Lord, you have searched me and know me
You know when I sit and when I rise
Posts: 6896 | From: Bryste mwy na thebyg | Registered: May 2001
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Doc Tor
Deepest Red
# 9748
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Posted
I'm glad that the Franciscans got themselves sorted out. I was the lone steward at the long-stay car park on Thursday pm, confronted by two van-loads of monks, nuns and tents - and no real clue as to what to do with them.
Carys, if you can pass back along the chain to get them to talk to GB regarding access onto the campsite, I'll be able to act less like a startled rabbit next year ![[Help]](graemlins/help.gif)
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Forward the New Republic
Posts: 9131 | From: Ultima Thule | Registered: Jul 2005
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Lucia
Looking for light
# 15201
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Posted
You can now give your feedback about Greenbelt this year via a survey. But hurry! You've only got until September 12th to make your response!
Posts: 1075 | From: Nigh golden stone and spires | Registered: Oct 2009
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