General Chatter, Comments and Reports

[MarkV]

He wandered past us taking a call on the bannana late afternoon Saturday.  I have seen him there before on at least one previous year.  Unless thee is another one.

[Pugwash]

Banana man is from the kids theatre top 'o field.

[mickf]

Banana man is from the kids theatre top 'o field.

Wasn't Bananaman's secret identity 'Eric'??

[barton cobbler]

There were quite a few "heavy duty" trollies this year, the ones that are about 2' x 4' (60mm x 1200mm) with 4 wheels. Them, and dogs really are a hazard at the end of the night when you are walking along in the dark and your eye line is straight in front of you, not looking down.
   Maybe they could be asked to avoid the main exits for 20 minutes after the show finishes ?

[Will S]

In the past, more of those trolleys have had lights on them to help the unwary avoid them, but I felt that there were less that were lit up this year.  I didn't get hit by them in the dark, but I was with others who were - and then got glared at as if it was their fault for not seeing the trolley in the first place!

[Chris]

One was even being towed by an electric wheelchair.....with a small child in it.

[abby (tank girl)]

That, I believe, is Palfi the clown........Daisy thought he was fab when she was little.  He spends far too much time on the phone.......Nick, I bet it's not filled with brandy!

[Andy]

I think perhaps a higher proportion camped this year with impact upon the facilities. We ended up in the far corner of 7b. On our side of the field were 2 sets of loos, both of which were smelling badly by Thursday night. Their infrequent (or at least not frequent enough) service intervals meant that they ran out of loo rolls & hand disinfectant every day. Unlike, say, Field 2 in the past, no Sunday morning refresh took place and they were frankly disgusting by the time we left.

[YaBB Master (Colin)]

Coming through  

I might just be being grumpy, but this year I did seem to suffer more from people just barging through to get to the front. I like to watch from about half a dozen rows from the front.

This year there just seemed to be a lot of people who thought they were at a different festival and just charged through, elbowing themselves to the front. Pointing a finger, I 'd say they were mostly 18-30s.

Anybody else have this, or was it just me?

[Andy]

Out of curiosity, for which acts?

Edit: Actually it was worst during Fairport - Colin

[Will S]

I saw a bit of it, but probably no more than in previous years, to be honest.  But yes, the age range was probably about right.

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Overall it was a great Cropredy for us. The line-up was IMHO not brilliant but we went along for the craic and we certainly enjoyed that. We were in Field 4 which we were very happy with, it being close to the cricket club, shop and village and only a short walk to the main field.
The Loos on Field 4 were awful and not stocked up/cleaned nearly enough.
There seemed to be less loos on the main field this year and they frequently ran out of paper/sanitiser.
I've moaned about the traffic management elsewhere.
The fringe was brilliant
Colin I know what you mean about the "bargers" and it's just not Cropredy   but they're the next generation (as I'm constantly told) and my old-fashioned way of good manners and courtesy is seen as weakness and loser behaviour. Same with those that take up a huge area in the field, or screech at 3am for no reason. No idea what we do about it though other than tut  

[Gouty (Gary)]

On Thursday, we were sitting a few places 'in' just above the middle with some friends. It became really hard to get in and out and we saw several people actively turn chairs sideways, with comments showing the aim was  to block the walkway.

It's mad, isn't it? Because there are times when those who don't have chairs need to sit down as well, if only for a short rest. And as you can't sit in the ever more crowded walkways, the only solution is to use the 'sheep trails' (as StephenB calls them) until you find a patch of grass in amongst the serried rows of the already seated. So when certain people attempt to block your way or discourage you from intruding on 'their' territory by spreading themselves and their paraphernalia out as far as they can, you can find yourself feeling apologetic and guilty for daring to be there. It's become a bit like that awkward moment in the middle of a theatre performance or a film at the cinema when you have to go to the loo and everyone has to shift to let you go by - but this is a field and there is no reserved seating!

To be fair, the vast majority of seat-dwellers at Cropredy are lovely, accomodating people but there were some strange hinterlands to the rear of the sound tower where the Neighbourhood Watch Brigade and their 'Quiet-in-the-library!' approach to music festivals seemed to hold sway. At one point, my back and legs rehabilitated after a short rest in their company, I decided I'd much rather get back amongst the jolly and wobbly people standing at the front. As I carefully picked my way through the tutting, clearly irritated characters sitting along the sheep trail, all that was missing was the sound of a tolling bell and the Faith Militant calling out 'Shame...shame...'

Still got Phantom Wristband Syndrome, by the way.

[Andy]

I found most people were much more accommodating when I was using my stick.

[Pugwash]

Only grumble I had were the huge groundsheets which had more to do with establishing territory than convenience.

When people are not sitting on the ground what is the point of them anyway?

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Forgot to mention that I managed to get in 20 minutes meditation Friday morning - that's how quiet Field 4 was! This was after watching the buzzards circle. I wonder what they made of it all!

[Andy]

This was after watching the buzzards circle. I wonder what they made of it all!

Plenty of abandoned food for the Buzzards, Crows and Kites!

[Will S]

I found most people were much more accommodating when I was using my stick.

One wonders just how you were using it!  

[Chris]

When I ventured into Andy's spot after the toast, there was plenty of room in front of them to swing m,ore than a cat! Several more chairs could have got in there.

[Albie]

The chair line needs to be straight across the field, in my opinion, having it as a crescent meant that there were chairs nearly to the fence on both sides, which made it difficult to get in and out of the standing area at busy times (and in the dark) as the gangway was too small. .