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I still haven't sold my car.... let alone clean it. It remains a state. It needs taking to one more party first. Our local pub closes, me and several of the bar-staff pile into the motor and get on the motorway up to the Oxfordshire/Berkshire border. I've been to the site of the party before, and we find the correct road turning & track up onto the Ridgeway without any problems. At one point you have to sneak up someone's driveway, find the right track and head for a mile or two along a (reasonable) track into the middle of nowhere... probably the most remote party site on the Ridgeway.

We turn up about 1am, and park up - quite a few cars and people are already there, but no music - something to do with the cables again! 15 minutes later, and the first tinny sounds come from the stack...quickly followed by the rumbling of bass from the rest of the 7k rig. It's one of the crew members birthdays this weekend, and everyone is surprised at the amount of people that turn up to the site as word wasn't put out too much..... as well as the Kaos party happening close by, which always attracts large amounts of people.

Although only a few hundred people were present, the atmosphere was great... .it felt like everybody was yer best mate. An almost full moon, complete with a cloudless night lit up the downs, making the site and everyone glow with moonlight. We danced, chatted, kept warm by the fire and generally had a wikkid time wandering around. About 3.30am, a few of us, decide to walk to the Kaos party happening "just over the hill".... 20 minutes later and we've stumbled up the hill, down the other side, and onto the Ridgeway track. Another 5 minutes along the track, and we hear the repetitive beats following the wind. We meet a few lost party people wandering around and we tell them about the other party - but put them off after telling them about its location over the hill.

As we get closer to Cholsey Down, we can see that this is a lot larger than the Sys-Co-X event. The first rig we come across is Fushion from Reading, they've got some strange bits of scaffolding in front of their system...not quite sure what it's for...probably covered in times of rain. We continue the wander past the other systems - Darkstar, Colossus, Engineerin', J10 and Adrenalin. We stop by Nightstorm for a while - and rest our weary feet. Far more people are up at this party, and the whole event looks a lot crazier that the one where our car is parked. We hang around for a while, chat to a few people, before deciding to get back over the hill before it starts to get light.

The walk back seems a lot shorter than the way up there - plus we find the correct track, rather than walking through open fields again! Back at the Sys-Co-X party loads of people are dancing, shouting, smiling and having generally having a good time. The two parties are very different to each other - both really good, but in their own ways - The Kaos Druids have done well! Sys-Co-X felt much more relaxed, with the Kaos party being really full on.... something I like normally - but not tonight.

We spend more time, dancing, chatting at the fire, hassling the crew, wandering around, sitting in the car, getting out of it... and not before long it starts to get light. It's a pretty cloudy start, so no spectacular sunrises as we had last weekend. Fields close by have round hay bales which make really comfortable seats if you turn them on their sides.

Getting back to the party, and the beats continue. Most people are sitting round the fire or in their cars chilling. A few people remain on the dancefloor. We unfortunately have to leave early due to bouncy castle duty commitments - don't ask! We say our goodbyes and head back down the track towards the road....and onto Pangbourne. and then home. It's the last party for my car - I've had a lovely relationship with it as it makes a great base camp at parties. It's also provided tunes after systems have stopped, and has more scratches, bits of tree, blim burns and party junk inside it than I care to remember. It's been to 60+ parties since I've had it.....I'm sure it will sell quickly! One careful owner!

Cheers to everyone involved with the parties that happened on the Ridgeway that night. Shouts out to the System Co-Existence crew and the Kaos Druids.

Bugs






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