Retiring Ripon Hornblower George Pickles tells Stuart Minting about his ongoing passion for the ancient role which draws crowds of visitors to the city

THE cheerily disposed retiring custodian of the oldest unbroken daily ceremony in the world, George Pickles, smiles a smile Mr Happy would be proud of. He has been heralded for his dedication to maintaining the Ripon Hornblower tradition and for his services to the city.

George, who earlier this year stepped down from the role after 12 years of performing the nightly ritual of Setting the Watch, says he had been thrilled his efforts were recognised with a Citizenship Award by Ripon's council. He believes he will be the last in a line dating back hundreds of years to singularly hold the title.

The former machine tool supplier says as no one has stepped forward to take on his role, the council has agreed that three people will share the burden of turning out nightly, whatever the weather, to blow an Ox-type animal horn at each corner of the Market Place's grade I listed obelisk at 9pm. He says: "It has been an absolute pleasure and I wish I was starting all over, so I couldn't believe nobody wanted the job. They say the Ripon Hornblower is the most photographed man in Britain - I get recognised wherever I go."

The ceremony, which George has performed more than 3,000 times before 90,000 visitors wearing the hornblower's fawn frock coat and tricorn hat uniform, also involves seeking out the Mayor of Ripon - whether he or she is at home or at a function - to blow three more times to signal the watch has been set. To fulfil the role, he was supplied with the mayor's weekly schedule, but says it would often change at short notice.

"I've had a lot of laughs", says George, "One night when the mayor was at a function at the racecourse, I arrived to find all the gates locked, so I had to climb over a wall in my uniform. Sometimes I wouldn't get home until 11pm, so to be able to continue the tradition it will have to become a job share to enable people with jobs and family commitments to be able to do it."

George says the ceremony dates from 886, when Alfred the Great suggested Ripon residents appoint a wakeman to patrol the area through the hours of darkness and raise the alarm in the event of Vikings descending on the city. It was agreed the wakeman would sound the horn given to the city by Alfred to let the people know that the watch was set.

While former mayor Councillor Mick Stanley says George was "exemplary", the 77-year-old says he enjoyed being punctilious in ensuring the ancient daily ceremony remained unbroken during his term in the role. He developed a routine which included showering at the same time, dressing in his regalia in his car and sounding the horn on the first chime of the cathedral bells at precisely 9pm.

As well as maintaining the ceremony, George has served as an ambassador for the city, staging numerous balls and presenting talks about its history to clubs across the north of England, raising £40,000 for charities.He speaks animatedly about the many facets of the role he fashioned to further the city that welcomed him and his wife of 56 years, Lillian, following his retirement from the machine tool supply trade. George says: "I always envisioned that when we retired we would have a bungalow on the coast, but when we visited Ripon we fell in love with the location and its history."

Only 18 months after settling in the city, George learnt that the council was struggling to find someone to take on the Hornblowers's role and offered his services to keep the tradition alive, knowing he could employ his salesmanship experience to market Ripon. He says: "I had never blown a horn in my life and didn't know much about history, so it was quite a challenge, but I was retired and had the time."

While the ceremony's curiousity value has drawn many of the visitors, George has sought to develop its charm by regaling details of the city's history to all those who are interested, giving tours of the city and has given out 30,000 Ripon Hornblower lucky wooden pennies."If they want to believe in the pennies being lucky that's fine", he says with a twinkle in his eye, "but it's something that has really marketed Ripon."

When asked about about what he will miss, his memories almost trip over each other and he confides that even his regular visits to clean the area surrounding the obelisk never seemed like work. George's ebullient manner takes on a more earnest form as he says his favourite part of the role had been welcoming people to Ripon from all over the world. "Ripon depends on its tourist industry", he says, "and while you get people coming to the ceremony from Canada and Australia, the millions of people living in Yorkshire and the North East don't seem to know about it."