Why this quiet Leeds market town has plenty to shout about
The quiet market setting of Otley had something to shout about as town criers from across the country tried to out voice one another.
Visitors watched the first annual Town Crier competition in the north Leeds town yesterday.
Otley Bellman Terry Ford is the national town crier champion, but yesterday Eliza Mowe, the town crier of Barnoldswick in Lancashire, took the new competition’s top spot.
Contestants came from across the UK, competing under Loyal Company of Town Criers rules. They were required to offer their “hometown cry”, followed by a “subject cry” on Otley-born furniture-maker Thomas Chippendale, after the 300th anniversary of the birth this year.