Town Crier brings news loud and clear

Visiting Town Crier Stephen Clarke in Bourke last week Photo: TWH

Bourke was visited last week by an Australian champion in a sport of a different kind.

Stephen Clarke is Australia’s greatest Town Crier; an age-old form of mass communication and one Stephen has turned into an art form.

He is the Town Crier for the Gosford City Council and was touring the Far West with The Outback Patrol – a Christian Outreach Service to the Outback.

“In the early days there was no television, radio, Facebook or Instagram so the only way people could get news was through the Town Crier,” Stephen explained. “Someone who would ring a bell down the main street and announce the news of the day in a loud voice.

“The first official Town Crier in Australia was a man called Steven Potter – a convicted highwayman — a robber who when released from gaol for his crimes, became Australia’s first Town Crier.

Read more in the printed edition of the Western Herald.