Welcome!

Well here we are approaching a new season, the nights drawing in at a heck of a pace and the temperature slowly dropping,  the crazy long days of Summer becoming memories and the colours going from a vivid green turning to golden brown.

You can hear the whispers of Autumn on the wind. For me this is my favourite season! One of equal reflection and one of anticipation to what the coming months has in store.

What a better time to begin than this!

Out with the Old and in with the New

Well as you may see the “Wandering Glastofarian” has stopped wandering and started doing, these last few months I’ve been thinking about exactly what I wanted  the aim of this site should be, it became very clear in late Summer that I closed the door to many things and avenues under the old name “Wandering Glastofarian, excluding much of the Rest of Britains history, architecture,  myths, legends, folklore and British Society.

So I decided to do a bit of a revamp of this site, to cover everything that I wanted to write about, love and that makes me tick. So changing the old domain from theisleofavalon.com to the new and permenant greatbritainspastandpresent.com was the answer.

What is it all about?

Well I widened my horizons from just one little quaint township in Somerset in South West England to cover the whole place. The old articles on Glastonbury will remain and will be added to, but there are subjects alongside that will I believe enrich the site as a whole!  The Subjects in the main are:

• Architecture
• Historical Events, Wars, and the like.
• Religion, no matter what you say or hear, Great Britain in my opinion is built on a solid back bone of Religon
• Notorious People, leaders, rulers, and people of influence.
• Industry, this Country is rich in her industrial Heritage, from mining, manufacturing, and engineering feats.

Really I want to build a site that is a nice place to visit, maybe in time to inspire, remember and feel that old cosy feeling you feel when you go back to a place of your childhood memories.

I would love this site to become a bit of an interactive experience, and would love to hear from you about ideas and thoughts on articles and ideas for the future. You can contact me here or leave a comment and I will reply asap.

What it isn’t?

I am taking a risk mentioning Religion, it is one thing that no group will ever agree on, and maybe it will evoke strong feelings for or against the subject, no matter what it is good to make us think.  It is not my intention to preach my values to you the reader but I don’t mind sharing them when in context.

I am English, and am proud to be English to, but I am not exclusive, what makes this Kingdom great in my opinion is that we are infact 4 nations English, Northern Irish, Scotish and Welsh. A United Kingdom! When I refer to this place I will call it either Britain or the UK.  I’ve noticed some search results coming in from people searching Extreme Right Wing politics (or BNP) British National Party, in my personal opinion, these people are idiots, with about as much intelligence as a Stone! However this is not a political biased site and that will be the last you here of it unless it is in context, such as the introduction of Poll Tax or the Miners Strikes!

A little about me?

A new addition to the site is the about me page

So What Makes Britain Great?

Below is a few video’s that to me capture exactly the essence of what makes Britain “Great” hope you enjoy them and maybe it brings back a few memories I would love to hear about them!

“A version of the UK National Anthem”

“British Declaration of War Speech by Chamberlain 3rd September 1939″

“The haunting sound of British Air Raid Sirens followed by the All Clear, accompanied by pictures of Bomb Damage”

“An excerpt of Sir Winston Churchill’s WWII Speech “We shall NEVER Surrender”

“Original Footage of the Corination of HRH Queen Elizabeth II in 1953″

“Edward Elgar Enigma Variations -- Nimrod, Performed by the massed bands of the Household Division, Remembrance Sunday 2008″

“The Last post, Royal Marine Buglers,  ”At the going down of the sun and in the morning”

“The very first Televised Christmas message by Her Majesty the Queen on 25th December 1957 from Sandringham House”

“One of the things that is quintecentionally British

Well these are just a few of the many things that make Britain Great in my opinion.. I love to know what you think until next time.

The day of the Trip is finally upon us!!!!

Well it’s been a while since the last post due to some site improvements.  But the Wandering Glastofarian is finally back and this time to stay!!

Here’s the second part of the story of our Glastonbury Festival 2009 adventures.

 Thursday 25th June 4.00am

We’re all totally knackered today, and some of us are feeling the effects of the day and night before.  Then again I wasn’t driving at all during the trip so was planning to catch up on the journey down (never happened as usual).

The festival site opens on the Wednesday of festival week, but due to some work issues we had no choice but to travel on the Thursday.  The journey according to that “annoying voice box” (aka Sat Nav) told us it would take a little over 3 hours 30 mins to get down to Worthy Farm, but we knew from experience it would take twice that.  We’ve never done this journey by road before, always opted for the train and then busses to the site, and in retrospect we won’t take the road again!

Exactly 10 miles from home we hear the first peep out of the Sat Nav woman, who seems to take great pleasure at telling you what you have done wrong and “Prepare to do a U-Turn” not possible in the fast lane of a Motorway!!!  It was no wonder that happened really Mark decided in his wisdom to try and use predictive text to programme the box, and somehow managed to route us to Glastonbury via Glasgow!!

Glastonbury is in the South West of England and Glasgow is Due North! So we went in the complete wrong direction.  Still when we finally found a place to leave the Motorway and head in the right direction we were nearly 60 miles off course.

 7.00 am

Well we are now just 20 minutes from Worthy Farm, the Sat Navdidn’t cause us anymore problems, although Mark did, your not allowed to take glass bottles on the the Festival site which means you have to decant the drink into plastic bottles. Not something to try going down the Motorway at 70 mph while trying to light a cigarette but we managed.  We stopped at the Services for a refresher. Steve got lost on a Video game for about 20 minutes. Steve our driver disappeared and came back in a right temper. The toilets in this place had a pay entry turnstyle  and he fell out with the attendant saying that 30 Pence was taking the Pi** quite literally. While all this was happening I was in what seemed the biggest service cue I had ever seen to order Coffee and Bacon Rolls for us all only to find out I should have rang my bank to arrange an overdraft before doing that £25.00 for 3 large Coffees, 3 litres of Water and 3 Bacon Rolls oh and a pack of Cigarettes.

7.45 am

Well we’re all set, Festival Tickets in hand, Car Pass stuck on the windscreen and now tuned in to Worthy FM, we just caught site of the Tor in the far distance.

We’re all parked up and for the first time actually realized we were here, we’ve been many times, but each year we go it is like the very first time.

Then we thought right OK We’ve arrived but how the hell are we going to get the camping gear from the camper van to our camping spot? Whatever we were going to do we were going to have to carry it all across. Myself and Steve stayed and slowly unpacked the contents of a Van into a pile in the middle of the parking field and sent Mark off to find a suitable spot… He came back 20 minutes later with a group of people who he said “they’ll help carry the gear for a few beers and a bit of food so the deal was done! A lad called Sparky turned up with a big wheelbarrow and we threw the kit in there and off we went  to start our latest Glastonbury experience.

11.00 am

Well that’s it we are settled in making BBQ food en-masse for our new festival pals. Listening to the mix of music and busking that was going on around us.  You know it is really odd what you see here. To our left of where we were camping there is a stall selling Ostrich Burgers, then we saw a long line of what looked like undertakers and to top it all off there was “Spike” A 6′ 7″ bloke wearing a big Wellington boot Hat!!

WELCOME TO THE MADNESS THAT IS GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL… There is loads more to come, so until next time!

We think this video from “hickyglasto” on youtube captures this weird wonderful experience

Just a quick note we are working on a new design for our site here on “The Wandering Glastofarian

So this might Explain the down time should be done in a day or so

Look forward to seeing you soon

The Team

Glastonbury Festival 09′ – Here We Come!!!!!!!

Hang on I know what your thinking… “Wait, Glastonbury Festival 2009 has been and gone already” Yes it’s true but we thought it would fun to share with you our latest adventures in a field in deepest Somerset.

Glastonbury this year was held between Thursday 24th until Sunday 28th June 2009.

We have written this as if it was a diary/Journal of our time in Glastonbury so we will do a series of posts to give you an idea of what it is like to be at the festival.

Wednesday 24th June 5:00am

There are 3 of us (we won’t scare you with a picture, we need to loose the beer bellies before we introduce ourselves) we are all mid twenties and we are all preparing to make our regular pilgrimage to our favourite Farm and some hardcore camping.

There’s Mark, Steve and myself. and you can imagine the sight of 3 men who fell out of bed at 4.45am unshaven and severely lacking a few Bacon sandwiches (sorry Vegetarians).

We decided to take 177 mile (3 hours 30 minute) journey in Steve’s Camper Van.

Now we aren’t the most organised lads, and of course we should have made a list to make sure we packed everything in the van, so we stood around staring in Steve’s Garage trying to figure out what we needed to take with us, it was at this point that Mark said “I think we need to take a tent lads” and we started dislodging the resident Spiders and other creepy Crawlies in Steve’s garage getting all the camping gear together.

While the other two were destroying shelving and counting out and in tent pegs which took at least an hour I went to figure out how to wire up the iPod to Steve’s Van which involved a lot of messing around in the front, it was really an excuse to avoid the other two. Unaware the had triple counted the pegs and packing up the tent I said “We don’t need tent pegs we’ll get them on site (as the Cows that live on that land the rest of the year accidentally eat the metal pegs” that went down well and resulted in me wearing a cold cup of tea!!

It took around 5 hrs to pack up the kit for the trip, we then planned to stop for breakfast and then go to the supermarket to get some BBQ food and some refreshments for our weekend.

Having done this trip to the Glastonbury Festival for over 10 years we also have a pretty good Glastonbury Survival Guide which we are going to include up here next posting.

14:00

Now refreshed with Bacon Sandwiches and lashings of Coffee and Tea and surviving the Supermarket Check out Cue for nearly 3 hours we got back to Steve’s with all that we needed, we wacked all the cold stuff in the fridge and freezer and then Mark went out to get fuel.  It took him 2 hours and the local Petrol station is only 5 miles away!! He said he was listening to the iPod and lost track of time, (not the first time on this weekend)

18:00

We finished packing the van then I said “Lets go get freshened up and go for a Curry and a few beers, we got back a few hours later keeping a clear head for the journey tomorrow.

23:00

Last Check:

Tickets x 3

Tent x 1

Us x 3

iPod Charged

all checked and sorted thats it time for an early night… Tomorrow all we need to do is back the food, Drinks and then we be on the road to Glastonbury Festival 2009 going back to see the Tor, get lost on the roads and fields around Pilton and as it turned out in the county of Somerset too.

We are really looking forward to seeing Bruce Springsteen and the legend that is Neil Young too, it’s true Glastonbury is music but our favourite places are the Green fields and the odd Festival shows that go on as well!

Until next time I hope you enjoy your journey with us!!!!

St Joseph of Arimathea

Those people who have heard of Glastonbury in deepest Somerset, will at some point have heard of Joseph of Arimathea, he is said to have visited Glastonbury with his Great Nephew, none other than Jesus of Nazareth.  But was this truth, or was this in fact an elaborate story dreamed up and formulated by the then Monks of Glastonbury Abbey?

Is it on this basis that has thousands of people flocking to this quaint spot deep in the English Countryside in search of the “Holy Grail”?

Is Glastonbury (Isle of Avalon) really the birth place of Christianity in Britain?

But by far the most important question is Did Jesus, Son of God, really walk in this land?

What is the Link between King Arthurs Grail and Joseph of Arimathea’s Grail?

These questions and many more surrounding this place has kept me wondering for years.  Finding out fact from fiction has been like a great maze! Just when you think your on to a good lead some other interesting fact pops up and distracts you from the quest.

I am no great authority on this subject just an inquisitive person looking to make sense of something that depending on your beliefs and disbelief’s either exists or doesn’t!We know St. Joseph of Arimathea did exsist of that we are certain. But did he come to Great Britain will we ever truly know?

The answer in honesty is probably not but that is not to say we won’t have a kind of mini Grail quest of our own finding out.

In my next post I will be writing about the legend of Joseph of Arimathea’s visit to Britian and of what we know of him for certain through the Scriptures.

The architectural style of the buildings are Romanesque and Gothic.

One of the first things you notice when you visit the ruins is the Black modern cross, this was given as a gift by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the inscription on the Cross reads;

The Cross a symbol of our faith.  The gift of Queen Elizabeth II marks a Christian sanctuary so ancient that only legend can record it’s origin

Lady Chapel

This building remains most intact on the site it is also thought as the most important. Consecrated 1189. Built in Romanesque style with stone work decoration which was sourced from the nearby Mendip Hills, the stone work is also highlight with the local Blue lias stone.

The magnificent main portal of the Lady Chapel is richly decorated with four orders of carved figures and designs, now badly worn due to the elements but as you can see enough remains to give you the idea of how this stonework would have looked at the time of it’s living.

The crypt of the Lady Chapel was inserted around 1500 by Abbot Beere, for which the floor level had to be raised. It is said that during the excavations the bodies of saints were disturbed! The crypt was dedicated to to Joseph of Arimathea.

At the east end  of the Lady Chapel the crypt extends under the Galilee porch of the Great Church, providing a link between the two churches. This undercroft area contains a modern altar and is the site of services in the summer. A niche in the south side of the crypt, covers a sacred well that probably dates from the early days of the abbey.

The Great Church

Today not has survived of the Great Church, yet it still holds the mysterious and majestic qualities The transept crossing still stands, the size of the remains today really gives an idea of  the scale of Glastonbury Abbey.

From its completion in 1250 until its destruction at the time of the dissolution in 1539, the Great Church was one of the largest and  possibly most important in Britain, with a greater total area than Canterbury Cathedral.  Construction began in the late Romanesque era (between the 6th and 10th Century).  This is reflected in the “dogtooth decoration” in the surviving arches, but most of the church was completed in a pure Gothic style. (1200-1450) It had a long nave and long choir with side aisles, a square central tower, and twin towers at the west end.

Monastic Buildings

Only the foundations remain of the monastic buildings, which  are South of the Churches, structures that remain are the  cloister, chapter house, refectory, Cells (dormitory).

Abbots Kitchen

Directly south of the Lady Chapel and west of the other monastic buildings are the ruins of the Abbot’s Hall and the very impressive Abbot’s Kitchen (built 1334-42), a square building with its great chimney still intact. Inside, eight curved ribs of the vault rise to a small opening in the centre. You can enter this building and see the magnificent fireplace and get a sense of the abbot’s h lifestyle would have been like.

I know there is a lot of pictures on this article but I feel it would be doing an injustice to the beauty and presence of the Abbey if I did not include them.

Visiting the Abbey you can really get a sense of how special and spiritual this place is with the back drop of the Mendip hills and the imposing Tor with St Micheal’s Tower standing like a sentry looking over the town, and the two springs that rise from the depths of this fascinating hill.

In my opinion it is no wonder that people flock to this place on a pilgrimage each year!

There is also a page that charts the Abbots of Glastonbury and the works that were carried out in there time in the seat, taken and adapted from Wikipedia,

Below is a video by Gypsy 085 taken on the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey with some great music too.

Here is a link to Glastonbury Abbey (opens in a separate window)

The next post will be about  Glastonbury Tor and St’ Michaels Tower and then going on to St Joseph of Arimathea.

Until the Next time….

Glastonbury Abbey founded in 710AD and was home to an order of Benedictine Monks. The Abbey is open as a tourist attraction.

Steeped in 2000 years of history and legend.

In the 6th Century, when the followers of Augustine set out to convert England, it is said that they found a Christian community already established in Glastonbury, possibly formed by Joseph of Arimathea, fleeing persecution after the death of Christ.

Across the years it grew in power and wealth as well as influence. It was the last Abbey to be destroyed at the Dissolution, and the last abbot, Richard Whiting, was hanged on the Tor as a warning to all not to oppose the wishes of King Henry VIII.

This has been a place of pilgrimage across the centuries, thanks to a long list of impressive religious connections. Shrines and relics once filled this great church. Notable among them were St Joseph of Arimathea, St Patrick, St David and St Dunstan, a former abbot and builder of one of the earliest cloisters in Britain here at the Abbey. Perhaps more famous still in the present day, we can boast of the possible burial place of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, discovered in 1191 and reburied in a marble tomb by King Edward I in a place of honour before the high altar.

There is more in depth history…

Saxon era 5th Century AD

(As above) there was already a community of Monks living at Glastonbury at the time of King Ine of Wessex’s arrival at the Abbey. He is said to have ordered that a stone church be built in 712 AD. The foundations of which now form the west end of the nave.

Glastonbury was ravaged by the Danes in the ninth century. The contemporary reformed soldier Saint Neot was sacristan at Glastonbury before he went to found his own establishment in Somerset.

The abbey church was enlarged in the tenth Century by the Abbot of Glastonbury, Saint Dunstan, the central figure in the tenth-century revival of English monastic life, who instituted the Benedictine Rule at Glastonbury.

Dunstan became Archbishop of Canterbury in 960. Dunstan built new cloisters as well.

In 967, King Edmund was laid to rest at Glastonbury. In 1016 Edmund Ironside, who had lost England to Canute but held onto the title of King of Wessex, was buried there too. King Cannute’s charter of 1032 was “written and promulgated in the wooden church at Glastonbury, in the kings presence”.

Medieval Era 1066

Norman conquest:

At the Norman Conquest in 1066, the wealth of Glastonbury made it a jewel in the crown so to speak. The new Norman Abbot, Turstin, added to the church, unusually building to the east of the older Saxon church and away from the ancient cemetery, thus shifting the sanctified site.

Not all the new Normans were suitable heads of religious communities. In 1077, Thurstin was dismissed after his armed guards killed monks right by the High Altar.

In 1086, when Domesday Book was commissioned, Glastonbury Abbey was the richest monastery in the country. Abbot Henry of Blois commissioned a history of Glastonbury, about 1125, from the chronicler William of Malmesbury, whose De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiae is our source for the early recorded history, and much awe-inspiring legend as well.

Then as now, legend worked more strongly than raw history to bring the pilgrims who sustained the Abbey’s reputation and contributed to its upkeep.

King Arthur’s grave

King Arthurs Grave

In 1184, a great fire at Glastonbury destroyed the monastic buildings. Reconstruction began almost immediately and the Lady Chapel, which includes the well, was consecrated in 1186.

There is evidence that, in the twelfth century, the ruined nave was renovated enough for services while the great new church was being constructed. If pilgrim visits had fallen, the discovery of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere’s grave in the cemetery in 1191 provided fresh impetus for visiting Glastonbury.

According to two accounts by the chronicler, Giraldus Cambrensis, the Abbot, Henry de Sully, commissioned a search, discovering at the depth of 16 feet (5 m) a massive hollowed oak trunk containing two skeletons. Above it, under the covering stone, according to Giraldus, was a leaden cross with the unmistakably specific inscription “Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurus in insula Avalonia” (”Here lies interred the famous King Arthur on the Isle of Avalon”).

A closer View of the Plaque at King Arthurs Burial place in the Grounds of Glastonbury Abbey

Annexation to Bath and Wells

Five years later, in 1197, Savaric FitzGeldewin, bishop of Bath and Wells, persuaded Pope Celestine III to allow the annexation of Glastonbury Abbey to his diocese. He officially moved his Episcopal seat there, but the monks would not accept their new Bishop of Glastonbury and he was kept away from the abbey.[8] The bishops continued to use the title Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury until finally renouncing their claim to Glastonbury in 1219. Services in the reconsecrated Great Church had begun on Christmas Day, 1213, most likely before it was entirely completed. King Edward I and Queen Eleanor attended the magnificent service at the reburial of King Arthur’s remains to the foot of the High Altar in 1278.

 The next post in this series I will write about the Architecture of Glastonbury Abbey.

here is a link to all the Abbots at Glastonbury right up until the dissolution. The table is by no means conclusive and is taken from an article on Wikipedia, what it also shows is the work that was carried out at the Abbey under the direction of each Abbot.

until the next time……

 To Begin our journey through this land shrouded in Myth and Magick, it would only be right to start with the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Avalon….

Jerusalem also known as The Glastonbury Hymn

There is an argument that Jerusalem should be the National Anthem of England, this view is not for this post. Rather what is this piece where does it come from, who does it talk about and why…

The hymn Jerusalem is based on the Preface of the epic poem Milton, written in 1804 by William Blake.  Blake’s words were made in to a hymn arranged by C Hubert H. Harry in 1916.

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem Builded here,
Among those dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold:
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England’s green and pleasent Land.

This poem and now Hymn recounts the legend that Jesus visited Avalon. It’s my intention from this point to share with you the many legends and myths associated with this quaint Town in deepest Somerset.

Covering King Arthur, Celtic tribes, Druids, Zodiac and of course the legend in it’s own right Glastonbury Festival.

Below is a video of Jerusalem

Welcome to Glastonbury The Acient Isle of Avalon!

Glastonbury is a Small town in Sommerset, Southwest England. Situated on a Dry point (an area of flood free ground on an area of wetland, marshland or flood plain), on the Somerset levels. Its 31 Miles (50km) south from Bristol. With an estimated population of 8,800 people (according to 2002 figures). It is part of the Mendip district.

Glastonbury is known for it’s Music festival held in the nearby village of Pilton, at Worthy Farm owned by Micheal Eavis (more festival stuff in later posts).

Glastonbury is notable for the myths and legends surrounding Glastonbury Tor, simply known as The Tor (later posts) The Holy Grail, Joseph of Arimethia, Ley Lines, Religions, like Paganism, Druidary, It is believed that Glastonbury (Isle of Avalon) is the place in the world where the barriers between this world and spiritual World merge.

Glastonbury Today

Today Glastonbury is a centre for religious tourism and sometimes referred to as a pilgrimage, A diverse mix of Mysticism, Paganism and they Co-exsist with followers of its Catholic Heritage, like many similar towns (in size only Glastonbury is definatley a unique place). The town is no longer as busy as it once was, but the outskirts of town support a suprising number of “Alternative” Shops

Yes this place also made National (United Kingdom) headlines for displaying Cannabis plants in our towns floral displays. (See We are different)

Glastonbury Abbey

We also have an Abbey, founded in the 7 Century, a powerful monastary that became connected with the legend of king Arthur and the Holy Grail in the 10th Century and is reputidley the burial place of both him and Lady Guinevere.