Town Crier appointed Rooftop mower

 TOWN CRIER APPOINTED ROOFTOP MOWER

Chester’s Town Crier, David Mitchell, has been appointed as the official mower of the grass roof on Chester’s new bus exchange.

 Anyone who has visited Chester recently will have noticed that the £13.5m bus interchange at Gorse Stacks, now nearing completion, features an eco-friendly sloping grass roof. Like all grass, it will need to be mown, and the Town Crier has spent several weeks being trained to use a scythe. He has also been instructed in the use of safety harnesses when working at heights.

A spokesperson said :  ‘We are delighted that David has accepted this position. Anyone mowing the roof on the bus interchange will be seen from a distance, so who better than our smartly-dressed town crier to give visitors a colourful first impression. Furthermore, his use of traditional hand tools is entirely in keeping with his historic role. It is the perfect solution for this historic city to have the town crier keeping the roof neatly trimmed.’

David Mitchell adds that this is not the first occasion that he has operated from high places as a town crier. ‘The first time was when I jumped off St Peter’s Church tower on a zip wire for a charity fundraiser. And when the Moscow State Circus came to the Roodee, a few years ago, I was invited to walk the high wire as a publicity stunt as soon as the big top was erected. That was a scary experience, I can tell you!’

David’s new appointment will be much less of a daredevil adventure as he will be securely harnessed at all times. Now that all appropriate Health and Safety measures are in place, David is expected to make his first appearance on the bus exchange roof on Saturday 1st April at 11am, weather permitting.