Hebden Bridge News

Who’ll Be The Champion Hebden Howler?

Town criers from around the UK will be howling around Hebden Bridge at the end of the month, testing local beers and competing for a championship title. Part of 500th anniversary of the packhorse crossing that put the ‘bridge’ in Hebden Bridge, the event will recreate a little-known bit of history in the shape of ‘ale proclamations’.

Before the time of food standards agencies, it was the job of the town crier to down a flagon of ale in each tavern to ensure it was “of fine taste and not injurious to health”. They would nail a proclamation to the hitching post outside the hostelry, and some historians believe that this post, with it’s ‘good beer’ proclamation, was the origin of the pub sign. We still use the expression when we ‘post’ a message on the internet today.

Ten criers will arrive in town in full regalia on Friday, August 27th for a fish and chip supper with the mayor. They will then tour Moyles, The White Swan, The Hole in t’ Wall, The Shoulder of Mutton and The White Lion to make the proclamations.

The next day – none the worse for their beer-testing – the ten will compete for the title of Hebden Howler 2010, judged on costume, volume and clarity, diction and inflection, and engaging the audience.

The two-part competition will kick off with advertising cries for local businesses and then be followed by imaginative ‘about a bridge’ cries. At the end of the afternoon, the mayor, Robin Dixon, will crown the winner.

The advertising cries, sponsored by Watergate Tearooms, Ribbon Circus, The Shoulder of Mutton, The Hole in t’ Wall, Hedgehogs, Holts greengrocers, AJ’s fish and chip restaurant, Lamberts printers, Helen Granton Lingerie and The White Swan will be made first from the bridge and then outside each business.

Postcards are available in local shops with information about the event and include a scorecard on the back for everyone to take part in the judging. There will be a box at the end of the bridge on August 28 for people to post their completed judging cards and cast their vote in the People’s Choice Award.

Town criers will be coming from the North East, Oxfordshire, the Midlands, Merseyside and from closer to home to take part in the event, and the compere will be Halifax’s own trophy-winning town crier and bellman, Les Cutts.

“The town crier competition celebrates the history and vitality of the area and is a great way of letting people who haven’t been here before know that we’re a great place to visit, with a fantastic range of independent shops and wonderful places to eat and drink,” said Amy Leader from the Hebden Bridge Business Association and Ribbon Circus.

Full details of all HB500 events are at www.hebden500.co.uk.