We were especially thrilled to meet Brian himself at our Exhibition. He told us the battle took place in about 1946, when he was a boy.
Here is the tale of Mannings Pit
One of blood and guts and gritWhen, some years ago one August night
Two Pilton boys put up a fight.
Read more:
Link to
video of John Norman reading his cousin's poem, on
the Pilton Story website
Dan Reynolds, former resident of Pilton
Pilton Resident, and her children Megan and Ollie
A rainbow over Manning's Pit - photo taken by Bev Snowden on a recent morning walk
Bev and her children write how they feel about Manning's Pit
"I would like to save Manning's Pit because it is exceptionally beautiful and special. We don't have any other green spaces that we can access easily in Pilton. People come from all over to enjoy it's peace and tranquility. Each time I walk there I see at least three or four other people. That's hundred of people a month who take pleasure in walking around and enjoying its fields, streams, trees and birds. Psychosocially this is so important to the people of Barnstaple and North Devon."
'Because Mannings Pit is a beautiful
place where we can be free and have fun.'
Megan Snowden age 12
'I would like a path straight from my house to
Manning's Pit with no cars because we love it so much
and we can go swimming in the river.'
Oli Snowden age 8
Pilton Resident and son of environmental Scientist James Lovelcok
John lives close to Manning's Pit and is a member of Abbey Gateway Club which meetings on Fridays at Pilton Community College
Pilton Resident and John's sister
"A town is more than houses and infrastructure, it needs green spaces where people can walk and refresh their spirits. We need housing, but the most beautiful parts of our countryside and towns need to be protected, too. This is the most accessible countryside to the North and West of Barnstaple, the one place where you can walk away from traffic noise and enjoy peace and tranquility. These fields are part of our heritage, as important to us as Hampstead Heath and Primrose Hill are to Londoners. If the government relaxed planning laws in London so that those places could be built upon, what an outcry there would be!"
Read more
What will we get if its sacrificed?,
Save Mannings Pit,dont develop it,
What is it worth if we pay the price?
A walkers right, a paradise,
Where will we go if its sacrificed?
A walkers right, a paradise,
Where will we go if its sacrificed?"
"We don't need more homes in Pilton,
We don't need no more of those,
No dug up countryside, we ask you,
Builders leave them fields alone, Hey builders,leave them
fields alone.
All in all don't just brick up it all,
All in all don't just brick up it all."
Zsuzsa Reynolds, Pilton resident
