#Glastonbury2017 how it was for me

I write my blogs for a number of reasons - I don't need to go into them again - save to say perhaps the foremost is they act as memory jog - what I have been thinking - and experienced - and maybe learned - ha!

A year ago I attended my first Glastonbury and subsequently wrote a blog about it - here is a link for the die hards! :-

http://davidshoulder60onwards.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/glastonbury-2016-how-it-was-for-me.

I am now just back from my second one - tired and elated. Glastonbury has delivered again - it is a special place indeed. So how was Glasto 2017 for me?

Well the basic formula was the same - 6 guys - who have known each other in the main for donkeys years (Primary school) - travelling together, all sharing a tent - total age 362 years - so average age over 60. (could this be a Glasto record?). This sounds ridiculous - not because we are doing it but because we are that old! It certainly doesn't feel like it when we get together that's for sure - same banter - same laughs - same nonsense. Priceless.

We travel up from Exeter on the Wednesday morning, mindful of the traffic problems we had last year - plus tales of foreboding about delays because of heightened security checks this year. Amazingly - not a single traffic jam - and they must have liked the look of us on the gate. This combined with the fact we were much better prepared this year - with sack trucks and trollies for our gear (including 60 liters of real cider) and the most massive factor - no dreadful mud to contend with (as last year) means we are in and tent set up in double quick time - fantastic! A good camping spot in our preferred field - not too close to the main stages but convenient enough and with in reasonable distance of toilets and drinking water (worth thinking about!) It is a full on summers heat day - we have had a beer - we head off - in great spirits - for our first watering hole in The Park.

Glasto is basically a 3 day festival - Friday, Saturday, Sunday but as I have said the majority seem to arrive over Wednesday. So Wednesday is low key - chilled and nice - a gentle introduction in the sun. Hundreds of people sat around chatting and chilling. Really great. As last year our go to area at Glastonbury is Avalon Fields and the Avalon Inn. It suits us there. Plenty happening but not too mad - and a good run of real ales. The sun is shining. What a great start. We are part of the unique Glastonbury family again. There is so much to look forward to over the coming days.

Our approach to Glastonbury is the basically the same each day - that is how it has evolved. We stir pretty early especially as every night is quite late - very late for me - ha! This period is always a laugh - invariably a p--s take as we go about getting ready for the day. The dreaded ablutions (especially dreadful when Crabbers is performing) - what we have for breakfast - what we are wearing - recounts on the day before - recounts about last year and the last 50 years - plenty of material. And some awful sights - Geoff blowing a Kazoo while naked and giving himself a very personalized wet wipe - probably the most Pythonesque this year. I have to mention Rog - mending his camp bed with sack trucks as a truly artistic solution - like a Tracy Emin installation!

There are two vital jobs to do in the morning. The first is to look at "Clashfinder" app. There are so many acts at Glastonbury playing at so many different venues and stages - that you have to make choices. Stating the obvious you cannot see everything - and of course it is quite likely that artists you want to see are performing at the same time. Clashfinder can help you solve the puzzle and make choices. (Remember to allow time to move from one arena to another.) The second and maybe be more important job is to decant the cider from the boxes to the two litre plastic bottles we carry around in our day sacks. Cider is a good choice - not the gassy stuff - but real cider. We usually had a pint or so before we headed out each morning! (never had a hangover at any stage over the weekend).

Just on health and well being - a few thoughts. Four or five days at Glasto is a full on challenge and not for the feint hearted. In my view you have got to give your body a bit of a chance as the days are long and you are likely to walk miles. Of course there is likely to be plenty of alcohol involved but you must hydrate with plenty of water. The Glasto organisers are on to it. They offer water bottle refill points all over the site. I finished each night drinking a good gulp of water. The other is food. Food on offer is vast in variety and quality is pretty good and cost about £8 per full meal. We brought our own breakfasts with us and I carried some other stuff - like tins of fish which I ate with couscous (which I was happy to share but surprisingly with no takers!) I have to mention the Hari Krishna Tent - between the Pyramid and Other Stage. They offer free food. I went there everyday. Of course I was accused of being a tight wad - ha! While I cannot deny there was economic advantage - despite a voluntary donation - actually I REALLY enjoyed the spicy vegetarian fare and the calm atmosphere the HK chanting offered. Glasto is a mad place. We were sat on the quiet benches in the HK tent - gentle chanting going on - low key chatting. Out of the crowd comes a guy wearing shorts and wellies and a huge plastic penus covering his nose. He danced across the stage in time to the chanting. It could have been viewed as lewd or disrespectful - but actually he did it well - it was outrageous but it was funny. Everybody laughed or at least grinned big - even the HK band doing the chanting. So try and get some decent food at Glasto, drink plenty of water - and sleep helps of course. Oh - and decent footwear! Final tip - toilets. The smell did get bad on the hot days - and some terrible people do leave a mess. Hard to understand. However they are perfectly useable providing you carry plenty of wet wipes. Someone told me they use Imodium for the duration of weekend and someone else we know bizarrely uses a Tesco carrier bag in his little tent. There are certainly some strange people around but each to his or her own I guess. Go for it big would be my recommendation.

The music!! This is highly personal. Your view of the line up. Who you want to see - who you are not interested in. Here are some general points I can make.

• Everyone who performs at Glasto deserves to be there. They are all good - however big or small their Glasto stage. You may not like their style - their genre - but in their own way - they are all accomplished. It is a massive music melting pot. Sometimes you have to go with the flow - literally if a crowd is moving
• You will have your must sees. You will probably end up missing some of them. You will probably have your want to avoid - but you will probably end up seeing one or two of them.
• You will come across some random acts you will really enjoy.
• There will be highs and relative lows - but overwhelmingly Glasto will be positive.

Some personal specifics. I wanted to see the Pretenders, British Sea Power, The Avalanches, Future Islands, The XX, The Courteeners, The National, Radiohead, Foofighters and of course the Sunday afternoon slot with Barry Gibb and then Nile Rogers and Chic.

I wasn't much interested in Royal Blood, Biffy Clyro (who I had seen before) and particularly Ed Sheeran.

As it turned out I missed Courteeners which was a shame and I missed the FooFighters (just run out of energy and got back to the chilled atmosphere of Avalon Fields.) Everyone said the Foo's were outstanding - but as I have said before - you can't see everything. (we watched Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel and Hobo Jones and the Junkyard Dogs instead!) I ended up watching Royal Blood - an outstanding act even if I am not a fan - and I am glad I did. I also sat through Ed Sheeran - most of the time literally. Much has been said about him, his choice as a headline and his performance on the night. It is a personal thing. Thousands seem to enjoy him. Not for me though.

I will mention Barry Gibb. Sincere. Genuine and gentle. He was nervous at the start but the massive crowd had total respect for him and his life's work. He was blown away. It was memorable. It was lovely. It was definitely emotional. Perfect for late afternoon in the Glasto sun - 100,000 people singing along and dancing to Night Fever and so many other hits he made with his 2 late brothers as The Bee Gees. Fantastic.

And then came Nile Rogers and Chic. What an act. Uncomplicated. Full on fun. Few could resist dancing and clapping - even the hard rockers. It was great to be there and be part of it.

I could go on of course - The Slade tribute band, Hobo's shit song and c---try girl, Frank Sinatra - there were so many. I could mention the "dark side" and Shangri la but I couldn't do it justice. Find out for your self how mad and how wonderful it all is.

So to round off. Glasto is unique. Even if you just went for people watching it would be worth it. Go with a group of mates and get into the music and the atmosphere in this multi dimensional and highly layered festival and you will have a most memorable time. No other festival can match it for diversity.

One final observation. In two years at Glasto I had never experienced any aggression or unfriendliness. There is a great ethos that everyone seems to buy into. Alas I did experience one this year. Jeremy Corbyn had been making a play for the young vote at Glasto this year. I was just leaving the Avalanches set when a nice young lady asked me if I would take a picture of her and her friend. Her friend turned around wearing a new Jeremy Corbyn T Shirt. I said - I thought with warmth and good humour - "you are asking me to take a picture of you wearing a Jeremy Corbyn T Shirt are you?" She said "you are not a fucking Tory are you - we don't want our photograph taken by a fucking Tory". I laughed and muttered something along the lines of "you might feel differently when you find out how the world really works!" She said "I already know how the world fucking works and it won't be long before your darling Theresa is brought down by us !" She went on to shout at me as I started to walk away with a big grin. Just in case she reads this blog - this is something I wrote in an earlier blog for her and her friends like her! :-

Here are a couple of truisms. They are not mine - but they make the point I want to make because they reflect REAL life :

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

A parable: The ant worked hard all summer collecting food and preparing his home for winter. The grasshopper played all summer not doing any work. When winter came the grasshopper had no food. No worries, the grasshopper elected a socialist leader that took away 40 percent of the ants food and gave it to the grasshopper. The next year the ant thought what is the point of working hard if the government is going to take it off me. He decided that the new government would have to take care of him the same way so he played all summer too, as did all the other hard working producing ants. When winter came, there was no food and they all starved to death.

Here are a few Glasto snaps :-

Avalon Fields

Geoff

Mike & Kev

Rog

Rich (Crabbers)

Two Mum's disco

home sweet home

it was early in the morning !

Rog wounded me deeply - suggested I bought my clothes at Farmers Friend! What do you think of the hat!?

Pyramid stage

Rock star! Kev made it all happen for us. Cheers Kev - another cracking time

can't quite get my arm around Fred Scuttle!

Base camp

me getting ready to pontificate - ha!

Rog toasting his new hat in the "mosh pit"

hard going at Glasto. Was Ed Sheeran on - ha!?

just woke up by Sooty

Geoff enjoying Glasto luxury

#Clipperroundtheworld PT6 (Team building weekend) - to the Pacific leg of the 2017/18 round the world race

In an earlier blog I wrote about Crew Allocation Day - when we were introduced to our skipper and fellow crew mates - "Team Rick" until our boat sponsor is announced. Since Crew Allocation a lot of people have been very busy on the teams behalf and there has been a lot of communication via the Clipper team hub site, the team Facebook page and of course E mail.

The Team Building weekend was the next stage in developing the teams ethos, personality and objectives. What followed was everything said on the can. A lot was achieved over the weekend.

Readers will understand we are now in competition with 11 other boats so much must be retained as top secret - ha!

What can I disclose?

• Our team is made up of 11 nationalities. 
• Average crew age - 46
• 9 circumnavigators
• The smallest crew because we have a good number doing multiple legs.
• We have a particularly settled crew legs 1 to 4. An advantage maybe?
• We have a boat song - Best day of my life - American Authors. No comment -ha!
• All our key jobs are filled, and we have a Crew Budget, a shopping list, our delivery crew and a clear plan on victualling.
• The team ethos is in print! 

So the essentials are going well. But what about the team spirit ? 

We met at the house of a one of our team members. A brave and generous offer. Thank you Alyson! It was a hot weather weekend. Fantastic. A hardish country walk up to the South Downs. 30 plus of us. A great turnout. Sandwiches made by the team earlier - Devils Dyke and pub. Team meeting back at base. Games - team based - and then beer etc and fantastic barbecue. Bed for me at 1. Earlier for some. 2.30 for the hardcore! A lot of chat. A lot of banter. Barriers are coming down. A team is emerging. Next day - Sunday an easy start. Plenty of worthwhile chat. Bacon rolls. Later to the pub for a skittles match and pizza buffet. It all felt right and the atmosphere was good.

My feeling is we have the makings of a team that can do well. Our skipper Rick has us with him and we like his approach. He is sound without doubt and will get the balance right between risk and reward. One or two skippers will push it too hard and end up with breakages for sure. We have some strong personalities but plenty of wise old heads too. We have some very capable women. Special mention of Lou, Shona and Alyson particularly for all their hard work. They have been pivotal in working with Rick - and making the organisation of the team so effective. This has been great for the team. Morale is high. We feel ahead of the curve!

So a really good weekend. Early days but a team spirit has been established. As long as physical stamina holds up I am sure we can do well, look after each other and have fun too.

Well done Team Rick.  Fingers crossed - we might have a winning combination!

Team Rick

#Dublin Visit Ireland PT3

We had a short time in Dublin but enough to form an impression. (warning - my observations might be totally wrong - ha!)

In no particular order here are a few things that come to mind :-

• The fabled River Liffey which runs through central Dublin - is indeed dominant. Its powers are claimed to give Jameson whiskey and Guinness of course their unique taste. What surprised me was there was little or no boat activity - commercial or pleasure. I guess it all happens nearer the estuary mouth.
• Dublin is a compact city - of human scale. There are no what you would call skyscrapers - and a real mix - Georgian to brutalist 1960's and a great deal of modern glass building. Taken together it is reasonably attractive but not impressive in large city terms.
• The Liffey  divides Dublin North and South. Apparently the North was working class. South middle class. I would say there is not much evidence of that in central Dublin although there is much south of the river including the Temple Bar area (vibrant party area) Grafton Street for shopping and of course Trinity College and Dublin Castle.
• I liked O'Connell Street (north of the river) - a wide bustling boulevard - with the new and ultra prominent Spire. Our hotel The Gresham was located here. Very central. Smart. Fantastic wide ranging breakfast buffet. Highly recommended.
• The Spire - a huge metal pin was erected in 2003. I like it. It certainly helps the tourist get their bearings as it is so high and prominent. It was built on a site that formerly had a statue of Nelson - but it was blown up by Irish nationalists in 1966.
• Almost everyone we spoke to in Ireland were friendly although generally they keep themselves to themselves I would say.
• Gaelic is commonly spoken. All signs are in Gaelic and English. It takes a lot more letters to write it in Gaelic!
• Is there any music as infectious as loud Irish traditional music! Found a great music bar called the Celt in Talbot St Dublin - but there is plenty on offer in Dublin itself. It is NOT just for the tourists.
• There are many beggars/drinkers on the Dublin streets but they were not threatening.
• There definitely are a lot of bars in Ireland.
• There is virtually no discernable difference between Guinness and Murphy's. Guinness ever so slightly more bitter maybe. Not all Irish drink black stout - far from it - but the tourists do. One Irish guy told me he stopped drinking Guinness when they started serving it chilled.  
• In order of prominence I was told - Gaelic Football, Football, Rugby Union, Hurling.
• Dublin indeed Ireland is quite an expensive place to visit. Nothing is cheap. Guinness typically 5 euros.
• After lots of Irish fare we were looking for something spicy (and cheap). We were lucky to come across a kitchen in the back of a food supermarket called Super Asia Foods. What a find. brilliant cheap food indeed.
• Economy : the burst property bubble in the global financial crisis of 2008, massive sovereign debt - the Irish economy was thought to be a basket case almost of Greek proportions. See below :

Background :

The Irish economy entered severe recession in 2008, and then entered into an economic depression in 2009. The Economic and Social Research Institute predicted an economic contraction of 14% by 2010. In the first quarter in 2009, GDP was down 8.5% from the same quarter the previous year, and GNP down 12%. Unemployment rose from 8.75% to 11.4%. The economy exited recession in the third quarter of 2009, with GDP growing by 0.3% in the quarter, but GNP continued to contract, by 1.4%. The economy grew by 1.9% in Q1 and by 1.6% in Q2 of 2011 but contracted by 1.9% in Q3. Unemployment The unemployment rate rose from 4.2% in 2007 to reach 14.6% in February 2012.

Current :

BBC article - A new forecast from the European Commission predicts that the Republic of Ireland will continue to have the fastest growing economy in the Eurozone in 2016.
The Commission said GDP growth in 2015 was 6.9%, off the back of improving public finances and sustained employment growth.
Irish GDP figures are distorted by the financial activities of multinational companies and many economists think the real growth rate is probably 3.5% to 4%.
That still makes it one of the Eurozone's best performing economies.
The commission forecasts growth of 4.5% in 2016 and 3.5% in 2017.

Unemployment is expected to fall to below 8% in 2017.
It has also forecast that inflation will pick up slightly, to 1.4% by 2017, driven primarily by a projected recovery in wages.
The commission said that, while the recovery started in the external sector, domestic demand is now driving GDP growth.

and now some more controversial observations/opinions from me - ha! :-

They Irish economy has bounced back - how and why ? A comparison with the UK.

• Ireland broadly has political stability - and not much of a socialist tradition.
• Ireland has a good infrastructure. Road links are good - not clogged up as the UK.
• Irish education is good. Ireland's secondary students rank above average in terms of academic performance in both the OECD and EU; having reading literacy, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy test scores better than average. Ireland has the second best reading literacy for teenagers in the EU, after Finland.
• Economic improvements in the 1990s attracted a number of global pharmaceutical, information and communications technology companies to the city and Greater Dublin Area. Companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, PayPal, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, Accenture and Pfizer now have European headquarters and/or operational bases in the city, with several located in enterprise clusters like the Digital Hub and Silicon Docks.
• See above. Ireland has the lowest corporation tax rates in the EU. It is why the multi nationals pay their tax there. They are not breaking any laws. It is complete nonsense for politicians like Corbyn to say we can tax these companies more. And it is also a  fallacy that we can put up corporation tax further to increase our tax revenues. We will not. Companies will register for tax elsewhere - like Ireland - and it would be legal too - unless there is worldwide agreement to change the rules. It cannot be achieved unilaterally - our tax take will fall if we are not reasonably competitive with corporate tax rates and the legal framework in which large companies have to operate. 
• Ireland has space and is not overpopulated. GDP per capita is much better than the UK's as a result. The statistics are obvious. Area of Ireland approx. 27000 square miles. England 50000 square miles. So England is twice as big as Ireland in area terms. Population of Ireland - less than 5 million. Population of England 53 million. So we have 10 times the population in an area twice the size. There is not enough room in England to function properly. We are on top of each other and it is getting worse. Ultimately bad for business. Bad for society. Bad for the soul!
• Population growth in Ireland - about static. In the UK - the fastest increasing in the EU and on course to have the biggest population in the Europe by 2035. Madness.
• Ireland feels like a united country. They have knuckled down with their financial woes. They have had a broadly united cohesiveness.
• We admire Irish tradition. Irish folklore. They export it all over the world with great success. Tourism is massive in Ireland. The Irish know who they are. By contrast the English are embarrassed by their nationality. Flag waving is a no no. We no longer know who we are and what we stand for. We are lost. We are sliding. We are not united. We are multicultural and trying to go in all directions in a pc world driven by social media and too often - a victim mentality. 
• I read in an Irish book "the Irish should forget their history more - the English remember it more". It was referring to the long Irish struggle with the British for home rule and independence. At times this was a very vicious and cruel struggle as we know - atrocities on both sides. The Irish remember it and it unites them in common cause - but maybe they do need to move on. I have been to many countries where the British Empire has had massive impact - some bad by modern interpretation but certainly not all bad. We are increasingly hung up with it - almost afraid to say we are British. We need to look deeper. In so many ways we have been a force for democracy in the world and done a lot of good too. We should remember our history is quite extraordinary and that it is a mistake to judge everything by today's standards.
• On Irish antipathy - even hatred towards the British - as I have said I found the Irish people I spoke to as warm and friendly. However in one of the Dublin bars we got caught up with some Irish football supporters (Ireland had just played Austria in a world up qualifier in Dublin). They were very nationalistic - wearing green and draped in their flag. A couple of guys were not very friendly to me when they heard me speak - its me first at the bar English! Also the lead musician asked is there any English in the bar tonight? No one put their hand up - including us. The musician said "that's good then!" to laughs and cheers!

I could drone on. I am happy for Ireland - I am in despair for us English - sadly!

   

Murphy's or Guinness - which is best?

Bacon cabbage and parsley sauce

a lovely traditional Dublin bar

On to The Celt - Talbot Street. Great music all night

Irish stew - lamb - so simple. Goes with Guinness!

Sights of Dublin

the potato famine of the 1850's

The Spire - O'Connell Street

#RingofKerry Visit Ireland PT2

On the second day of our short break in Ireland we drove (and walked some of) around the Ring of Kerry. This was a gentle day after our efforts on Carrauntoohil the previous day.

The Ring of Kerry is a coastal route around the Skellig coast - the coast of the beautiful and rugged Iveragh Peninsula.

We were staying at Glenbeigh (as our base for Carrauntoohil). A quick plug for Liosderrig House and Maureen our host. She has run her B&B for 18 years. It could not have been nicer, Maureen more considerate or helpful and her full cooked breakfast including white and black pudding more scrummy. Thank you Maureen!

The Ring of Kerry by definition is a circular route around the coast line and takes in small towns and villages and spectacular coastal scenery. The Iveragh peninsular is dominated by the wild Atlantic Ocean.

The route is a designated one - and well on the tourist map. Many people cycle it - a hard 179km. Most people drive it of course. For walkers there is the Kerry Way - (The Kerry Way is a long-distance trail in County Kerry, Ireland. It is a 214-kilometre long circular trail that begins and ends in Killarney. It is typically completed in nine days. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the National Trails Office.). The Kerry Way seems to follow much of the Ring of Kerry route but it avoids most of the roads and I would think would be an especially lovely thing to do. 

Our weather day on the Ring of Kerry was blustery and with poorish visibility but it could have been so much worse and didn't detract from our enjoyment although it did possibly from my mob photos below - ha!

We made our way slowly around - going anti clockwise from Glenbeigh. It took all day with lots of stops to take in views etc. The route is not what you would call busy busy - but it is very much a tourist trail. All you need is a car. The scenery is special - the wildness of it - but there is always another car arriving - and this did detract from the experience somewhat for us. If you could do it without interruption it would undoubtedly be right up there as a great place to be,

We did spend a couple of very enjoyable hours on Valentia Island - (crossed by ferry at Knightstown for 7 euros) and walked up Geokaum Mountain from the bottom for spectacular 360 degree views. However for the purest too - the fact you can almost drive to the top detracted a little.

Overall we had a very enjoyable day and we were glad we did it. If I did it again I would go in winter I think.

Here are a few poorish quality photos :-

scenes from the Ring of Kerry