The state of the ground.

[stopwn1981]

2016 was pretty damn grim at times. Remember one bleary-eyed morning getting a coffee in Avalon and it was just a total bombsite  - like the Somme with a Helter Skelter. It, and we, definitely deserve better this year!

[CaledonianGonzo]

In TV footage from 2016 the lakes of lying water in front of the Pyramid stand out pretty clearly.  Huge spaces in the crowd.  This just wasn't an issue in 2011.

[SophieBee]

I went to the Goan place for a kedgeree breakfast on the Saturday morning in 2016 and the floor of their tent was undulating like a waterbed, plus half of their cookers had packed in due to water damage over night - the pilot lights wouldn't get back up or something. And there was that massive lake in the middle of the West Holts field. It may not have rained that much during awake hours, but what fell overnight was grim enough to keep the ground in a sorry state.

[eastynh]

6 minutes ago, SophieBee said:

I went to the Goan place for a kedgeree breakfast on the Saturday morning in 2016 and the floor of their tent was undulating like a waterbed, plus half of their cookers had packed in due to water damage over night - the pilot lights wouldn't get back up or something. And there was that massive lake in the middle of the West Holts field. It may not have rained that much during awake hours, but what fell overnight was grim enough to keep the ground in a sorry state.

We sat on our chairs in that and watched some mad Japanese orchestra. Bit of a mad afternoon.

[SophieBee]

1 minute ago, eastynh said:

We sat on our chairs in that and watched some mad Japanese orchestra. Bit of a mad afternoon.

That sounds like an excellent afternoon! I was sorry to miss the Japanese chaps, we had a reasonably uneventful afternoon in the Park if I remember rightly - wish I'd ditched my lot and gone with my initial feels, but what can you do?

[shoptildrop]

Saturday Lunch time as a bit mushy around West Holts, it was rivers in some places, not too bad in others and around the brothers bar too a bit of effort too

Some pictures below of the ground, 1st 4 are around WH on Saturday lunch time (felt sorry for the traders round there), 5th is state of boots when got to acoustic bar  and last one is the cement arount silver haynes on the Sunday which to me was the worse area I encountered

[Andeeroo]

I just found the conditions easier to traverse last year than in 2011. It's all subjective. No biggie.

[eastynh]

33 minutes ago, SophieBee said:

That sounds like an excellent afternoon! I was sorry to miss the Japanese chaps, we had a reasonably uneventful afternoon in the Park if I remember rightly - wish I'd ditched my lot and gone with my initial feels, but what can you do?

It was reasonably uneventful at West Holts as well to be truthful. We ended up heading over to the Glade. Think Dub Pistols may have been on (or was that Friday?) It was better at The Glade anyway.

[Mezhyp1]

Yeah West Holts field was particularly fucking wet last year 

[Spindles]

4 hours ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

do you have the opposite of rose-tinted specs? Do you not remember how glorious the thurs and sunday were in 2011?

Thursday afternoon, 2011:

Had to walk through some pretty thick mud to get here, but the ground was dry, the grass was green and the sun was shining.  24 hours or so later this was like a slip'n'slide.  Sunday was hotter and more unrelenting than 2010 at it's peak by my memory.

[squirrelarmy]

1 hour ago, Spindles said:

Thursday afternoon, 2011:

Had to walk through some pretty thick mud to get here, but the ground was dry, the grass was green and the sun was shining.  24 hours or so later this was like a slip'n'slide.  Sunday was hotter and more unrelenting than 2010 at it's peak by my memory.

The bottom end of the Park near where it meets Pennards was a bog but as you got uphill it did get better. 

[SwedgeAntilles]

2 hours ago, Mezhyp1 said:

Yeah West Holts field was particularly fucking wet last year 

Yup. WH was my favourite area of 2015, didn't even come close last year cause of the state of the ground. 

[simian_mobile_mushrooms]

Guys, I'm loving these photos. It's nice to see everyone's different perspectives and what they saw, no matter how small or depressing or muddy. Really like it. On a side note, what are your thoughts at night? Was it particularly colder last year cos of all the rain and that clouds? Feel like my light summer jacket and poncho aren't going to be enough now

[Sasperella]

34 minutes ago, simian_mobile_mushrooms said:

Guys, I'm loving these photos. It's nice to see everyone's different perspectives and what they saw, no matter how small or depressing or muddy. Really like it. On a side note, what are your thoughts at night? Was it particularly colder last year cos of all the rain and that clouds? Feel like my light summer jacket and poncho aren't going to be enough now

Nah, I found the nights to be fine last year....I think I had two light hoodies with me and a poncho, but I definitely wasn't cold at any point. The two key things being that A. I didn't really ever get wet and B. cloud cover means it's not so chilly as I think it keeps the warmth in somehow. I seem to remember 2014 being the same thought really...not really cold as such at any point. 

[Sasperella]

p.s. I agree, the mud pictures are making me particularly excited for some reason! Haha! 

Edited May 20, 2017 by Sasperella

[Fork_UK]

41 minutes ago, simian_mobile_mushrooms said:

Guys, I'm loving these photos. It's nice to see everyone's different perspectives and what they saw, no matter how small or depressing or muddy. Really like it. On a side note, what are your thoughts at night? Was it particularly colder last year cos of all the rain and that clouds? Feel like my light summer jacket and poncho aren't going to be enough now

I've only been in 2015 and 2016, but I found the nights in 2015 much colder, even though during the days it was much warmer.  The lack of cloud cover really makes a difference, so make sure you carry a warm jumper of hoodie in your day bag and a light waterproof mac or poncho so you're prepared for both.  

[Stretlow]

3 hours ago, shoptildrop said:

Saturday Lunch time as a bit mushy around West Holts, it was rivers in some places, not too bad in others and around the brothers bar too a bit of effort too

Some pictures below of the ground, 1st 4 are around WH on Saturday lunch time (felt sorry for the traders round there), 5th is state of boots when got to acoustic bar  and last one is the cement arount silver haynes on the Sunday which to me was the worse area I encountered

The last one (maybe two) is where I consider it to be bad... the first ones though are just welly fodder. I only saw it like the last one in a few places

[Madyaker]

Here 2 pics I took. I think the one from the pyramid field was on thursday and I'm not sure where the other one is, near avalon maybe?

[Spindles]

2nd one is looking downhill near Croissant neuf towards the arch into Greenpeace field, if I am right.  In times gone by the candle powered boat folk would be just to your left and behind you a little way.

[The Nal]

I remember walking back through the campervan field in the early hours in 2014 and there was frost on the mud. Fucking freezing that year at night.

[Charm]

2 hours ago, Madyaker said:

Here 2 pics I took. I think the one from the pyramid field was on thursday and I'm not sure where the other one is, near avalon maybe?

This is from 2015, same shot but dry and sunny, nice. 

Charm x

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[DJ Cull]

4 minutes ago, Charm said:

This is from 2015, same shot but dry and sunny, nice. 

Charm x

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I've only been twice - 2014 & 2016. Consequently I never knew the ground could actually look like this!

[Charm]

5 minutes ago, DJ Cull said:

I've only been twice - 2014 & 2016. Consequently I never knew the ground could actually look like this!

Having a lie down on the grass is lovely, so hope it happens for us this year. 

Charm x

http://

[mazola]

It's a different ball game completely if the ground is dry.

sometimes when it's muddy it feels like you have to work for your fun, where as when it's sunny and dry the good times just wash over you

[Slugworth]

8 minutes ago, mazola said:

It's a different ball game completely if the ground is dry.

sometimes when it's muddy it feels like you have to work for your fun, where as when it's sunny and dry the good times just wash over you

This 100%