Muddiest one yet?

[Miesh]

3 hours ago, incident said:

In the really bad areas - T&C, Silver Hayes, etc, then the ground was nearly as bad as 2007 (not worse, though).

But this year was much better overall, as there wasn't as many "bad" areas - there were still parts of the site where the ground didn't cut up that much, whereas in 2007 it was nearly every bloody field.

I've long said that a repeat of 2007 would finish me off, but this wasn't close. Roll on next year.

I totally agree, except for "Roll on next year" - give me a few months for that. Also there was less rain and more sun than 2007 which made it much more enjoyable. Lovely temperatures for a nice long sleep in the morning. 

[sedra]

4 hours ago, ShuMart said:

Having been in 97, 98 and 2007 there is no way this year is the muddiest ever. In 97 I can remember whole market areas between the main stages abandoned as they were knee deep in liquid mud. They had to get the poo sucker to clear the dance tent there was that much liquid mud in it. Even land rover defenders could not get round site!

98 wad no better, can't remember 2007 being that bad.

97 the site completely flooded and much muddier before the drainage although the site smaller. 98 wetter and muddier. 2007 wetter as it rained most of weekend and we left Sunday morning as had had enough. 

2016- not the muddiest or wettest but was one of the coldest as very little sunshine and then clear nights ! Muddy lane was muddier tan I'd seen in years. 

Toilets were cleaner though and I thought less litter about ( well before Friday). I suspect due to the mud there will be a lot of trashed muddy tents left! I dried ours out in garden this afternoon but if you live in a flat in must be harder to do -can see why people buy a cheap tent and leave it. 

[MilkyJoe]

I should have maybe phrased the question better but unfortunately that was all I managed to type before I slumped over my steering wheel and passed out for 4 hours at Michaelwood services. I actually meant was it worse for the horrid claggy mud that makes walking so hard.

I definitely agree about the wrong type of mud though, I think the easiest it was over the entire weekend was after the rains on Friday morning when it was a lot easier to walk through.

I had an amazing time this year after missing the last 2 but fuck me it was hard work!

Shaun.

[J.B.]

Here's a local news report about the state of the ground and the clean up...

 

[DefLeppard]

The mud was pretty bad and stifled movement to some extent. However, last night I discovered that extreme doses of the magic mix of determination and desperation can enable you to glide over such conditions with the finesse of an angel. Well, maybe not but you can certainly move through it faster than expended when the situation calls for it!

I had always been adamant that I would see EWF over Coldplay, even though I do like Coldplay. Yesterday it niggled at me more and more and when I was handed a xyloband at around 7pm I spontaneously decided that Coldplay with my friends may be the way forward. We tried to get up to the back of the pyramid field on the left hand side (when facing out from the pyramid stage) and the sheer number of people was ridiculous. We got stuck in a massive congested bundle of people before we could even get round to seeing the stage.

Coldplay started and I couldn't see the stage as we were gridlocked behind the trees and not even in the main field yet. Regret coursed through my veins. There seemed to be no escape, on all sides was a sea of people trying to get into the field for Coldplay. 

A couple next to me forced their way past, obviously unable to take the overcrowding any longer. I seized my opportunity and latched onto them in a split-second. 12 minutes until EWF start and I was stuck at the far side of the Pyramid stage. I would have to go round. As Coldplay's Yellow blasted out I began the closest thing to a sprint possible in the mud. As I navigated the Other Stage crowd LCD Soundsystem burst onto the stage with Us vs. Them. My legs were starting to die and I considered settling for LCD (who I also love and would have seen anyway if it wasn't for the clash of death), but no, I refused to lose out on seeing EWF at Glastonbury because of a moment of madness. I arrived less the 5 minutes after they started, in time for the whole of Boogie Wonderland, and my endeavours were emphatically rewarded.

 

[Wooderson]

No upturned portaloos like '97. Therefore better. Also, didn't see a single skiv with binbags round his pierre litbarskis. 

[bekimo]

5 hours ago, MadScientist said:

The mud was so hard to walk in, i've actually lost half a stone from the exercise!!!

Yep! I totally get that. I've lost close to a stone. When I got home, I put on a dress after my nice shower and it was tight when I left. It's now loose!! Glastonbury diet is a winner: eat and drink whatever the hell you like but you must walk at least 10 miles a day through sticky mud! 

[Flounder]

I find each wet one a trial in it's own way. 1997 was the worst for me - the last year we did as punters and slept in the car for 4 nights. Now the site has drainage, properly controlled pedestrian flows and all sorts of other infrastructure. Considering this and the state of some of the backstage areas that crew are having to live and work in, I'd say that this year was one of the worst. It took two tractors 2 1/2 hours to pull our bus out. On the up side I'm now the same belt size as I was at the end of last season and more importantly, I'm ever so grateful that we don't have to live like that like some poor people not a million miles away from our shores.

[kidpresentable]

Not my worst for weather, but probably my worst in terms of consistent mud.
(It was like that for periods in 2011, but not throughout.)

[mrlibertinedream]

2007 was far far worse than this year, we had sunshine this year, 07 it rained from the Thursday to Sunday pretty much non stop, to be honest over the last 10 Glastonburys and I've not enjoyed myself as much as watching underworld and lcd this year!! Dancing in a field off your nut to awesome music.....does life get any better than that???

[kaytee...]

The mud was horrible, especially when around silver Hayes and other stage when it started to dry up to clay.

Outside the woodfired pizza place in Williams Green, the mud was some of the worst I'd seen. I was waiting for my pizza watching poor unsuspecting people getting properly stuck in the mud welly deep. Some guy in the queue helped unstuck a few before he ended up losing his own wellies. 

[rpfranks]

Anyone else keep nodding off and being woken up by a jump because you're slipping in the mud in your dream?!

 

[CaledonianGonzo]

4 minutes ago, rpfranks said:

Anyone else keep nodding off and being woken up by a jump because you're slipping in the mud in your dream?!

 

Not so much the last part, but definitely the first.  Hypnagogic jerks - textbook symptom of alcohol withdrawal.

[rpfranks]

3 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Not so much the last part, but definitely the first.  Hypnagogic jerks - textbook symptom of alcohol withdrawal.

 Sounds about right. Fecking wine bags.

[Trout Mask Replica]

I have pals who were working as T&C crew, their backstage and crew areas were some of the worst I saw in the entire site and I walked a lot of it. Vehicles were axel deep, their camps flooded and some walkways without track were near impassable.

I'd seen general population campsites look better. There is a small brook/stream runs through that area, a trickle normally but the level was highest I'd seen it and it burst it's banks before and during the festival leaving them under 20inches of water at times.

There are veterans of many festivals there and none had seen the like.

[rpfranks]

I will add that while this was only my fourth Glastonbury, I have been going to festivals since the mid 00s and this year was the worst mud I've ever seen. Reading used to get pretty bad but they changed the layout a few years back and it's much better now.

I know people will say 05 and 07 was worse but if Glastonbury was nailed on to be as muddy as that every single year I would probably consider not going as much.

Not just because of the mud itself, but I missed so many bands I wanted to see due to sheer volume of people and how long it was taking for people to get around the place. It kind of takes the enjoyment off it all when you know you physically cannot get around to another stage because of the mud/people/weather. Glastonbury becomes very tactical then and that's not fun in big groups/ after alcohol.

[FestiZebra]

Does anyone know what the process is to fix the land? Won't there be a horrific amount of litter buried underneath? Which clearly is no good for the cows! Will they just scoop it out?

[shoptildrop]

whilst the weather wasn't too bad and it was quite warm, that mud was soul destroying!!!! It was really thick in places to the point you really struggled to walk through it and add the crowds it was actually scary as points

Silver Hayes off the track was bad, Arcadia area around the sides was brutal and it's where I fell over several time as boots got stuck...didn't even go to SE corner at all as one time I was near the area after being in Avalon I couldn't cope with the crowds along the railway line

TBH I think this is me done as really struggled at times this year (tent theft didn't help either )

[Jsmooth]

My first one so can't compare but it really didn't bother me at all. Is that weird?

[Porcelina]

11 hours ago, DefLeppard said:

The mud was pretty bad and stifled movement to some extent. However, last night I discovered that extreme doses of the magic mix of determination and desperation can enable you to glide over such conditions with the finesse of an angel. Well, maybe not but you can certainly move through it faster than expended when the situation calls for it!

I had always been adamant that I would see EWF over Coldplay, even though I do like Coldplay. Yesterday it niggled at me more and more and when I was handed a xyloband at around 7pm I spontaneously decided that Coldplay with my friends may be the way forward. We tried to get up to the back of the pyramid field on the left hand side (when facing out from the pyramid stage) and the sheer number of people was ridiculous. We got stuck in a massive congested bundle of people before we could even get round to seeing the stage.

Coldplay started and I couldn't see the stage as we were gridlocked behind the trees and not even in the main field yet. Regret coursed through my veins. There seemed to be no escape, on all sides was a sea of people trying to get into the field for Coldplay. 

A couple next to me forced their way past, obviously unable to take the overcrowding any longer. I seized my opportunity and latched onto them in a split-second. 12 minutes until EWF start and I was stuck at the far side of the Pyramid stage. I would have to go round. As Coldplay's Yellow blasted out I began the closest thing to a sprint possible in the mud. As I navigated the Other Stage crowd LCD Soundsystem burst onto the stage with Us vs. Them. My legs were starting to die and I considered settling for LCD (who I also love and would have seen anyway if it wasn't for the clash of death), but no, I refused to lose out on seeing EWF at Glastonbury because of a moment of madness. I arrived less the 5 minutes after they started, in time for the whole of Boogie Wonderland, and my endeavours were emphatically rewarded.

 

An epic tale, I also did a spring - after Coldplay finished, I made it to Crow's Nest within 15 minutes for Mac Demarco. Somehow.

(I am 26)

Edited June 28, 2016 by Porcelina

[hfuhruhurr]

Made it a more sober one for me - after drinking my vodka I couldn't be bothered with the beer/cider then loo cycle in the mud!

One thing I noticed this year were queues for the urinals - the don't pee message in action.

Mud also a nightmare for my knackered knee.

[Mash011]

Have to say I expected better from the hardened festival veterans of eFestivals. If that's the worst the mud gets I can safely say that no amount of mud is going to have an impact on my good time. It was sticky but just had a laugh about it and kept on going to wherever the fun was.

[Wooderson]

34 minutes ago, Mash011 said:

Have to say I expected better from the hardened festival veterans of eFestivals. If that's the worst the mud gets I can safely say that no amount of mud is going to have an impact on my good time. It was sticky but just had a laugh about it and kept on going to wherever the fun was.

It wasnt as bad as 97. The lake of mud at the cider bus covered 99% of the site then.

[Sack truck]

It was my first really muddy Glastonbury and as a T in the park veteran from years ago, it wasn't really that bad compared to what balado used to get like. I had walking boots on and never got wet feet once, yes it was a slog at times but not nearly as deep as I was expecting

[DTichborne]

1 hour ago, Mash011 said:

Have to say I expected better from the hardened festival veterans of eFestivals. If that's the worst the mud gets I can safely say that no amount of mud is going to have an impact on my good time. It was sticky but just had a laugh about it and kept on going to wherever the fun was.

I've been every year since 1994 abd that's the hardest I've ever found it, by some distance. I'm still only 43 and the fittest I've ever been.