TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

  Could I make a polite request,,,,for emergency routes to toilets and bar area to be marked out on grass.
over the last few years it has become extremely difficult to get past some of the thousands of chairs.
If yellow spray was used to mark narrow footpaths,and all were asked not to block them ,im sure from a safety view I.e saint johns ambulance etc we all would benefit.

Morning Kevin.....

Emergency route to the bar ! - now there's thinking  ;D

I see what you are getting at but St John's crew might need to go anywhere on the field so an emergency route might be a bit tricky to map out I reckon. I think it's a bit like traffic where no-one can move (really meaning, no-one is prepared to give ay a little to keep things moving) THEN the blue lights and sirens come from behind  :o Suddenly everyone's priorites change and those precious gaps can be found to let the emergency services through - strange that eh ?

I have no doubt the same would happen at Cropredy in that all of the neighbours would make a space and do 'the necessary'

Emergency route to the bar...... you'll have a few supporters for that one  ;D

Great idea, but where from? My plea would be for an emergency route to the bar from just the other side of the sound tower, where we have been installed every year for nearly 20 years now ;D. I'm sure others have other spots all over the field. So long as there's an emergency route to bring the beer in we should be all right, (and that was better this year with the surfaced roadway). :)

Robin

Perhaps some forward planning,, underground beer pipes to the Mcb area?,,,and then of coarse the outlet pipework system as well ?
I am sure Wadsworths  have a metering device for payment per barrel.
seriously though the staking a claim for a spot on the field really is making it difficult now with the chairs to get to toilets and bar
there is always a natural route behind sound building but this year you just could not get past some newer fans who have not quite reached the mellow friendly state that fairport fans achieve.,,Nirvana?

Barry says:  removed racist generalisation

If people insist on sitting on chairs just do what i do and walk/stumble/fall/be sick on them. Works a treat.

Now you may have something there...

Route up from behind the sound tower - have taken this route to the Relief Station many a time

As for those that have yet to reach "the mellow friendly state that fairport fans achieve" - well I think that something in the programme and maybe a reminder or two across the weekend to make sure that folks can get hither and thither might not go amiss. (Perhaps adding, that tripping up an eighteen-stoner can lead to crush injuries  ;D )

thank god someone else has mentioned it at last. we got told off by some woman in a chair a couple of years ago. we fought our way down to the very front to have a good old jig about, only to be told to move or stand still by said woman, sitting in her chair, in the front row.

chairport prevention ??? ??? ???

! >:(

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

All I'll say on this subject is.....

Ban 'em from the sound tower towards the stage. If you want to use them, there's plenty of room from the sound tower backwards - and your view is actually better....

All it would take is a few stewards for a couple of hours a day to monitor the carrying situation while everyone is setting themselves up. Once set up for the day, few would / could be bothered to move again....

Ah, like a hardy perennial the subject of chairs, tent (& by extension gazebos, yurts, igloos and miscellaneous devices for annexing large swathes of Oxfordshire) rears it's head, bit early but hey ho!! In principal I agree with Chris's idea and certainly when we are travelling en famille have always stuck to this rule but how to implement it ? I'm not sure that the tide of chair people wouldn't engulf the front of sound tower space as the day went on leading to Guardian reading types rioting and beating each over the head with exquisite hand made, fair trade Bolivian picnic baskets (Which actually thinking about it would be quite entertaining!)
 Whoops sorry for a flippant moment, it's a problem and I don't know what the solution is BUT it's a damn sight worse at Cambridge FF !

Well kevin, I think you make a sensible point.  

It is indeed very congested in the lower half of the field and its difficult to make your way across chairs, bodies etc in the daytime, and nigh on impossible at night.    A marked pathway would alleviate 90% of this problem, leaving only the last few yards back to your particular space to be negotiated.   As people set up camp in the daylight, the pathway should be relatively intact for the whole day and evening

Chris do you really think chairs should be completely banned forward of the sound tower??   I'm not sure there would be enough people standing to justify removing all chairs from there..  but the principle of more space for standing I can certainly agree with.

issy

But even if you don't have chairs or tents or whatevers, people still tend to sit on the ground in front of the sound tower.

Are you planning on asking people to stand all day and all night in that area?

Because a large clump of people all sitting on the ground will take up as much space as chair sitterers.

I think you might be asking for a logistical nightmare plus chair-rage here.............and what poor souls are going to 'police' this trackway

Jude

'fraid so - there's no other defined marker that can easily be seen - and we all know that as the day goes on, more & more people wish to stand near the front. Ok, people will pack up & move down, but at least it will be collapsed chairs etc that we may stumble over. Leave it as it is & someone will flatten & possibly injure someone else that was sat in said chair / tent. In the dark, they are a total danger - both to those in them & those that fall over them.


Let them sit, Jude - if people start falling over them in the dark, at least there's nothing but more flesh to damage anyone....

I just worry that if you start making too many rules and regulations and 'don't do this and that' you end up with something that  no longer has the atmosphere and ambience that draws people to the festival in the first place...........

It would be terribly sad for people to start getting litiginous because they'd tripped over something in the dark.

I would have thought most people stay where they end up when it gets dark anyway

Jude 

Oh, agreed with the first para, Jude - but the problem's getting worse - check the number of times it comes up on here & your second para is another good reason to ban 'em, frankly....

Giant umpire chairs with perspex legs, that's what we need.

To be used at the owners extreme risk.

Chris,
Other than the last act on Saturday night, when are people standing as far back as the sound tower?

The Sawdoctors?....
Oyserband came *very* close....

Both the easily defined barrier-line & the prospect of other popular headliners I feel beat the possibility of allowing chairs & tents any closer....what's a couple of yards anyway?...you'll also be able to cross the field in that area too....

when the kids were smaller we were guilty of erecting said 'shelter' tents, but at the back by the kids area and primarily so that when it got late and dark the kids could fall asleep and not get trodden on.
i too like the idea of banning chairs and tents in front of the sound tower but agree that it would be difficult to implement.
maybe the answer is to leave things as they are, ask people to think more carefully about where they install themselves and say tough, dont sit in a chair ten foot from the stage and then moan cos someone comes and stands in front of you or falls into you.

its a field in the middle of the countryside, not the royal bloody albert hall!!! >:(

Still think some form of say yellow marked footpaths would work easily.
The,banning of anything only gets peoples backs up.
If they fanned out from a point some 20 feet in front of sound tower? and just ask that no chairs be plced on them.

I see where you're coming from, Kevin, banning things ain't nice, but the yellow marking paint would soon get washed / rubbed off....

   I am sure if even it washed away, at least everyone would understand the need to be a bit tolerant and allow free pasage especially to the toilets, am reaching the age of  when you got to go you got to go. who sang that ?

Been tried with umbrellas, Kevin.....people in general don't give a toss for others, unfortunately....

I would have loved a marked out escape route last year as I had a bad bout of festival belly, and I must have pushed out of the way and trod on so many people in my rush to get to the top of the field.  Apologies if it was any of you!.  I did that twice but then decided it was best to go home (this was in the middle of the fairport set :()

Sian

In retropsect perhaps I should have just stayed at the top of the field!  I wasn't well!!

One place you do not want to be suffering with an upset stomach is a festival. We took a friend to Cropredy a couple of years back and he actually brought laxatives with him. Eeeh we laughed at that one.

I don't remember very much about my first Cropredy (1979) as I spent most of it unconscious in the field somewhere after imbibing my last ever pints of cider. I do remember being woken up by a mate saying, "Come on Pete, it's nearly over. It's your last chance to hear Fairport." Well, he got that wrong, didn't he?

I always sit just in front of the sound tower and I have to say that anytime it's dark and there is a band to dance to almost all of the chairs get folded up and stashed at the back along the fence - there are small clumps of folded chairs throughout the crowd but there are very few occasions when they are a problem - other than to very drunk folk who don't look where they are going - and even then there is usually someone to guide them past.
This works perfectly well for most people and I therefore don't think the "Enjoyment police" need to be called out on this one.  ::)
Most people are very considerate and try to think of those behind them.
Being fairly small and wanting to stand with my friends I didn't see much of Fairports sets at the first few Cropredys I attended, then I bought a stand on tool box thingy which brings me up to the height of normal folks so now I get to see too - luxury! But I always make sure I don't block anyone.
Let's all live and let live and enjoy what we have got - for we have much to be grateful for! ;D
Auntie Bobble
XX

two well marked roues from the front to each corner & past the sound tower to the blank coridoor behind is the way to go I think. Of its well matked or staked out I don't think there would be a problem at all. Would greatly help those with chairs & those without chairs alike.

Also a marked route from the sounds stage & the two verticle pathways, to left & right, to alow people easy access too & from the bar & also the stalls surrounding the field. Ther is nothing worse than the current unessasary clambering that seems to go on & the odd route you have to take too & from where you have your rug or chairs & picnic hampers, other essentials etc..

A recognised good allowance between certain sets where an announcement can be made, to those who wish to fold up their chairs etc & take them back to tents etc for the start of the evenings festivities is also a good idea, in order not to miss any of the good music, at the end of the night.

This is a joke, right ?

Marked roues ? .... Is that a big sign over my head when I am in my leslie Phillips Lady-Killer mode with my smoking jacket, cravat and bottle of something frisky ?

No - marked routes..... STAKED ROUTES !!! - can't see a problem ? - How about tripping over the bl**dy things - are you just tripping ?

This has got to be a wind-up !

Maybe we should have kit inspections too... sorry Nuthouse, that shirt is far too loud for a built up area (trues, as it goes)

Come on - it's a festival.... common sense needs to prevail  :-\

I take back *everything* I said about the big screen.  Change *nothing* in the main field.  Ever.  Listen to no one, it's perfect as it is...


Ain't that the truth, I still have to look away when I watch the Muffins video   ;D

It is very strange but I can fully understsnd You, We must be reaching the same point of drunkness together. This I feel is a part of being a Fairport  addict,perhaps it should be made compllserrrry ,(loosing it? 0 Your allrite mate Your allrite.

Well, hello!

Hello seem to know You,woops fallen over a silly chair.

That was unfortunate, are you ok  ???  Here, have a free torch   ::)

As some of you know, falling over chairs at the front of the field is my speciality.

If you ban them then there is nothing to break my fall as I stumble from the front of the stage to the top of the field during the evening. Please spare a thought for the old and infirm like me. Bare ground is hard on old hips (especially when marked with flourescent paint) ;D
 
Sandra

ps for those of you who have asked, I have heard that the woman I flattened when I fell over her i her chair not three feet from the front of the stage in 2003 is still making good progress, but now refuses to sit anywhere except dead centre at the back, and howls like a banshee every time she sees a woman in black ;)

Sudden flash of inspiration,,,If someone would kindly volenteer to roll down hill each night at 8 pm and flatten all chairs,,hey presto no probleemo.   We could keep passing them back up until they get all the damn things.   problem though,,,if they pick up all yellow paint everyone will know who done it,solution all wear yellow.

Let's try not to fall into the trap of over-legislating for every possible eventuality.  Just because our government tries to.

One day, someone might sprain their ankle jumping up and down in front of the stage...  We can't be having that - ban jumping up and down...

Sorry, feeling sar-car-stic today...

I have a confession to make
We have a pair of these chairs they are cumfy,but We fold them up at eight cos We love to get near front and feel the vibes.   

Only my second post on this forum but I've only missed one Cropredy since 1987 so am I allowed in?!?

I always sit on the grass, forward of the sound tower and I have to admit, the tent/large chair thing does seem to be getting a trifle silly in recent years. The folding chairs with the cut off/short legs look like a great idea but it does now seem that every time I park myself down somewhere, a group of people come along and assemble a full scale replica of their living room and kitchen right in front of me....

Of course you are allowed in Mark! and most welcome you are too.  Post away to your hearts content and have fun.
Big Dave..................Squisher of chairs and breaker of ankles that get in the way  ;D  [;-)

And just how do you reach these routes? Yup, by climbing over people / chairs as you do at the moment!....THINK before engaging fingers, Taliesin. For a lot of people, it'll be just as quick to find their way to the sides as to the 'routes'....

And how do you propose marking these routes so that they can be seen by everyone? You can't just mark the grass - no one will see it once the crowd is in place.....keep in mind the Health & Safety Act, won't you?.....You have thought about this, haven't you?!?!


This I can understand, but a) I can't see many take it up regardless and b) in that case, it's a waste of good music playing time.
I feel most people are too lazy. They'll also not want to take everything back, so what do they do? Abandon the stuff they want into the evening? & hope it's still there when they get back? Take that stuff back to the tent & bring it back to the arena? Not everyone is in groups....
You haven't given any of this carp much thought, have you?.....

Sorry to be blunt, but you've been around long enough to realise that ideas need to be thought through....

There was a family in front of us sitting on an inflatable sofa this year!

OK, we have tents, and chairs, and we have been tutted at, but we were sitting behind other tents and chairs anyway and we felt no urge to moan at the people in front of us, i'm sure they had good reasons, just as we did, like children and pushchairs, the answer is simple, just don't complain.
if you're on a chair, at the front, and somebody stands in front of you, so you can't see, stand up, if the only place you can find to sit has a tent in front of it, stand up, if you want to dance, but are surrounded by people sitting on chairs, move somewhere else, just stop moaning about it, we are all in the same place, with the same options. make the most of the weekend, have fun, however you take it.

been told how to do pictures with posts now, so here's a design i made for the family to wear at last years crop...

[attachment deleted by admin]

Nice one Jonesy !!!  ;D  ;D

Some people use chairs because they can't stand (for a long time).....the tent things should definitely be back behind the sound tower!!!

Mic

Very true. Having taken my elderly parents a couple of times, they couldn't have managed without the chairs, and also with both my kids suffering from ME they're in the same boat as their grandparents. So we've used chairs for years, and always just level witht he sound tower. Wouldn't dream of using a tent though.

Robin

Didn't you have a pin? ;D

Agreed - top stuff......

If they're much further forward than the sound tower, they stand the chance of being fallen over, or worse, have someone stand in front of them - they'd be far better off further up the field which would likely give them more of an unobstructed, safer view...

Well I didn't mean sitting by the rail ::) That's just asking to get squatted :o Like most things in life, it has to be tempered with a bit of reason :)

Mic

mix i agree hat sometimes chairs are neccessary for whatever reason, ind i confess to having used tents to save my girls being trodden on as they slept in the dark, but surely people can compromise?  put them at the back or the side or something? 
there are still a number of people who actually like to get their head in a speaker and dance to the music...

Just a thought, for which I will probably be booed off the pitch, how about if there were those luminesent (?) flourescent (?)  shine in the dark ::) strips readily and cheaply available on the field?
Not everyone would bother I guess, but some might think they'd be preferable to getting squatted by an XXXXL middle aged woman that has left it dangerously late to get to the Loos :-\  and some visibility would be better than none.

Ok, I've got me cork coat ;)

Mic

The glo-stick thingys are normally available on the field Mic, most of the non-food stalls have them.  ;)

our youngest sat on the lamp and we had to use half a dozen or so to read bedtime stories by...

Didn't mean Glo sticks....I meant self adhesive strips like the ones you get for putting on school bags etc...  Do I mean 'reflective' perhaps ???

Mic

Think you probably did Mic!!!!   ;D ;D

That's the point, Groove - you would think people that wish to use chairs / tents etc would realise that the front is for standees & dancing etc. and voluntarily set up towards the back....

But no, a large number seem to have brain failure - and the number seems to grow each year....which is why this thread started to discuss ways of making them engage brains by, unfortunately, imposing a rule....

I assume what everyone means by "tents" are the little beach hut things. No problem for me - the slope of the field means you can see over them, even if they are quite near. And as someone said, they are brilliant for putting your kids in at night. And they provide shelter from the rain. Obviously idiotic to put em up near the front.

The thing that really p*ssed me off this year (and here I know I'll have to run for cover) was the large number of giant flags at eye level. Our view of the stage was completely obscured by a flag half way down the field at one stage - and we had to go and negotiate with the owners to lower it. Don't get me wrong - I love the flags (we've got one) - but they need to be very high or very low.

Same here, For us it was an inflatable pig on a pole. As for the kids, when they were little we just used to take them to the front and they slept on the floor. No tents or anything. Safer than further back, as fewer drunks are trying to find their way through!

This coming Crop my friends and I shall be doing what lots of other people do:

Setting up camp in the field. This will consist of:

A large sofa (with a standard lamp at each end so we can read the prog. when it gets dark) two highback armchairs, a carpet of around 200 square feet, a nest of tables to put our drinks on, assorted footstools, a fridge for the beer, a small electric fire in case it gets cold, a TV to watch the sports results, a large stereo in case we don't like any of the bands, a double bed for the kids to sleep in when they get tired, another double bed in case for when we get pissed, a further double bed in case anyone should drop by to our patch during the festival, a wardrobe to hang wet weather gear in, a chest of drawers to keep a few changes of clothes in, oh and a 40 foot flag pole (with the 20ft by 15 ft flag flying at ground level). The furniture will, of course need protecting from the elements, so we will probably need a roof. This will entail walls to support it.

The whole lot will fit just nicely in front of the sound tower, leaving just enough room between us and the stage to have a small white picket fence surrounded lawn for us to lounge on whilst listening to those bands we do want to see.

What do you mean "what about the rest of the audience"?

FCUK 'EM.

Is it ok if I bring a can of petrol and some matches when I come a callin on your patch, Mark?

don't you need planning permission for that Mark?

No. It wont be a permanent building ;D

SO it was you I saw carrying an armchair from a 3 piece suite on his head a couple of years ago.

I seriously considered filling an inflatable chair with helium to see if we could carry it in to the field on a piece of string but I didn't think the idea would get off the ground, literally.

If someone has an inflatable chair, can they

1) work out it's volume (submerse it in water and see how much is displaced)
and
2) weigh it.
I'll do the maths.

or
1) fill it with helium and see if it floats.

I reckon that light baloon from a couple of years back could support a chair and person. How about a load of them floating around the site.

I would actually like one of those Umpires chairs from Wimblydon cos then I could see when I'm down the front, bit too big now to sit on anyones shoulders! LOL  ;D {:-)

Now, JJ, you know perfectly well that it's not because you're too big, it's simply because you sit the other way round.      :)

Genius JJ

I wonder if a gas-adjustable office chair can be modified

I feel a trip to the tool cupboard coming on.

And at night, where you kinda don't see them between the other clutter & promptly step on one....and a child, if inside. Again, all parents need to do is to put a torch or night-light inside 'em, but do they?.....

 :o :o :o :o :o :o

er, yes...

not very often, knowing how many I came across last year, in the dark, well in front of the sound tower....Grrrr

You've just made the perfect case for Mic's luminous walk ways.

Only if the walk-ways go where I want to go....which in most cases it doesn't - and I'm returning to my place in the crowd.


This is the obvious answer.
But personally, these yents shouldn't be up where there are a lot of standing audience, which does tend to be in front of the sound tower, after dark.
If people what the convenience of them, then there may be some inconvenience to go with them, in relocating further back up the field, before dusk. Alternatively, do what the majority with these things still do - pitch sensibly, further back than the tower.

Who needs a tent anyway? when ours were very little it was a case of  down to the front, park them on the floor and stand astride them. No tent, no loss of space and they don't get trodden on. What's more you can still dance, if a little strangely!

   Chris,Whats a Yent?
   Is it a yearning for a tent?
     Not going to be invaded by yents are We ?
       Makes Me feel much better about My limits on this thing Though when the yents appear.
       

hmmm. yents and chairs aren't offensive in themselves, is the people plonking them any old where without thought that cause the offence

I really don't think I'd have any chance of seeing little marked out lines on the ground anytime after nightfall on Thurs.  The 6X AND the fact that, actually, it's dark at night, would see to that.
Personally, I love the idea of taking as little as possible on to the field - just booze & fags (or is that banned now?). If you want to sit - just sit.
Anyway, given what is still the best goodwill around by at least 1000%, I'm sure that a nice mention from the stage about keeping gear above the tower would do it for virtually everyone, no?

It would be nice to think so, wouldn't it?

Welcome Andrew, come and have a natter

Jude (one of the (many) welcomers) ;D

On the contrary, the last time I looked it seemed to be compulsory (at Cropredy, that is)  ;D

and long shall they reign.
anyone think two beer tables too much to ask? :P

Welcome Andrew....
Oh but I would hope so....but reality tells me that if they've already plonked for the day, very, very few would / could be bothered to get up & move again.
The nnouncement would need to be on constant repeat for at least an hour every day....