Great Western Express (1972) – Nostalgia Central

On 26 May 1972, 50,000 people descended at Tupholme Manor Park just outside the rural Lincolnshire village of Bardney (located ten miles from Lincoln) to watch and listen to some of the biggest names in rock & roll in a four-day event known as the Great Western Express.

The line-up included The Beach Boys, Sha Na Na, Joe Cocker, Humble Pie, The Faces with Rod Stewart, Slade, Genesis, Wishbone Ash, Atomic Rooster, Focus, Status Quo, Lindisfarne, The Strawbs, Rory Gallagher, Nazareth, Average White Band, Jade Warrior, Incredible String Band, Brewers Droop, Stone The Crows, Roxy Music, Don McLean, Budgie and a young comedy troupe called Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

At the time, such large-scale music events in the UK were still in their infancy. The Isle of Wight Festival was the place to be seen, having grown and grown since its launch in 1968. Glastonbury, launched a year later, was a long way from becoming the behemoth it is today.

The event was not welcomed with open arms, and organisers – including actor Stanley Baker (pictured below), Lord Harlech, John Martin and Peter Whitehead – had to agree to pay a £10,000 “security bond” to Bardney’s vicar “in the event of angry hordes trying to do the village damage.”

Torrential downpours accompanied by strong wind gusts led to large numbers turning back and going home after getting off the train at Lincoln, costing the organisers a significant amount of money.

Those who braved the weather turned to ingenious means to keep out the rain, constructing little shelters from hay “borrowed” from a giant haystack on the property.

Fears that festivalgoers would leave a rubbish-strewn hellscape were not realised, and some local businesses did well out of the event. All seven pubs ran dry, and local shops were stripped bare.

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