New Tour Guides get a whistle-stop tour of the District’s top heritage attractions
The growth of tourism in Winchester has led to an increase in demand for guided tours, and Winchester City Council has worked with Winchester Area Tourist Guides Association (WATGA) to develop a nationally accredited course that will bring a new cohort of Green Badge guides to the city in time for the expected rise in visitor numbers this Summer.
Clare Dixon, Chair of WATGA, explains,
The last influx of guides was over a decade ago and our original team of 22 has noticed a considerable increase in demand, due in part to the extra 1.6million day-trippers the city now sees annually, and also to the improved marketing efforts for both the destination and the tours themselves.
We spoke to the Head of Tourism in January 2015 and agreed to reach out to the community to see if there was sufficient interest to run a course. We were overwhelmed by the response, selecting 17 trainees to become Green Badge guides for the city. As the course comes to an end shortly we wanted to ensure that we explored the links that the many historical narratives from the city centre have with landmarks across the district, and indeed in the Hampshire Area of the South Down National Park.
In just six hours the guides visited the Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson, Wickham, Bishops Waltham Palace, Alresford and Jane Austen’s House Museum and Chawton House Library.
The national Green Badge accreditation is a rigorous course that allows successful candidates to become official tour guides after six months study, practical tests and a written exam. The trainees invest approximately £1000 of their own money and give up successive Saturdays to attend lectures and practise guiding techniques for audiences of up to 16 people.
Ellen Simpson, Winchester City Council’s Head of Tourism who devised this weekend’s tour and delivered a lecture to the group about the infrastructure of tourism locally earlier in the year explained,
The Visit Winchester team has witnessed an increase in the demand for these tours from the burgeoning number of day-trippers who come here annually. I was lucky enough to interview the candidates personally - the new cohort of guides have varied professional backgrounds; the group includes a head teacher, a lawyer, a museum curator and a full-time mum – but all share a tremendous enthusiasm for Winchester and its history.
This weekend’s tour was about linking the city’s heritage to historical narratives across the district. The Winchester district covers 250 square miles with market towns, military forts and museums that have fascinating stories to tell. We also are working in partnership with other local authorities to promote cross county themes such as remembering Jane Austen’s life and therefore included both her home and Chawton House Library in the itinerary.
We hope that the guides will pass the experiences from this tour on to city visitors so that they stay a little longer and explore a little further whilst based in Winchester.