OYEZ, oyez, oyez! The search has started to find the next Wells Town Crier.
Wells City Council is advertising for a successor to Len Sweales, who is planning to retire from the role next May.
Len has become a familiar face, and voice, around Wells since becoming Town Crier in 2001, performing public proclamations at civic events, markets and special occasions, and representing Wells at many different functions.
Now he has decided that the time is right to pass on the traditional uniform, stave and bell to someone else.
“I’ve had a fantastic time. I don’t really want to give up but I feel I ought to now. It’s getting harder to get around and do as much as I used to,” he said.
“I am still very enthusiastic and will miss being one of Wells’ focal points, and being a small part of Wells Council, and its enthusiastic councillors and staff, without whose support the job would be much harder.
“Now in my 80th year I am finding it hard to maintain my own standards, and wish to leave being the person I am, and not the person I was.”
Len was appointed after the sudden death of Les Long in 2000, applying for the job shortly after moving to Wells from Camberley with his wife Rosemary, and seeing an advert in the local paper.
He was interviewed and auditioned by the councillors at the time, and given the position initially for a year on annual review, to be decided by the new mayor each year. One of the reasons he got the job, he says, was because of his previous career in the London Fire Brigade, which meant that he was used to wearing uniform.
Research has traced the town criers back to the 1400s – and revealed that two previous criers were sacked for being drunk on duty.
Far from being the longest-serving town crier, Len says that George Wilton, who died in 1949, was Wells Town Crier for nearly 60 years, following on from his father.
Highlights over the years have included meeting the Duke of Edinburgh, and the cast and crew of Hot Fuzz when they filmed in Wells, giving the formal proclamations for occasions such as VE Day commemorations and the Coronation, and winning town crier competitions.
His cries have included one for the launch of Wells Voice in 2017, and he has cried at least two proposals of marriage. One of them was at a Christmas Market in Wells, when a woman brought her boyfriend up to him, and Len dropped to one knee to propose on her behalf – and the boyfriend promptly ran off.
His advice for the next Town Crier is: “Don’t be me, be you,” adding: “There isn’t a set format, they’ve got to make it their own.”
Len will still be seen around Wells and intends to remain involved in the life of the community. He has been active with Wells Little Theatre for many years – including playing the part of the Dame in pantomime productions – and he usually plays golf at Wells Golf Club a couple of times a week.
The council’s job description says that they are seeking a “confident public speaker with strong vocal projection and clear diction”, someone with a passion for local history and heritage who is willing to appear in traditional costume and perform outdoors in all weathers, and who has a friendly, outgoing personality.
More details about the position, including how to apply, will be provided on the Wells City Council website and other platforms.
Town Clerk Haylee Wilkins said: “After 25 years of devoted service, we don’t just say goodbye to a crier, we salute a cornerstone of our civic family, a much loved friend and member of the Wells City Council family, who leaves very big shoes to fill. Whilst I can’t promise to match Len’s quick wit and rhyming prowess, I thought it only fitting to offer him a token of our appreciation and love, in traditional style:
“Raise high your voice, let all folk hear, a tale of service long and dear!
For five and twenty steadfast years, through sun and storm, through joy and tears,
One soul stood proud in civic grace, a shining light in Wells’ fair place.
With voice that rang from square to street, with boots well worn on duty’s beat, a herald true, both kind and wise, with loyal heart and watchful eyes.
Now comes the time to bid farewell, to one who served our City so well.
Though bells may rest and scroll be rolled, their legacy shall still be told.
Hard it will be to fill the boots they wore, a friend, a guide, and so much more! So raise a cheer both loud and clear, for Wells’ Town Crier we hold so dear!”