TA1VISTOCK's town crier last weekend clinched a brace of coveted titles at an international event held in the South Hams.
Bob Rose competed against town criers from all over the world to take second place in the best dressed category of the Commonwealth Town Criers' Championships at Kingsbridge on Saturday
And, most important to Bob, he beat off stiff competition to take home the coveted Sam Joe Lake Memorial Cup — named after a Devon family which has had town criers for around 300 years.
'It means I'm now champion of Devon for town crying. It's the title we all fight for every year — I never dreamt I would get it, so it's like Christmas all over again,' said Bob, who was also only two-and-a-half points away from winning the Admiral's Cup in the competition.
'I'm absolutely over the moon — I've never won anything like this before,' he said.
More than 50 town criers and their escorts entered the event, which moved to Dartmouth for the presentation of the awards.
Also entered was E Michael Jones, the town crier from Bermuda who took the European title when the event was held in Tavistock two years ago.