The Speaker this month is Johnathon Jones talking about being a Town Crier. Tea and biscuits will be served at 2pm before the speaker starts his talk giving you a chance to look at the book and jigsaw swap table and to chat.

More information about Johnathon below.

I took early retirement in 2010 after a career spent mainly in IT, Quality Assurance and Process Improvement, latterly for Vodafone UK at their headquarters in Newbury. I then took up a secondary career as a Public Speaker/Performer and have now delivered over 1,100 talks/performances, mainly on literary themes but also on my previous role as the Farnham Town Crier.

I am now regularly involved in various Literary Festivals and with the National Trust, primarily at Bateman’s where I regularly perform my play about Rudyard Kipling’s life and poetry. I delivered my play about Edward Thomas to the Alliance of Literary Societies at their AGM held in May this year at Bedales School. I am currently researching and reading Thomas Hardy’s works as the basis for a possible future talk/performance.

I swim most days and took part in a Channel Relay in 2018 as part of a six-person team, helping to raise over £20,000 for the Aspire Charity. My intention is to do another Channel Relay when I reach 80 in a few years time.

My wife and I joined the Farnham U3A in 2021 and I am a member of the Military History, Shakespeare and Literary Topics Groups, as well as the Theatre Trips and Days Out Groups.

My talk, entitled ‘The Role of a Town Crier; Something to Shout About’, covers the 17 years I spent as Farnham’s Honorary Town Crier. I cover the history of Town Criers in days gone by, how I was selected as Farnham’s Town Crier, my uniform and its associations with Farnham’s history, and the various roles and duties I undertook, in what I have been reliably told is an informative and humorous talk.