OYEZ, Oyez, Oyez! Calne Town Crier, Mark Wylie is celebrating this week following a win at a Town Crier competition.
The win came at the Sir Francis Drake Armada Cup - the signature event in the Town Crier Competition calendar - staged over three days in Devon. Day one was held in Plymouth for the first time, with day two being held in Kingsbridge and day three in Dartmouth.
Plymouth had appointed their first town crier and deputy town crier in 2019 ahead of their planned Mayflower 400 celebrations, due to take place the following year, but the event was postponed due to the pandemic.
Fast forward two years, and Plymouth kindly agreed to host the first leg of the competition this year. Mark told us: "It was, I understand, the first time they had held a town crier competition, but you would never have guessed. John Pitt, the Plymouth Town Crier, hosted the day with charm, charisma and such skill that you would have thought he had been doing it for years.
"He was very ably assisted by David Green, the deputy Town Crier, who also performed the benchmark cry. This is the cry the host usually performs first, before the competitors do their thing, to give the judges some idea what to expect."
"The venue for the day was superb, being the courtyard outside The Box, Plymouth’s new museum, gallery and archive. The other side of the square from The Box itself, there is a disused church, which rather unusually has a pulpit outside the door. I understand this was built during the war, when Plymouth was so heavily bombed, to allow people to gather in numbers on a Sunday. It made the perfect stage for the competition. I was humbled and delighted to win the day, and carried home the inaugural winners trophy, truly a landmark in my competition career."
Day two of the event was held in Kingsbridge with hosts Roger and Sally Pinder. "Roger has been the Kingsbridge town crier ever since I started competing, which is over ten years ago now. He is a great advertisement for the best qualities of a town crier, a true ambassador for his town and a thoroughly decent person. I am honoured to number him and Sally among my friends.
"Sadly, I didn’t trouble the scorers in Kingsbridge, perhaps having given my all the day before, so I didn’t fancy my chances going in to day three in Dartmouth."
Dartmouth hosts Les and Liz Ellis had organised a fabulous final day on Sunday with a huge crowd in attendance.
Mark said: "They say town crying competitions are a lot like Miss World. By that, they mean you never win by being the first one out. I will be the first to admit there is no other similarity! While I wasn’t first, I was drawn number two at Dartmouth and I resigned myself to having to wait for another year to win the Armada Cup. Amazingly, once the winner and runners up had been announced, they said that there was a draw for the Cup itself. To settle it, there would be a Cry Off!
"I was stunned to hear that I was one of the two criers in the Cry off, the other being Ed Christopher from Hamilton, Bermuda. Ed is an outstanding crier and one of the reasons I attend the Armada Cup competition each year, as he makes a point of travelling from his home to the competition each year. Again, I am delighted and honoured to consider him a friend. He had placed third at Plymouth, and first at Kingsbridge. While neither of us placed at Dartmouth, possibly due to a few too many Dark ’n’ Stormies the night before, I honestly thought I was nowhere near him in the scores. So to discover we were tied after the three days was a shock.
"I went first, and delivered a passing attempt at a second cry for the day, and fourth of the weekend. My throat was in tatters, but I gave it all I had left. Ed was up next, and delighted the crowd with a hilarious cry about the absurdity of the English language. I thought he had it in the bag. When the result of the Cry Off was announced, and I learned I had won the Armada Cup, I just couldn’t believe it.
"As well as the honour of looking after the Cup itself for a year, and having my name engraved on it for posterity, I came away with a large quantity of Plymouth Gin - thank you to them for sponsoring the Plymouth leg as well as beer and mementoes from each venue."
Mark became Calne's Town Crier in January 2008, when his predecessor, John Bridges, sadly passed away. John had been taken ill several months before and Calne Town Council held a competition to find a deputy to stand in for him while he focussed on his health.
It was purely by chance that Mark entered the competition on the day, he said: "I was in town and saw the stage set up in the High Street. I thought it would be fun to have a go, so I did. I was amazed when they asked me to become deputy, and honoured when they asked me to stay on and become the Town Crier after John’s death."
In 2010, Calne held it's first town crier competition with Mark to act as host - "I was scared to death. I need not have worried however, as I discovered that town criers and their consorts are among the loveliest people you could hope to meet. I have made many lifelong friends since joining the competition circuit and I consider the international town crier community to be my second family."
Mark enters six or seven competitions a year which are hosted all around the country, there is even talk of a competition in Bermuda next April - we look forward to tracking his continued success!
Want to know what’s on in Calne? Visit our local events page for listings and to find out how to add your own events for free.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news.
Have you got a story for us? Email
