A UNIQUE local tradition has seen a community champion honoured . . . with a silver clog iron.

Joan Sykes had become the latest recipient to receive the much-envied mayor of Austerlands accolade.

Joan, chair of Scouthead and Austerlands Community Group, was presented with a ceremonial silver clog iron chain of office by retiring mayor Anita Aspinall.

The ceremony, held at the Old Original Inn, Scouthead, was conducted by another ex-mayor Roger Fielding – complete with red tailcoat and white bow tie.

It was attended by previous Austerlands mayors, wearing miniature clog-irons presented to them on their retirement.

Joan, who attended the event with her husband Paul, received a Yorkshire emblem scarf from Michael Hall of Saddleworth White Rose Society instead of the usual society tie given to male holders of the title. She is the 19th mayor since the tradition was reintroduced in 1998 and she has recently received a prestigious Above and Beyond award for services to the community.

She said: “I feel humble to have become the mayor and I hope in my year of office to raise funds for charities.”

Retiring mayor Anita, who lives in Springhead, is a dedicated volunteer with the Oldham branch of the Women’s Trust Fund for The Christie Charity. At the ceremony, she presented a cheque for £1,500 to WTF, from her fund raising efforts.

The Mayoral ceremony was reintroduced after the discovery of a clog iron behind a beer barrel at the former Red Lion pub on Huddersfield Road but the actual origin of the tradition is said to date back to the late 1940s.