It's been a few years since I've attended

[burnageblue]

But the breadknife and kids are being left at home and I'm going to roll back the years.

We always used to bowl up on the Wednesday night to climb over the fence at around dusk.

Since the super fence went up we used to arrive around lunch time from Brissel, queue for around 3/4 hours and be sat in front of Brothers Bar/Cider bus for around tea time once we were all set up.

What's the score with getting in a set up at the top end of Pennards?

Will we have to get into the car park on Tuesday night to still be able to do that?

Or will Wednesay morning still be sufficient?

How busy does it get in the car parks? To be honest I'd rather cut out as much car queuing onto the site or queuing at the festival gates but still want to get a decent camping spot.

Your advice is much appreciated.

PS - Is it unusually quiet on here for this time of year or is it just me? Where is everyone?

Edited May 2, 2015 by burnageblue

[Spindles]

Pennards fills faster than anywhere, but I've still managed to squeeze a 3 man tent in about halfway up at 3:30pm Wednesday in recent years. I'd recommend getting there early if you are really keen on a particular spot.

[rumpola]

Welcome back.

I don't camp in Pennards myself, but you should be fine getting there Wednesday morning and finding a spot as long as you're early enough.

I travel from Bristol and I've found the best way to avoid queuing in your car to get into the carparks are to head to the west side (through Shelton Mallet then turn off right towards Pilton on the A361 and go past the north of the site) as the car parks are just off the main road rather than through the lanes for the east sideside car parks.

[hjglasto]

Depends how big your tent is. I've arrived around lunch time both times I've been and Pennards/Park Home have both been 'full'. Friend arrived around 10-11 last year and there wasn't enough room in Pennards for a sizeable tent. Never driven but car parks sound horrendous, especially on the Monday, depends how impatient you are though. Pretty sure arriving any time Wednesday morning will be very busy, you may well know but car parks open up Tuesday night now and some people queue overnight.

[stuartbert two hats]

Out of interest, when did you last go to the festival?

[burnageblue]

Thanks for the advice peeps. I think we'll aim to head from Bristol to the West Car Parks around 8am.

Might need to pop into the Clarks factory shop en-route for some desert boots to take home not wear on site I might add.

STH - About 6 years ago was the last time I attended.

[The Placid Casual]

Pennards fills faster than anywhere, but I've still managed to squeeze a 3 man tent in about halfway up at 3:30pm Wednesday in recent years. I'd recommend getting there early if you are really keen on a particular spot.

How good is Pennards compared to Oxlyers? I'd like to be somewhere where it's pretty lively all the time (youth eh?). This'll be my first time camping outside of the Oxfam camp, so advice is appreciated.

[musky]

Depends how big your tent is. I've arrived around lunch time both times I've been and Pennards/Park Home have both been 'full'. Friend arrived around 10-11 last year and there wasn't enough room in Pennards for a sizeable tent. Never driven but car parks sound horrendous, especially on the Monday, depends how impatient you are though. Pretty sure arriving any time Wednesday morning will be very busy, you may well know but car parks open up Tuesday night now and some people queue overnight.

The size of your tent is the biggest factor in getting a space somewhere. In the past I've managed to find a great spots in Park Home on a Thursday afternoon by virtue of having a compact tent. It's getting hard to find three man tents with a small footprint nowadays as they all seem to assume everyone wants a big porch.

[musky]

How good is Pennards compared to Oxlyers? I'd like to be somewhere where it's pretty lively all the time (youth eh?). This'll be my first time camping outside of the Oxfam camp, so advice is appreciated.

Anywhere that gets rammed is going to be lively, as you're going to be in closer proximity to someone who's noisy. So both Pennards and Oxlyers will hit the spot.

I've always found that your experience of a camping area is pretty much down to your immediate neighbours, which can be a complete lottery. They haven't always read the script on whether an area is supposed to be lively or quiet!

[Badlands]

Thanks for the advice peeps. I think we'll aim to head from Bristol to the West Car Parks around 8am.

Might need to pop into the Clarks factory shop en-route for some desert boots to take home not wear on site I might add.

STH - About 6 years ago was the last time I attended.

Clarks factory shop you say? You can never have too many pairs of 'bees

[burnageblue]

There's not quite so much embarrassing Rolf Harris adulation on here as when I used to regularly frequent this place.

[Spindles]

I've always found that your experience of a camping area is pretty much down to your immediate neighbours, which can be a complete lottery. They haven't always read the script on whether an area is supposed to be lively or quiet!

Totally this.

My experience of Pennards was poor and people were anything but friendly or up for fun, sat around their tents with faces like thunder, but for all I know people 20 feet away could have been having the festival of their lives, good neighbours can make your festival a great one, try not to let bad neighbours make your festival a crap one.

[frostypaw]

Anywhere that gets rammed is going to be lively, as you're going to be in closer proximity to someone who's noisy. So both Pennards and Oxlyers will hit the spot.

I've always found that your experience of a camping area is pretty much down to your immediate neighbours, which can be a complete lottery. They haven't always read the script on whether an area is supposed to be lively or quiet!

This - choose your campsite as much by spying out who your neighbours will be as much as anything else. see who's already made a huge mess and avoid is probably a good guide

But otherwise the fields are pretty much all the same, pennards is massively crowded but the next ring of campsites out are all much of a muchness then it's more laid back further out - which can mean more campfires and chatty folk while the crazies further in are out all night. Generally don't sweat it - the field communities that used to exist a decade and more ago are pretty much gone.

[kalifire]

This - choose your campsite as much by spying out who your neighbours will be as much as anything else. see who's already made a huge mess and avoid is probably a good guide

This reminds me of my experience last year, getting to Pennards at about 8:30am when there was loads of space to choose from, and loads of people arriving all at once, all simultaneously going for a good pitch, but also keeping one eye on who's around them so they don't get landed next to a big group of nitrous oxide inhalers. I think everyone around me who was conscious of their neighbours spotted everyone else looking a bit conscious as well, and we all took that as a good sign!

Ideally, I'd prefer a slightly quieter field, but close to the action. Knowing that's not possible, I had to decide how much I was prepared to sacrifice in order to get a good location, but I needn't have worried - my experience of Pennards was that it wasn't too noisy at all. Compared to the racket coming from Arcadia, Pennards was like a library. Those around me weren't kids - I'm in my mid 30's and those around me were probably late 20's up, although it was definitely a younger field.