We did the clubbing thing for a bit but then followed the free party raves.
Saturday nights sat in a motorway services with a load of other cars all desperately trying to find out where the party was going to be. We usually ended up at a Circus Warp/Spiral Tribe/DIY party (or something local if we had a tip-off.
Saturdays was mostly driving across the country to some field/warehouse/squat and partying until the sun came up.
Bank holiday weekends were always the best. Tune into the news on a Friday night and they would always tell you were a large number of travelers were gathering for a festival – job done!!
Lechlade was amazing but the mother of all free parties (Castlemorton) effectively killed the scene and pushed it back into clubs by forcing the criminal justice bill through. We were there for three or four days and it was an incredible community that partied non-stop. There were some negatives to the gathering including people shooting flares at the police helicopter, poor locals who lived close by and the litter (that a lot of travelers cleared up). All the big sound systems were there and you could dip between some full on Spiral Techno or some more laid back twisted DIY. I still have a couple of tapes from that weekend.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-39960232
We had some amazing nights at some of the parties in incredible places all over the country. I can remember one in some kind of old mine in a remote part of Wales. When the sun came up it was breathtaking.
It was always a cat and mouse game with the cops. Loads got shut down (including a big one in Canary Wharf) and some in warehouses were they charged with dogs and it all got a bit sketchy.
So many good memories!!