TAVISTOCK Town Crier David Turner and his consort Rosemary journeyed to Bermuda last week to represent the town in an international competition.

The Bermuda International Town Crier Competition 2015 began on April 22 and saw 25 town criers from the UK and Canada descend upon the island to compete for the championship title.

And although he did not make the top three, David said it was an 'amazing experience' to be part of the competition and represent the town.

David and Rosemary landed in the hot and humid island for the three day competition — and from the outset they knew the standards were going to be extremely high, as competitors included the world champion from Canada and the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers' champion.

The first cry of the event took place and was dedicated to St George's, the original capital of Bermuda in the 1600s, before it moved to Hamilton in 1815.

The second event was a 'free cry' for the town criers, where they were able to choose a cry of their choice — and David chose to base his cry on Dartmoor.

The third day was at Hamilton and marked the 200th anniversary of when it became the capital. Each crier had to compose their own cry based on the commemoration of Hamilton.

The judging criteria included appearance (uniform), bearing and confidence, clarity, content, dictation, inflection and sustained volume. Between competitions there were a host of other activities lined-up which gave all visitors a true taste of the Bermudan way of life.

David spent many years as a teacher of languages at Tavistock College and a pastoral head before swapping his softly spoken words for town crying.

David said: 'It was a very enjoyable occasion but unfortunately I didn't come in the first three.

'It is a fantastic place and the people of Bermuda are so friendly. We even met up with a former student of ours, Marcus Cooper, who is co-manager of the dive shop in the hotel.

'We would like to thank all the people who support us in our endeavour, including Tavistock Town Council, the Lions of Tavistock and Mrs K Burgess-Allen who helped and assisted us and to all the people who wished us good luck.'

The couple capped off their time in Bermuda with a tour of Hamilton and a Gala Awards' Ceremony meal and presentation of the top three winners.

The overall winner of the competition was Mark Wylie from Wiltshire, who had won all three cries over the event.

Second and third place went to two criers from Canada, one of whom was the former world champion.

The full list of results was expected as the Times went to press.