The Ned Wood Archive

Through all the stages, I did wander

Bruce Springsteen, Pyramid Stage, June 2009

Sam

When Girlband have finished, Sam takes Lyn and Lex across to the Park.  He’s still trying to figure out the best way to help them get to know how Glastonbury is laid out.  He’s tried explaining that Tom’s Field is north and Strummerville south, but when he got to West Holts being on the eastern side of the site he gave up because that wouldn’t be very helpful at all.  He showed them a few sights from outside of Strummerville, looking back down the hill towards the main stages, then decided they may see more from the top of the Park, maybe over at the sign.

They walk along the hillside, past the Tipis, following the lane at the top of Pennard Hill Ground.  The rain has long cleared and the sun is making occasional appearances between the clouds, so everyone is out now.  The track is packed.  So is Glastonbury on Sea, but that doesn’t stop Lyn or Lex from wanting to explore.  They queue to get in then wander around the pier.  There’s everything you’d expect at the seaside.  Everything except the sea.  A candy floss seller, a Punch and Judy show, a fortune teller.  However, the thing that grabs Lex’s attention is the metal band.  Robots made out of an eclectic mix of rescued and adapted machine parts playing a groove.  Hydraulics moving their body parts roughly in time.  Great stage presence, but not quite in the Girlband class.  Not as much interaction with their audience, either.  Nevertheless, it’s the sort of thing you can watch for hours.  Sam can.  And Lex obviously can and will, but eventually Lyn drags her away and they head on to the top of the Park.  

The great thing about this place is that as soon as you turn your back on one band, you bump into another.  As they walk down the steps from the pier, they hear the beat of You Can’t Hurry Love sung by a very game lass on the stage opposite.  It’s a very small stage, so when she bounces from side to side, she’s in great danger of falling off.  If she does, she’ll be safe.  She’s got an equally enthusiastic audience in front of her.  They’ll catch her.  They know most of the words, too, so they’ll keep the song going if she does fall.

Sam, Lyn, and Lex carry on along the track towards the Park.  Sam’s trying to sing along with the Motown hits, but his voice isn’t really good enough.  He suggests that they climb up to the sign so that he can show Lyn & Lex more of the site in order to help them understand where everything is.  They’ve had enough mountaineering for today, though, so Lyn suggests they just stroll down the hill.  Anyway, you can get a fairly good idea from next to the Ribbon Tower.  

Sam’s picking up a distinct Alice vibe here in the Park.  There aren’t any Caterpillars or Jabberwocks or Walruses or Mock Turtles; however, Sam did see a carpenter working on a construction when he was here earlier in the week.  And the flowers in front of what used to be the tree café seem to be talking to him.  A red queen walks past on her way to the sign.  He thought he saw a white rabbit behind him, but when he turned round, it had gone.  He tries to remember whether these characters were in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass.

Lyn is admiring the burgeoning sand sculpture.  Not that you can make out much of what it is. Just the vague outline of the body of a cat.  Only the smile is finished. 

Lex is more impressed by the venue opposite.

“I’ve heard of this,” she says.  “The World Famous Scissors.”

Scissors is part bar, part venue, part hairdressers.  It’s kind of like the old summerhouse Sam’s dad had.  But much bigger.  His Dad’s summerhouse was really just a shed with a long veranda along the front.  Scissors is a big open shed with a big sort of like an open veranda at the front.  Inside there’s a hairdresser’s chair to the left, a small stage in the middle, and a bar to the right.    

Lyn runs over to join Lex and they both lean over the wooden veranda railings to watch a pink and blue haired singer-songwriter with a guitar.  Sam’s more interested in the pink and blue stall right next door.    It’s what the carpenter he saw the other day was working on.  It’s also a wooden shack, also with an open veranda-like front.  Instead of railings, the front of the veranda has two massive drawings each side of the wide entrance.  On one side is a big pink cake with “Eat Me” iced on it; on the other is a drawing of a big blue teapot with a label saying “Drink Me”.  This place is called the T Room.  Sam uses his skill and judgement to work out that it sells tea and cake.  He waves over to Lyn and Lex and signs “cuppa” to them.  They can still just about see Jasmine from the T Room, so the three of them settle down for tea and cake and listen to her fragile songs of pain, resilience, and beauty.  You are the morning, you make the grass grow.  The tea is served in blue paper cups.  The cake is covered in pink icing.  Lyn points out that they will either grow tall or shrink small or undergo some other wonderful transformation.  And when they leave the park at the bottom of the hill, they pass those two large columns lined with small mirrors and they realise they’ve spent the last hour or so beyond the looking glass.