trooper 940 Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 I'll split this into a few posts for easy reading I hope you all have a laugh reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper 940 Posted March 8, 2022 Author Share Posted March 8, 2022 Part 1 Friday Night This is a true story about me & 4 of my mates who went to the Edinburgh music festival in 1979. In the August one of the lads mentioned there was a music festival on in early September up in Edinburgh & we should go. In the end 5 of us got tickets. At the time we all lived in Cramlington which is approximately 9 miles north of Newcastle Upon Tyne. The initial plan was to get the early train on the day of the festival a Saturday. Get there nice & early to get a good spot. We decided instead of our usual Friday night drinking in Newcastle we'd stay local & just have a few drinks. We met up in our local pub. We were looking forward to the next day we were definitely getting the early train in the morning. After another drink or two someone said " why dont we go tonight get the last bus into Newcastle get the train to Edinburgh have a few hours sleep at Edinburgh railway station then get the bus to Ingilston were the festival was . I said I knew were Ingilston was in reality I'd been to the market once with mam & dad in the car all I knew was the market was near the airport lol. We all agreed we'd go tonight we'd have one more drink go home get our tickets & get on the last bus into Newcastle. So that's what we did we got on the train at Central Station & we arrived at Edinburgh Waverley Station at about 1.30 to 2 in the morning. We found a quiet corner & tried to get some sleep so far so good. Part 2 Bus Journey As we were getting settled we were visited by 2 police officers who said get up & out of the station or we'd be arrested. We quickly got out of the station & found ourselves on Princess St at 2am in the morning not knowing were to get a bus & nobody around to ask. We walked for a few hundred yards & seen someone in the darkness we decided we'd ask them were to get a bus. It was a man who was clearly drunk & when we asked about a bus he said no chance tonight theres a bus station behind the shops. So we walked down a side street & eventually found the bus station with everything shuttered up it was now about 2.30 am. We looked at the bus timetable and worked out which bus it was we needed. The bad news was it wouldnt leave until 6.45 am. We had about 4 hours to wait & no chance of getting any sleep so we had to wait it out. At about 6.30 a lady turned up at the station & it turned out we would be getting the same bus as her. She was only going a few stops but said we should ask the driver to let us know when we got to Ingilston. At 6.45 the bus turned up we got on told the driver were we were going he said he give us a shout when we were there. It took about half an hour to get to were the driver dropped us off. The bus pulled away & we realised we didnt have a clue were we were. All that was around were fields there was nobody around. Part 3 Airport We noticed across the road from the bus stop were what looked like sheds with a really high stone wall around them. There was no indication any festival or anything was going on. It was now about 7.30am so we decided to follow the wall round we had nothing to lose we were walking around when one of the lads said " we must be close theres the camp site. We looked there was a small single man tent in a field lol. We continued walking round & eventually found some big black wooden gates with a poster stuck on advertising the festival. This was it we were here it was now about 8am. But the gates didnt open until 12 with the first band on at 2. We had about 4 hours to kill. I'm not sure how we did it but we worked out that the building quite away off was the airport. I think the fact that planes were landing & taking off there gave it away lol. We decided we'd go to thecairportvuse the facilities & get a wash. We'd get something to eat & drink & have a 5 minute sit down. It seemed to take ages to get to the airport but eventually we got there. This was at a time when you could walk into an airport there was no security etc. We all had a wash got some sandwiches & drinks & found some nice comfy seats to sit in. It felt so good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper 940 Posted March 8, 2022 Author Share Posted March 8, 2022 Part 4 No Beer We must have spent more time than we realised at the airport. Because we checked the time & it was 11.15. Never mind we'll walk fast back to were the festival was,we'd still be one of the first in the queue as there was nobody there when we left lol. Our hearts sank as we got near to the gates they were not only open but there was a massive queue to get in. All we could do was join the end & wait to get in. Eventually we got in. The placecresembled a cricket ground with a seating area & a building that was used as a cafe. Today it was selling food & beer. We weren't hungry but we were ready for a beer. We all decided we were getting 4 cans each to start with. As we were moving up the queue we noticed they were only selling little cans of beer. No problem we'd get 6 of those each. Eventually it was out turn to be served. The woman serving pointed to me & said " the wee laddie wont be getting any beer he looks about 15. I was actually 20. There was another one of the lads she said was to young I think he was 19. Eventually she reluctantly served us with 6 little cans between us. Telling us we'd be getting no more as she was there all day. We went back in the arena we all took a can each and shared the final can between us. A couple of the lads tried to get more beer but the woman wouldn't serve them a second time. So that was it no more beer but it didnt mattervthe music was about to start. Part 5 Man In suit A couple of bands had been on everyone was in a great mood. It was now reggae band Steel Pulse's turn to play. We were having a great time. Suddenly this guy came & stood beside us. He wouldnt have looked out of place riding a Harley Davidson bike. Nothing strange there you'd think it was a music festival. Except he was wearing a shirt & tie & a 3 piece suit. He was swigging from a bottle of whisky having a great time. When he'd finished the whisky something very bizarre happened. He took off his jacket & folded it neatly on the floor. This was followed by his waistcoat & socks & shoes. He was dancing around now really enjoying himself. We were all keeping one eye on the stage & oneceye on this guy. Then all of a sudden he whipped his pants off folded them up & he was completely naked. He then disappeared into the crowd & we never saw him again. His clothes will still in a pile when we went for a sit down. We couldnt stop laughing. Part 6 BusxStrike Just after Squeeze had played their spot we overheard someone saying the buses were stopping at 10pm as the drivers had called a lightening strike. It meant the last bus we could get back to the train station would be now 9.45. Ive since found out thecfestival was just over 8 miles from the train station. The last train to Newcastlecwas about 11pm we had to be on that as the next train was 10am Sunday morning. None of us fancied being stranded in Edinburgh. We left the festival at about 9.20 as Van Morrison was playing his spot. We just managed to squeeze onto the bus back to the station it was packed. We got on the train & arrived back in Newcastle at about 1am Sunday morning. We all shared a black cab home. What an adventure that had been. Part 7 Sunday Night 4 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 34513 Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 Like the detail as to the location of cramlington btw 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper 940 Posted March 8, 2022 Author Share Posted March 8, 2022 1 hour ago, Alex said: Like the detail as to the location of cramlington btw Cheers Alex honestly I have never laughed so much as I did that weekend. On reflection we should have taken a responsible adult with us 😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asprilla 96 Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 That’s a great reminder of how life unfolds when you’re young. Just random events and scrapes and you just bounce along with it. Going to gigs now can whistle…! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper 940 Posted March 8, 2022 Author Share Posted March 8, 2022 Did Knebworth in 1985 for the re-formed formed MKii Deep Purple. It rained all day in fact it had rained all week & it was nicknamed "Mudworth" as we were ankle deep in mud. The only time we got a tiny glimpse of the sun was when UFO played lights out. The entire day was recorded & broadcast by Radio 1 the following Saturday. I manged to record the broadcast on 2 C180 cassettes (3 hours each) Our bus got stuck in the mud trying to get out of the makeshift car park (it was a field) Although I was soaked, full of mud & freezing it was a cracking day & another great memory 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 34513 Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 2 hours ago, trooper said: Cheers Alex honestly I have never laughed so much as I did that weekend. On reflection we should have taken a responsible adult with us 😀 Loved reading it, mate. I like how you were late despite having about 8 hours to kill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper 940 Posted March 8, 2022 Author Share Posted March 8, 2022 9 minutes ago, Alex said: Loved reading it, mate. I like how you were late despite having about 8 hours to kill Honestly it played out like a comedy film. We couldn't believe the guy in the suit not sure how he got home without any clothes lol 😆 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21698 Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 Quality memories 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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