The Rain Gods clearly confused Cornbury with Glastonbury this year. But at least Poshstock had a line up every bit as cool as the chilled July weekend. Organiser Hugh Phillimore broke the bank to deliver one of the biggest names in contemporary music, Paul Simon. And if the US singer song writer's low-key set on Saturday failed to reward us with a legendary performance, to hear Sound of Silence echoing around the West Oxfordshire estate will surely live in the memory of the 14,000 who heard it.

Expectations were high as we gathered damp and cold to see the headliner. Some still felt the warm glow of Beverley Knight's energetic and soulful performance and from seeing those fun-loving ladies from California, The Bangles. Still looking great, and with hits like Manic Monday and Eternal Flame to deliver, they performed Hazy Shade of Winter, as their own Paul Simon tribute.

Those in the know had already taken in Carbon Silicon on the Word Stage, relishing the chance to see the former Clash guitarist Mick Jones deliver a blistering set, alongside his ex-Generation X pal Tony James. The Beat had been reason enough to arrive early for those who don't mind dancing at lunchtime with some excitable over forty-somethings, while Nick Lowe's excellent set had given many of us cause to go slip-sliding across the site to witness the arrival of Simon and his seven-piece band.

After the opening number Gumboots, it quickly emerged that songs from Graceland would dominate this performance. Sadly, the absence of anything resembling African skies meant superb musicianship and legendary status were never going to be quite enough to bring the crowd to life as had Blondie and Robert Plant in previous years. A clever reworking of Mrs Robinson put smiles on faces, while Duncan and Only Living Boy in New York deservedly won warm applause, as the little man in the black hat stepped forward with an acoustic guitar.

It was always going to be more about songs than showmanship, but we'd scarcely expected him to do a Dylan on us, barely acknowledging the shivering crowd. We were later to learn that he had banished photographers from the front of the stage (explaining the absence of a Simon close-up here). Still surly after all these years . . .

Father and Daughter was among songs performed from Surprise, the Eno-inspired comeback album, which failed to lift the temperature. After less than 75 minutes the band hit Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, returning to perform a storming Call Me Al. But there was to be no Bridge Over Troubled Water to ease the lot of Cornbury campers.

More warmth was needed and it duly came on Sunday with crowd-pleasing performances from 10CC, KT Tunstall and Crowded House, who led mass singing to their fittingly titled hits Four Seasons in One Day and Weather With You. Once more, the Word stage was given over to Tim Healey's Oxford Folk Festival, which welcomed back the excellent Jaune Tojours to Oxfordshire. The irrepressible leader Piet Maris introduced themselves as representing the "middle way" - coming from Belgium - but there was nothing compromising about their music as they launched into Refugees without Borders.