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A world of 30 years ago was re-visited in Pilton, Barnstaple, with the showing of a film of the first Pilton Festival in Pilton Church Hall on Friday 27th January. The right to hold a street market in Pilton dates back over 600 years. It was revived as a month long festival in June and July 1982 by Rev. Anthony Geering, the then Rector of St Mary's Church. Some things have remained much the same - the Flower Festival and Summer Concert in the Church, a Market in Pilton Street, Street Performers, a costumed Parade and a Pageant - and have simply evolved with the years. One year in the 1980s there was a Maypole in the Street. The Pageant was also held there to begin with, but has now moved to the more spacious lawn of Pilton House. A 1982 Exhibition in the Bluecoat School 'Pilton Past and Present' was matched by a similar one in the church in 2008.

Unpublished article submitted to North Devon Journal in January 2012

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