Avalon of the Heart 2 — Visit — Glastonbury, Somerset

More Avalon of the Heart

Photos by Atasha Fyfe

Words by resident Avalonians

I'd miss people I do not see a lot of, yet feel close to. They give me a sense of belonging – smiles across the street. People I could go see at any time, whatever the need – but especially in times of great need.

It's a cabaret! So much talent. Always something happening, being created, people seeking to express, find themselves, heal, perform, sing, write.

And people for whom your heart bleeds, and they make you realise this IS 'care in the community' and they couldn't survive elsewhere – they would go mad, just like you would yourself.

And of course, it is the land that has brought them here – the Tor, the Well, the Garden and the Abbey – and all its healing power, which sustains us all. – Peter Taylor

Glastonbury area is my home and the place of my roots. I would miss it. I was born here (Butleigh Hospital), and went to school in Street. My parents and grandmother live near here. I played here as a child. – Andrew Johnson

I would certainly miss meditating at Chalice Well, dancing subtle sacred dances in the Margaret Chapel and arguing the Dharma, fuelled by Mocha Berry's delicious brew (coffee). – Jimmy Hofsö

I guess one person's sanity is another's insanity (or maybe they are exactly the same thing) because what I would miss about Glastonbury is more or less the opposite of the above.

I would miss its rednecks, I would miss its fluffies and I would miss its crusties. I don't mean that in a negative stereotypical way – quite the opposite in fact.

I would miss Glastonbury's rednecks because, though they rant and bark and whine, for the most part they would never hurt a fly. I would miss Glastonbury's crusties because, though they sometimes seem like drug pushers ready to rape your granny, when they are cold and hungry or telling a joke they seem more human than the average office worker. I would miss Glastonbury's fluffies for the hours of 'flying kites', talking about angels, spirits and unseen energies – until an opportunity comes to make some money, in which case they become more grounded than an investment banker.

OK, that last one is a bit negative, but I shall still miss the irony!

I shall miss Avalon rising from the mists, remembering my first sighting and many sightings afterwards. If I left Glastonbury I would want to be able to get a regular photo magazine featuring pictures, like some sort of landscape porn. – Chris Makepeace

The first thing I would miss would be the people, followed closely by the land itself – the trees, the winds, the swans, the creatures that inhabit the Moors. I walk out in the wilds fairly often.

I would miss the general feel of the place – by this I mean the energy that connects us all to the land. And I would miss talking to my ancestors - or should I say talking to them beside their resting places, as I find that I gain inspiration from this practice. I would miss evenings like tonight, where so many people came together to express their opinions (referring to a meeting of the Pilgrimage group). And I am sure that I would miss many other things. – Nick Cottle (mayor 2004-05)

I would miss the magic that happens here and the openness to alternative ways of thinking and seeing the world. While for some Glastafari, this has to do with alternative ecological and life style issues, for me it has to do with the openness to the intuitive and spiritual realms.

When I talk to people from 'away', the thing I usually say that I really love about Glastonbury is that I can walk down the High Street knowing that I am going to meet at least five people who I could talk with about these things. I also like hugging instead of hand-shaking. – Sig Lonegren

I would remember how I magically ended up here, how I got the opportunity to get to know myself better and to mature, grow intuitively and spiritually.

Moving to a different country (I am from the Netherlands) gave me the chance to look at my nationality and myself in a different way, helped by interactions with the most amazing people, local and non-local.

If I left I would remember the landscape, the hills, my first sight of the Tor, coming from Wells with the Badgerline in 1994 on a hiking holiday with one of my sisters – and feeling a shock, a pang, something that is hard to describe. I would remember, after a week of pure fantastic magic hikes and meetings with fellow humans, how I said to my sister: I want to live here.

The landscape was so welcoming, so soft: it was as if I my outer layers were melting and now I could see my core, warts and all. Going home, my now ex-husband said that he wanted a divorce (suddenly being aware of my warts as well!!). I moved here within three years of stating my wish to live in Glastonbury.

I would look back at that most of amazing days that I met my present husband Sig in Chalice Well on 12th November 1996, and our wedding on the 25th of July 1999, and at our still growing love.

I would look back and look at the happiest, most fulfilled, colorful, satisfying period of my life. A period where I enjoyed a different landscape, different spirituality, individuality, warm inspiring community, and feel incredibly grateful that Glastonbury welcomed me in her arms. – Karin Lonegren

I would miss the people here. I would miss the river just beyond Cinnamon Lane. I would miss the trees at the side of the Tor. I'd miss the trees on Chalice Hill – especially the scots pines standing there as silhouettes, with a pink and blue sky and a crescent moon.

I would miss the ways the clouds form over Glastonbury, and seeing the sunsets from Chilkwell Street and the Tor. I'd miss the rainbows round the Tor. I would miss KevO's Gwell e-mails. I would miss the Dance Festival, the Children's Festival and Somerset Art Week.

I would miss Wick Hollow, Stone Down and Paradise Lane. I'd miss the surroundings of many footpaths. I'd miss the trees in the graveyard and the copper beech across the road. I'd miss our apple tree and the tall trees behind our house. I may well miss living in this house! – Laura Iseley

Glastonbury is brilliant, Glastonbury is great
Glastonbury's a great day out for you and your soul mate.

Glastonbury is windy – on the Tor it can be cold
Better climb it hirsute or with a hat if you are bald.

The place is full of farmers, hippies and rednecks
But all love Mr Eavis, even more than Posh and Becks.

The High Street has its crystals, stuffed sheep and Didgy doos
But also has it's fair old share of piles of doggy poos.

By day there are the benchers, and travellers from Mars
But night brings out the racers in their silly metal cars.

If England is a cycle, then Glastonbury's the wheel
Some say Gwell is the hub, others say 'get real'.

The drugs have gone, the town's revived, to how it used to be
So open up and take a look and you are sure to see.

Glastonbury is brilliant, the mortal place for me
Before I go to Avalon – as stardust – eternally

– Billy Wobblebow

Note: Mr Eavis is the farmer-organiser of the Glastonbury Festival,
Europe's largest rock festival.
GWell is the name of the local residents' e-mail discussion group.

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Isle of Avalon

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This page designed and edited at Easter 2005 by Palden Jenkins. Pictures with many thanks to Atasha MacMillan. Text by local contributors to GWell, a local online discussion group.