Alan Myatt (born 1957) is an English

town crier A town crier, also called a bellman, is an officer of a royal court or public authority who makes public pronouncements as required. Duties and functions The town crier was used to make public announcements in the streets. Criers often dre ...

. He has set two Guinness World Records: the loudest crier, recording a cry of 112.8 decibels, and the

Guinness world record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for vocal endurance, issuing a one-hundred word proclamation every 15 minutes for a period of 48 hours.

Early life

A native of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

, Myatt was born in the former Gloucester Royal Infirmary in Southgate Street in 1957 and grew up on Park End Road in the city. He attended a special boarding school in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

owing to concerns over his eyesight. On leaving school he worked in various trades before becoming a labourer on a building site. In the evenings he was a member of the amateur company the Gloucester Operatic and Drama Society with whom he performed during the mid-1980s. In 1989 he took part in a competition to find a town crier for Gloucester - and won.

Career

He is a crier to commerce, industry and heritage, and can be seen at exhibitions, promotions and trade fairs across Europe. He is also a

toastmaster Toastmaster is a general term, prevalent in the United States in the mid-20th century, referring to a person in charge of the proceedings of a public speaking event. The toastmaster is typically charged with organization of the event, arrangi ...

, master of ceremonies and themed character actor. He is the official town crier for the

City of Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

, for

Letchworth Garden City Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first Garden city movement, garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 United Kin ...

and

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, for London's

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

and also for various venues in the capital including the Stables Market in

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

. In July 2015 he crossed the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

to France in an attempt to be the first British town crier since 1066 to make an announcement on the French side of the water. Myatt is a member of the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers.Myatt on the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers website
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References

External links

Alan Myatt - Official WebsiteMyatt's Profile
on

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...

Alan Myatt on the Charm Music Entertainment website
Town criers Living people 1957 births People from Gloucester {{England-bio-stub