Scramble for present preserves the past

It is an event thought to be peculiar to the market town and although its origins are unclear, the first record of the scramble taking place was in the 18th century.

The tradition sees shopkeepers throw festive goodies onto the street for children to chase and collect, and about 40 of them braved wintry showers to take part this year.

It is believed to have started when travelling salesmen handed out free gifts to promote trade and developed into an annual event that used to attract hundreds of boisterous youngsters, willing to suffer a few scraped knuckles for the sake of some pocket money.

Traditionally, the children would “beg” outside shops for the treats to be thrown and sing a special rhyme.

It was once a New Year’s Day custom, which went into decline when January 1 became a public holiday and the shops stayed shut. And it almost petered out in the 1990s as children got more at Christmas and families became more prosperous.

The scramble was saved when it was adopted by the town council as an official event and is now supervised, making it safer for smaller children and more girls to take part.

A woman watching yesterday’s scramble said: “I’m 83 so I’ve been coming a lot of years. I like to come and watch the scramble but I’ve been here when there’s been three or four hundred.”