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Green Man Day

20th July 2024

Arrival at Pilton House

The 2024 Green Man Day has been and gone. Despite the misfortune to have picked the wettest day of July, the day was a great success. The community of Pilton came together in Pilton Street and Rotary Gardens under umbrellas and gazebos. There wasn't much sitting around in the sun chatting over coffee, beer, cider, Pimms, burgers, cakes, and other goodies, or just listening to music from the three stages as we did in 2022. But the weather didn't completely stop the enjoyment and there was still a lot of eating, drinking, listening and dancing in the rain.

On Sunday 21st July we also held a successful family Treasure Hunt around Pilton on what was, by contrast, a dry and nearly sunny afternoon. The answer to the hunt was The Priors Ring 1867. If you want to learn more about that, please visit The Pilton Story.

Thank you to all the stallholders, organisers and volunteers for braving the conditions, and to all those who came and made it a success. We look forward to the next time and better weather.

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If you are interested in getting involved in the next Green Man Day, please contact us through the website by email:

piltonfestival@googlemail.com 

A decision on a possible 2025 Green Man Day will not be made until January 2025, so watch this space for news.

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Below you can find selected stories about some other Pilton goings-on from the last 7 years.

 


Pilton Panto 2022

The annual Pilton Panto 'Red Riding Hood' took place in Pilton Church Hall during half-term holiday week in February and was a great success.

Final Curtain

You can find about what has happened to Pilton Panto 2024 and read about Pilton Panto 2023 'Sleeping Beauty' on the Panto page of this website by clicking on PILTON PANTO in the sidebar above left.

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Pilton Green Man helps buy Manning’s Pit

Manning's Pit ButtercupsOn the edge of Pilton and Bradiford, two villages now part of Barnstaple, lie some 18 acres of grazing land known locally as Manning’s Pit.  They may be on the edge, but are very much at the heart of the Pilton and Bradiford communities.  Generations of local people have walked through the fields, paddled in the river and done their courting there.  It is, without doubt, a magical piece of countryside.

During an intense period of planning activity in Pilton, Manning's Pit was sold at auction on October 2015 to Summix Ltd.  The Friends of Manning's Pit was immediately formed to save the land from development.  A planning application for 41 houses was submitted in February 2017 but subsequently withdrawn in March 2018 shortly before it was about to be voted on by North Devon Council.  In the light of the strong local objections, Summix Ltd then decided to sell the land and it came up for auction in September 2020. The Friends of Manning’s Pit had already started fundraising in 2019 to buy the land for the community, supported by the Pilton Green Man CIO, because of the CIO's status as a registered charity. After protracted negotiations, the Friends' offer to buy the land was accepted.

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On 18th June 2021, Manning's Pit was secured for community and protected for ever from development.

Congratulations to the Friends of Manning's Pit team for their hard work over the last five years.

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WoodpeckerTo learn more about Manning’s Pit and the Friends of Manning’s Pit’s plans for its future in community ownership, please click on the Manning’s Pit button in the sidebar or on the Greater Spotted Woodpecker (left) often seen in Manning's Pit.

The CIO’S Health & Safety Policies in relation to Manning’s Pit can be found at the end of this link H&S Policy together with copies of the two risk assessments - one in relation to the use of the land by members of the public and one for unpaid volunteers working on the land - and a summary leaflet for volunteers.

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Green Man Day 2019

We hope you enjoyed the 2019 Pilton Green Man Day on Saturday 20th July and the Pilton Treasure Hunt which followed on Sunday 21st July. The weekend went very well with the weather threatening to ruin things but relenting on the Saturday morning and giving us a lovely, warm, comfortable couple of days. 

The Parade Arrives

Lots of people had a great time parading, eating, drinking, buying, watching, listening, talking, looking and playing.  Not a bad way to spend a nice weekend in July. Thanks to all who came and supported the stallholders and advertisers who contributed so much to making it a great event.

Enjoying the Top Stage

The organisers have had a voluntary year off in 2020 to recharge their batteries and recruit more people to help with the enormous task of organising it all so well.  Having had an enforced year off as well in 2021, they were back on the third Saturday in July 2022.

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Pilton Green Man Day Always Needs Lots of Volunteers

The Parade Arrives

Pilton Green Man Day is purely run by volunteers. It relies on the profits made by the Green Man Beer Tent and Pimms Tent to fund next year’s event so please come and support them and all the stallholders who have made the effort to join us for the day.

And if you would like to get involved in Pilton Green Man Day on 20th July 2024, please contact us through our Facebook page or by emailing piltonfestival@googlemail.com.

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We also hope you enjoyed Pilton Green Man Day 2017

Scroll through this page to find out a bit about how it went.

Green Man Day 2017 on Saturday 15th July saw lots of people - where do they all come from? - braving the light drizzle and occasional harder showers to enjoy the market, food, drink, music, activities, parade and pageant, although not necessarily in that order. Despite the damp, the Street, which was decorated with some brilliant new bunting by Liz Eveleigh, was as crowded as usual with most people determined to have a good time. And in Rotary Gardens the absence of a few stalls, whose owners had cried off at the last minute through illness, didn't stop everyone making the most of the entertainment.

And the Green Man Pageant took place twice as usual in a new arena at the top of Rotary Gardens in an excellent woodland setting. Once the audience had found the new location, it was very well supported and ended up successfully with the message "The Green Man Lives".

Thank you to all those who braved the weather and supported Green Man Day 2017.

In the run up to the day, Pilton was gradually brightened up with decorated wellies of all stapes and sizes. Click on the image below to see an album of the thirty-odd wellies the Green Man could find.

Collection of Wellies

On the Friday evening before Green Man Day, the Who Killed the Pop Star murder mystery in the Church Hall was a great success, challenging fifteen teams to work out who done it! Which one of the boy band Wha-Hey!! (image below - just use your imagination!!!) was murdered and whodunnit will have to remain a mystery if you missed it.

Wha-Hey!!

And finally, a couple of dozen family groups were relieved to find Sunday afternoon was dry and almost sunny and did the walking Treasure Hunt around the village centre finishing with lots of tea and cake in the Church Hall. Serene MondayIt was a lovely calm way to finish the weekend. By Monday serenity had returned completely to Pilton Street (left) and by Tuesday even the bunting had gone. Thanks Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue for a prompt response!

That's it for 2017's Green Man Day. Well done to everyone who gave lots or a little time helping in some way to make it a success. A lot of hard work goes into getting it organised, making it run smoothly and then tidying everything away afterwards! It certainly doesn't happen on its own. Help is always welcome throughout the year as well as on the weekend itself. We look forward to meeting new volunteers.


Pilton Green Man Day is run by the Pilton Green Man CIO*. This link will take you to a page about the CIO and what it is doing.

The Pilton Story LogoThe CIO also hopes to have access to monies from other grantmaking bodies and companies to expand achievement of the community aims. Pilton individuals and community groups are invited to put in requests for funding for small projects which will meet the above charitable aims.  The application form for an award, which sets out the terms and conditions to be met, is available on the CIO section of the Pilton Green Man website www.piltonfestival.co.uk

The eight trustees of the CIO (as at July 2024) are Marc Brayley (Treasurer), Susan O'Grady, Paul Willcox, Esther Davies, Vernon Clarke (Chair), Bryn Rees, Wendy Robinson and Martin Haddrill.
* CIO stands for Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

 

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