The Guild was founded in 1950 by seven guides who met at the historic George Inn in Southwark, a stone's throw from our present headquarters.

Known then as The Guild of Guide Lecturers, its emblem depicted London Pride, the small plant that flourished on bomb sites.

These guides were trained by the British Travel and Holidays Association to interpret to visitors a capital recovering from the ravages of war. Many tourists came to London in 1951 to visit The Festival of Britain.

Historic Location . . .
The Guild office is located, appropriately, in a mediaeval courtyard: our neighbours occupy a building incorporating The Old Goat Inn which dates from 1542. Southwark was the centre of the hop trade - the hops grown in Kent and Essex came by river to warehouses there, and Guild House was previously used for hop merchants' samples.

. . . for a modern office
Today it contains an office using the latest technology, a library and meeting room for members, as well as its own tiny garden - a wonderful contrast to the chaos outside caused by the building of the Jubilee Line extension. Geoffrey Chaucer, John Harvard and Charles Dickens all knew the area well.

In 1995 the Guild changed its name to become The Guild of Registered Tourist Guides.