GWR Reading-Guildford-Redhill, wifi not working, usb charging not working. Usually though is down to not turned on. Why is there not a check list? Maybe there is.
Alighting at Godalming Station, surprised how many get off the train. All were headed for Staycation Live. Word has got around.
Once I arrived at the park, already many people, far more than when I usually arrive.
Disappointed to find The Little Beer Company no longer running the bar as they have done an excellent job the last two years. Maybe ask Growlers & Cans.
Reusable plastic for the beer. Pay a refundable pound deposit. I can though foresees a problem, no washing facility on site.
The design I did not like. It would have been better a logo nothing more on the side.
But the concept is good sustainability.
Something that needs to be addressed at the markets in Godalming, Farnham, and Guildford. No it is not acceptable to use plastic. Why do councils have such abysmally low standards? If Staycation can, then so can they. They should be demonstrating best practice, not worst practice.
Hog roast always worth grabbing something to eat.
A fake burger vegan stall. I would rather have seen quality vegetarian dishes, not fake meet. They do at least make their own.
Beware of the fake meat being hyped for example Impossible Burger, big businesses, highly processed crap including gmo soya contaminated with glyphosate.
Extinction Rebellion probably thought themselves in a prime location, in the cloisters with the secondary stage. Not so if tried to hold a conversation
It would have been a good idea had they been granted the stage to give a talk. Maybe they were, maybe they did.
Something to consider for the future, talks, poetry, drama.
Need a quality coffee truck.
I would have liked to have seen a quality coffee stall. Something that has been lacking. Maybe try Coffee Gems, a quality coffee roastery in Farnham. Or 101 Coffee Espresso Bar in Oxford who have experience of running coffee stalls at festivals.
I would invite Ollo Foods, quality vegan food, not fake meat substitutes.
Surrey Pride, sponsored by BAE Systems, hands dripping with blood of all the children killed in Yemen. Sickening.
I did not stay long, left before three.
On leaving a brief chat with the local Mayor.
Lucky I left when I did, local butcher closes at three.
One reason for wishing to leave early, I had spotted on Wednesday cast iron cooking pots in Samaritans charity shop. Unfortunately had gone.
Looked in 2 Bada, a Korean restaurant. Somewhere to eat on my next visit to Godalming.
Caught bus into Guildford.
A little market on the Town Bridge. Did I want an ice cream? No, Loseley ice cream, not cheap at £3 a tiny tub, I would prefer a cone, no cones. Man suggests try elsewhere. But I could not find where he directed me.
I did find at the bottom of the North Street an ice cream van peddling crap ice cream with engine running.
It illustrates Extinction Revolution have a long way to go. Guildford has declared a Climate Emergency. Empty words unless followed by action. Why is this ice cream van permitted?
Dylan’s ice cream, top quality local ice cream and served in a cone, does not leave an engine running.
Next time roads are blocked, point out roads are multi-function, not restricted to traffic. OK for a bike ride passing through that blocks the roads. The chaos is as nothing when Climate Emergency kicks in.
Last week record high temperate. This week, a month’s rain fell within a couple of hours, roads swept away, rail lines swept away, a dam about to overflow a small town evacuated. Had the hills been rewilded, subsidised sheep kicked off the hills, these flash floods would have been prevented. Grass grazed herbivores improve soil structure, soil acts as carbon sink, grass mitigates temperature change, when it rains the water soaks into the ground.
Good deed of the day, helped with a survey on shopping habits. Long discussion followed on collapse of retail in town centres. Tunsgate Quarter zombie shopping centre, Brighton, need for support for local indie businesses not chains, question why Visit Guildford and Experience Guildford are promoting corporate chains at the expense of local indie businesses, are they taking money to do so?
My detour into Guildford to collect Black Gold from Waterstone’s.
A girl outside handing out poetry. She was typing it out on a portable typewriter. She was packing up when I came out of the bookshop.
I questioned she was not there for long. She told mm she had been there all day.
She told em she was a musician and gave me a copy of her EP.
It was then to Guildford Station.
Even though I left Staycation Live early it was still around seven when I got home.
Staycation Live is supported by Godalming Town Council. And they are to be complimented for their continued support.
To what extent does Staycation Live benefit the local economy? Those with stalls will benefit, if provided by local bars and restaurant, as in the past, even if not making money on the day, is going to tempt to visit.
Sheffield has an excellent freebie magazine Now Then found in indie coffee shops which supports local indie businesses, local culture.
Contrast with Guildford where Visit Guildford and Experience Guildford promote corporate chains, big business to the detriment of local indie businesses.
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