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First chance to see Plymouth's Mayflower 400 Town Criers in their full regalia

Nov 27, 2019

People in Plymouth got to see their Mayflower 400 Town Crier, John Pitt, and his deputy, David Green, in their magnificent new regalia for the first time on Thursday 28 November 2019.

The town criers' first official Mayflower 400 appearance was at the opening of Illuminate at Royal William Yard, although you may have seen them earlier in the day at the unveiling of the Lady Astor Statue on Plymouth Hoe and at the '100 Years of Plymouth Powerful Women' exhibition at Plymouth Guildhall.

Illuminate 2019 marked the beginning of the Mayflower 400 year in Plymouth to commemorate the anniversary of the Mayflower voyage, and the event also coincided with Thanksgiving.

The town criers were chosen at a very exciting competition held in the Guildhall earlier in the year. John and David have subsequently become Members of The Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers.

The whole initiative was a community project based on a small fund from Mayflower 400 Community Sparks and organised by a volunteer team of Hoe residents, notably Penny Tarrant, Debbie Jones and Sue Dunn.

When designing the regalia to be worn by our town criers, the Mayflower 400 Town Crier team decided to include marine and maritime themes to reflect the long history of seafaring from Plymouth's natural harbour, the city's role as a sustainable fishing port and home to the National Marine Aquarium and the recent declaration of the UK's first National Marine Park in Plymouth Sound.

The regalia features nautical knots and sustainable fish, and has been designed, created and donated by Run with Scissors (aka Debbie Jones), using fish motifs from original artwork by artist, Debby Mason.