Lytham mum Kila Redfearn makes history as the town's first female town crier

You might think all a good town crier needs is a loud voice. Well that certainly helps. But other attributes include having a big personality, a caring heart, an engaging sense of fun, and a love of fancy dress.

So mum-of-four Kila Redfearn more than fits the bill.

The 53-year-old is delighted to be taking on the prestigious role as the first female Lytham Town Crier.

“I am totally blown away by this honour,” said Kila. “I think it’s important the town has its own crier as it matches the heritage and ceremony of Lytham.

“I always wanted to be a Town Crier, even as a little girl – I just loved the pomp and ceremony of the role.”

‘It embraces everything I love’

Kila is the head of charity for Blue Skies, the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS charity.

Prior to her role with the NHS charity, Kila worked for 31 years in events and finance at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

She added: “I have done a lot of charity work, including as a trustee at Park View 4U and formerly at Lowther Pavilion. This will be an extension of that, but with a lot more ceremony added to it.

“It embraces everything I love - dressing up, representing my community, meeting new people and being in the middle of everything. For me this role is perfect.”

The bubbly mum, who has four daughters and two grandchildren, has even bought her grandchildren town crier hats and bells so they can get in some practice for when they are older.

“I am very lucky to have the unwavering support of my four children, Jessica, Mily, Grace and Clara and of course my amazing husband, Andrew,” Kila added.

Kila will be officially appointed as the new Town Crier of Lytham on Sunday, March 12 at Lytham Hall, and one of her first official duties is likely to be the announcement of the King’s Coronation in May.

‘A passion for serving the community’

The role of Lytham Town Crier is voluntary and any money raised from undertaking private proclamations within the position will go back into Lytham Hall Charity which is the seat of the original Squire of Lytham.

Lord of the Manor, Hugo James Gordon Bryan, said: “Kila obviously has a passion for serving the community of Lytham and a keen interest in preserving its historic traditions and I very much look forward to her taking on the role of Town Crier.”

And Colin Ballard, who was Lytham and St Annes town crier for seven years before he moved abroad, offered his congratulations.

He said: “I will do my last ‘cry’ on Commonwealth Day to read a proclamation from King Charles in honour of His Mother.

"I shall present the uniform and bell to Lytham Hall and proudly hand over the ‘role’ to Kila Redfearn.

“I wish Kila every success in representing the Ancient Manor, Hugo, the Squire, in exciting the people of Lytham and visitors to enjoy, respect and revere the town.”

History of town criers

Historically town criers were the original newsmen of the day and their existence can be traced back to medieval times.

There are about 140 registered criers in England and Wales of which about 20 are female.

Today town criers mainly perform ceremonial duties and make proclamations such as when the Queen died and when royal babies have been born.

And under old law, it is still an act of treason to harm the town crier.