Is living in Glastonbury as great as I imagine?

[NemesiaPinkLagoon]

Hello to anyone who lives in Glastonbury.

Recently I keep thinking about living there and wondering how it is in reality.

I always enjoy visiting the town, I like the location in Somerset, the alternative perspective, and history. Love the idea of being near the Tor and the Abbey, and not far from countryside.

So if you live there, I'm interested to hear your experiences and pros and cons! Thank you in advance

It's the weirdest place I've ever been (and I'm a total hippy).

It was like the commercial version of alternative lifestyles. Here, buy the lifestyle from me. I have mass produced clothing, incense and I saw you coming!

I liked the Tor though.

I used to like it for a day trip when I lived in Bristol, but not sure I'd like to live there, as it always seemed busy and the shops were nice to look around, but a little too expensive.

Yes there is definitely a lot of tourism! I imagine that can be annoying if you live there and just want to go about your day. Great to see so many independent shops though.

There was a thread about Glastonbury, and other such places, a few days ago.
AIBU To feel weird in Glastonbury

I would not choose Glastonbury to live - there are much nicer small towns and villages in Somerset. We've been witness to several unpleasant incidents while visiting there, usually involving people high on drink/drugs. My husband nearly got run over in the High Street by an out of control driver, shops have to lock their doors on occasions due to anti-social, threatening people. They trade off their 'hippy' vibe, but it's just a creation for the tourists. Very anti-social place with a sinister undercurrent.

Daphne, that's interesting. I saw some very worrying parenting while there involving two utterly stoned parents and a dangerously unsupervised toddler. The police turned up and intervened thankfully. I've been to a lot of festivals and seen a lot of people high as kites but they were something else. The poor child was nearly wiped out by a car and the parents couldn't even walk.

From what I've read on MN in recent months, I wouldn't fancy it.

I don't live there but I'm an occasional visitor (I live closer to Bristol and Bath). I always take a look at the shops as an indicator of whether I could live in a particular place.
Glastonbury has a lot of shops that are nice to have a browse around but not a lot of the types of shop you actually NEED. It's all very well having that dippy hippy stuff, but what about if you need a new pair of pants or a drill bit or a packet of A4 paper.

I know it well and I wouldn’t want to live there. Can be really unpleasant & druggy.

I lived in a village a few miles from Glastonbury for several years and I'd never choose to live in Glastonbury. It's run down. There is a fair bit of nuisance behaviour. Fighting, drugs, transient homelessness. Tourism gets tiresome and everyone else in Somerset will have a certain view of you if you say you live in Glastonbury.

There are plenty of nicer spots nearby.

Interesting to hear the negative viewpoints and examples of antisocial behaviour. I think all smallish market towns have that side to them.

@senua I saw that thread about people have a creeping feeling in Glastonbury and other places. Interesting! I felt like that when I visited Christiania, the commune in Copenhagen. I found it very unwelcoming.

Honestly OP Glasto is not a nice town at all. We live in one of the villages about 5 miles away and I avoid it like the plague if I can. It’s really run down, with quite a lot of poverty. It’s a shame because until about thirty years ago it was quite a well to do place but the main industry was sheepskin / leather and of course sheepskin really died a death in the 80s (I suppose there has been a hit of a revival in recent years in homewares but no one wears sheepskin coats anymore!) The derelict factories on the road to Street are so depressing and a real eyesore. I can’t imagine when they are going to be redeveloped if ever. The high street is all hippy tat - the only two decent shops are the Curtain Pole and the health food shop.

On the other hand, there are some fabulous towns and villages in the surrounding area - I know you read about Bruton but my money is on Somerton and Castle Cary is lovely too. The countryside is absolutely lovely. There is a really strong live music scene (no I don’t mean the festival) and some great food pubs and restaurants. We love it. But just not Glastonbury!

Anyone who lives in somerset will tell you to avoid Glastonbury like the plague... for all the reasons above and more

There is a huge drug problem in Glastonbury.
We lived in a village a few miles away for a few years and only ever visited with friends and family to do the touristy bits.
To be honest I wouldn't ever recommend living in Somerset, it's a very insular place. After having a baby we moved back to the large city we came from.
Somerset as a whole is a beautiful place to visit, but not to live and raise a family.

Thanks for the warnings! I'll quit daydreaming about moving there then.

@JackiesCrimbleCrumble I have a one year old and we live in a city. I grew up in the countryside so I do feel a draw to return. There are more options in the city though, for leisure, schools etc.

I think you'd like Frome.

The centre of Cultural Appropriation and conspiracy theories.

Shops full of symbols and religious objects from all over the world that the seller or the purchaser does not understand. They just think its "spiritual". Because they don't have a culture of their own.

Bookshops full of conspiracy theory books.

Horrible horrible place. I felt contaminated by my visit.

You don't say where you are currently OP but Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire has a similar hippy/alternative feel with perhaps more authenticity.

It's a shit hole and rough as!

I like the Tor, and it was nice for a mooch round the shops but I'm not sure it would keep me entertained for very long.

I live in Bristol which is close by, and has its own type of hippy vibe, but is just infinitely superior in every way.

Have only visited briefly but intrigued enough to go back for a proper look. I think, sadly, a lot of the West and South West has similar problems (I’m from another part of that area). To be fair, I’m a Pagan and it takes a fair bit to make me blink, but in one short visit I overheard a fabulous altercation in a charity shop - between a witch selling ritual garb (and proclaiming her full witchcraft lineage) and a slightly fed up shop volunteer. What was brilliant was that the volunteer’s argument was simply that said witch couldn’t authenticate the claims about her robes or her lineage ie not that it was a rather ‘out there’ conversation to start with. Oh, and I saw a woman in tiara, ball gown and trainers skateboarding down the street with her shopping ....as you do!

Problems being drug and poverty issues.

Agree with PP - anyone who knows the area well would advise avoiding it IMO. I certainly wouldn't choose to live there. There are other lovely places in Somerset!

@skylarkdescending Funny you mention Hebden Bridge, my husband really likes the idea of it and we want to visit when lockdown etc is finished.

@JudyGemstone I'm in Bristol too. It's great but I don't picture myself being in a city forever.

@Craftycorvid I love the sound of that conversation!

Hebden Bridge is much nicer than Glastonbury. You are close enough to the city and amenities, and it's far more family oriented.
Somerset is lacking in amenities and isn't very family oriented.
We had to drive nearly an hour for our nct classes and there were no mother and baby groups locally to me. When we moved I was within walking distance to a different baby group every day, morning and afternoon if I wanted.
You wouldn't get that in Glastonbury but you probably would in HB.