AROUND 40 town criers from across the land descended on Powys at the weekend as modern-day Montgomery returned to mediaeval times – if only for a day.

The Ancient & Honourable Guild of Town Criers (AHGTC) Guild Championships was held on Saturday, September 14, with Montgomery awash with colour.

Around 40 criers, complete with bells and eye-catching attire, paraded the streets of the ancient town, with Warwickshire crier Paul Gough having plenty to smile about by the end of the day as he was crowned champion.

There were also three competitors from further afield – including Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The competition saw criers making two proclamations during the day; the first being their home cry, followed by a cry of 125 words related to a specific topic chosen by Sue Blower – who has been the town crier of Montgomery for the last 22 years.

Her choice for this was a piece written by Montgomery-born poet George Herbert – a descendant of Mr Herbert was actually one of the judges on the day.

Paul, who has been a town crier for around 37 years, won this prestigious competition before, in 1995, and described it as: "A joy to perform in front of a wonderful crowd in the beautiful town of Trefaldwyn (Welsh for Montgomery)."

Montgomery is home to a castle, but sadly no monarchs these days. But there was some Welsh political royalty in town for the criers to play up to.

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Wales’ first minister Eluned Morgan was among the adoring crowd, after Montgomery town crier Sue revealed she bumped into her a few months ago when she attended the official opening of a local affordable housing estate.

“I was there as town crier and she was surprised to see me; she asked me what I was doing there and I told her what I did,” said Sue.

“She was so excited. I told her about this event and she asked to come, and I told her she could be a judge.

“Then she became first minister so I wrote to her saying that she must be busy and won’t remember me. She said ‘Remember you, how could I forget you?’.

“Despite her new duties she came anyway and stayed for 3 hours. She had lunch, listened to some cries and mixed with the crowd. She said she had a wonderful time.”