Twenty-one colourful contestants bellowed out their speeches at Calne’s fourth town crier’s competition on Sunday attracting several curious spectators.

The contestants, undeterred by a wet start to the day, rang their bells and doffed their hats to members of the public and robed town councillors by the riverside at Beach Terrace.

In the morning they cried a home cry, on a subject of their choice, and in the afternoon they spoke about bacon - a topic inspired by the competition’s location on the site of the former Harris Bacon Factory.

Several speeches included references to the famous philosopher and scientist Francis Bacon, while others spoke about the sound of bacon sizzling and the smell of bacon sandwiches.

John Sellwood, of North Street, Calne, said: “It’s nice for Calne to have something like this and on the site of the old Harris Factory as well.

“One of our neighbours worked at the Harris Factory. He said they used to kill as many as 1,400 pigs a day. I said to one of the town criers what’s the collective for a town crier and they said it’s a bellow.”

The contest coincided with a competition in Frome the day before and a joint cup, for the overall winner throughout the weekend, was awarded to Ken Knowles, of Litchfield, Hampshire.

He also won first place for the competition in Calne, while Jon Borthwick, of Peacehaven, Brighton, won second and Ken Brightwell for Cheltenham came third.

The best dressed crier was Chris Smirthwaite, of Liskeard, Cornwall, and Jenny Evans, of Nailsea and Minchinhampton was chosen as the best dressed escort. She also won best dressed couple with her husband Tony Evans.

Jon Borthwick, who entered the Calne competition for the first time this year, said: “The whole reason we do this cry is to tell them about our towns and tell them how great we are.

“We traditionally cry in all weather. We are here to give the news and we do that no matter what the weather.”

Calne’s own town crier Mark Wylie, who won the national town criers’ championship in Hastings last year, hosted the event but, under the rules, was not allowed to compete in his home town.

At the end of the competition his nine-year-old son Harrison took over with a cry of his own thanking all the contestants for coming.

Mr Wylie said: “I knew he was going to do it but the whole thing was his idea. He came to me and said I think I can do it and I thought ‘why not?’ I think he’s been practicing.

“We were really worried when the rain came this morning that it was going to wreck the day, but we had prepared for the worst and so it all really came together very well. It just keeps getting better.”

Ken Knowles, who also came second in a competition in Arundel last week, said: “We’ve had a lovely day in Calne. The hospitality by the town council has been more than we could have expected. The host crier Mark Wylie has looked after us and I bow to the superiority of his son who should have been the outright winner anyway.”