Civic milestone for ex-Mayor
John Richmond and Ripons market bell. (S)
A FREEMAN and former Mayor of Ripon made it a ‘full house’ when he carried out one of Ripon’s traditional civic jobs.
John Richmond rang the 11am market bell – a ceremony carried out every Thursday at the weekly event and the last of the historic roles in the city he had yet to perform.
“I was very pleased to ring the bell and do all the civic jobs because these are traditions that we have managed to keep going all this time in Ripon,” he said.
Mr Richmond served as Mayor in 1975-76 and was made Freeman of the City in 2004.
He also acted as Serjeant-at-Mace in the 1970s, and has stood in as Stave Bearer on several occasions.
He debuted as Hornblower at Christmas 1975 when the then-Hornblower, a student at Ripon’s St John College, went home for Christmas leaving the city without anyone to perform the role.
“The old horn was very hard to blow, but I took it down into the cellars of the town hall and after a few goes got a note,” said Mr Richmond.
“I turned out for the first time a few days before Christmas, and I’ve blown the horn on several occasions since.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Ripon
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 7 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 1 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
dog cap
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 12:22 PMSomeone should tell him that the bell is in his left hand and so it is a waste of time shaking his right. mmmm
Page 1 of 1
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.