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Godshill Festival, Hayles Field - August 31st, 1968
Godshill Ticket
 Marc Bolan one half of Tyrannosaurus Rex at Godshill © Rob Atkins |
| Roped in to raise funds for a swimming pool the Foulk Brothers held a "pop" festival at Hayles Field. Known as the 'Godshill' Festival it was some distance from that village. The event attracted about ten thousand people. Marc Bolan and Steve Took as Tyrannosaurus Rex were way down the fourteen band bill. John Peel was the compere. Four British Road Services articulated trailers were used as a stage and the enclosure was ringed by a fence covered in black plastic bin liners. |
 SF Sorrow psychedelia from the Pretty Things © Rob Atkins |
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''The Jefferson Airplane's lightshow was being projected onto a big sheet. When the wind blew it looked like the sail of a Viking ship. There was a friendly atmosphere, almost romantic. I thought it was more special, in many respects, than the other festivals." - Dick Taylor, Pretty Things |
| Arthur Brown had to abandon plans to come in by balloon because of high winds which foiled attempts to light his headgear for his sixties hit Fire. |
| "He made a long speech about Godshill being a far out place to hold a festival saying how come it's 'God's Hill and the church has slipped down the hill . . .' '' - Les Payne |
| ''We used to play a very long version of Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne'. I remember closing my eyes at the beginning of the song, and when I opened them at the end, dawn had broken. In one song it had gone from pitch dark to morning. It freaked the shit out of me.'' - Iain Matthews, Fairport Convention |
 Jefferson Airplane at Godshill © Rob Atkins |
| "It was apocalyptic, smoke, fire and rain'' - Paul Kantner, Jefferson Airplane |
| Saturday August 31 to Sunday, September 1st (6pm - 10am): Halcyon Order, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Smile, Orange Bicycle, Pretty Things, The Move, Jefferson Airplane, Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Fairport Convention, Hunter's Muskett, Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, Plastic Penny, The Mirage, Harsh Reality. |
 Compere at Godshill, John Peel © Rob Atkins |
| Map reference: Rookley to Niton Road 1 mile from Chale turning. |
| Dick
Taylor of the Pretty Things recalls the Godshill Festival and meeting
Arthur Brown for the first time again after thirty years on Vaguely Sunny - Isle of Wight Rock anthology CD, price £10 p&p |
Many thanks to the guys at
for their permission to reproduce the above.
