- Sometimes I'm able
to do a lot of research before going to a place, and sometimes I have to just wing it. Here's what I know. Every year, this town, Honiton in
south-west England, has a tradition where they
throw hot pennies off balconies down onto waiting crowds
who try to catch them. Apparently, this started
more than 700 years ago as part of the local fair. Back then, the pennies
would be scalding hot. And part of the entertainment,
at least for the people throwing, was watching poor people
burn themselves as they scrambled to
pick up the pennies. Back then, pennies were
worth a lot more, very roughly, it'd be
the equivalent of throwing £1 coins
off a balcony, so perhaps worth minor burns
if you're desperate? Seven centuries later,
they do still throw pennies. But I'm assured they're
not scalding, just merely warm. And that is all I know.
My script ends here, but I'm hoping I can find out more
from the folks who run it and also not get injured
by flying pennies. - This is my first Hot Pennies
as the Mayor of Honiton. I've been coming to
Hot Pennies all my life. It's led predominantly by
the town crier. It's his event, if you like,
and I'm gatecrashing it. - I'm the town crier and
mace bearer of Honiton. I've held this position for 27 years and today, the Hot Pennies Ceremony
will be my 28th. We toss pennies from balconies, windows and if you're brave enough to scramble for them,
pick them off the floor, they're all yours to take home. - People are pretty much
sorting themselves out by height so the kids are going to the front. The adults are coming to the back. I hope they're going to be okay. I hope I'm going to be okay! - I've been on the committee,
believe it or not, for 46 years, and this is my 47th Honiton Hot Pennies. When Honiton was granted a Royal Charter, they held a fair and of course, they wanted people to come into
the town to make it a success, but quite a lot of those people hadn't paid their landlords their rent so it was decided that they would
give an amnesty during fair week. And whilst the glove was hoisted, no man will be arrested. - [SHOUTS] No man shall be arrested. - [CROWD CHANTS] No man shall be arrested. - I've only just thought to bring
something to catch the pennies and it's far too late. Like, there's people with
upside down umbrellas, there's kids with buckets,
and I, uh... wish me luck. - Honiton is famous as
one of the staging points on the Exeter to London Road, and there were more pubs on Honiton High Street
than most towns have. There were wealthy people
who lived in the town and who stayed in the inns and they used to take delight
in throwing out hot pennies and watching the serfs, I suppose,
burn their fingers. - Here we go. Bloody hell! Oh! Augh! Ow. I took my eye off the pennies
for a moment. - It's 802 years, this year. We think. There would've been a few breaks
over the years for World War whatever. For years, it's run on nothing because all the pennies are
collected in jars in the pubs and we do throw out hundreds and hundreds of
pounds' worth of pennies. - All the pubs would have a large bottle
or a can or a tray and people would put
their loose change in it. Nowadays you have to order the pennies two weeks in advance from the banks
to even have them. - Come on! It's one penny. It's one penny, but I'm really
proud of the penny. Can confirm, slightly warm. - They used to be heated up. They were literally heated
in the ovens of the pubs. There was a stream running down
one of the sides of the high street. So there's photographs of kids
in the drains pulling pennies out, but also cooling them because they've got burns on their hands. And I believe there's a lady in Honiton
who, to this day, carries a scar from being burnt by a
penny in the mid-'60s. - They used to be proper hot,
I mean, burning, scalding hot, and if you caught them on your arm, I do have a friend from school and he claims that he still has a scar and he's really proud
of his Hot Pennies scar. But they'd be scattering on the floor
and it would hurt to pick them up. - They've got a kid throwing up there and he's very much
throwing at, and not... ...augh! and not up. - We used to wear gloves, hobnail boots, old clothes and then when we got back in school, we'd given 100 yards for skiving off. - It seems crazy now that we used to get
tossed boiling hot coins especially when we were
little young children. But to be honest, that was half the fun! - I'm well out of range here. I did not fight hard enough to be
in the crowd with the umbrellas. I'm going to cut my losses
with two pennies and one slightly injured camera operator, I'm so sorry! - It was quite a wild event. Nowadays we have to have
a little bit more careful so the pennies are scattered
rather than thrown. They're warmed in the sun
at best, or at worst depending on
where you look at it. We hope we don't have injuries. We're about making certain that these wonderful old
quaint customs continue.
