MAYORS ON PARADE
Mayoral procession and ancient hornblowing ceremony in Ripon... as other places embrace the stereotype
A parade of Lord Mayors, Mayors and other Civic Heads from across Yorkshire make their way through Ripon during the Yorkshire Day Celebrations yesterday. The mayor of Ripon has called on visitors to “enjoy everything Yorkshire has to offer”.
IT IS the smallest city in the county and the third smallest in England, but Ripon was punching above its weight yesterday as clinking mayoral chains from every part of Yorkshire were joined together, at least in spirit, for the annual grand procession.
A throng gathered outside the seventh-century cathedral to see the spectacle of mayors and lord mayors snaking through the streets – following which, a commemorative service was held there.
The tradition of a march through a town to mark Yorkshire Day is less steeped in history – dating back only to 1975 when the Yorkshire Ridings Society conceived the idea as a celebration of “everything Yorkshire”. The organisation had been convened the previous year formed a year earlier to protest against the reorganisation of England’s local government structure that had removed the county’s traditional borders. But what yesterday lacked in antiquity it made up for in symbolism. The mayor of Ripon, Pauline McHardy, urged visitors to “enjoy everything Yorkshire has to offer”, and said the day gave locals a perfect opportunity to “come together and celebrate where they come from”. The event that closed the city’s festivities had genuine historical provenance – its hornblowing ceremony has taken place every night since 886, with four blasts from the Market Place at 9pm to “set the watch”. Only two English cities are home to fewer than Ripon’s 16,000 inhabitants. Wells in Somerset has a population of 10,000 but smaller still is the historic square mile of the City of London, with only 9,000.
Other events across the county included the annual reading of the Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity at each of the four Bars of York – the gates into the old walled city. The declaration, in all the languages used in Yorkshire since its earliest known Anglo-Saxon reference, including Old English, Latin, Old Norse and modern English, is read facing into each of the three Ridings and into the city.
Some of the day’s other events played uncomfortably to the county stereotype. At Kirkgate Market in Leeds, organisers set a record for the most people wearing flat caps at a single event; the York Maze was the venue of a Yorkshire pudding tossing contest, and the Open Hat Throwing Championships were contested at Leeds Industrial Museum.
Otley’s 21 pubs were temporarily renamed in honour some of the county’s best known sons and daughters, with drinkers downing pints at The Dame Judi Dench and The Alan Bennett, among others.
Lotherton Hall, a country estate east of Leeds, was the setting for the revival of the Josh wedding tradition, which saw two miners dressed as a bride and groom taking part in a music hall-style marriage to raise money for injured colleagues.
The day coincided with the start of an attempt by fundraiser Ben Davis to run the perimeter of Yorkshire with the aim of raising £15,000 for a charity that attempts to prevent male suicide.
He set off from Scarborough on a 450m, 18-day journey that will take in the Cleveland Way, the Yorkshire Dales, the Humber Bridge and Spurn Point.
Mr Davis, 31, from Harrogate, said he had decided to take on the challenge after suffering a period of poor mental health.
He said: “I want to do my bit to acknowledge that blip in my life and let people know they are not alone.”
I want to do my bit to let people know that they are not alone. Runner Ben Davies on raising cash for a charity that helps prevent male suicide.