Why Hereford's town crier Terrence Mullett lost his job

Terrence Mullett, 70, of Leintwardine successfully interviewed for the voluntary position at the start of this year.

Once in the post, “I had more than 20 invitations to attend events in other parts of the country,” including town crier competitions, the former serviceman and builder explained.

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“I took pride in the role, I thought that would be good for the city and its economy. We need to bring people into Hereford.”

But his requests to attend these on the city’s behalf, and also to mark special occasions such as the anniversary of the King’s coronation and the 80th anniversary of D-day, were rebuffed, he claimed.

Last month he complained to the city council over what he said was its “lack of cooperation and communication”, which “has impeded my efforts to serve and promote our city effectively”.

Then at the start of this month, he was told his “expectations for this voluntary role do not a line [sic] with that of Hereford City Council”, which was releasing him from the position “with immediate effect”.

Former town crier of Hereford Terrence Mullett outside Hereford Town Hall (Image: ROB DAVIES)

A city council spokesperson said: “The town crier is a minor ceremonial position featuring at only a handful of events each year. Often this position will go unfilled.

“While we support any efforts to promote tourism in Hereford, the town crier doesn’t typically fill that role. Unfortunately, we couldn’t justify the requested costs for Terry’s promotional ideas, and his vision about what role the town crier should play didn’t align with the tradition.”

The city council has lately been moving away from its more archaic customs.

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In March, councillors unanimously agreed to drop the tradition of having the city mayor attend council meetings in ceremonial clothing and chain of office, apart from the annual “mayor making” in May.

They also voted to drop the mayor’s officer “processing in the state sword” and the holding of prayers at the start of meetings.

“The pomp and ceremony were intended in the past to impress spectators, but there usually aren’t any,” the minutes of the meeting record.