Today is the 60th National Championship for ... who'd have guessed? ... Town Criers! As it's in Hastings we went along.
We learned a little about the history. In the Middle Ages, town criers were the main means of news communication, and were protected by law. Obvivously sometimes the news they proclaimed wasn't welcome - more taxes perhaps - so assaulting a town crier was considered treason!
The bell and the starting cry of "Oyez oyez oyez" was of course to attract attention, and Oyez means "listen".
We're off to see who won later - but you can hear a sample from a previous year thanks to youtube:
