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Blue Badge
Tourist Guides throughout the
United Kingdom
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The national professional association for Blue Badge Tourist Guides
with members in every part of Britain
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Saturday 21. February 2004
Programme of Events
Listed by Area
Come and enjoy a tour with a Blue Badge Guide - this one's on us!
All events take place on Saturday 21. February unless indicated otherwise
This page is updated regularly
We are very grateful to the London Development Agency
who is sponsoring this year's events in London
London
Press Release - with all the London information - Print it and take it with you
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Tours available to the General Public
- There is a maximum number of 25-30 people on these walks- first come first served!
- If the walk you want is full up, you can try our do-it-yourself routes along the river Thames from 10.30am to 3.30pm
- It is your responsibility to take proper care on these walks - especially when crossing roads or on steps. Your guide will always wait until everyone is safely gathered, before continuing the walk.
Questions on the Day?
Ring Hazel on 07984 4953052 or Roger on 07751 889242
(These numbers are only available for use on Saturday 21st February)
At other times please ring 020 7403 1115 during normal office hours.
A Quiz - with great London prizes
London events will be accompanied by a quiz with great London prizes, including weekend breaks in a top hotel, with a private sightseeing tour of London with a Blue Badge Driver-Guide. There will be free London Passes (allows free entry to London attractions) and surprise goodies for winners.
Collect a quiz leaflet from a Blue Badge guide at the start point of the two DIY walks, or from the Blue Badge guide leading any of the guided walks.
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Partly guided and partly self-guided walks
To enjoy on your own or with friends or family. 1½ hours will be plenty of time to explore unfamiliar territory, discover new insights and be entertained by Blue Badge Tourist Guides-who will be posted at key points along the route. Collect a map from the guide at the starting point and away you go! Start anytime from 10.30 am until 3.30pm. Guides will be stationed at their posts until about 4.15pm
| Falling and Wobbling - a Tale of Two Bridges. |
| Start: |
Southwark Cathedral (nearest tube London Bridge ). |
| Finish: |
St Paul's Cathedral. |
| From Fierce Lady to My Fair Lady |
| Start: |
Statue of Boudicca at Westminster Bridge exit of Westminster tube station |
| Finish: |
Covent Garden Market |
Fully Guided Walks
Blues & Royals - a walk around Whitehall area.
Starting with the "Boys in Blue" at New Scotland Yard, we continue via Horseguards where the mounted sentries of the Lifeguards and Blues and Royals guard the official entrance to Buckingham Palace. We stroll up the royal processional route; the Mall, to Buckingham Palace for 11.30 - just in time for the Changing of the Guard! |
| Meet: |
St James's Tube station, Broadway exit |
| Time: |
10am |
| Duration: |
1 ½ hrs |
| Guide: |
Trevor Phillips |
Little Boy Blue - the story of the City of London with a little help from nursery rhymes.
We start at London Bridge - which really did fall down - and wander along the riverbank, streets and alleyways of the City of London, taking in Dick Whittington's cats, Georgie Porgie, the candlestick-makers and other well known characters, finishing with Mother Goose at no 1 Poultry. This walk involves two sets of steps up and down to the riverside and is aimed at those who remember their nursery rhymes.
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| Meet: |
London Bridge tube station just inside Duke Street Hill exit. |
| Time: |
10.30 am
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| Duration: |
2 hrs. |
| Finish: |
Bank tube station by 12.30 |
| Guide: |
Eileen Cox |
Index of Areas
The Chelsea Cordon Bleu Walk
Before the great cookery writer Elizabeth David came along in the 1950s and 1960s, the only place you could buy olive oil was in chemists, in little vials for loosening ear wax. Elizabeth changed all that - her writing wafted the heat and flavours of the Mediterranean into cold British hearts and stomachs.
She lived, wrote and died in Chelsea. We'll pass her house, her 'local' and the site of her famous shop that revolutionised the food you'll be eating tonight, and the kitchen you'll be cooking it in.
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| Meet: |
Outside South Kensington tube - in the shopping arcade. |
| Time: |
11am |
| Duration: |
2 hrs |
| Finish: |
Victoria Station tube |
| Guide: |
Simon Rodway |
"Venite et Videte" - "Come and see..."
Come & see Londinium with Petrvs, Blue Badge guide to the Roman City on his off-the-wall walking tour. You will meet legionaries, slave-girls and gladiators as well as glimpsing everyday life over 1700 years ago. Please note there are stairs on this walk
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| Meet: |
St Paul's tube station. |
| Time: |
11am |
| Duration: |
1½ hrs |
| Finish: |
Guildhall Yard (nearest tube station St Paul's) |
| Guide: |
Peter Bloor |
Index of Areas
American London . . from George Washington to Benjamin Franklin
Stroll through the heart of central London, meeting famous Americans en route ...
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| Meet: |
In front of the National Gallery - hoarding in the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square (nearest tube -Leicester Square or Charing Cross) |
| Time: |
11am |
| Duration: |
1½ hrs |
| Finish: |
Near Charing Cross station at about 12.30 |
| Guide: |
Rose Pockney |
Blue Collar - Old Port of London & Docklands Walk -Tower Hill to Canary Wharf.
For the enthusiasts! A long and very interesting walk.
Visit the Port of London from which ships sailed to discover the Americas in the 16th century. Continue on to the unexpected, exciting Docklands area, that expanded with the growth of the British Empire and its industrial might to become Europe's largest port. Rapid decline in the l960s left the area almost derelict; now Canary Wharf, the tallest building in the UK, symbolises London's newest financial centre
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| Meet: |
Tower Hill Tube station. Just inside the exit (NOT the entrance). |
| Time: |
11 am |
| Duration: |
2 ½ hrs |
| Finish: |
Canary Wharf about 1.30pm. There are two options to finish earlier at Limehouse or Westferry Docklands Light Railway stations. |
| Guide: |
Brigid Crawford |
The Blues - Stockings, Films and Jazz - a walk in Bloomsbury and Soho
Explore some hidden areas of central London, off the main thoroughfares of Tottenham Court Road, Oxford St and Shaftesbury Avenue. After taking in the Georgian terraces and intellectual aura of Bloomsbury we move into media and musical London, exploring Soho; its colourful history, clubs, pubs and the odd sleazy night-spot. |
| Meet: |
British Museum North door (Montague Place) - nearest tube Russell Square |
| Time: |
11.30 |
| Duration: |
1¾ to 2 hrs. |
| Finish: |
Piccadilly Circus about 1.15 to 1.30pm |
| Guide: |
Ian Gibson |
Index of Areas
City Blue Prints - an architectural walk in the City.
We follow the line of the ancient City Wall between Bishopsgate and Cripplegate as we walk through the commercial district of Broadgate to the residential district of the Barbican. We will consider the needs of the inhabitants of these areas past and present and how the built fabric of this part of the City developed - with an emphasis on contemporary architecture.
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| Meet: |
Liverpool Street main line station, Bishopsgate exit, street level. |
| Time: |
2 pm |
| Duration: |
1½ hrs |
| Finish: |
Barbican Centre at around 3.30pm. Nearest tube Moorgate. |
| Guide: |
David Thompson |
Blue Stockings and Blue Blood - a walk around Bloomsbury.
This is "the squares" walk around Bloomsbury (we thought of Bluesmbury but no more blue jokes) with tales of Scandal & Scholarship......
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| Meet: |
British Museum, North entrance (Montague Place). Nearest tube Russell Square. |
| Time: |
2pm |
| Duration: |
2 hrs |
| Finish: |
Great Russell Street, near the British Museum. Nearest tube - Tottenham Court Road
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| Guide: |
Tony McDonnell |
Oscar Wilde's Soho Blues
Soho - louche, attractive Soho, playground for roués down the centuries. None more so than that social lion of the 1890s, Oscar Wilde. Let's follow Oscar through his Soho, especially on that fated spring of 1895 when, against his better judgement, he began libel proceedings against his boyfriend's father, the Marquess of Queensbury.
We'll visit Europe's gay high street, Oscar's favourite restaurant and we'll hear all about 'the best legs in England' |
| Meet: |
Embankment Tube station, Villiers Street entrance |
| Time: |
2.30 pm |
| Duration: |
1½ hrs |
| Finish: |
Oxford Circus Tube station
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| Guide: |
Simon Rodway |
Index of Areas
Sunday 22nd February
In Polish - A walk around old Chiswick and Hammersmith
Once separate villages in the country - discover stories of life and work in these historic areas of London.
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| Meet: |
Meet at Furnivall Gardens (nearest tube Hammersmith Broadway) |
| Time: |
2 pm |
| Duration: |
2 hrs |
| Finish: |
Near Hogarth's House at around 4 pm |
| Guide: |
Ursula Butterfield |
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London
Private Tours
These tours have been organised for private groups and are therefore not available to the general public
15 Disabled Children from the Windsor Area
A flight on the London Eye followed by lunch at Macdonalds in Slough
Boxed breakfast and then lunch provided free of charge by Macdonalds Restaurant, Windsor Road, Slough
Flights on the London Eye - free of charge.
Coach provided by Windsorian Coaches - free of charge.
Guide: Sonja von Scanzoni-Haines
Eden Hall - Marie Curie Cancer Hospice.
Afternoon out for approx 30 volunteers. Coach tour of London and guided visit to St Paul's
Guide: Suzanne Whitting
British Home and Hospital for the Incurables (BHHI).
Panoramic coach tour of London.
Tellings Golden Miller is the coach company kindly providing coach at reduced rate of £300.
Guide: Hugh.
Japanese Tourist Guides Association
Panoramic coach tour of London. Provisional pick-up Westminster Pier.
Start: 1.30pm.
Japanese Tourist Guides Association
Guided highlights tour of the British Museum
Jewish Tours Jewish Religious Group
Panoramic tour of London on Sunday 22 February.
Coach provided by Armchair Coaches.
Guide: Valerie Richman.
Tower of London
Employees on day out to Blenheim Palace Coach required.
Coach from Evan Evans (to be confirmed)
Guide: Ros Hutchinson.
Girl Guides
A special walk for a group of girl guides - Eileen's fires and plagues -disaster in the City
To be confirmed.
Start 2pm from Tower Hill tube
Pinner Church,
Tour of the British Museum and Kings Gallery
For a local church in Pinner, Middlesex.
Guide: Wendy
Index of Areas
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South East
Friday 20 February
Maidstone
Private Tour
Members of SEETGA are taking volunteers from hospices from different parts of the region to Maidstone Museum, The Museum of Kent Life, Archbishop's Palace and Town Hall where the Mayor will host a reception on Friday 20th February. Maidstone Borough Council will generously host the event.
Contact Bronwen Mills on 01372 453673 for further details.
For more information click here
Index of Areas
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| Southern England
Winchester
Public Tours
| Tours of the City |
| Meet: |
Tourist Office, located in the Guildhall in the Broadway |
| Time: |
11am and 2.30pm |
| Duration: |
About 1½ hrs |
| Details: |
Please contact theTourist Office on 01962 840500. |
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West Country
Torquay
Private Tour
The life and works of Agatha Christie in South Devon to members of the Torbay Branch of the Devonshire Association (For the advancement of science, art and literature) by Frank Turner.
Truro
Public Tour
Tours of the City
Featuring the life and work of Richard Lander, including a visit to the Royal Cornwall Museum who have very kindly waived their admission charge for the benefit of people joining us on the walks. We are extremely grateful for their support which will enable us to show you their exhibits relating to Richard Lander, including his medical kit.
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| Meet: |
Green Street, by the plaque marking the site of Richard Lander’s birthplace. |
| Time: |
10.30am and 2.30pm |
| Duration: |
About 1½ hrs |
| Details: |
Truro Tourist Information Centre - 01872 274555 |
For more information click here
Index of Areas
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East of England
Cambridge
Private Tour
Special tours for key stage 2 Co-ordinators in Primary Schools in cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire and trainee teachers at both primary and secondary level in training colleges in Eastern England.
Contact is Elisabeth Everitt, Cambridge Society of Tourist Guides.
Colchester
Sunday, 22 February
Public Tour
Pubs Past and Passed - a look at some of the historic pubs inns and hotels in the centre of Britain's oldest recorded town.
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| Meet: |
The Mercury Theatre, just inside the Roman Balkerne Gate. |
| Time: |
11a.m, 12noon, 1p.m. 2p.m. and 3p.m. |
| Duration: |
about 1 hour |
| Guide: |
Members of the Colchester Tourist Guides Association |
Norwich
Public Tours
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Around the Mound - A walk around the Castle mound
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| Meet: |
Castle Meadow at the main entrance to Castle Mall |
| Time: |
10.30am |
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Discovery tour for Children - Walk for accompanied children aged 7-11 years
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| Meet: |
Tourist Information Centre, Forum building |
| Time: |
10.30am |
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International Tour - Focusing on the links Norwich had, and still maintains with many other countries
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| Meet: |
Tourist Information Centre, Forum building |
| Time: |
2.00pm |
Bookings for the above tours may be made through the Tourist Information Centre,
Telephone 01603 727927
E-mail tourism@norwich.gov.uk
Index of Areas
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| Heart of England
Public Tours
Oxford
Walking tour of the city
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| Meet: |
Tourist Information Centre in Broad Street |
| Time: |
11.30 |
| Information: |
Please ring 01865 390489 |
Stroud
Walking tour of Stroud - Remember that this is the 700 year anniversary year. Much to discover in Stroud and the Five Valleys.
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| Meet: |
Subscription Rooms |
| Time: |
In the morning |
| Information: |
For further details contact Steve Hill on 01453 762980. |
Index of Areas
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Yorkshire
Rotherham
Public Tours
| Rockingham, Royals & 'Rotherham Red' |
| Meet: |
Rotherham Visitor Centre |
| Time: |
10.30am, 11.00am, 1.00pm, 1.30pm |
| Duration: |
75 minutes |
| Information: |
Booking is Essential - contact Rotherham Visitor Centre on 01709 835904 |
| Guide: |
Rotherham Blue Badge Guides |
Index of Areas
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Wales
Public Tour
Cardiff
Tours of St John the Baptist Church
Donations happily received to help the restoration of the church.
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| Meet: |
St. John the Baptist Church (Parish church in the centre of the city) |
| Time: |
Throughout the day. |
| Information: |
For further details contact Margaret Butler on 029 2075 2679. |
Index of Areas
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Scotland
Friday 20 February
Edinburgh
Public Tours
Walking Tour in the New Town.
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| Meet: |
7 Charlotte Square |
| Time: |
11 am |
| Duration: |
About 1 hour |
Walking Tour in the New Town
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| Meet: |
Royal Bank of Scotland, St. Andrews Square. |
| Time: |
2 pm |
| Duration: |
About 1 hour |
The No. 12 Bus Route - between London Road (Gayfield Square end) and Corstorphine.
Five Lothian Buses on the number 12 bus route will have commentaries from volunteer Scottish Tourist Guides Association guides (as they did for Children in Need Day). It is fun and much appreciated by locals! |
| Meet: |
On the bus |
| Time: |
Off-peak |
Private Tour
Residents from sheltered housing in Newtongrange and Dalkeith will have a panoramic tour of Edinburgh on a coach provided by David Allan, and guided by Bill Peden, ending at Pringle's in Leith for coffee and biscuits.
Tuesday 24 February
Glasgow
Private Tour
Glasgow Branch of the Scottish Tourist Guides Association is organising a morning tour of the Cathedral area of the city for blind and visually impaired people. Their guests will be associated with Visibility, formerly known as Glasgow and the West of Scotland Society for the Blind, and a dozen guides have volunteered to be involved in the event.
Time: 10.30am to1.30pm:
For more information click here
Index of Areas
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| Northern Ireland
Belfast
Public Tours
Walking Tours of Belfast City Centre
Organised by the Northern Ireland Tour Guide Association
This is being promoted by The Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau and there will be some TV coverage.
About a dozen guides are involved and both locals and visitors to the City are welcome |
| Meet: |
The Belfast Welcome Centre in Donegall Place |
| Time: |
Every 15 minutes from 11.30 pm to 2.30 pm (last tour) |
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Index of Areas
ITGD Introduction
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Guild Home Page
Use a Blue Badge Tourist Guide to make the best of your visit
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The Guild of Registered Tourist Guides
The Guild House, 52d Borough High Street, London, SE1 1XN
Tel: 020-7403 1115 . Fax: 020-7378 1705
E-mail: guild@blue-badge.org.uk
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