There was human excrement found within the bank and ditch area. Though by the end there was not the litter mess of 1999, many who came clearing their litter with them, and a great job done by the stewards and Druids at the end, it wasn't ideal. It was closed to the people of Britain sixteen years ago, when the free festival clashed with the authorities. As a Druid, in honesty, I don't mind in the slightest that there was no space, quiet or respect for the rituals that we might have wished to do. To most people in this secular world, Druidry is as odd as any religion.
Religion is odd.
On 21 June, I wasn't there to make public ritual, but to witness what would happen, making my prayers in the privacy of my soul. While I would declare that the Druids do not have exclusive rights to the temple on 21 June, I would say so because I believe that it is a place that everyone should be free to go. Neither does English Heritage have exclusive rights to close the place completely. But the group who claimed the temple were just another minority subculture. As each year, some ask how they can be involved in the Druid rites, but most simply want to be there, imagining the grass un-muddied, the calm, the silence, the beauty of the moment, the skylarks waking.