History will be made in Ripon on Saturday night when the Platinum Jubilee Horn, made to mark the Queen’s remarkable reign, is blown for the first time.
The horn, commissioned by the city council to provide Ripon’s citizens and visitors with a ceremonial means of celebrating Her Majesty’s 70 years of service, will be presented to Cllr Sid Hawke, the Right Worshipful the Mayor of Ripon by John Richmond BEM.
Mr Richmond, an honorary freeman and former Mayor of Ripon, has the distinction of being the only person to carry out the internationally famous setting of the watch ceremony while in mayoral office, when he acted as a ‘stand-in’ hornblower in December 1975.
He told the Stray Ferret:
“It is an incredible honour to be asked to present the new horn in a city which takes great pride in its royal heritage.
“This goes back to Alfred the Great who, in 886, presented Riponians with their first ceremonial horn as a ‘thank you’ for their courage in fighting off a Viking raid.”
John Richmond BEM and Freeman of the City of Ripon who made history in 1975, will present the new Platinum Jubilee Horn.
The presentation will take place on Ripon Market Square at 8.45pm in time for the setting of the watch ceremony at 9pm.
The horn was made by Duncan Grimmond, a locally-based craftsman who has made several horns for the city council over the last four decades.
Mark Sidwell, musical director of Ripon City Band, advised Mr Grimmond on the process of making the horn, which is believed to be from an African buffalo and has silver mountings.
The mountings include the Commemorative jubilee hallmark and the inscription reads Presented by Ripon City Council to the City of Ripon on the occasion of HM Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee – June 2022.
Cllr Andrew Williams. leader of Ripon City Council who proposed the commissioning of the new horn, pointed out:
“This will be a permanent reminder of our jubilee celebrations this week which promise to be the most comprehensive anywhere in North Yorkshire”
The nightly setting of the watch has continued un-broken for 1,136 years and is believed to be the world’s longest continuously-held ceremonial event.
It has survived the Black Death, other plagues, world wars, civil war and, more recently, the covid pandemic lockdowns, which saw Ripon’s team of four hornblowers keep the tradition alive by sounding their blasts behind closed doors at their homes.
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