HATHERLEIGH and Okehampton?s town crier has won third prize in the prestigious annual championships of the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers. Ross Chard beat criers from around the country and across the globe, and was the highest scoring female crier of the year at the biannual contest held in Llandovery in Carmarthenshire. She has been Hatherleigh?s town crier since 2000, and in March this year was asked to also take on the mantle of Okehampton. Her first public engagement for the town was at the Simmons Park anniversary on July 7 and 8. ?On the Saturday I cried around the town and handed out leaflets, and on the Sunday I led the procession from the town hall to the park, introduced the mayor and dignitaries, and looked after the special guests from Friary Park in London, doing everything from fetching umbrellas to finding a free chair,? she said. Meeting lots of new people is the part of the job that Ros loves best: ?It?s also a wonderful way of being able to promote your home town,? she said. ?I like to think of myself as going out and spreading the word.? Typically, at competitions, town criers are asked to cry about their home towns ? so with both Hatherleigh and Okehampton to cover, Ross now has plenty to shout about. They also get to call on a subject of their choice ? for the championships, Ross also chose a subject close to home, the beating of the bounds that goes on in her home parish. ?I tried to make it a humorous account,? she said. Competitions mean a long day, she said: ?From when you get up at 7am you?re wearing your regalia and on parade until about 8pm, speaking to the public and meeting dignitaries ? there?s a lot more to it than the formal competition itself.? The criers are judged on their volume, clarity, diction and inflection. ?I was over the moon to win! The marks were so close.? Ross does not do any kind of formal voice training, but puts her outstanding volume down to having worked with horses for many years. ?On pony club camps, you often need to be able to yell into the far distance if a pony is misbehaving.? Ross has such good volume that in 2005 she won the prize for loudest female town crier at the town criers? world championships in Australia. She is often accompanied by a backing voice, though, in the furry person of Milly the Magnificent, her Jack Russell. Ros said: ?Milly always joins in with the oyez, and when people clap she wags her tail and wuffs ? she?s really got the hang of it. The special guests from Friary Park were very impressed.? Ross and Milly?s next appearance locally is likely to be at Okehampton?s carnival ? though they are also available to cry at weddings, birthdays, and for charity events. Contact details can always be found in Hatherleigh?s ?parish pump? magazine.
