Cardiff
Margaret Butler led three walks around Cardiff in glorious sunshine, which, as well as attracting many locals and visitors, also raised money for the British Heart Foundation.

Lincoln
Lincoln Guild of Tour Guides conducted free guided tours of Lincoln to encourage local people to get to know more about their city so in turn they can tell their relatives and friends in other places of the attractions Lincoln has to offer. Visitors to Lincoln also took advantage of the offer.

On a glorious sunny February day the tours were extremely successful and we showed 222 people around the sights of Lincoln on 11 different tours (a threefold increase on last year).

The most popular tours were The Cathedral Quarter, The Dark Side of Lincoln and The Lincoln Pub Tour.

Despite sampling different ales at the Beer Cellar on the way round the Pub Tour successfully completed the tour, which finished rather conveniently outside The Strugglers and Victoria Public Houses.

There was a knock on effect for tourism in the city as other attractions such as Lincoln Castle reported an increase in visitors for the time of year.

It was agreed by all attending the tours that the best way to see the city and understand how it is evolving is with a trained guide.

Oxford
The family tour was well advertised in the local papers and some 35 people joined. The tour was an 1 ½ hour walking tour divided between 2 guides. One tour covered the traditional university area with a visit to colleges. The other, a new alternative Oxford, went to the western part of the City, which now has much to offer since the Norman Oxford Castle site has been re-developed.

The first is well-known, but the second is not. There the former Victorian prison, which had previously made the area inaccessible, has been converted by the Malmaison Group. You can now stay in a former cell in the galleried A wing . The Oxford Preservation Trust has received a lottery grant for a Castle Heritage Centre to open in D wing, with access to the Castle Mount and the fortified St George’s Tower. This is expected in May this year.

Contributions were received from the group regarding famous prisoners held for trial in the prison, particularly the Black Panther in 1976.

Even those in the group who were local or who had spent time as students at the University found it surprising to learn that Oxford’s early history began here. The Greyfriars and the Blackfriars each founded monastic houses, the former now commemorated in the modern way with a plaque on the wall of a multistorey car park. It was also here that the brewing industry was based, wit the last one, Morrells Brewery, closing only a few years ago.