Saturday We were awakened by the sound of Emily screaming in the next tent. She might not be two yet but she's not daft - she knew she was still here! The first thing you noticed this morning was that the consistency of the mud had changed. The lack of rain and the thousands of feet had made it very, very sticky. The first band we wanted to see were the Dharmas but they were on far too early so we gave them a miss. We spent the morning and early afternoon wandering around the site checking things out here and there before Val decided her feet needed a rest so she went off for a lie down. Poor soul it couldn't have been easy walking around in glue wearing wellingtons 3 sizes too big. I set off to the "Other stage" to see Cast. Not quite sure why I did this because they were on the main stage! I did catch a bit of G-Love and Special Sauce though before I realised my mistake. After Cast I wandered over to the dance tent to see Steve Hillage's System 7 who were excellent in that hot sweaty atmosphere and then I headed back to the tent.

Arriving back at the tent I found Val talking with Jon and Bev who had just returned from taking their son Matthew to his Grandma's house. Shortly we were also joined by Garry, Fi and Emily and we formulated a plan. We were going to go to the top of the field to see the dragon and then over to see a bit of Nenah Cherry on the other stage with Jon and Bev while Garry and Fi were going to feed Emily, and we would all meet up in front of the Cider bus in about 45 minutes for a drink before Ocean Colour Scene.

This was a good plan except that it took nearly an hour and a half to get to the cider bus, largely due to getting stuck in the mud and Val's socks kept coming off. When we did get there my brother had long gone to see Ocean Colour Scene. Nenah Cherry had been good though and every time I see the clip on TV I scan the audience looking for that hat!! We grabbed a pint and followed into the main arena to catch an excellent set - easily one of the best of the festival. After OCS we waited for Radiohead to appear as the night got darker and colder.

This is where my memories of the festival and the reports I have read differ. Everyone said Radiohead were the best band of the Festival but personally I found them tedious and dull. They really make Leonard Cohen (ask your dad!) sound cheerful! After an hour we agreed with Jon and Bev to meet them the next day and set off to our tent. On the way we watched some fireworks and caught David Bryne from Talking Heads singing "Once in a Lifetime" on the Jazz stage.

Sunday

Emily's scream woke us again this morning. Garry and Fiona were going home "I don't care even if Oasis are the special guests tonight". I told him that special guest in the program usually meant that they were one act short and it was usually Van Morrison except he was already playing this afternoon. Val suggested we go too and we agreed we would pack every thing up and take it to the car and then maybe head off after Sheryl Crow. We packed up and then headed off to meet Jon and Bev.

I put my shorts on this morning for two reasons. Firstly the sun had come out and the mud was starting to dry a bit and secondly the jeans I had been wearing for the last four days had mud up to my thighs by this time. As soon as we met Jon and Bev we knew we weren't going to get home that night. "Nah! get pissed (that's drunk for our American readers!) and stay in our camper van" Jon said. So we grabbed another pint and set off to see Billy Bragg, who we had just passed on the main road trying to get to the stage.

So we watched Billy Bragg who was very good if a bit short (timewise). He said that he was enjoying playing on the big stage because it was the largest area of mud free open space he had seen all weekend! Afterwards we stayed on in front of the main stage to catch Sheryl Crow who was also very good if a little bit too much of a "Rock Chick" in places. By this time we had heard that Steve Winwood had pulled out although no reason had been given and the two empty spaces on the main stage were to be taken by Kula Shaker and Ash both of whom had already played on the Other Stage.

We decided to return later to watch Kula Shaker and wandered off to see Beth Orton during Van the Man and Sting. Unfortunately we returned too early and listened to the end of Sting's awful set from the safety of the Cider bus area. Sunday night at the Cider bus is always a bit rough. People who can't usually be bothered to climb the fences usually end up on site on a Sunday afternoon and things can get a bit rough..

We went to see Kula Shaker who were very good, nice to get a second chance to see them after missing them the previous night. Afterwards we wandered around the site catching the dying end of the festival before deciding to return to the bus. Once off the site we split up Val and Bev went back to the bus while Jon and I set off to go to my car for sleeping bags and where their camper had been parked to pick up some bits they had left behind. Unfortunately Jon hadn't told me he had no sense of direction and we wandered around a field full of camper vans in the dark looking for his.

Eventually we found it and we relaxed for a bit before turning in. It was nice to be able to sit with your feet dangling in the air! A nearby impromptu rave kept us awake for a while but eventually sleep won out. The next morning Val and I went back to our car and we got off the site as quickly as possible to avoid the rush. Pausing only to change into the last few clean clothes we had we set off for Glastonbury town and a nice cooked breakfast.

"There is a green hill far away, I'm going back there one fine day"