Winchester City Guides - TrustNews March 2006
Twelve new Winchester City Guides have recently passed their exams and received their City badges from the Mayor in a ceremony at Abbey House (see picture).
These guides have completed a very rigorous training course. They took a 12-week background knowledge course at the University of Winchester, and were examined in all aspects of English life and culture - history, constitution, architecture, art, literature etc. After that they did their Winchester training, which lasted for six months. They had lectures about the City beginning with Graham Scobie on the pre-history of our area, and ending with a talk from a member of the City Council planning team about Winchester’s future. They also did practical training, which included presentational skills and public speaking. Their final exam was in four parts: two written and two practical. The course cost each of them £500. It was extremely hard work, but I think they enjoyed it. They are now all excellent guides and a great asset to Winchester. I hope members of the Trust will go on some of our walks.
The Winchester and Area Tourist Guides Association was founded in 1978, and there are now 36 guides. We offer tours in 6 foreign languages, and have teachers, bell-ringers and railway buffs as well as historians and naturalists among our members.
The recently qualified guides received Green Badges from the Institute of Tourist Guiding. Some of the Winchester City Guides have ITG Blue Badges, which means that they are qualified to guide over a wider region.
Guided tours are run throughout the year from the Tourist Information Centre. We do regular tours twice a day in the tourist season, and guides can be booked for special tours or illustrated talks at any time.
The downside to being a guide is that the pay is low. But we find the work rewarding. We meet a lot of interesting people, and as we show visitors round and they comment about the beauty of the City we never cease to appreciate how lucky we are to live and work in such a very special place.