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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To feel weird in Glastonbury

448 replies

Wellsbells · 09/01/2021 15:33

I moved about a half hour’s drive from Glastonbury a few years ago but have only visited the town itself once. I hated it. It just felt uncomfortable and a bit sinister, and I couldn’t wait to leave. I’ve not felt that way anywhere else, I mean there are places I like more than others of course but this was just a really strong sense of “I want to get out of here”. Would be interested to know if anyone else has felt this way? Or about anywhere else?

OP posts:
alltoomuchrightnow · 09/01/2021 23:12

As for a sinister feeling to places... mine was in my teens in the 80s, and oddly it was Devises.. have been since with no issues but at the time I was freaked by it (however some years later after that first visit, a family member died prematurely and ended up having ashes scattered there...)

alltoomuchrightnow · 09/01/2021 23:12

Devizes, rather

Serin · 09/01/2021 23:29

I like a place of pilgrimage. Love Glastonbury, Walsingham and Canterbury, but Fuck me, the abbey on Iona is awful. That place has a pure evil vibe and I had to leave.

LyndaSnellsSniff · 09/01/2021 23:42

@QuestionableMouse

Bloody hell! I just fell down a rabbit hole there! That’s almost as good as ear wax removal videos! Thank you!

Jumpjumpjumper · 09/01/2021 23:45

Someone mentioned Hot Fuzz feeling. There's a village called Flamstead that has that.

We go to the scarecrow festival there every year (well, did, until there was a murder that cancelled it, then covid cancelled last year's) and I say it every time. It's very pretty, but I swear Hot Fuzz is based on that area!

QuestionableMouse · 09/01/2021 23:48

[quote LyndaSnellsSniff]@QuestionableMouse

Bloody hell! I just fell down a rabbit hole there! That’s almost as good as ear wax removal videos! Thank you![/quote]
You're welcome 😁😁

Darklylookingdeeply · 09/01/2021 23:49

I've only ever been to the festival but I can't say it felt overly weird.
Has anyone ever been to Butser Hill, near Chichester, I think? That has a weird vibe.

Stillfunny · 09/01/2021 23:52

I went to a handfasting ceremony in Glastonbury near the Tor. It was great .Stayed the weekend in a lovely house where the owner urged us to feel the vibe of the Arkangel Michael. Also had a dish of some sort of dust with a nice smell from an ashram in India. Supposedly good for headache. Dunno know if it worked as I also took paracetamol.

My scariest place in UK would be Parliament House. Vibes don't get creepy than that lot .Especially BJ

HelgaDownUnder · 09/01/2021 23:55

I visited about 10 years ago and loved it. It's possibly my favourite place in the world. I still have framed pictures we took there on my wall. When I got trapped in UK by an Icelandic volcano I went back there (we had been touring) and stayed another few days, just to soak up more vibe.

Given the impact of one week there I can easily believe there is a strong energy that some might find unsympathetic. I'm a Christian, although I have a much broader view if spirit, partly as a result of what I discovered there. It was like an alternative baptism. I'm not a hippy-pagan, and don't smoke weed.

I also loved Wells. I've always dreamed to go back, but right now I can't imagine having freedom to travel. Hopefully one day, in the meantime I have the memories.

SleepOhHowIMissYou · 09/01/2021 23:55

Sorry if this has been said upthread but the non-woo explanation is the rejection of Religion that follows the Old Testament and the understanding of old beliefs being followed instead.

When you think about horror films, these also use that fear, how many of you have been terrified by a film about demons or the devil, even if you're atheist?

Monotheism is ingrained in the UK's psyche and places that openly reject it feel sinister.

I love Glastonbury, Lewes, Tintagel and Totnes. Osaka in Japan has a lot of Shinto temples (a nature religion like Paganism or Wicca) so I can see the connection and understand why some may feel uneasy there.

SilverStarburst · 10/01/2021 00:04

Has anyone been to the island near Essex where The Third Day was filmed? Looks interesting.

CheetasOnFajitas · 10/01/2021 00:23

If you find Glasto too weird the Clark’s Village outlet shopping area is just 5 minutes away in Street - nothing woo about discount M&S, Superdry and Le Creuset 😀. That is my place of pilgrimage when we go to see the inlaws, sod the Tor!

thelake · 10/01/2021 00:34

It's all a bit weird around there. Glastonbury is a dump with some random crystal, incense type shops.

Street, just down the road is very fake feeling with the factory outlet which is pretty dated now.

Wells is pretty but bizarre that it's officially as city because of the cathedral. Nice for a stroll around but not many shops.

thelake · 10/01/2021 00:36

@thefemalejoshlyman yes I agree about Walsingham. For somewhere touristy it has very little. Looks run down in places too. It could be so much more. I suppose it's out on a limb and never going to be upmarket like Holt or Burnham Market but a few cafes would be nice! And I say that as someone whose family regularly does pilgrimages there.

MrsCremuel · 10/01/2021 00:40

Glastonbury is v odd. I'm not new age at all, but have family who live there and are. Almost cultish, but like really low rent cultish. Full of shops I would have wasted my pocket money in buying beads and crystals as a teenager.

thelake · 10/01/2021 00:55

Also look up Lynton and Lynmouth for slight creepy places.

Arobase · 10/01/2021 00:57

No weird vibe, but I wouldn't want to live there because it's so useless for any shopping for things that you would actually want to buy.

bluetongue · 10/01/2021 01:16

@littlepeas

There was a similar thread about Bath a while ago. Malvern is another one that comes up. Apparently there is possibly some link to radon?
Bath felt weird to me. I couldn’t even explain why. I did visit in winter though which might have contributed. Stonehenge on a cold, grey day was great though. Can’t imagine going there on a sunny, warm day when it’s packed with crowds.
bluetongue · 10/01/2021 01:18

Oh and if you want creepy, visit some of the run down Australian towns (not the tourist places). Some of the pubs there feel like you’ve gone back to the 70’s or 80’s!

BestZebbie · 10/01/2021 02:11

IDontLikeZombies: Very nearly! LARP (or LRP) stands for Live (Action) Role Play.

PurpleTrilby · 10/01/2021 04:57

At the moment, a mate of mine is dealing with dicks in Glastonbury who are covid deniers. They're spreading this conspiracy wank all over the shop. Fuck them.

Chookie89 · 10/01/2021 05:14

Wow, what a great thread! So many interesting anecdotes.

@bluetongue ayes to creepy Aussie outback towns - my first two years' teaching was in a tiny rural town with a strong fundamentalist Christian population, and I could not wait to GET THE FUCK OUT. Such an oppressive, cold, and dark undercurrent. My theory was that some heavy shit had gone down there historically - perhaps massacres by settlers, or stretching back before European arrival.

Like @QuestionableMouseI I also felt heavily, heavily depressed by the entire atmosphere of the school and town - this despite the wide open spaces and big blue sky.

This might be controversial.... but New York City gave me super bad vibes. There was an atmosphere of desperation and violence in many of the more 'non-exclusive' areas of the city - the only parts I could afford to stay in. Not sure if it was a mystical or historical thing or just the fact life is so tough there for so many people. In any case, I did not like it one bit and was shocked generally positive ways in which NYC is represented in films, popular media etc.

Someone upthread mentioned Oxford. Loved most parts of it, but certain areas around the Thames (walking paths etc) towards Cowley end of town had some dark energy for sure, even on a sunny day.

I hadn't heard of leys before. Of course it could be a load of shit, but there's an interesting parallel (in some ways) with songlines in Aboriginal Australian culture. The difference is that songlines are attached to ancient Dreaming paths and ancestral walkways. However, perhaps similar to leys, there are certain places on those lines people should not go to, or should have special permission/knowledge of ancestors, song and ceremony, in order to be there.

Loved Penzance. Haven't done Glastonbury but sounds intriguing!
Sorry to Glastonbury locals dealing with covid-deniers/anti-vaxxers etc. Fark, that sounds bloody annoying.

georgemichaelfan · 10/01/2021 05:35

There are some pretty weird towns in the Forest of Dean. Also I found Gloucester weird and disappointing,

haroldlow · 10/01/2021 05:59

Slough in Berkshire and Harlow in Essex are 2 pretty horrible towns I visited. Slough is my idea of hell on earth.

CircusMistress · 10/01/2021 06:41

Visited Glastonbury while on holiday nearby and felt tearful all day. I was carrying alot of buried sadness at the time but visiting the chalice Wells seemed to bring it all out in voluntarily. Very strange experience. I have to admit the main town / high street didn't do much for me, though I am sure there are hidden gems.

The hospital mentioned in Guernsey was an odd one for me too. I felt very strange there and uncomfortable in a fearful kind of way. I just wanted to leave. I felt sick and feint most of the way round and left quicker than we'd intended.

Also had some odd experiences in the Dover tunnels. But not negative. I still enjoy visiting when visiting not too far away.

I really enjoyed the witch museum at Boscastle. I did get a strange feeling like I wanted the children to stay really close rather than nearby when we were walking around the area and by the river though.

I do believe we pick up on energy and that places can retain it. A bit like when you walk in a room after an argument I guess. And everywhere has it's own vibe depending on the people, style of buildings etc...

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