Pictures

This photograph shows the May Queen, with an entourage of girls with flowers and a girl and a boy dressed as a bride and groom at a May Fayre held in the grounds of Pilton House on 13th May 1961. The Guest of Honour appears to have been Jeremy Thorpe, Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979. accompanied by his first wife Caroline (on his right) and Miss Phyllis Gammon (behind her). The other man, back left, is Dr Harper, a General Practitioner of Barnstaple.

We have discovered that Jean Macrea, nee Fussell, is the second right behind the Queen. These four tallest attendants were chosen from Trinity School in Barnstaple. The attendant behind the boy with the top hat is Christine Lake nee Yeo. Thanks to Jean for that information. She also tells us that the May Queen was always chosen from the nurses at the North Devon Infirmary.

Sandie Cundy (nee West) who was also Pilton May Queen, probably in 1962, tells us she was interviewed for it by the Headmistress of Barnstaple Girls Grammar School, Miss Barbara Tinker.

If anyone can give us more information - like who was May Queen - we would love to hear from you.

Thanks to Pilton House for this photograph from their archives.