Pilton Green Man Day 2016
Despite the 2016 Pilton Green Man Day being a rather damp day, contrary to the proven knowledge that the third Saturday in July often has good weather, Pilton nevertheless thronged with crowds throughout the day. It was the perfect opportunity to focus on the friendly local community in this oldest part of Barnstaple. There are a number of great summer events across the North Devon region, and Pilton’s Green Man Day remains one of the most uniquely enjoyable, family-friendly days even when the weather is not so kind.
This year Green Man Day had its usual fun mix with the Parade, the Pageant, children’s activities, music, a street market, crafts, food and drink, flowers, charity stalls, displays and street entertainers. Among the street entertainers was Matt Lemon in a new Green Man Stiltskin costume, made with the help of a generous grant from our local councillors on North Devon Council, by Jennie Cooper. The Green Man Stiltskin figure is a crucial figure in the Pilton Green Man Day activities very much representing the spirit of the occasion and being a focus of attention by the public attending, especially the children.
Before the day, the people of Pilton were invited to Decorate their Wellies in their gardens. They responded enthusiastically with 25 displaying wellies decorated in imaginative ways. You can see an album of the results by clicking on the image.
The music side of Green Man Day has evolved over the years and again we are lucky to have some amazing acts to entertain the crowds. There was music on three stages in Pilton Street and the Open Mic Stage in the grounds of Pilton House next to the very popular Green Man Beer Tent. As usual, this year's acts came from the great musical support we enjoy in North Devon and gave us the chance to showcase some of our rich local talent, whilst giving the performers an opportunity to play to their own community. They included up and coming talent from Pilton Community College, Rob Craig, Molly & John Davies, Sam Dowden and local band The Stolen Page. The afternoon finished up with the brilliant Dambuskers from Appledore (above) on the Top Stage playing to a happy, dancing audience.
The Pilton Story - the heritage archive - displayed some of its 500+ old photographs and documents in the Church Hall. Their volunteers talked to lots of people about their history. Left is an image from the VE Day celebrations at Pilton House in April 1945.
The organisers of Green Man Day pride themsleves on getting the place cleared up as quickly as possible because Pilton Street is home to a lot of people. Teams of rubbish pickers are out in Rotary Gardens throughout the day. The cleanup starts in earnest at 5pm when stalls begin to be removed and the Council roadcleaner is deployed by 6pm to make the place even cleaner that it was before the day started. By Sunday morning all the bins had been removed and you could hardly believe it had ever happened except for the bunting, which Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue came and removed when they had a moment of calm during the week!
You are welcome back in 2017!