Pilton lost another big contributor to the life of the Pilton community with the death of Carol Haddrill in April 2019 at the age of only 72. A northern lass, born in Cheshire, she came to Devon by way of Newcastle, Milan, Monza and High Wycombe so was by no means a local. However, in the 18 years since she came to live Pilton with her husband Martin, Carol was active in both St Mary’s Church and in the wider Pilton community as well as being involved in Pilton Festival, as it was known back then. Among many other activities over the years, she helped re-start the Friends of Pilton Church, organising wonderful summer and winter concerts in St Mary’s Church to raise money for its maintenance.
She was also the instigator of The Big Pilton Quiz which reached its ninth year in 2019. In the last eight years she organised the Decorate your Door, Scarecrows, Pirates, Shepherds and Wellies displays around the village in July each year. More recently she ran one half of the ticket office for the revived Pilton Panto and the annual walking Treasure Hunt and Tea, a quiet Sunday afternoon antidote to the previous noisy Green Man Day. Until 2017 she could be seen around the village with their two dogs, Tinker and Petra, who are in this charming photograph. She will be much missed.
This obituary was transferred from the old www.piltonfestival.co.uk website in March 2026.