91 replies to this topic

[neilloggie]

We were in east 20 for the first time with our trailer tent with a 5 min walk to toilets (cleaned every morning) a sink and 2 stand pipes(which had water all week) so no hardship there, we went expecting nothing much so weren't disappointed in any way.

It has it + and - on the plus you can arrive Tuesday get set up not have to worry about queing with all your stuff then trying to find a spot to camp

on the minus we had nowhere to plug the microwave or satellite receiver in so missed all the reruns of changing rooms.

[the beadle]

Campervans? tangerine dream ready erected tents? tipis? myhabs? bloody hell take a tent and save some cash. mind you as i said elsewhere some better organisation wouldn't go amiss, this year we ALL seemed to be 2nd class festie goers.

[rischbrit]

We were in E23 this year and had 16 toilets, 2 sinks and 1 water fill up for about 1000 people. The field was full by Tuesday Pm with campervans and people were queuing through the field to get to gate C from the car parks.

My gripe here is that the toilets were not emptied until thursday pm and they had been used for nearly 48 hrs not only by campervanners but also people queuing and as such they were a disgrace!!!

[KaleidoscopeEyes]

I camped at the top of the pyramid field, right near the kidz field and the toilets were cleaned really regularly and weren't really an issue. Had a total of about 10 taps within a 5 min walk (there and back without queues)

[loosechange]

There seems to be an attitude in this thread that any complaints about the lack of stewarding and facilities in the campervan fields are entirely unjustified, which is wrong IMHO.

I don't believe anyone's expecting comparable facilities to even the most basic of CL / CSs, but at £75 if you did only turn up on the Thursday, say, and leave on Monday then that's well over the odds for what was provided.  Sure, you'd pay something approaching £17+(pp) a night at a site with full facilities.

But that's not the point.  

It's been a long time since I parked in the car park fields at the festival, but I did it for about six years and was never once boxed in on arrival such that I couldn't have driven out if I'd chosen to - unlike the CV fields.  Not everyone can afford to wait until all their neighbours have left on Monday to leave, some people are unlucky enough to need to leave on Sunday after the headliners, or even earlier - even in the best of circumstances.      

Even without satellite tents springing up, it would've been impossible to move the 'van more than a metre forwards or backwards.  This despite the clear T&Cs in the Fine Guide, etc.  Fortunately, nothing awful happened.  But if anything had happened, the emergency services wouldn't have stood a chance...

I get that the Festival assume because everyone's in 'vans and motorhomes they've got their own facilities so they don't need to provide any, but not all 'vans have toilets and those that do need somewhere to empty them!  

I may be confused, but I'm sure in previous years there have been grey water disposal points too, or have I made that up?

[ianianian]

They certainly go on about not using any old soap in the showers or sinks in the main site (for those that tie them up for 20 minutes while they wash their hair  ) so I was quite surprised that there were no grey water facilities in the campervan fields.

I wasn't looking for radical improvements to what was provided, just simple things like splitting the toilet waste tanks up a bit more rather than all in one place, no significant cost to do that since they were just big portable tanks dropped on the ground; and given the water supplies that they had run in these fields, there should have been one or two less sinks at each place and more simple standpipe type taps (even better a tap with 1m of loose blue pipe attached) for people to easier fill their large water vessels with. In fact I'd have thought it would have cost LESS to fit slightly fewer sinks and slightly more standpipe type taps instead. Just seemed to me that whoever arranged the campervan field facilities hasn't actually ever spent any time in a campervan/caravan!

On the subject of water taps every single one should have a large sign saying
1 - DON'T leave the tap running, even out of "politeness" for the next person (every drop of water on the ground just perpetuates and adds to the muddy conditions)
2 - DON'T wash you sodding wellies/boots under the taps (waste of good water, again keeps the ground around the tap wet and muddy, and they'll just get muddy again in seconds anyway) ... keep a wooden fork from your lunch to use to scrape the worst of the mud off, that will do!

[Alex Cockell]

James Bolivar, on 28 June 2011 - 03:12 PM, said:

Yes

Agreed on the level sites, power hookup... proper Elsan points, cos it can be built on.  For instance, I might fancy coming along to Glasto - but my mobility makes it a hassle as well as needing a CPAP machine.  Someone like me would need proper 240V AC, Shore Connection for the works.  Hell-  why not put in the infrastructure to support static caravans in part of the complex?

[jameshunt]

Many of the problems are directly caused by festival goers.

There are sinks with taps by the toilets and a fast flow tap for filling water containers.  Any time I used the loos every single one of the hand washing sinks was being used by w*nkers to fill their water containers.  It didn't even save people time as it took at least 10 times longer for their containers to fill from a hand washing sink than from the fast flow tap that's there specifically for that purpose.  Basically it took them longer to use all the taps and prevent people from washing their hands than if they'd waited patiently for the tap that was there for that purpose in the first place.

Uncaring, selfish, thoughtless people.  And ironically some of them might even be complaining about the lack of facilities in the campervan fields..

[James Bolivar]

jameshunt, on 30 June 2011 - 07:15 PM, said:

Many of the problems are directly caused by festival goers.

There are sinks with taps by the toilets and a fast flow tap for filling water containers.  Any time I used the loos every single one of the hand washing sinks was being used by w*nkers to fill their water containers.  It didn't even save people time as it took at least 10 times longer for their containers to fill from a hand washing sink than from the fast flow tap that's there specifically for that purpose.  Basically it took them longer to use all the taps and prevent people from washing their hands than if they'd waited patiently for the tap that was there for that purpose in the first place.

Uncaring, selfish, thoughtless people.  And ironically some of them might even be complaining about the lack of facilities in the campervan fields..

I didn't even see sinks in our field, just fast-flow pipes. That said, a sign near your sinks might have helped as I'll bet some of those people you are angry at didn't even know there were better taps in some other part of the field.

[James Bolivar]

Alex Cockell, on 30 June 2011 - 06:05 PM, said:

Agreed on the level sites, power hookup... proper Elsan points, cos it can be built on.  For instance, I might fancy coming along to Glasto - but my mobility makes it a hassle as well as needing a CPAP machine.  Someone like me would need proper 240V AC, Shore Connection for the works.  Hell-  why not put in the infrastructure to support static caravans in part of the complex?

Or a hotel, Disney has hotels.

[jameshunt]

James Bolivar, on 30 June 2011 - 11:11 PM, said:

I didn't even see sinks in our field, just fast-flow pipes. That said, a sign near your sinks might have helped as I'll bet some of those people you are angry at didn't even know there were better taps in some other part of the field.

I think a sign might have helped, however the water container filling tap was right next to the sinks so it's not as if it was hidden.  They were fully aware of it but decided to hog the sink taps as well.  The queue was slightly shorter for the sinks so people used those thinking they'd be finished quicker and not caring the slightest that they were preventing anyone from washing their hands.  It wouldn't have been as bad if they'd have left at least one tap free for hand washing instead of occupying all 4 pointlessly (it took them longer so no one benefited).

[SteAl]

Funny how everyone sees things differently...

Just looking at that EXCELLENT site panorama pull out from this years Q review and the West Campervan fields look pretty well parked - reasonable firebreak space I'd have thought - and certainly moreso than in say the crew/artists area between the Pyramid and Other stages. I can't understand why anyone complaining about the firebreak space didn't stand their ground when they were parking up - it's not as though the other vans materialise out of thin air when yer back's turned!

Oh, and anyone harping on about campervans taking no more space than cars should just have a look at the pull out. There are AT LEAST four times as many cars in similar areas on the car parks, probably significantly more.. so at twenty quid a car the campervans are getting a bargain in terms of space alone.

As for full toilets and taps not working, the sensible thing to do is thoroughly scout out your area and find out exactly where and what standard all the local facilities are - then make the most of them.

At fifty odd I've been to more than a few Glastonbury's and it astonishes me now - a city with the population of say Newcastle just arrives on a farm for what I think is genuinely the best party in the world... And someone who's brought their own toilet facilities complains about the portaloos  

I do understand that for some people the toilets, or the noise, or the people... are just too much and that campervans are a solution for them. I went out on Monday morning to visit some friends doing just that and the West Campervan fields were lovely, fresh and clean compared to the wasteland left behind in the camping areas on site.

But, and this is only my take, Glastonbury is so special to me that I don't want to miss a minute. Sitting by a fire at dawn talking shite to new friends and neighbours before falling into the tent is as much a part of it to me, maybe even moreso, than the best headlining act you could wish for. Getting driven out of your tent by the heat in the morning to join the throng is what I want - not an excuse to stay in bed, watch the rain spattering the windows in the afternoon, and think "Oh we'll just spark another here and wait for it to pass..."

To me, the Campervan Fields are the suburbs, everyone tucked up in their own little houses.

OF COURSE they should be the other side of the fence!

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