The event saw Town Criers from all over the UK competing to be crowned the National Champion and entrants were judged on 'volume, diction, clarity and inflection'.
The event was MC'd by Hastings' Town Crier Jon Bartholomew and as well as keeping the event rolling, he also let the audience know about the Hastings Beer and Battle Cider available from Hastings Brewery - which I have since found out is planning to launch a Gluten Free Beer soon!
During the event the MC also asked the crowd to shout out 'Yay' if they were from Hastings, and 'Nay' if they were from elsewhere. With my stentorian voice I gave an almighty "Nay" to which one of the Town Criers stood nearby commented "You should be a Town Crier with that voice"!
Link - The Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers
Excellent, have just learnt a new word.
ReplyDeleteSurprise me, which one was new to you?
ReplyDeleteStood
ReplyDeleteKnowing the word 'stood' will stand you in good stead.
ReplyDeleteThe overall winner this year was the reigning and defedning champion - Skipton, Yorkshire's Kevin Griffiths.
ReplyDeleteThe winner of the 'Best Dressed Town Crier' was Nailsworth, Gloucestershire's Anthony Evans.
I might enter the 2012 event!
ReplyDeletePhoto - Squire The Town Crier calling one, calling all to the 2011 £2 Tat Challenge in Hastings!
Video of the National Town Criers Championship 2011 from Hot Under The Collar.
ReplyDeleteYou can see me and Emily in the background drinking our Battle Cider at 1min 25secs in!
The 60th National Town Criers Championship will once again be taking place in Hastings, East Sussex and in 2012 will be held on Saturday 13th October between 11am and 5pm.
ReplyDeleteMore details can be found on the 1066 Country website here.
Watching BBC’s South today news programme earlier I saw that Oxford held a National Town Crier’s competition today as part of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations!
ReplyDeleteOxford Castle’s very first Town Criers Contest – The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Competition – saw Town Criers from all over the country compete in the 'National Town Criers Competition' which was organised by Anthony Church the Official Town Crier to the City of Oxford.
According to the news report the winner of the contest was the Town Crier of Lichfield.
Over on the excellent Abingdon Blog last month I noticed that my old home town of Abingdon-on-Thames has a few different Town Criers and its own Guild of Town Criers!
More information about Town Criers can be found at The Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers website.
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