Muddy / non-muddy years

[Ayrshire Chris]

2007 was awful.

The mud of 2016 was mainly due to the rainfall prior to the festival.  It seemed to get worse as it dried out a bit because it became thicker and gloopy.  I lost a welly heading up the slope from the other stage to the railway track. Ended upl bare footed. Fleeced for 20 quid for another pair. After more rain on Sunday evening the mud actually got easier to negotiate. 

Surreal to see the paths being sprayed with water in 2017 to keep the dust down

Edited October 30, 2018 by Ayrshire Chris

[fuzzy_logic]

34 minutes ago, mashedonmud said:

You will always walk on top of mud whilst in Glastonbury's fields, sometimes it'll be dry and sometimes it'll be wet.

Genius ?

[Penrhos]

Which was the year they put the sludge gulper on blow instead of suck in the dance tent. 

That would be the worst year - if you were in there.. 

I'm assuming this is not a Glasto myth.

[fuzzy_logic]

5 minutes ago, Penrhos said:

Which was the year they put the sludge gulper on blow instead of suck in the dance tent. 

That would be the worst year - if you were in there.. 

I'm assuming this is not a Glasto myth.

That was 98 

[stuartbert two hats]

1 hour ago, Mr.Tease said:

2002 dry

2003 lovely, dry, hot, there was a threat of heavy rain on the Sunday but it never happened

2004 muddy (though not horrifically so and there was some sun on the Thursday) 

2005 beautiful hot sun first two days then biblical rain and flood Friday morning, very muddy and water logged but mud pretty much gone by Sunday evening 

2007 muddy and rainy throughout 

2008 quite nice, don't think there was much mud if any (there was one rainy spell on the Thursday I think) 

2009 a little mud due to one or two spells of rain I think (heavy the last night) 

2010 beautiful sun and heat no rain at all

2011 muddy

2013 nice very little mud if any

2014 okay again I think

2015 pretty much mud free 

2016 a muddy villain

2017 dusty no mud, but cool and chilly after the mega heat of the Wednesday. 

So of 13 I would say 3 very muddy years, 3 with moderate or light mud, the rest had little or no mud. 

It was quite disheartening 2004, 2005 and 2007 as that was 3 muddy ones in a row! So by the time 2008 broke the spell that had been 5 years! 

2008 did have a bit of mud, it seemed to rain for quite a while on the Thursday.

2014 was worse than you remember, I think. There was quite a bit of rain for a while and some areas never recovered - the market areas between Silver Hayes and Pyramid were muddy until the end of the festival.

[Johnnyseven]

2 hours ago, Kashkin said:

I categorise years as good, middling or bad. Because it's all relative, years with a certain amount of rain can still be good. I'd say:

Good: 2017, 2015, 2013, 2010, 2003, 2002, 2000

Middling: 2008, 2009, 2005, 2004

Bad: 2016, 2014, 2011, 2007

All years are good if I got a ticket. We all know the drill, the weather is just something you have to deal with - it should never stop anyone having a good time.

[Phoenix Girl]

I’m just amazed at all your memories. I’ve been 7 times and I just vaguely remember some mud from time to time (not enjoyable) and then 2017 being amazing. That’s it. 

Petrified for 19 now.

Edit: although to be fair I didn’t go in 16.

Edited October 30, 2018 by Phoenix Girl

[Gnomicide]

3 hours ago, rubenz said:

Was there any rain at all in 2017?

Yep. Definitely rained Sunday when Slaves were on, think it also rained a little at around 1am on morning but I can't remember which one.

[Beerqueen]

3 hours ago, Pinhead said:

There was a dampish morning on Sat wasn't there?

Yes that's right.  I have a very fetching photo of me in my giraffe print poncho with Billy Bragg that morning.  I was also interviewed for Reuters in it.  I'm sure it was the poncho that did it!

[MetaKate]

 

5 hours ago, H.M.V said:

Correct! Still on for drinkies then?

 

[MetaKate]

 

42 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Yep. Definitely rained Sunday when Slaves were on, think it also rained a little at around 1am on morning but I can't remember which one.

It absolutely down-sprinkled one night in 2017... Im pretty sure it was the Saturday because that was the night I was wearing a white shirt. It was off and on from around 1am to 7am and it was really refreshing to dance in. (The rain, not the shirt)

[Flysheet]

If we go a bit further back to give us the full 30 years (someone else picked up with 92 earlier which was bakingly hot), 89 was scorchio and dusty. 90 started wet on Thursday, got proper muddy through Friday and dried out by Sunday. Played havoc with us flares wearing Mondays fans!

[clarkete]

I think 85 was muddy too and in those days people barely took protective clothing or places to kip, so they got pretty muddy.

Plaggy bags inside boots or kipping under a sheet of polythene strung off a bike handle or whatever. 

[Kashkin]

2 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

All years are good if I got a ticket. We all know the drill, the weather is just something you have to deal with - it should never stop anyone having a good time.

Well yes, in general I agree. I mean bad as in bad conditions, not that I had a bad time. However, 2007 really was very hard, were you there?

[FuzzyDunlop]

5 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

2008 did have a bit of mud, it seemed to rain for quite a while on the Thursday.

2014 was worse than you remember, I think. There was quite a bit of rain for a while and some areas never recovered - the market areas between Silver Hayes and Pyramid were muddy until the end of the festival.

2014 had the friday afternoon storm. That is one of my favourite glastonbury moments.

All music was off, except a bar playing "cant fight the moonlight - Leanne Rimes"

Great dance & Sing a long followed.

[stuartbert two hats]

4 hours ago, FuzzyDunlop said:

2014 had the friday afternoon storm. That is one of my favourite glastonbury moments.

All music was off, except a bar playing "cant fight the moonlight - Leanne Rimes"

Great dance & Sing a long followed.

The Glade kept going too, I believe.

[RichardWaller]

2016 was easily the muddiest Glastonbury of the ones I've been to (2002-2004, 2010, 2013-14), but I'm not sure it makes my top three muddiest festivals. That honour goes to V Staffs 2007, Isle of Wight 2011 and Festival No6 2013. I think.. Maybe swap one of em, but nah 2016 wasn't the muddiest definitely. 

I can normally deal with mud at a festival and if it were me today or me a few months before the festival there, I'd have managed a lot better. Shame some twat decided to send me flying off me bike a week and half before, fucking up my knee with what I later found out was ligament damage. Aye, hated my knee more than the mud that week.

[Hugh Jass]

There was a Bestival one year (08 I think) that was fucking biblical in terms of rain and mud. The nautical theme was very apt.

[Mr.Tease]

12 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

2008 did have a bit of mud, it seemed to rain for quite a while on the Thursday.

2014 was worse than you remember, I think. There was quite a bit of rain for a while and some areas never recovered - the market areas between Silver Hayes and Pyramid were muddy until the end of the festival.

I think 2014 was the year where I happened to be inside watching/listening to something every time it rained, so it seemed less wet to me than it was! Now I think about it- I think that was the year there was a horrific looking rain/thunder cloud on the day metallica were playing, Didn't turn out to be as bad as it looked, but I have clearly erased the mud levels from my memory!

[Bags73]

2007 was the wettest I've been to but my wife reckons 98 was worse.  Muddiest was 2016, down the near the dance village was unbelievable,  I think there are still people stuck near the loos now.  

2005 was the most "entertaining" bad weather with the 8 hour thunderstorm.  It got as bad as it gets down at the bottom of Pennards (see my avatar) and down near the John Peel Tent.

 

[Yokel Again]

Atleast 2016 had the odd sunny spell despite the very very bad mud. The worst thing about 2016 is what that is was muddy from the word go.

2007 it just pretty much pissed it down now stop. Wednesday was beautiful though! 

[Hugh Jass]

I don't remember 2014 being particularly bad for weather (Friday thunderstorm aside). Then again I don't remember much about 2014 in general, by Glastonbury standards it was a pretty unmemorable year.

[Johnnyseven]

9 hours ago, Kashkin said:

Well yes, in general I agree. I mean bad as in bad conditions, not that I had a bad time. However, 2007 really was very hard, were you there?

I wasn't so can't comment on what it was like that year. I was there in 1998 and 2016 though.

[hfuhruhurr]

2014 thunderstorm,  just bought a beer, got rain gear sorted and walked out on West Holts to see Vintage Trouble. One, just one massive rain drop hit my beer plumb centre and replaced said drink with water. Sodding thing. Just because Metallica wanted to ride the lightning.

[clarkete]

49 minutes ago, Bags73 said:

2007 was the wettest I've been to but my wife reckons 98 was worse. 

 

Nah, I had a great time in 98, we even set off loads of fireworks on our first night, in the field we used to stay in which I believe was Webbs Ash.

We were pretty pissed and when the steward came up behind me I had that moment of clarity where I wondered what they were going to say.  I said "I'm sorry, we were just celebrating my birthday", they said "don't worry, they're brilliant, just take care".  Those were the days