2007 Glastonbury visits

2007 Glastonbury visits

Sat 17th Feb 2007, visit 50

"Oh how I LOVE Glastonbury :) I really do. After 18.5 years since my first visit, after so many visits, I still so look forward to going there and to just being there. I said Ugg when the alarm went off but funnily enough I woke easily. Admittedly I did doze on the train to Bristol, but dozing on trains is allowed as long as you don't sleep through your stop. I love the bus journey down from Bristol through Mendip villages with magical names like Temple Cloud. Cloudy it was so I didn't get the first glimpse of the Tor that you usually get going down the hill into Wells. But it came into view just after Wells.

I took lots and lots of photos!


One thing which made me really happy was that the White Spring, which is housed in a somewhat dingy Victorian reservoir building, seems to have been opened up into a proper shrine at last. They have made a proper flow for the spring and there are lovely paintings and little shrines and greenery all over. I really hope it is going to stay like that, it felt really special. I took a lot of photos there.

Daffodils were out in the Chalice Well Gardens and even though it started to rain when I was  there it was beautiful as ever.

My legs behaved too! They didn't ache or feel heavy or get tired. They carried me up the Tor  and even carried me into town to get my bus home when I got back to Oxford. Which I think it another indication that I have RLS- it does ease the more you use your legs. Thank you legs.

I was very restrained buying things wise. I bought the winter Avalon magazine, a few cards and a book "Supernatural" by Graham Hancock." 




It was misty


Windswept on the Tor


The White Spring


Daffodils in the gardens!







Sat/Sun 12/13 May 2007, visit 51

Ann and I went down for a stay at Little St Michael's. We had Yew Room and as Ann was the almost birthday girl she got the double bed this time.

"I have invented a new verb. Te be Glastified. It describes how I feel when I have been to Glastonbury. Blissed out and mellow. I am Glastified right now. I took 167 photos... and 42 video clips!! I didn't achieve my ambition to fill the whole of my 1gb memory card but I will down there one day... I am determined.

It was soggy during parts of the weekend, heavy showers on saturday but with sunny bits inbetween, and today it was wet all day though the worst of it seemed to have passed by the time I got home to Oxford. In fact it is sunny here now. We did manage to have an hour at the Abbey yesterday in the dry though, and to get into town and back to eat last night without getting rained on.

We were in Yew room at Little St. Michaels this time, which has a single bed, and a double bed in an alcove. Ann had the double this time as she is the almost birthday girl. It is a lovely room and you can see into the gardens. We had a wander there when we first arrived, I had another one when we got back and we also had a night time walk which is one of the things I love about being able to stay at Little St. Michaels, you get 24 hour access to the gardens. We spent the afternoon in town shopping and at the abbey, and also had tea at the Abbey Tea Rooms. We ate at 100 Monkeys last night, first time for both and it was lovely, I had pan fried bream with mixed veg in a cucumber and dill sauce. This morning it was very wet so a lie in was had till 9. I then had a walk round the gardens in the rain, I had them all to myself apart from some birds for company, and I took a lot of little video clips. Then we went into town.  We took over a table in Heapheys cafe for 90 minutes during which time we did have a couple of cups of coffee and I had scrambled egg with salmon on toast for lunch. 

Journeys home were very smooth and Poppy was pleased to see me.

I spent yesterday afternoon carrying a very large cuddly toy hippo round Glastonbury, which is probably the one place in the UK where you can get away with that. Now why did I do that? Well my manager John collects hippos so I keep a look out for them. I got him a glass one in Venice. This one was in a toy shop sitting in the window looking all forlorn. So I went in and asked a variation on a question.. how much is that hippo in the window. Believe it or not he was only £3.00 so I bought him for John! They didn't have a bag big enough for him though so I ended up carrying under my arm until a very kind lady serving in The Psychic Piglet came to my rescue and gave me a bag!!

I bought some more natural shampoo, conditioner and soap, a faery incense stick holder, a Tor card, a booklet about Glastonbury in the 17th Century when it was briefly a spa town, a book about faeries in the West Country and a CD by Llewellyn, Faerielore."


Me with the Hippo



New painting on the wall of the Glastonbury Experience.


Tor from the Abbey.

Abbey ruins


Gardens from our window.




Vesica pond at night

Sat 14th July 2007, visit 52

"Glastified. I think I may have used that word before, it describes how I feel when I have immersed myself in my beloved Glastonbury landscape. I bring the magical feeling back with me and it lasts for a day or two.

What a strange mixed up journey I had. The train I planned to get from Oxford to Didcot was cancelled :(( I was well fed up by that as the next one only left five minutes to change trains at Didcot. Then the next one which started from Oxford was late arriving. Grrr. So I had more or less resigned myself to missing the Bristol train at Didcot and having to wait an hour for the next one. Got to Didcot and the Bristol train was still at the platform. So I legged it, grabbing my long skirt as I ran so as not to trip up... and made it to the train! There were a lot of other people doing the same, so I realised they had done a fairly rare thing and held the train! Phew. Then when I got to Bristol I realised I might be just in time for the bus before the one I had planned getting to Glastonbury. And I was... just. It was already at the bus stop but with a queue of people getting on it. So after a shaky start I ended up in Glastonbury 30 minutes head of schedule.

There are a few things which have to be done every visit to Glastonbury and two of them are have a coffee in Heaphey's cafe, and lunch in Rainbow's End. The latter is my fave eatery anywhere, it is a vegetarian/vegan/wholefood cafe and does the best food I have ever tasted. I had a veggie lasagne and I want to know why mine never taste like that!

The tor was climbed and the gardens visited and lots of photos taken. Plus a few video clips. I plan to put some of those on That Funny Hill (which I really must try and work on one evening a week) so people can have a virtual visit courtesy of me! 

I spent some of my birthday money from my mum on a gorgeous Goddess scarf and 3 books. 

I now have to come back out of the mists and do a food shop and hoover upstairs."


In Star Child, they sell Phillipa Bowers' sculptures now.


Stormy skies



View of Brent Knoll.

In the tower


Entrance to the White Spring


In the gardens





Thur 9th Aug 2007, visit 53

I had a day out in Glastonbury on my own during my two week summer break from work.

"Journey was nice and smooth and in fact I was in Bristol in time for an earlier than planned bus. So I got to Glastonbury just after 10. I had planned on going into town first for a coffee, but as it was so lovely and I had water with me I decided to go straight to the tor. So I got off the bus at the top of High Street. I decided to walk along Wellhouse Lane and up the tor by what I call the back route- the NE route which is shorter but steeper. I don't often go up that way so it made a nice change and I took lots of photos. There was a herd of cows on top and they had left calling cards which provided endless amusement for children.. look mummy, poo! I took care to avoid them too! I sat and just let the world go by for about 15 minutes in a couple of places. There weren't many people up there and it was perfect weather, highs of about 23C, not humid and with a bit of a breeze. I'll take that all summer please.

Then I walked back down the usual way along the crest of the hill, with frequent photo pauses, to the gardens. They were really fully in bloom, flowers in all hues everywhere and I saw a dragonfly too. I spent about an hour there, wandering round and sitting in various places, just being and listening to birdsong and the waters flowing. There seems to be a problem with the water in the flowform at the moment. Instead of flowing down through that it is bubbling up next to the bottom of it, in one of the troughs at the side of the Vesica pool. I hazard a guess a pipe underground has come adrift. It was while I was sat there that I took my shaft of light photo, which I didn't realise until I downloaded them.

Then I made my way to town for lunch, cauliflower cheese crumble and green leafy salad with elderflower presse to drink at Rainbow's End. Then I had a wander round the shops, but I didn't seem to be in a shopping mood. I don't buy everything I see and like anymore. In fact I have been getting out of that habit for ages now. I looked at a lovely skirt, a diary, jewellery, and decided- no I don't need those things. I did buy three books though.

"Marco and the Blade of Light" by Thom Madley, the second in his series of teen books which are set in Glastonbury.

"Looking for Arthur" by Richard Leviton, described as a Once and Future Travelogue, which is also set in Glastonbury.

"A Knock at the Door" by Angi Sullins and Silas Toball, a delightful faery book with amazing illustrations and a DVD. If you click on the link to Durwaigh Gallery in my links, you can see a preview. The sort of book to read through just before sleep.

Then as I still had plenty of time before my 4.05 bus, I went to the Abbey and had a lovely hour there wandering about. They have an outdoor cafe open in summer so I had a drink there, sat in the shade watching the world go by. Then I just wandered, stopping to take photos.

Then it was time for the bus and the journey home. There was a signalling problem at Bath so the train I got went fast to Swindon, where I was changing so I was one person not inconvenienced by that! I got home about 8.15 

It was a lovely day. 

I put a set of photos from this visit on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackiesjottings/sets/72157607645774259/

Sat/Sun 20th/21st oct 2007, visit 54

Sat 20th oct 07

I went down for an overnight stay in Oak Room at Little St. Michaels with my friend Ann. We arrived too early to have our room so we left our cases in the office and had an hour wandering round the gardens, beautiful as ever. There is now a new circular bench where the spring in the Millenium wall in the meadow was. Also repair work was being done to the Lions Head so the water for collecting and drinking was being channeled by hosepipe down into Arthur's Court.

After checking in and having lunch, we went into town to do some shopping. I bought a small sketchpad, silver glittery Goddess wall plaque decorated with silver glitter, bar of apple soap, turquoise glitter in a shaker and a book, "Solstice at Stonewylde",  the latest in a series I have been reading. Plus a few odds and ends as presents. We had afternoon tea at the Abbey Tea Room, I had a lovely piece of apple and blackberry crumble with ice cream. We were going to have a walk in the Abbey grounds but they had closed so we did some more shopping instead.

Then we went to watch the sun set from the Tor. It wasn't the most spectacular sunset ever but it was pretty enough and the light was gorgeous, golden and orange and pink. There were quite a few people up there. I took loads of photos. After we came back down we got a Chinese takeaway then had a night time walk in the gardens. I spent some time in the meditation room at Little St. Michaels, and we also sat and read in the lounge.

Sun 21st oct 07

I had already decided that if I woke up early enough for the dawn I was going up the Tor again. I woke at 7.30 so I did! The sun was just above the horizon when I got up there, and it was gorgeous. There was a bit of mist over the Somerset levels and once again the light was woderful, really soft and gentle. I took loads more photos and I felt quite exhilarated (or Glastified as I call it). After breakfast I went for a walk round the gardens while Ann sat on the swing seat in the sun. Then we went into town for coffee. It was warm enough to sit outside. We also had a walk in the Abbey ruins and kicked through autumn leaves and I took more photos!