First time back for eight years and loved every minute. It was like coming home.

Really enjoyed the greater room to roam, but the scaling back didn’t seem to have changed much. Everything was as before (though perhaps some of the stalls were a tad more expensive). Good choice of food and the bar range was excellent. The heat was the main drawback but not much we could do. Given the last time we left the field in 2018 we were drenched to the skin, can hardly complain! And everyone was really helpful, staff and campers alike.

Only gripe, stock levels in CD stall seemed low. Whenever I wanted something, they had sold out. Good to pick up the Grolloo albums though.

As for the music, liked most of what I heard and particularly enjoyed Vent du Nord Rob Jones (hopefully he is going to have a great career) and the Celtic Social Club. Had really wanted to hear Barbara but they left me a little cold - clearly very talented but a bit contrived for me. Bit too much of a pastiche, but happy to give them another shot as it could just be me.

Thoroughly enjoyed Spooky Men for the first time. Did wonder to start with if they were going to be a joke that wore thin, but ended up loving them.

Richard T was on fine form and great choice of material. As for Fairport, case of something for everyone. Was surprised no RT but Sloth was still very good. Matty seemed to arrive very quickly which is always a good sign. Disappointed no mention of Ashley though as I would have liked to hear how he was doing.

Highlights: Marshall Gilmour Webbs - Great Gig in the Sky; Spooky Men - Crossing the Bar; Gerry Colvin - Watching Feathers Fall. And of course Rosie - it is never a bad FC set when they play that.

A great weekend, over all too quickly. Can’t wait till next year!

Well done all!

Back home and getting myself sorted out now.

Yes, it was HOT! Especially Thursday.  In fact I had a bit of a funny turn at the cricket club after sitting out in the sun for a couple of hours (there was no tent this year). Made it indoors to get out of the sun but then kind of collapsed. Thankfully Trev found me there and eventually managed to get the paramedics out. They checked me and him out (he was also feeling a bit bad) and they took us to their 'field hospital' at the top of the field, did some more tests, filled us up with water and electrolytes and sat us in front of their portable AC for a while until we felt ready to head back out and face the heat, just in time for Fairport's first set, which I didn't take much in of, to be honest. I enjoyed Banter, but Soft Machine did nothing for me, so I went back to my tent and missed half their set and all of Matt Bragg.

Turin Brakes were competent and enjoyable, but I only know one of their songs, and didn't feel I had to go out and buy more.  Le Vent du Nord, on the other hand were immense.  I was feeling well enough by then to go down the front (and it was cooling off a little by then).  They were definitely one of my highlights of the weekend.  I enjoyed them last time, but in the headline slot they were great!

On Friday I was feeling a bit better, though still a little under the weather. I missed most of the Primary school set as I was in the CD tent, where they had a great range of £5 CDs of which I bought far too many!  But not quite as many as one chap I saw who had armfuls!  The kids sounded pretty good though and I'm sure there were many proud parents, and well done to Oxfordshire CC or whoever funds those music lessons!  Danny & the Champs were a good festival band, but didn't again drive me to explore further.  I did enjoy the opportunity to hear more of Danny Bradley after his support slot with FC a year or so ago, and thought he did really well.  

From then on the rest of Friday was very good. Celtic Social Club were new to me but very good, Marshall Gilmour Webbs were different, but I enjoyed listening to them too. Not sure I'd buy an album, but I would go and see them again.  I didn't notice Dave Gilmour, but apparently he was there watching on.  Breabach were also very enjoyable, The Spookies did their Spooky thing very well, and RT was on top form, both solo, with Zara and then with SN, DP and DM (though Simon didn't seem very happy - not sure if he was just having to concentrate and so not smiling). It was fun to see the Cornflakes guitar make a comeback.

On to Saturday, and the weather was down to a more reasonable heat level.  Gerry Colvin got things off to a great start with his Big Band - 17 musicians on stage, I think!  Rob Jones was enjoyable, and it is always fun to see people who really want to be there on that stage as a long time fan.  Worth looking out for.  The Haar were different, but I enjoyed them - a number of standard Irish songs, but no played the way that you'd expect - not sure (as a non-musician) if they were played in different modes or something?  Barbara I could take or leave - some people loved them, I know. Hayseed Dixie are, as I commented on to someone, a bit of a one trick pony, and though they do their trick well, 90 mins of it is about an hour too much!  

A friend had seen Jenn Butterworth and Will Pound a week ago at Dartmoor Folk Festival and told me not to miss them, and I'm glad I didn't.  Very talented and obviously enjoying playing together, even in what is rather a graveyard slot before FC come on.

And getting to Fairport, I didn't feel they were just going through the motions - I admit that I also noticed that it seems a while now since we have had one of the big tune sets (Dirty Linen, Hen's March, etc), but that wasn't just this year.  It was great to see some old friends getting up there and playing with them - Steve Ashley, Ralph McTell, Vikki Clayton, Anna Ryder, etc.  Those may have contributed to them going slightly over, I guess? The Franklin pairing of I'm Already There and Mercy Bay at the end was wonderful.

Excellent amount raised, well done everyone!

+1 for Barbara, the highlight of the weekend.

Also really enjoyed The Celtic Social Club, Spooky Men, Le Vent Du Nord and Turin Brakes. But there was something to like in most of the acts.

The only act that didn't do it for me was The Haar. Not my thing at all. It was almost comical the way they said 'Here's Whisky in the Jar', sing along' and then proceeded to play something I would never have recognised if they hadn't told me the title.

Felt a bit sorry for Matt Bragg, who was on a hiding to nothing coming on as a comic in the midst of a music festival, at possibly the hottest time of the entire weekend. People just weren't in the mood, and he didn't then help himself by getting shirty with the audience. He did have a cracking gag about the Brasenose Fringe, though!

As for Fairport, they were okay, I guess. Somehow DM has become their MVP. But it all just washed over me. Can't remember ever seeing them play a festival set with not a single set of uptempo tunes in it.

Adam Wallace did a great job proposing the toast to absent friends, including Colin's sister Gail, sadly.

Horrible drinks were brought along and we thank their manufacturers and those who brought shot glasses.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we raised £435 for TCT.

Well done, everyone.

I believe it was scheduled but obviously had to be left out. They are likely to get fined anyway.

Unusual for “Who Knows Where The Time Goes” to go missing.
There were a couple of songs towards the end I would have sacrificed for it😂

There's a couple of photos circulating on FB of Mr Gilmour watching his daughter's set from the side of the stage, so he was there, but the Radio Oxford presenter told us that he was chauffered pretty much straight in and out again...

Well, that was a hot hot hot one! Managed one wander around the village on Thursday, but apart from that I was under my brolly on the field with several litres of water to keep me company. Highlights for me were:
Barbara - young band, very charismatic lead singer, and great songs that were a cross between Sparks and Divine Comedy
Rob Jones & The Restless Dream - cinematic America à la Springsteen
Richard Thompson - I’ve felt his last few albums were a little flat, but the songs from his forthcoming album sounded excellent

There was no one that I didn’t like, although Soft Machine aren’t really my bag.

£4 veggie burger at the cricket club with cheese and onions was great value, as was the Smac stall at £5.

The rumours around the field that Dave Gilmour was going to appear didn’t materialise, but Vikki Clayton back on stage.