This year’s Blue Badge Guide Walking Weekend event to celebrate International Tourist Guide Day was a huge success with thousands of both locals and visitors flocking to central London to enjoy FREE guided walks by professional Blue Badge Guides.
This yearly event is our way of showing how a professional guide can bring your visit to life and it has now become so well known that visitors from as far away as Moscow timed their visit accordingly! It was an opportunity too for Londoners to get to know their city better and some of the more ‘off the beaten track’ walks were the most popular.
Walkers could choose between 8 different walks, all of which followed a section of the Jubilee Walkway, which links many of London’s most famous sites. The tours left every hour, on the hour between 10am and 3pm and each one lasted about an hour and a half, giving people the chance to carry on with the next walk if they wished. There were plenty of very keen people who did several walks over the two days!
• London Victoria to Waterloo 'GOD & GOVERNMENT'
Waterloo to London Bridge 'BARROWS AND THE BARD'
London Bridge to Liverpool Street 'THE POOL & THE POUND'
Liverpool Street to St Pauls 'GUILDS AND GILT'
St Pauls to Kings Cross 'RIP UP THE STREET. FREE THE FLEET'
Kings Cross to Holborn 'WIGS & STOCKINGS'
Holborn to Leicester Square 'ROUND & ROUND THE GARDEN'
Leicester Square to Victoria 'QUALITY STREET'
We are once again very grateful to Transport for London who provided generous funding to help us promote the day as part of the Mayor’s strategy to make London one of the most walker friendly cities in the world. We followed just one of the six Strategic Walks, the Jubilee Walkway, but you can check out the others on www.tfl.gov.uk/streets/walking/home.
Our press campaign this year, led by Simon Rodway, made sure that the message got out there. The event was featured on BBC TV, BBC Radio London and LBC. Information was also given in Time Out and the Daily Telegraph as well as in many local publications.
Did you miss the event?
If you are disappointed at missing out, remember you can book a Blue Badge Guide any time you like through visiting our website - www.uk-tourist-guides.com.
We hope that everyone who joined us enjoyed the weekend as much as we did and will join us again next year. Here’s a date for your diary already:
Blue Badge Guide Walking Weekend
17th & 18th February 2007
Credits
Many thanks go to all the guides who led the walks and who welcomed walkers:
Tony Anderson, Johnny Ashton, Stephen Back, Jon Blanchard, Hilary Booth, Veena Chawla, Nigel C
ommon, Eileen Cox, Janet Date, Kim Dewdney, Hugh Dickson, Liz du Parcq, Sarah Edington, Clarissa Fell, Sarah Fordham, John Garrod, Bryan Gorin, Alan Griffiths, Martin Harvey, Christine Hoodith, Ann Johncock, Ali Johnston, Daniella Kochavi, Abigail Lawson, Lindsay Macleod, Tish Marchant, Franki McCabe, Stan Medland, Eve Milner, Nick Morrison, Adrienne Oddey, Martin Olutniks, Trevor Phillips, Glen Portch, Katreya Somerville, Ros Stanwell-Smith, Colin Street, Barbara Sussmann, Heidi Vajda, Gavin Webb and Vicky Wood.
Other events
Many people also enjoyed Marielies Jackson’s walk through Primrose Hill on Sunday 19th February which encompassed local landmarks like the Roundhouse. They learne
d about the murder on Primrose Hill in 1678 and took a peek at the former residences of famous locals such as Sylvia Plath, Friedrich Engels, Charles Dickens and Jose Rizal.
Ros Hutchinson once again took the Yeoman Warders from the Tower of London on a trip out of London. This year they visited Canterbury and thanks go to Tellings Golden Miller coaches for their kind generosity.
