I too remember those halcyon days of being able to stand by the Armco at the cafe and restaurant and enjoy the sights and sounds close up - even the joys (before mobile phones) of the queue for the call box in the Chinese, to be able to call mates and let them hear the sounds and make gratuitous comments of the "I'm here and you're not" variety. One year, one guy just called a number and hung the phone out of the window without saying a word to anyone on the other end - when asked who he had called, his answer was that he had just called his answerphone so that the he could hear it when he got back....
However, you can still see well from the garden of the cafe - not as close up as before - like you can't lean on the Armco - but this year the cafe had set up trestle tables in the garden area behind the solid fence to stand on - great view from about 20 m away, as well as the sound, beer on tap, food available and no stumbling across dark fields avoiding the riot police and dogs! As far as I can remember, the camp site was still there this year, but it has waned in popularity since they put all the netting and barriers up a couple of years ago. All the best,
Mark
