Rocking the Rails at Castle Cary

Available for over a year

Location, location, location - it's everything for idyllic Castle Cary Station, a quiet, sleepy commuter stop on the Great Western train line - because this particular sleepy station in Somerset just happens to be the closest station to Worthy Farm - home of the Glastonbury Festival. For 11 months and 3 weeks of the year all is peaceful and quiet, chattering birdsong in the hedgerows the only disturbance to a day-in-the-life of station master Paul Mitchell. Then, as Paul puts it - "Glasto comes around", and as no less than the Rolling Stones, Mumford and Sons, Portishead and the Arctic Monkeys pitch up in a field nearby, everything changes. Normally manned by one station master at a time; Paul is one of three railway employees on rota - their duties include every aspect of station keeping; maintenance, guard duties, ticket sales, sweeping up and planting flower beds - and it is a job well done; they have even won awards for best kept station. Sangita Myska follows the transformation of the station, peering through the well-polished ticket office window with station master Paul Mitchell, from quiet normal week to well managed chaos, as tens of thousands of wellie-wearing, tent carrying, over-excited music fans pour out of packed trains on their way to a weekend of mud and music. And then they all go home again, and Paul gets back to his hanging baskets - checking to see if anyone has popped any mysterious and unexpected green plants in with his petunias. Presenter: Sangita Myska Producer: Sara Jane Hall.