Best Ped Gate For Car Arrivals

[phillyfaddle]

I’ve done A, B and D.

When I started going you could park in the next field or two to A. That was the best, but still felt like a long way. It’s not possible now. 

B was a massive queue to get through in the heat in 2010, then a huge trek across site for camping (Hitchin Hill).

Used D from 07 until we moved to WV in 2014. Terrible in mud in 2007 and 2011 😩 and parking got progressively further away.

It all depends where you intend to camp. But be prepared for a BIG walk 🥾 wherever you park up.

[Cruft]

Does anyone know the entrance where shortly after leaving the turnstiles there's a massive hill to climb? 

Think some call it Cardiac Hill

Hoping to avoid that one this year..

[Avalon_Fields]

3 minutes ago, Cruft said:

Does anyone know the entrance where shortly after leaving the turnstiles there's a massive hill to climb? 

Think some call it Cardiac Hill

Hoping to avoid that one this year..

That’s the Hill of Death by Gate C. It’s not that bad!

[Ayrshire Chris]

2 hours ago, HotChipWillBreakYourLegs said:

Can't really comment as I've mostly done C.  It's usually pretty smooth, but always feels long when you're walking to and from it, and queuing.

Did B one year when the car broke down and we had to go via shuttle at Bath and West.

Did D one year, 2016, when due to the mud we were re-directed to the west.

Never done A, but planning to this year as we want to camp in Wicket.

Bit nervous about A as there were some horror stories about the queue from last year and it will also be busy with the coach arrivals.

Gate A queue

[HotChipWillBreakYourLegs]

1 hour ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

Gate A queue

Ta.  What time was that?

I assume they're not coach arrivals as someone has a wheelbarrow in there.  Or do they all get mixed in?

Was it queuing out the field too?

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, HotChipWillBreakYourLegs said:

Ta.  What time was that?

I assume they're not coach arrivals as someone has a wheelbarrow in there.  Or do they all get mixed in?

Was it queuing out the field too?

thats the zig zag queue for carparks just before gate A ..... coaches get a separate queue which is prioritised to an extent 

[Ayrshire Chris]

14 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

thats the zig zag queue for carparks just before gate A ..... coaches get a separate queue which is prioritised to an extent 

Correct, that is the zig zag queue just before the gate. I’ve been in this queue in 2017 and it actually extended further across the field and into the path adjacent to the orange car park.  This isn’t the bus arrivals queue.

but like every other queue, once you’re through the gate any tiredness or frustration  disappears as soon as you have that wristband on! 

Edited June 5, 2023 by Ayrshire Chris

[TheBoz]

Arrived at Wednesday 6am on the west side and was directed to a pink car park 47. Went to A and the queue was already out of the zigzag and along the path. Once the gates opened there were a few 10 minute stops for the coach. Through the gates at approx 10am.

We camp in Hawkwell so 50/50 between A and B. Will probably try B this time though, arriving at the same time

 

[Glastoboy]

I think it changes every year but I've used them all over the years. Anecdotaly, I reckon D,A,C, Pablo Honey, B in that order.

D is the most organised and fluid, A is also good (depending on arrival time). B & C seem to alternate in awfulness from one year to the next. C seems a longer queue but is better organised (more stewards) and moves quicker than B because a lot of peeps in C queue are from the campervan field and aren't lugging all their stuff in so get processed a lot quicker. 

Last year I arrived at 2am, 4hrs after my mates, who were already in the Gate B queue, got put in a car park closer to Gate C so went there, and waltzed in an hour before them when the gates opened Wednesday morning.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Glastoboy

[Charliehmiller]

Is there a way get directed to a car park closer to gate C then B? Thinking purple 9 upwards? 

We got directed to purple 11 last year and it wasn't too hideous, ideally just don't want to be in purple 1 and walk all the way down to c. 

[Alcatraz]

For years would take up an offer of village parking but Gate A has become so busy with bus traffic, my experience in 2019 with security who (understandably) were not happy to see us walking through there means I'm not bothering this year.

Aiming for D this year

 

[dotdash79]

6 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

A is the coach station. Is there even car parking there?

A has some Orange parking near it, we were directed there due to the queue for D being massive last year, arrived at 5:30am in the zigzag's

[Titters]

I'm really only echoing what others have said, but Gate A can feel like it grinds to a halt if coming from the car park side once the coaches start arriving thick and fast. 

 

Had a bad experience at D one year ('17?) after arriving about 11am, but I think there was chat about a combination of struggling to get the volunteers in place, and it was just after Manchester, so possibly additional searches? This may have all been rumour. 

Edited June 5, 2023 by Titters
Spooling

[jow95]

5 hours ago, Avalon_Fields said:

That’s the Hill of Death by Gate C. It’s not that bad!

I've never climbed it but surely it's not as bad as the one the worthy w*nkers have to climb? Or anyone wanting to visit strummerville

[Gnomicide]

If you arrive from the West on Tuesday night, you will probably be put in Bronze or orange.

We sleep in the car and join the queue at around 6am. Normally we head to D but last year could see the queue was out of sight by 5:45, headed to A instead which was ok, reached camp in Paines at 9:30ish.

Gate A queue 2022 - 06:15

Gate D queue 2019 - 06:43 (got to camp at around 09:20

Photo is about here:

So in short... D unless there's a train strike or everyone decides to get there early again, but there's not much in it between that and A. Main advantage of A, no big hill.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Gnomicide

[jow95]

Choose gate based on camping position not the other way around

[p.pete]

47 minutes ago, jow95 said:

Choose gate based on camping position not the other way around

Absolutely.  And treat questions on the internet that don't make sense as hypothetical 🙂  Based on it being hypothetical, even though I've posted above that I've never used it, I've voted gate D. 

Assuming at this point you haven't decided 'where' to camp Gate D is loaded with camping options as soon as you come through the gate, whereas gates B & C you still have a bit of a walk to most fields / not too many options on hand immediately.  Also D has parking right outside the gate - obviously massive amounts of luck to get the perfect parking spot and you might end up across the road in Pink - but aiming for C at the very least you have to navigate your way through the campervan fields and then hope your parking spot isn't too far beyond them.  So for the Walks part of the question D wins hands down, A second best, then B, then C (we usually aim for Big Ground, so for us Gate preference is almost the exact opposite of this, choosing gate based on camping position as per @jow95.

With regards to queue length - if you're arriving early enough they're all pretty decent.  After that any one of them can become a turding sh*t-show based on many factors and they all do amazingly well to get 20-40k [complete guess] through them on a Wednesday (stadiums handling smaller crowds will have many more gates and fewer bags to check)!  The pictures above of queues at gate A are amazing but I think there's a similar volume of people at each one, they're just not as good a photo opportunity.  B for example is a big wide looong funnel, C starts on the side of a hill and then meanders through the campervans - so by 8am they possibly all have ~10k people at them, I'm making that number up but would love to know.  

[ilovelanegan]

Any thoughts on best/ worst gate scenarios if planning to arrive around midday?

[BambooShanks]

Just now, ilovelanegan said:

Any thoughts on best/ worst gate scenarios if planning to arrive around midday?

tbh by then the queues will have gone down and should be a breeze to walk in.  

[ilovelanegan]

8 minutes ago, BambooShanks said:

tbh by then the queues will have gone down and should be a breeze to walk in.  

Hopefully!! 🤞 Then it's just finding somewhere to squeeze in a tent...

[HotChipWillBreakYourLegs]

13 hours ago, Gnomicide said:

If you arrive from the West on Tuesday night, you will probably be put in Bronze or orange.

We sleep in the car and join the queue at around 6am. Normally we head to D but last year could see the queue was out of sight by 5:45, headed to A instead which was ok, reached camp in Paines at 9:30ish.

Gate A queue 2022 - 06:15

Gate D queue 2019 - 06:43 (got to camp at around 09:20

Photo is about here:

So in short... D unless there's a train strike or everyone decides to get there early again, but there's not much in it between that and A. Main advantage of A, no big hill.

Thanks, this is genuinely helpful.

I also didn't know that bronze was public parking.  I assumed it was staff / hospitality / special.

[HotChipWillBreakYourLegs]

40 minutes ago, p.pete said:

Absolutely.  And treat questions on the internet that don't make sense as hypothetical 🙂  Based on it being hypothetical, even though I've posted above that I've never used it, I've voted gate D. 

Assuming at this point you haven't decided 'where' to camp Gate D is loaded with camping options as soon as you come through the gate, whereas gates B & C you still have a bit of a walk to most fields / not too many options on hand immediately.  Also D has parking right outside the gate - obviously massive amounts of luck to get the perfect parking spot and you might end up across the road in Pink - but aiming for C at the very least you have to navigate your way through the campervan fields and then hope your parking spot isn't too far beyond them.  So for the Walks part of the question D wins hands down, A second best, then B, then C (we usually aim for Big Ground, so for us Gate preference is almost the exact opposite of this, choosing gate based on camping position as per @jow95.

With regards to queue length - if you're arriving early enough they're all pretty decent.  After that any one of them can become a turding sh*t-show based on many factors and they all do amazingly well to get 20-40k [complete guess] through them on a Wednesday (stadiums handling smaller crowds will have many more gates and fewer bags to check)!  The pictures above of queues at gate A are amazing but I think there's a similar volume of people at each one, they're just not as good a photo opportunity.  B for example is a big wide looong funnel, C starts on the side of a hill and then meanders through the campervans - so by 8am they possibly all have ~10k people at them, I'm making that number up but would love to know.  

An extra thing C has going for it, is that because it goes through the CV fields, there are a few stalls to get some brekky and hot drinks.

[BambooShanks]

19 minutes ago, ilovelanegan said:

Hopefully!! 🤞 Then it's just finding somewhere to squeeze in a tent...

If it's just one tent you should be able to find a space in a fair amount of campsites though pennards and oxlyers might be a challenge!

[p.pete]

1 minute ago, HotChipWillBreakYourLegs said:

An extra thing C has going for it, is that because it goes through the CV fields, there are a few stalls to get some brekky and hot drinks.

Never even thought of this!  any idea where stalls are in CV fields?  I've probably walked straight past them or sat looking at them for hours 😄 

 

5 minutes ago, HotChipWillBreakYourLegs said:

I also didn't know that bronze was public parking.  I assumed it was staff / hospitality / special.

Same - could swear I've seen it labelled as something non-public before too!  Can't imagine they would fill all of either side of the road overnight, assume they want to keep their options open to have both sides able to take cars off the road during rush hour in the morning

[ilovelanegan]

1 minute ago, BambooShanks said:

If it's just one tent you should be able to find a space in a fair amount of campsites though pennards and oxlyers might be a challenge!

Yeah I imagine so - Park or Dairy would be a good plan B. Going with 2 first-timers so want to get them close to the action if possible.