Town Crier Martin Hallett

23rd & 24th August 2009 - "I Wish I Was in Carrickfergus"..... and I was!

A great weekend over in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, at the invitation of the Borough Council, to help them celebrate Irish Walled Towns Day. Accompanied by Jan and Sid the dog, we made the journey by sea and road via Dublin in the motorhome to make the most of the weekend. Carrickfergus is a very historic town on the shores of Belfast Lough, with an excellent Castle, town walls dating back to 1608, great marina... and a very, very friendly welcome. Irish Walled Towns Day is a celebration of all the walled towns in Ireland, some dozen or so of them, including in Northern Ireland, Carrickfergus and Derry. There appears to be very little, if any, Town Crier activity in Northern Ireland, and only very scant historical references, so our visit there was quite a novelty. Saturday morning I visited the studios of BBC Radio Ulster in Belfast for an appearance on the "Your Place and Mine" magazine programme, which went very well. Later in the morning Jan and I were very honoured to have tea with the Mayor and her consort in the Mayors Parlour, where we presented greetings messages from the Mayors of Caernarfon and Beaumaris, fellow members of the Walled Towns Friendship Circle, and received gifts from the Mayor of Carrickergus to take back to her counterparts. We would like to put on record our grateful thanks to the Mayor for her hospitality.

On the Sunday, despite poor weather initially, the celebrations took place in better weather in the afternoon, with re-enactors, crafts workers, musicians, a jester, and a town crier, with escort and dog. Yes, Sid made his crying debut, looking resplendent in a lovely crimson and gold jacket made by Jan - see the picture in the Gallery! Apart from meeting visitors to the event, we went into the town to publicise it by crying in the High Street, the Marina and the Castle (Brilliant acoustics!!). A very enjoyable day, and organisers were very happy - many thanks Linda! If youever get the chance to go to Carrickfergus, please pay it a visit. It is a lovely, friendly place, and there's some great coastal scenery to explore. Hopefully we will be able to go back before too long.

1st August 2009 - Back on the Streets

After all the excitement of the competition win it was back on the streets of Porthmadog doing publicity for the Welsh Higland Heritage Railway. The town was quite busy, though not packed, but quite a few people offered me their congratulations, which was nice.

30th July 2009 - Important Disclaimer!!!!

Martins success in the Biddulph Town Crying Competition at the weekend has aroused considerable interest in the Media in North-West Wales and beyond, as in all likelihood this is the first time that anything like this has happened in this area. However some of the media reports have become a little too enthusiastic and hailed Martin as the best Town Crier in the the UK, and the "British Champion". Whilst all Town Criers are very grateful for valuable publicity, Martin would just like to set the record straight, for the sake of accuracy, and to minimise potential discontent amongst fellow criers. The competition in Biddulph was a national competition for members of the Loyal Company of Town Criers, in which there was a very strong field of experienced and successful criers, but it was not the official British Championships of the LCTC. These are being held in the lovely town of Barnoldswick on the Yorkshire/Lancashire border on the 8th & 9th August. The current LCTC British Champion, (for another week, anyway!) is the excellent David Mitchell of Chester. The Ancient and Honorable Guild of Town Criers also hold a British Championship, which this year is in Wooton Basset. Martin is not able to compete in either event.

Whilst Martin may be considered successful and talented, a good crier, some may say a very good crier, reports of "Best in the UK" or "British Champion" are, at best, considerably premature, and most definitley questionable or inaccurate! Martin has never (and probably never will be in a position to) claim these accolades. Martin just wants to clarify these points, and apologise for any misunderstandings that may have arisen from these well-meaning, but over-enthusiastic reports. 

25th July 2009 - Biddulph Town Crying Competition

A great day out for Martin & Jan in Biddulph, Staffordshire, for a Town Crying competition organised by host crier John Robinson on behalf of the Loyal Company of Town Criers, with the help and support of the good people and businesses in the town. For one weekend of the year, Biddulph, in reality many miles from the coast, adopts the persona of "Biddulph-By-The-Sea", with sandcastle competitions, donkey rides, childrens funfair and more... including a Town Crying Competiton. Seventeen Town Criers from all over Britain gathered in friendly rivalry to perform two cries each, one on "What's Great about Britain", the other on "The Traditional British Seaside - Why we Love It!" As with all LCTC competitions, the self-penned cries have to be between 75 ansd 125 words, and the cries are judged on their ability to sustain volume and engage the audience, their diction, clarity, inflection, confidence and bearing. Awards are also given for the content of the cries and the best dressed criers and escorts. In reality though, the competition results are of secondary importance to meeting up with fellow criers and friends, being ambassadors for our home towns, and supporting the hosts who work so hard to put these events on. (Each crier also did a cry promoting the various businesses that had supported and sponsored the event)

It was Martin & Jan's first competition for five years, so their routine was a bit rusty, and Martin had been suffering from a swollen throat for the week before the competition, but they gave it their best efforts! The sun shone down on us all day fortunately, we had a lovely lunch at the award-winning Monument Restaurant (thanks to Carl & team), and it was great to see many friends that we had not seen for years, especially as the organiser had kept our re-appearance on the competition circuit a secret from the other competitors!

And the result....??? Well the top three criers were separated by less than 1 point, in a very close decision, but unbelievably Martin came out on top haead of his friends Terry from Gainsborough and Peter from Stafford! Martin, visibly shocked, collected a fine glass trophy from the Mayor of Biddulph, and then promptly managed to break it off from it's base (easily fixed however!). Full credit to Biddulph for hosting an excellent competiton!!!! 

26th May 2009 - Martin joins The Loyal Company of Town Criers

Martin has been granted membership of the Loyal Company of Town Criers, a organisation dedicated to promoting the interests of Town Criers throughout the UK and beyond. All members of the LCTC have to be officially appointed bona-fide Town Criers and abide by a code of conduct to ensure high standards of integrity are maintained by it's members. Members of the LCTC also organise competitions throughout the UK where Criers can meet in friendly combat!

April 2009 - Martin Appointed Official Town Crier to the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway