BARNARD Castle town crier Ian Kirkbride cut a dashing figure when he visited pupils at a town primary school.
Mr Kirkbride donned a specially-commissioned costume which proved to be a hit with key stage one pupils at Montalbo Primary School.
The visit formed part of the pupils’ current theme about communication.
Teacher Jessica Blackburn said the children were learning about town criers, printing presses, newspapers, radio, television and the internet.
The children were fascinated to learn about the role of town crier and the origins of the phrase “posting a note” and why some newspapers have “post” in their name.
Mr Kirkbride also told them it was only the second time he had worn the new outfit, which had been commissioned by Barnard Castle Town Council and was produced by costume maker Lesley Cutter.
Ms Cutter is also head of wardrobe for drama group The Castle Players and produces costumes for their annual summer Shakespeare production.
The new town crier outfit was first seen in public during the town’s annual Meet parade last month
Mr Kirkbride said: “In terms of its quality it is top notch. I think it is fantastic.”
Previously, the town council had to hire a costume well in advance for the town crier to wear to events.
Later in the week pupils from the school met a reporter from the Teesdale Mercury to learn more about news and newspapers.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
