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Bestival 2008 and visiting Charles Dickens’ house.

September 9, 2008 1 Comment Filed Under: Uncategorized

Starfish at Bestival festival Bestival pic:kerstin rodgers/msmarmitelover

Phillips hairdressing campervan, Bestival pic:kerstin rodgers/msmarmitelover

aerobics in the mud. Bestival pic:kerstin rodgers/msmarmitelover

Well there had to be one didn’t there…a total mudfest, Battle of the Somme, more survival course than celebration.
Bestival is a ’boutique’ festival which takes place on the Isle of Wight, scene of 60’s rock festival with Jimi Hendrix. Most famous resident: David Icke but also Alan Titmarsh, the TV gardener (looks similar to Icke but quite different views I expect). 
Nightmare to get there…made the mistake of driving to Southampton rather than Portsmouth. Southampton is a chav-infested hole. It has no redeeming features whatsoever. Get to the ferry, which by the way is the most expensive per mile ferry in the world, and the staff don’t seem to be aware that there is a massive festival happening over the water.
Parking? Overnight? Ooh don’t know about that. Says the ferry steward. 
Well as it costs £200 return to take my car over I am rather obliged to park really aren’t I? It’s cheaper to go to France. No wait, it’s cheaper to go to Spain even. Where the weather is surely better. The parking, when I find it, is almost as expensive as the ferry ride.
Southampton also had a boat show and a football game going on, plus Saturday afternoon shopping. Traffic at a crawl. I give up on Southampton and try to leave. Impossible. Drive around in circles. They don’t want you to go, they want you to stay stuck in their shitty pedestrianised, one-way system town. Stop car. Start crying. Get out. Plead with local residents (of which there are few, mostly Eastern Europeans there) for way out. 
Drive to Portsmouth. Easy. Sign posts even. There is a hovercraft located within a fun fair. Park car next to sea. Huge wave comes and drenches me. Grab stuff including pop-up tent I tatted at Glasto. Which I cannot pop down so I’m carrying this enormous nylon disk. The wind almost blows me into the sea.
Isle of Wight. Lovely. Nice architecture. People friendly and humorous. Stand at shuttle with big circle of nylon. Have another go at folding it down. American man takes pity on me and manages to get it into the little circular bag. American know-how. 
Drive through country side. Typically English picture post-card stuff. Sheep. Intensely green fields. Hedgerows. Little pubs. 
Am advised to put wellies on before I enter the festival. 
Don’t even think about wearing normal footwear, advises a mermaid. 
Walk in. No one checks if I have a ticket. Police with sniffer dogs parade up and down looking for drugs. One guy got caught for tiny bit of weed brought by mistake. He’s cautioned and must return to Isle of Wight within a month. Heartless.
Bestival is held in an amusement park. To get to the main bit you have to go, nay, slide, down a long muddy slope. 
I’m working at Groovy Movie,a solar powered cinema in a tent. Easy gig. Sit there serving real fresh chai, brandy coffees while watching films. In bad weather, we are very popular. People just want to get out of the rain, sit down, have a hot drink, watch some telly (films). It’s physically exhausting tramping around a festival site knee deep in mud all day.
I’ve joined my friend L, a Mancunian sambista who could flirt for Britain. Later, at the end of the shift, we manage to blag back-stage (a bit of a feat, eight of us using only one Access All Areas pass) to see The Sugarhill Gang. 
Now I remember these guys from the first time round. We have a great view. They are all older, fatter and look like suburban dads. They have black plastic bags tied around their feet as they clearly haven’t got wellies. Lol. Puts a dampening effect on their stage costumes. Still they are excellent and the crowd love them. We all go crazy when they do Rappers Delight, the first rap hit in 1979. 
They ask “Do you like hip-hop in the U.K.? Can you emcee?”. 
A competition to find the best emcee is held on stage. One girl, several white boys. I’m sorry but it’s still funny to see white boys rap, apeing ghetto-style gestures and putting on accents. The girl was booed, shame. 
Went for a dance in a gorgeous wooden marquee. The musical theme was 80’s in general. Disco hits and Human League, Gary Numan. 
The costume theme this year was appropriately Underwater. Spotted a maidmer, which has the head of a fish and the legs of a man, also foam starfish, lobsters, glittering jelly fish, sailors, pirates of course.
Sunday, had a proper look around site. Lots of sponsorship, Rizla, Philips, Red Bull, Top Shop. Found myself sitting on a deck chair in the Sunday newspaper tent. Too old for all this. 
In the evening saw Underworld who were fantastic, the theme tune to the 90’s. My enjoyment was also increased by the fact that it had stopped raining.
On returning to Portsmouth, my van tyres had been let down. Once fixed by the RAC, after navigating through a complex maze of Council Housing Estates, I found the Charles Dickens museum, located in Southsea. 
Dickens, generally associated with London, was actually born in Portsmouth, although he did return there to research characters from Nicholas Nickleby. His father worked for the Navy during the wars against the French. I was inspired by the sea air and the historic and evocative names around Portsmouth… Nelson! Trafalgar! I’m a big fan of Patrick O’Brien’s naval novels, set during the Napoleonic wars.

Charles Dickens bedroom, l pic:kerstin rodgers/msmarmitelover
Charles Dickens house, pic:kerstin rodgers/msmarmitelover

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  1. caroline

    September 9, 2008 at 7:50 pm

    another great post… did I tell you that despite being born and living in Somerset until I was five, I grew up in a small town between Portsmouth and Southampton …
    so very familiar territory… had to make quite a concerted effort to have a good time as a teenager… but I did

    xcx

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
My next supper club 17th June london tickets £50 My next supper club 17th June london tickets £50 BYO book here: https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsummer-supper-club-tickets-june-17th #london #supperclub #msmarmitelover #midsummer
For tonight’s event I had to push the boundaries For tonight’s event I had to push the boundaries. Here is how to prepare goose neck barnacles or percebes which are a very expensive and rare delicacy, hunted down from cliffs. It’s quite dangerous to forage them. #canapes #eventcatering #satanicfood #percebes #grossfood #seafood #devilsfood
Midsummer supperclub 17th June book tickets here h Midsummer supperclub 17th June book tickets here https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsummer-supper-club-tickets-june-17th at London’s pioneering supper club. Tickets £50 BYO. Scandinavian inspired summery food. #supperclub #msmarmitelover #midsummer #northwestlondon #londonevents #popups
Tina sweating through a gig at Brixton academy cir Tina sweating through a gig at Brixton academy circa 1987 pic: kerstin Rodgers #rip #tinaturner #rockphotographer #kerstinrodgers #teenagephotographer
Attended an incredible talk with @frenchpete_1 on Attended an incredible talk with @frenchpete_1 on war photography in the Ukraine . Go to the exhibition @thebppa @thebargehouse in SE1 last few days 
Had to stop filming cos I was told off. The photographers would be less forthcoming if they were filmed I was told. 
Anyway @frenchpete_1 should be followed by a camera crew cos he’s a star.
For yesterdays lunch I made a blue cheese puff pas For yesterdays lunch I made a blue cheese puff pastry quiche and a little one with less blue cheese & no salt for my 7 month old granddaughter. She absolutely loved it. I’m enjoying seeing her experience and explore new foods with baby led weaning. Avocado, strawberries, kiwi & buttered crumpets are a hit. Pasta less so. Who is this child? Are we even related? #babyledweaning #quiche #homemadepuffpastry
Nice to be featured as The Great Read in The natio Nice to be featured as The Great Read in The national newspaper again. These are the stories I love to do: I go off on an adventure, take my time, interview people (especially women), photograph them in their environment and create recipes on site. This story cost me a lot more than I made as I had an accident and lost my excess. My own damn fault though! Loved loved loved having a campervan. Thanks for lending me it @camperdays.international and sorry about the hole in the side.  https://www.thenational.scot/news/23505593.foraging-seaweed-western-isles/
My terrace on a sunny May morning. The builders @l My terrace on a sunny May morning. The builders @lk.general.building left yesterday. They’ve been working since January. I had the awning installed, the encaustic Minton tiles removed and put back with green grout. The terrace was causing damp so this had to be done. My calamondin plant is looking lovely. The benches which I repaired with hard wood & I repainted using a mix of 2 colours. The marble table I bought in Suffolk at a car boot. Everything is still dusty & I’m waiting for the window cleaner to arrive.
Last but very heartfelt thankyou to @cideriswine f Last but very heartfelt thankyou to @cideriswine for their contribution of these beautiful dry ciders for the coronation street lunch. Gorgeously illustrated labels. #stcuthbertsrd #kilburn #london #cider #artisanaldrinks
When it comes to vodka I much prefer potato vodka. When it comes to vodka I much prefer potato vodka. It’s smoother. Artisanal distillery @devoncovevodka contributed some bottles to my coronation lunch which gave everyone a feeling of being at a classy party. Thanks so much. And also @rawfoodanddrink for arranging. If you want to read my blog post about how and why I organised this event, copy and paste this link: https://t.co/GWNNW2XKba #coronationstreetparty #biglunch #community #kilburn #london #forthepeoplebythepeople
I’ve been a fan of @luscombedrinks for years now I’ve been a fan of @luscombedrinks for years now. They sent a selection: elderflower bubbly, st. Clements orange 🍊 Sicilian lemonade, @belvoirfarm_uk lemonade, which were all delicious and just the tickets for the fortuitous mini-heatwave that occurred on the Sunday coronation lunch. #thankyou #community #coronation #streetparty #biglunch
Our street party. Double page spread in The Sun! T Our street party. Double page spread in The Sun! Tiny bit in the guardian. Decent pic in the Mail and The Star credit @asproider #coronationlunch #kilburn #stcuthbertsrd #kingscroftrd #fordwychrd #templarhouse
My coronation quiche with Broad beans, tarragon, s My coronation quiche with Broad beans, tarragon, spinach, cheddar. I used crème fraiche and blind baked puff pastry shells. I was up at 11 last night making these for todays street party, which featured in the mail, telegraph, mirror, metro courtesy of photographer Gavin Rodgers @asproider
Seaweed foraging at Spring tides in the Outer Hebr Seaweed foraging at Spring tides in the Outer Hebrides with @outerhebrideanforager Fi bird. She’s cutting sea spaghetti. I drove my campervan @camperdays.international from london to the Hebrides- using my gas stove to cook foraged and local ingredients. A real food safari. With the sea spaghetti I made a sea spag vongole with giant parlourdes picked up from the sand at the same time. Great fun, beautiful weather and, the day of the full moon, a wonderfully low tide. This was on south Uist.
More flavours, the flavour thesaurus is a plant-ba More flavours, the flavour thesaurus is a plant-based version of the original. Beautifully constructed, designed and written by @nikisegnit it’s vegetarian rather than vegan but recommended for both. She widens the sensory vocabulary around plant flavours in this book- encouraging new delicious sounding combinations. Now she includes new categories such as flower & meadow, caramel roasted, zesty roost- just the words make me salivate. #foodbooks #bookstagram #newbooks
Yesterday I attended @marmaladeawards @dalemainman Yesterday I attended @marmaladeawards @dalemainmansion I found out so much about marmalade. I’m going to make it this winter. I found out the worlds best maker is Japanese, in fact I was most impressed by the Japanese marmalades in general. Everyone wore orange. I must have tasted 50 marmalades. I met Paddington’s sister, karen jankel who is michael bond’s daughter, born in the same year as Paddington. She gave a charming talk on Paddington, mentioning how the queen insisted on having real marmalade sandwiches in her @launerlondonofficial handbag during the shoot. The house itself is Tudor and Georgian. I stayed in my campervan from @camperdays.international in the car park, cosy in the rain. Another freewheeling adventure. #yorkshire #marmalade #travel #food #ontheroad #campervan
I had a piece in @thetimes on Sunday about being a I had a piece in @thetimes on Sunday about being a vegetarian rather than a vegan. How I still need butter. And how restaurants & plane meals are now vegan rather than vegetarian. But, there are still more the double amount of vegetarians as vegans in the UK. I’ve written a vegan cookbook V is for vegan (link in bio) and am a big fan of vegan foods. I’ve not eaten meat for over 40 years. This is a sustainable diet, in terms of longevity. Vegans that I knew from the early noughties have reverted to meat eating. #newpuritanism? #vegetarian #vegan #foodwriter
Scrambled croft eggs (bright yellow yolks) with a Scrambled croft eggs (bright yellow yolks) with a seaweed that tastes just like truffle. Just done a little kelp foraging at low tide with @thetempleharris’ Amanda Saurin. Isle of Harris. Turquoise sea, white sand, cloud hovering just above. @camperdays.international @roosterpr
I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to Sophie of @tobia.teff she uses the iron-rich, gluten free teff grain from her homeland Ethiopia. She showed me how to make injera, the Ethiopian flatbread which is fermented. She also talked about the coffee ceremony, 3 cups, which they pair with toasted barley or, currently, popcorn! I’d love to visit Ethiopia and find out more about their ancient food culture, history, 3.5k year old monarchy and religions.
Doing a spring budget recipe cooking demo for @bre Doing a spring budget recipe cooking demo for @brentcouncil Willesden library. I’ve been doing this a few times a year for the last few years. Wouldn’t it be great if they had a kitchen set up permanently. Libraries are community centres and could be used to teach how to cook from scratch.
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