Pilton Stores has closed its doors after more than 100 years as a grocery shop and delicatessen. Latest owners Heather (in the centre of the picture with flowers) and Geoff Dwyer (unfortunately away on the day) retired on Saturday 12 January 2013 after running the shop since 1989.  A large group of Pilton residents gathered just before the final close to say ‘farewell’ and present Heather with flowers and a gift.  The closure brings to an end an important era for the community of Pilton.  The village stores, which has been one of the focal points of the community, will be sorely missed.

Poster for 2012 Winter Concert

The original 1982 Pilton Festival included two concerts in Pilton Church.  Since then there have been many concerts in the Church.  In 2008, as part of the efforts to raise money for the critical Repair of the South Porch, Carol Haddrill organised a concert with music played by Young Musicians interspersed with readings by people from the Pilton community.  The story of this concert is included in the archive as the Summer Concert 2008.  The Summer Concerts were repeated in 2009, 2010 and 2011 at the end of the Pilton Festival weekend.  The music came from some of the most talented young musicians of North Devon who welcomed the opportunity to play in front of a real audience.  The readings always followed a particular theme – like ‘Summer’, ‘Man on Earth’ and  ‘Man and the Animal World’.  In 2012 it was decided to organise a Concert in December, again in Pilton Church, with the theme of Winter.