Posted 17 06 2010 in:

Tuesday saw the first round of the Town Criers World Tournament 2010. Hosted by ourselves, The Coach House was awash with bright costumes and bellowing voices. One crier even took it upon himself to make sure all food orders got to the right tables by calling out the meals being carried out of the kitchen!

It was a beautiful day and the handsome shire horses from Thwaites brewery that stood outside the hotel for a couple of hours in the sunshine caused a lot of interest. They were sent by Thwaites to commemorate the special Town Criers Ale that we are serving on tap throughout the festival.

The theme of round one of the competition was centred around our hotel so each participant had to make reference to coaches, coaching or horses. An example of one of these references was by Daniel Richer dit la Flêche the Town Crier for Ottawa and Gatineau in Canada. I didn’t catch everything he was saying but one particular phrase stuck out whilst talking about leaving your horses behind and walking on foot. “It’s a long way back to the Coach House” he said “even if the Beer and Vittels are darn tootin’ good”.

Of course in today’s times of modern transport there’s no excuse not to try them for yourselves!