Former Coast Guard officer turns town crier

A 70 year-old retired Coast Guard officer is poised to roar where no man from Ireland has roared before when he competes in the World Town Crier Championships in Britain.

Cliff Winser, from Youghal, Co Cork, sets sail for the streets of Chester tomorrow, where he will face 24 rivals from England, Wales, Germany, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US, and the Channel Islands in a three-day contest starting on Wednesday.

As part of the competition, he will have to be well versed on ancient Chester laws which, over the years, have included regulations about “shooting a Scotsman with a bow and arrow if caught walking abroad after 9pm” or shooting a Welshman “on Sunday”.