AN ancient British tradition rarely seen anywhere else other than High Wycombe keeps the town on the international map, a former mayor said, as it was upheld this afternoon.

Beating the Bounds, the peculiar ritual of bouncing a child on a boundary stone, took place around the town centre today.

Starting in Saffron Road before stopping off at the guildhall, then the railway station, the Mayor, Cllr Chauhdry Shafique, led a group of Charter Trustees from midday.

A number of children were playfully dangled by their legs so their heads lightly touched the ancient markers.

Cllr Shafique said: “It's wonderful to be involved with it and there is a wonderful party of people to watch the children be turned upside down.

“It's a fantastic tradition and it's one of the things that makes High Wycombe stand out.”

The ceremony re-enacts the ancient tradition of marking the boundaries of the former Borough of High Wycombe.

The ritual dates back many centuries to the days before ordnance survey maps, when it was necessary to walk the parish boundaries to mark them out afresh each year.

Ex-Mayor Ian McEnnis said: “I think it's about getting people together for a very unique event in the country. It's a little bit more than just bouncing a little child's head on the stone.

“It's marking the boundary of ancient High Wycombe and it's like our weighing in ceremony, they both go together. It's very important we keep these traditions going.”

He said such ancient rituals entice international visitors. A Japanese film crew came and interviewed him about it when he was mayor.

He said: “It keeps High Wycombe on the international map.”

Beating the Bounds was common in towns until the nineteenth century but died out in High Wycombe in the 1920s before it was reintroduced by ex-mayor Frances Alexander in 1998.

Marker stones were also put at the site of some of the original boundary stones the same year, but the tradition was suspended again in 2006.

Roy Bagley, the mace bearer for the town, said: “It's very important, it's a British tradition. If it gets lost it will never happen again and I think it should be kept on going.”

He has been involved in the ceremony for 18 years.

He said: “I've lived and worked in High Wycombe for about 40 years, had a business here and I just find it a way give something back. It's a privilege to do it.”

Explaining the purpose of his role, he said: “Mace bearing is the ancient term of protector of the mayor. The mace I carry is ceremonial. Originally it would've been some large lump of metal with spikes in it to protect the mayor being abducted, robbed, or whatever.

“The mace we use was given to us by William and Mary, it's 300 plus years old.

“It's a direct copy of the one in the Houses of Parliament, the Queen's mace and there's an identical copy in the Victorian and Albert Museum.”