The solstice carry-on - sorry, but somebody has to say it

[Cherhill_Bill]

right, ill be the villain. solstice morning and the lane past my place was nose to tail at four in the morning, cars up on the verges, gates left open, my heifers nearly out in the road, a drum going thump thump till past seven, and the mess left after, bottles, a tent somebody just walked off and left, worse than that and all. im not against anybody's beliefs. im against three hundred cars and no toilets in a working farm lane once a year. the police shut half the roads and we couldnt get the milk tanker through. somebody has to say it.

[Avebury_Bran]

And you are right to, Bill, and I am sorry for it, truly. The mess and the open gates are a disgrace and they are not us, or not most of us. It is the few hundred who come to party and not to mark anything who leave the bottles. Those of us who actually keep the day would gladly help marshal it and clear up after. The hard truth is the morning belongs to everybody now, which is the price of it being free and open to all.

[Devizes_Mech]

its chaos bran, lets not robe it up in pretty words. its a free festival with no license, no bins, no bogs, no marshals, the whole lot dumped on the locals to clear. druid or teenager on cider i dont care, you leave a tent and a bag of cans in a man's field youre a slob. the trust wants to either ticket it or police it properly, one or the other, instead of letting bill here mop up.

[Morwenna_W]

Nobody here is defending the litter louts, Mech, we mind them more than you do, it is our sacred ground they are fouling. But mind what you wish for with ticketing and fences. Lock the stones up on the one morning they were raised for and you do not stop the slobs, you only shut out the families and the old folk who come quiet. There is a way to manage it that is not just a turnstile and a wristband.

[Ramsbury_Anne]

Might I say, as a local who doesnt go, I rather like that they come. The one morning of the year the down is full of people again, even if half of them are daft as brushes. It is the gates and the litter I mind, not the people. Shut the gate behind you, take your tent home, and most of us wouldnt grumble. Much.

[Cherhill_Bill]

fair enough. im not asking to ban anybody. im asking for bins, bogs, and shut my bloody gates. do that and i'll have a flask of tea on the wall for the lot of you next year. leave my heifers in the road again and i wont.