PRINCE PHILIP: 1921 2021 - Guide London
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PRINCE PHILIP: 1921 - 2021
The United Kingdom’s longest serving royal consort has been buried at Windsor
The death of Prince Philip was Shortly before the wedding Philip
announced by Buckingham Palace was granted the title of ‘His Royal
on 9 April and he was buried at Saint Highness’ and made Duke of
George’s Chapel, Windsor on 18 Edinburgh. After Princess
April. He was the longest serving Elizabeth became Queen in 1952
consort to a monarch in the history of he gave up his career as a naval
the United Kingdom. officer. He also gave up smoking
Prince Philip was born into the Greek shortly before the wedding - at
and Danish royal families on 10 June her insistence.
1921 and would have celebrated his The Queen and Prince Philip
hundredth birthday this summer. As have four children, eight
he was exiled at an early age from grandchildren and ten great
Greece, the land of his birth, Britain grandchildren, the most recent
became his adopted country and he being the son of Mike Tindall and
Prince Philip and the Queen near Balmoral
was educated at Gordonstoun School (Photograph by Sophie, Countess of Wessex) Zara Philips who was born in
in the Scottish Highlands. This had March of this year.
been founded by Kurt Hahn, who was a Jewish exile from Prince Philip wrote eight books and gave over 5,000
Nazi Germany, and who proved influential in the thinking of speeches as well as representing the royal family in a solo
Prince Philip. capacity at over 22,000 official functions prior to his
Philip joined the Royal Navy at the age of eighteen shortly retirement from public life in 2017 at the age of ninety six.
before the start of the Second World War, in which he served He may be best remembered for the Duke of Edinburgh
with distinction and was mentioned in despatches. He Awards Scheme, founded in 1956, which was intended to
became one of the youngest men promoted to the rank of encourage boys to volunteer for community service and
First Lieutenant at the age of twenty one. improve their physical fitness. It was extended to girls in
Philip asked King George the Sixth, for permission to 1958 and is now open to young people from the
marry his elder daughter Princess Elizabeth in 1946. age of fourteen to twenty five in 144 countries
The two had first met in 1939 when he had shown around the world.
Elizabeth and her sister Margaret around the Royal Due to health restrictions, and in line with Philip’s
Naval College at Dartmouth, where he graduated at wishes, he was buried at Saint George’s Chapel
the top of his year. in a short, socially distanced service with only his
King George agreed to the engagement of Philip and family present. Also in line with his wishes, the
his Elizabeth but said that it must remain a secret until Prince’s body was brought to Saint George’s
her twenty first birthday the following year. It was The Queen at Chapel in a Land Rover, a vehicle he was much
announced in July 1947 and the couple were married Prince Philip’s associated with. A recording of the Duke’s funeral
in November of that year at Westminster Abbey. funeral in April can be seen on YouTube.
BRANCH COUNCIL Also in this issue:
Danny Parlour - Chair Owen Joseph - Fees CHAIR’S LETTER - PAGE 2
Aaron Hunter - Secretary Edwin Lerner - Guidelines PETER MATTHEWS RIP - PAGE 3
Alfie Talman - Treasurer Nan Mousley - Members FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN - PAGE 4
Maria Gartner - Languages Lottie Thurlow - Events LONDON HUGUENOTS - PAGE 6
Dani Harte - CPD Amy Wang - Mandarin APTG AUTHORS - PAGE 8
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL TOURIST GUIDES
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL TOURIST GUIDES
www.guidelondon.org.uk
www.guidelondon.org.uk May 2021
September 2019Union news
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
It is mid-April and the sun is shining but there are not many tourists. Nevertheless there is
much to work on to keep the mind occupied: social media, clean-up operations, databases or
checking in with clients who have previoulsy booked you directly. Perhaps you have a
website that is in need of refreshing or how about sprucing up your Guide London profile bio?
A new photo? How about featuring some hyperlinks to your social media channels and
Tripadvisor account? See my profile for an example.
There will be thousands of people out there thinking of the next place they will want to visit and many will want to come to
London. Tour operators will want to get to know guides they book for tours. Make it easy for them to find out about your
services. Make yourself known to them. It is much easier to have what you do available to read on your Guide London
profile and/or website than for them (tourists or operators) asking you for that information over and over again.
I am focusing on LinkedIn and have a goal to post something each day. I try to stick to posting about Guide London but I
like to share news about our most popular sites and their reopening. Being involved in these projects and having goals on
social media has helped me mentally. Having focus and deadlines: that and going for walks, long and or short, every day.
Many projects are taking place within APTG: office transition, site liaison, the French Guide London project, languages,
membership, virtual tours, Guide England, tripartite meetings and social. Thank you to all playing your part.
Whilst I wish guiding was like it was pre-pandemic, delivering tours and earning a good salary and supporting APTG on
the side with various projects, it has been amazing to think how much we have achieved with the extra time on our hands.
Who would have thought we could do so much with this flipped over? Time to work on projects, with guiding on the side.
As a collective we have really strengthened our organisation which is of comfort to me. We are continuing to build
something much better and stronger than before and that will put us in a great position when the work comes back. It will
be different, of course, but there will be lots of tourists returning in the near future. It is London - the best city in the world!
We have been shouting about ourselves online for over a year with blog posts, Guide London broadcasts and Facebook
language pages. No more knocks for us, only growth.
Nonetheless, I and Branch Council know that many of you want more support with mental health and to focus on lobbying
government. These were two things that came out of the recent Covid Taskforce Survey. Thanks to Mark King we could
find data on our APTG members and are working closely with the Benevolent Fund re the former and Unite for the latter.
We want to deliver more online mental health sessions for you soon. If you are struggling financially, please contact the
Benevolent Fund (details in the Members Area). They may be able to support you with this and a whole host of other
things. A special thank you to all at the Benevolent fund for the support you have provided our members with.
Stay safe everyone and enjoy the sunshine while you can. It will be autumn before you know it!
Danny Parlour
WEBSITE TRAFFIC Dix Clefs pour Comprendre la Tour de
Londres (translated by Kirsty Malcolm)
There were 18,831 unique visitors in March, a
slight increase over February, but the second Le Londres Juridique: À la Découverte des
month in a row where the site achieved less than Quatre ‘Inns of Court’ et de la Cour Royale
20,000 visitors. Year to date traffic is down 22%. de Justice by Annie Dobell
Sur les Grands Pas de Charles de Gaulle
WEBSITE LEADS
(translated by Howard Medwell)
After removing duplicates, spam and internal messages the
Guide London website generated 43 leads. Numbers NEW ENGLISH BLOG POSTS
continue to be low, no doubt linked to the continued HRH Prince Philip (1921 - 2021) by Edwin Lerner
uncertainty around international leisure travel. That said,
Walthamstow: An Art-Friendly Part of London by Gail Jones
most of the leads are for virtual tours, whether GuideMatch
or Find A Guide. Year-to-date the website has generated A Year of Facebook Live Broadcasts by Edwin Lerner
162 leads, 73% down. British Monarchs Who May Have Been Gay by Dani Harte
FRENCH BLOG POSTS From Doctor to Blue Badge Tourist Guide by Barry Walsh
Five blog posts were added to the French website: Existing posts updated include:
Street Art à Londres en dix points (translated Sarah Speller) All Change on the South Bank by Stephanie Tickner
Le Romancier Français Émile Zola Exilé à Londres Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park by Pamela McHutchon
(translated by Mark Godowski) The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race by Edwin Lerner
2Union news
NEW MEMBER NEXT MEMBERS OPEN MEETING
Sian Healy The next MOM is on Tuesday 11 May at
Email: sianalexishealy@gmail.com 6:30 pm. A Zoom link will be emailed to all.
Telephone: 07766 118652
COACH DRIVERS ACTING AS GUIDES
CHANGES AT BANK JUNCTION Jeanie Carmichael continues our series on APTG’s
My understanding is that most of the proposed changes at the achievements by writing about drivers who ‘guide’.
Bank Junction are to do with pedestrian traffic with a small re- The campaign I was primarily involved with was back in
organisation of the
Photo Paul Bank Crossing. I was told at a recent webinar
Metcalfe 1990. There had been lots of coaches driving around
that vehicles licensed as a PSV will not be affected and will still London, the driver steering with one hand while holding a
be allowed through the junction. microphone and chatting away with the other, flagrantly
The main changes to the roads are as follows: breaking the law with no consequences from the police.
Queen Victoria St closed up to Bank apart from service vehicles. Our then union representative, the late Bob Elliott, Sarah
Threadneedle St closed from Bartholomew Lane to Bank. Wood, Simon Lord and I got together and went around
London with a video camera filming coach drivers
Princes St is to be narrowed for buses and cycles. breaking the law. Simon’s sister, who worked at ITN,
Restrictions currently in place will remain. Discussions will take edited it for us and Simon did the voiceover. Sarah was
place about keeping or extending these restrictions. interviewed on BBC4’s travel programme Going Places
The time scale is: and I wrote (via snail-mail!) to every individual MP in
Public comments until May 10th Parliament asking for support and got a surprisingly good
Consultation June/July response. One MP said that he had almost been run
Report to the Council in October over on Parliament Square by one such driver. We asked
Start date is planned for November 2021, lasting until late 2022. members to take photographs of coaches and to note
I will keep you informed of any further changes. down the company name, and we then wrote to the
Leon Preston (Coach Liaison) companies enclosing a copy of the relevant section of
the law governing PSV vehicles.
WFTGA MEETING I also spent a lot of time approaching drivers as we
A virtual conference was arranged by the World recognised that most of them were being pressurised
Federation of Tourist Guide Associations in into doing their own guiding by companies too mean to
March on The Future of Tourist Guiding. pay for a guide. I gently pointed out to them the awful
Discussions were held on how to prepare for life consequences of causing an accident, such as losing
after the pandemic: on expectations from clients their licence. The problem was that many drivers were
and employers, new work conditions, work and not union members and so had no support. I feel that our
technology opportunities, health protocols and storytelling. efforts were well worth it, as seeing coach drivers doing
Guides worldwide share the experience of having lost income their own guiding became the exception rather than the
during the pandemic and this has meant plenty of time to plan rule.
for life after Covid-19. Jeanie Carmichael
The conference was attended by 720 qualified tourist guides
from almost ninety countries who were given lectures on guiding PETER MATTHEWS
skills, co-operation, new techniques and technology. The
Peter Matthews has died at the Royal
programme included panel discussions, case studies, round
Marsden Hospital in Surrey. Although no
tables and social activities.
longer active as a guide, Peter was a
There is a great hunger among people worldwide to be able to well-known figure in the guiding world
travel again. Signs indicate that, when travel restarts, it will be who had worked at the London Tourist
families and generations travelling together more than before. Board and the Museum of London where
The best way to experience a new place is to make use of a guides were always offered a discount on
local qualified tourist guide. They optimize the visit by spending production of their blue badge. He also
days with guests advising what to do, adapting to visitors’ Photo courtesy reviewed books, contributed articles to
interests and abilities and incorporating their knowledge and Peter’s sister, Guidelines and was himself an author, in
experience. Tourist guides can help visitors feel safe by Jo Matthews particular of the very useful Shire Album
facilitating local health protocols and finding the best, most London’s Statues and Monuments.
spectacular outdoor places. Sustainable tourism could not be
more important than now: the feeling that travel has a meaning NEW EMAIL ADDRESS
and purpose and is beneficial to the local community, the We have recently started to use a new email address:
environment and the local economy. Tourist guides will be an APTG@guidelondon.org.uk. Please add it to your
important part of this process. contacts list so that emails do not end up in ‘Spam’.
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL TOURIST GUIDES
www.guidelondon.org.uk 3
May 2021guiding news
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Antony Robbins recalls the Festival of Britain held seventy years ago
Let me take you back to the Britain of 1951. The London’s additional Festival sites included
Second World War had ended just six years earlier. Battersea Park, which hosted pleasure
Cities including London, Plymouth, Coventry and gardens, and South Kensington, home to the
Glasgow had been bombed relentlessly and still science exhibition. On Poplar’s Balfron
bore the scars. Surviving buildings were covered Estate, architect Frank Gebbard conceived
in layers of dark sooty dust and pollution from coal the Living Architecture Exhibition. Designed
fires and industry. Rationing was still the order of as an ambitious example of post-war
the day and (for fresh meat) remained in place until renewal, it failed to draw the crowds - too
1954. The early fifties were a gloomy time. much of a muddy building site to appeal to
And yet, the Festival of Britain opened on 4 May 1950s sensibilities, apparently.
1951, giving the country a much-needed boost. It The Festival spotlighted some of the UK’s
celebrated Britain’s contribution to civilization - rising stars. They included its designer,
past, present and future. The arts, science, Abram Games, the graphic artist who had
industrial design and technology took centre stage. been responsible for many of the nation’s
The Festival was a vision of the future. It pointed wartime propaganda posters. His Jewish
the way to new and healthier ways of living for a faith and socialist values inspired him to
nation that had sacrificed so much in the fight create some of the twentieth century’s most
against Fascism. memorable graphic design. The Festival’s
Its timing marked a watershed in British history. architect, Hampstead-born Sir Hugh
Society was about to pivot. Just nine years earlier, Casson, became the future President of the
the Battle of El Alamein marked the first turning Royal Academy. Aged just thirty six at the
point in the Second World War. Ten years later, a time, Casson hired the best young talents of
band called the Beatles were wowing audiences in the day.
Hamburg. The British Empire was shrinking and Some of the Festival’s distinct designs, seen
people from across that empire were seeking a on textiles and furniture, were inspired by
new life in the UK. science. The work of Nobel Prize-winning
Badged guiding also started at around the same scientist Dorothy Hodgkin featured
time, with the first London guides qualifying in prominently. She was the pioneer of X-Ray
1950/1951. Back in the day the badge was red – crystallography. This revealed the molecular
the colour of London – rather than the blue of today. structure of compounds and chemicals …
and made for brilliant designs.
The Festival was initially conceived to mark the
centenary of the 1851 Great Exhibition. Rather than If the Festival were held today, it would be
staging another world fair, it became a celebration supported by an array of sponsors. In 1951
of peace and modernity. Its champion was Labour however, apart from Guinness, who funded
politician and former leader of the London County the Battersea pleasure gardens, private
Council, Herbert Morrison, grandfather of New money was largely absent. Motor industry
Labour supremo Peter Mandelson. giants like Morris and Rover, for example,
contributed nothing to the Festival’s £12,000
Today, when we think of the Festival, we picture the
budget. Also absent was any celebrity
transformation of the twenty seven acre South Bank
endorsement. Hit films in 1951 included Pool
site, which attracted over nine million people. Its
of London, staring Earl Cameron, one of
Dome of Discovery and space-rocket-like Skylon
Britain’s first black celebrities. His
sculpture were instant hits. People travelled across
endorsement and that of other leading lights
the UK to see the spectacle, some bedded-down
of the day, like Alec Guinness, Joan
overnight in Clapham’s Second World War era
Greenwood and Noel Coward, was not
deep-level bomb shelters.
sought to add stardust to the proceedings.
The Festival was actually a nationwide event.
People loved the Festival. It gave them a
Belfast held the Farm and Factories exhibition.
taste of contemporary living. The South Bank
Glasgow’s Kelvingrove hosted the Industrial Power
boasted six restaurants at a time when you
exhibition. There was a even a festival ship, HMS
Festival of Britain artwork: struggled to get a cup of coffee in museums
Compania, which visited ten UK ports. This 1941
From top: Original advertisement, and galleries. It had outdoor terraces where
converted escort aircraft carrier had begun life Builder’s poster, ‘Brave New World’
you could watch the world go by - an early
transporting refrigerated New Zealand lamb. collage, ‘Lion and Unicorn’ plan. British experience of café society.
4guiding news
Festival of Britain (continued) THE FRENCH UNKNOWN WARRIOR
Not everyone embraced it however. Winston Churchill returned The idea of a tomb for an unknown warrior in the
to government in 1951. Tired and out of ideas, he was Panthéon was first mooted in 1916. Serious discussions
particularly keen to see the back of the Festival, which he saw about how to commemorate the war dead began in
as a celebration of socialism. For most visitors, however, this December 1918 and on Bastille Day 1919 a cenotaph was
was something fresh and modern. It lifted the nation out of the erected at the Arc de Triomphe. On 12 September the
greyness of post-war Britain. Chamber of Deputies decided that a soldier should be
World War Two was itself a catalyst for innovation. It marked exhumed and reburied either in the Panthéon or at the Arc
the dawn of a new era. From trauma and destruction emerged de Triomphe. They had to choose a day to commemorate
technological know-how and innovation. This included the war dead. Would it be 2 November, All Souls Day, or
advances in design in everyday living, which the nation was 11 November? Most ex-combatants preferred the latter
excited to embrace and which the Festival was equally keen to and Arc de Triomphe as it was already a military symbol.
spotlight. There are some powerful parallels here with our own The following year the bodies of eight unknown French
lives post-lockdown. soldiers from different battlefields were exhumed, put into
Let us hope that by the Festival’s May anniversary the Covid oak coffins and taken to Verdun. On 9 November 1920 the
vaccination roll-out will enable us all to look to a more optimistic coffins were taken to a mortuary chapel in the citadel of
future, just as we did back in 1951. Verdun with a guard of honour from the 132nd infantry
Antony Robbins (who provided all the images) regiment lining the route. It had been decided that an
ordinary infantryman, a ‘poilu’ second class, not an officer
Antony (‘Mr Londoner’) was director at the Museum of London.
or a politician, would be the appropriate person to choose
which of the coffins would be interred at the Arc. Auguste
ROYAL NEWS Thin (1899-1982) who had signed up in January 1918 and
Diana to be honoured with plaque and film was the youngest volunteer in the 132nd regiment at the
In what would have been her sixtieth year, Diana, Princess of time was picked for the honour. He walked around the
Wales is to be remembered with a blue plaque. Her name was coffins and eventually laid a wreath of red and white
agreed by English Heritage as part of its drive to honour more carnations on one. This coffin was sent to Paris on 10
women, who are remembered on only 14% November while the seven others were buried at the
of Arcadi Monastery
the 900 plus blue plaques in Britain. military cemetery near Verdun in the Carré des Sept
Diana’s memorial will probably be put up in Inconnus, the Square of the Seven Unknowns.
Earl’s Court where she lived with friends in a On arrival in Paris on 10 November the selected coffin
flat given to her by her mother as an was received at the Pantheon by President Raymond
eighteenth birthday present. Diana will also Poincaré who gave an address. Afterwards an all-night
be portrayed by the American actress Kirsten vigil took place nearby at the Place Denfert-Rochereau
Stewart in the upcoming film Spencer. and on 11 November 1920 the French Unknown Soldier
Other honours removed was taken to the Arc de Triomphe. Because the vault was
not yet ready, his casket was placed on a gun carriage
Seventy people have had honours given by the Queen under the arch and it was interred two months later at
removed in the last decade. These include Harvey Weinstein 8am on 28 January 1921.
and Mark Adams who worked at 10 Downing Street but was
‘Poilu’ is an affectionate term for WWI French infantrymen.
convicted of raping two women. Sexual offences are the main
Scene from TheaCrown It equates to ‘Tommy’ and means ‘hairy’ or ‘bearded one’.
reason for stripping recipient of their honour, with fraud the
A bushy moustache or beard was considered a sign of
second most important cause.
virility and was common among working class Frenchmen.
Royal Planes Grounded French soldiers were allowed to have beards. In fact, in
As part of the recent defence review four planes from the 1844 the French Foreign Legion were ordered not to
Queen’s Flight are to be sold. Senior members of the royal shave when on tour. Even today the Legion’s sappers like
family will be expected to share the Prime Minister’s RAF to have a bushy beard and anyone going on ceremonial
Voyager plane, which had a £900,000 revamp last year. Many parades is encouraged to grow one.
royals travel on commercial flights, including Prince William During WWI the poilus had to shave their beards when
and his wife Kate who were seen on an EasyJet flight after a gas was used because they could not get a gas mask on
skiing holiday in 2012. properly - but they kept their moustaches. The French
The Crown Estate flower for remembrance is not the poppy but the
cornflower because the uniforms of the French army in
The Crown Estate defines itself as ‘creating brilliant places the First World War were pale blue - and because of the
through conscious commercialism’. It gets more income from colour of the French skies.
the Apple store on Regent St than from its entire agricultural
estate. (From Who Owns England by Guy Shrubsole.) Gail Jones
More at royalcircular.com. Thanks to Augusta Harris. (Who has been studying French history during lockdown.)
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL TOURIST GUIDES
www.guidelondon.org.uk 5
May 2021guiding news
WANDSWORTH HUGUENOTS
Chris Van Hayden on Protestant immigrants from France in a South London suburb
The indelible mark left by the Huguenot community and their The history of non-conformists’ tolerance by the authorities is a
development of the silk weaving industry is the stuff of legend. complex one, but the Wandsworth Huguenots were allowed to
Their skills and entrepreneurial drive led them to settle across worship in their own language, thus ensuring they would not
the south of England and in America. In the aftermath of the attract natives to their congregation. A property deed from the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the small trickle 1680s records how the Huguenots leased a barn in Chapel Yard
arriving in Britain turned into a steady flow and, by the beginning which they converted formally into the French Church in 1713
of the eighteenth century, Huguenots made up five per cent of and which operated until 1787.
London’s population. Some of these refugee families headed to Head east along the High Street to the beautiful but overlooked
a small village on the road to Kingston: Wandsworth. Municipal Suite, a Portland stone-faced Art Deco building, which
In the early eighteenth century Wandsworth supplied Cattle trough,isSpaniard’s
Covent now Wandsworth’s
Road Town Hall. Alongside the building are
Garden andSubway at Crystdal
other markets. CornPalace
mills along the River Wandle friezes representing the parishes YorkofUniversity Campus
the former Borough of
had fed the royal household for centuries and the Wandle was Wandsworth. Above the Borough’s Coat of Arms is a Huguenot
Europe’s hardest working river, peppered with mills, factories couple in period dress, flanked by soldiers returning from the
and warehouses, Huguenots pivotal in this flourishing. front and a horned Viking.,
Huguenots were attracted to
Wandsworth by an already
existing community of French and
Dutch emigres. Finding a French Town Hall frieze
speaking settled community would have been of importance for - with soldiers,
Huguenots and
the Huguenots, giving them the prospect of worshipping in their horned Vikings
own language. The first refugees to arrive were employed by
existing local industries including, frying pan making, calico
printing, market gardening and 'Wandsworth Scarlet’, a red
textile dye made from rasping imported Brazilian wood.
Eventually the Wandsworth Huguenots became renowned for
their hat making skills, having imported their own formula of Heading towards Southwark is Book House, former HQ of the
felting, the process of removing furs from skin. This involved the Wandsworth Board of Works. Behind is Mount Nod Cemetery,
use of mercury which could lead to erethism, most commonly (below) also known as the French Cemetery, used for Huguenot
referred to as ‘mad hatter’s disease’ or the ‘hatters shakes’, a burials. It operated from the 1680s
neurological disease which caused tremors, violent spasm, and until 1854 when many of the
could lead to madness and death. metropolitan burial grounds were
closed by parliament. The cemetery
Besides the Ram Quarter, home of the former Ram Brewery,
has been refurbished, monuments
there is little that survives of Wandsworth’s past industries or the
repaired, meandering paths relaid
Huguenots. However, there are a few clues reminding us of their
and vegetation tidied up.
legacy. Opposite Wandsworth All Saints Church on the High
Street is a narrow alleyway that leads to Chapel Yard. This There are plans to open the garden as a communal space. This
secluded and quiet spot close to the busy A3 is dominated by place of repose indicates a thriving well-off community, with
the charming Clore Building. This Victorian Romanesque many tombs elegantly faced with stone. These are typically plain
extravaganza reminds me of Milan’s fifth century basilicas and is memorials with no Christian iconography, some adorned by
now the premises for the National Opera Studio (worth visiting to memento mori, such as crossbones with skulls and hourglasses.
watch live rehearsals). The importance of the Wandsworth Huguenot community was
On its façade are a number of plaques, whose content must be remembered long after most had left or were assimilated.
taken with a pinch of salt. One makes a claim about a Opposite Huguenot Place facing the East Hill side of the
Presbyterian chapel on this spot since 1572, which would have cemetery is a memorial stone erected in 1911 after lobbying by
been illegal in the sixteenth century. Whilst these claims are George William Tarrant, priest of the local Unitarian Church.
overblown, Wandsworth’s industry did attract immigrants and Throughout his stay in Wandsworth he wrote a number of
dissenting groups in large numbers, eventually making the sermons praising Huguenots fleeing persecution in pursuit of
village a hotbed of non-conformism. freedom to follow their Protestant faith. He reminded his
congregation of how much Wandsworth had gained from
The 1903 census shows 49% of the British population were
Huguenot enterprise and sacrifice.
Church of England, 6% were Catholic, while 46% were
dissenters, mainly Baptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Chris Van Hayden
Methodists, Unitarians and Presbyterians. Next month Chris writes on the Brian Barnes murals in Wandsworth.
6guiding news
PROPERTY NEWS QUEEN ELIZABETH OLYMPIC PARK
A penthouse at the One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge is being In commemoration of the
offered for sale for £175 million ($241 million). Split over two victims of the global
levels, the property has five bedrooms and measures about pandemic and as a tribute to
18,000 square feet (1,670 square meters), the equivalent of the ongoing role played by
almost 700 houses as the average house price in Britain now our key workers, a new
hovers around the quarter of a million pound mark, according to London Blossom Garden
a survey published by the Halifax Building Society. (right) has been created at
QEOP and should open to
Meanwhile a London skyscraper is poised to
the public in late May. Thirty
become the UK’s most expensive office block
three trees, representing all
after being put up for sale for £1.8 billion. The
the London boroughs, have
thirty seven storey buiding is at 100
been planted in three rings – a central ring of seventeen trees
Bishopsgate and, if this asking price is met,
and two smaller rings of nine and seven trees. The garden will
it will show that workers are returning to their
provide a space for Londoners to contemplate and reflect on
commute to City offices rather than
what the pandemic has meant to our city and the world. There
continuing to work remotely. The previous
are eight different species, including cherry, plum, hawthorn and
most expensive office block in the City was
crab apple trees, which will bloom each spring to mark the start
the ‘Walkie Talkie’ building (right) which was
of the first lockdown in 2020. These ‘Blossom Circles’ are the
sold for £1.3 billion in 2017.
first to be planted in a National Trust-inspired project in
OAK TREES England, Wales and Northern Ireland. MS
Britain has 600 species of oak trees, two of which are native to APTG’S ONLINE PARTIES
the UK: the pedunculate oak, also known as the English oak,
Dani Harte has recently
produces acorns that hang on a stalk or peduncle, and the
organised two online
sessile oak produces stalkless acorns. According to a recent
parties for APTG
report field trees like the oak are often regarded as a nuisance
members via Zoom. It
by farmers as they inhibit harvesting and use water that would
was our first ever
otherwise go to growing crops.
Speed Guiding Social
The Bowthorpe Oak in Lincolnshire is over and it is now planned to
1,000 years old and has the largest girth of hold them on the 18th
a British pedunculate oak at 13.3 metres. of every month. A
The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest (left) is Zoom link will be sent in the weekly email to all members.
also around a 1,000 years old and may The evenings began with Dani welcoming people into the main
have been known to Robin Hood. room with music. Dancing soon ensued and Dani’s backdrop
A 200-year-old oak at the National Trust’s Stourhead estate in of disco lights and cabaret hat set off the right tone. After fifteen
Wiltshire is the tallest in the UK at 132.5 feet (40.4m). minutes people went into breakout rooms with four other
Large round growths on the trunks of oaks were used to make randomly selected guides. Each room had been named after a
ink for the Magna Carta, Newton’s theories and Mozart’s music. pub like The Churchill or the Hoop and Grapes so it was as
close as we could get to a proper pub crawl.
Oaks produce one of the hardest and most durable timbers but
take up to 150 years to be ready for harvesting. The wine, beer, gin and tonics were free flowing and so were
the smiles. After returning to the main room, members went into
THE ART OF GUIDING NOW AN EBOOK the pubs again, this time reassigned with different people. The
conversation was free flowing and it was great to socialise with
The Art of Guiding by Katrine Prince old friends and new. We had trainees from the 2019/2021
has been issued as an ebook. It is the course and also a few from the newly qualified class of 2020.
result of Katrine's experience in tourist We had old friends too. In fact, they made up the majority and
guide training and is a useful study it proved an incredible way to meet and greet between newer
tool, now in its third edition and for the and more seasoned guides.
first time as an ebook. It uses easy-to-
Throughout the evenings you were free to leave when you
understand language, an entertaining
wanted - there was no obligation to stay for the entire time. As
style, a lot of practical dos and don’ts
the evenings progressed and numbers dwindled, people
and explanatory illustrations to create
stopped heading to the pubs and stayed in the main room to
an essential reference book for the
talk to those they had not met in the smaller groups. It was such
professional tourist guide. To
a positive experience to natter to each other. Dani had set the
purchase The Art of Guiding go to:
evening to be a fun and enjoyable one amongst friends, which
feg-touristguides.com/e-book.php
it most definitely was. DH
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL TOURIST GUIDES 7
www.guidelondon.org May 2021APTG’S AUTHORS
APTG members who have written or contributed to books
Emily Laurence Baker Mark King
Emily has written City Walks with Mark’s well-known London Quiz Book includes not only
Kids: 50 Adventures by Foot as well questions but twenty two tours so that you can ‘leap from
as Slow New Forest, published by page to pavement’ as he celebrates the capital. The
Chronicle Books and available on book is available from the Museum of London, most
Amazon. bookshops and Amazon.
Mark Conroy Edwin Lerner
Mark is the author
Guidelines editor Eddie Lerner has written two
of three children’s
books inspired by his guiding (and he is
books: Adventures
working on a third). They are The Guide Book
in Noisy Places,
and Even the Old Bags Laughed. Both can be
Adventures Around
bought on Amazon or directly from him.
the Globe and also
Adventures in
Famous Places for World of Books.
Geoff Marshall
Steve Fallon Docklands expert Geoff has written two
Steve has contributed to several guidebooks on books on the area: London’s Docklands
London including the well-known Lonely Planet and An Illustrated Guide as well as a
London Travel Guide, which is available from guide to Bankside. They are published
Foyles bookshop and on Amazon. by the History Press and available on
Abe Books and Bookfinder.
Tom Hooper
Another guide book contributor is Tom Hooper who Vicky Wood
has written on legal London for London Walks,
Vicky’s book Kings and Queens provides a profile of
London Stories, a book written by those who lead
all the British monarchs with bite-sized pieces of
walking tours in the capital. It is available from
information presented in a colourful and entertaining
Blackwells and Amazon.
pocket-sized book available on Abebooks.
Frank Gelli Robert Woolf
Frank’s book The Dark Side of England is
In Lord Mayor’s Portraits Robert and his co-writers
‘shaped like a novel but also as an essay’ set
explore the tradition of commissioning artists to
chiefly in London and Windsor. A photograph of
paint portraits of London’s Lord Mayors. It is
Winston Churchill’s statue in Parliament Square 3 Savile Row
available on Amazon.
is on the cover. It can be bought on Amazon.
Rick Jones Marc Zakian
Rick has worked as a journalist as well as a guide. Marc provides the photographs for Ed Gilnert’s book
In the popular Time Out London Walks books he 111 Places In London’s East End That You Shouldn’t
contributed to both Volume One (Cheyne Walk) and Miss. It can be bought from the Brick Lane bookshop
Volume Two (Roman Wall walk). Time Out guides and from Blackwells or Amazon.
are available at many outlets and on Amazon. If you have a book published, please let us know!
Thanks to all contributors including:
Jeanie Carmichael, Dani Harte, Chris van Hayden, Augusta Harris, Gail Jones, Antony
Robbins, Mary Sewell and Charlotte Thurlow and to Liz Rubenstein for proofreading.
We LOVE getting material from members. Guidelines is your monthly magazine and
The Association of
it is the way we communicate with each other through the medium of hard copy. We
Professional Tourist Guides
welcome articles and photos from members but contributions may be held over and
Email:
we reserve the right to edit them. Images should be high resolution – 300 ppi.
APTG@guidelondon.org.uk
Editor: Edwin Lerner Please email copy and images to edwinlerner@gmail.com by 15 May for next issue.
edwinlerner@gmail.com Printed and produced by Unite (GMP&IT) members.
(JN8627)
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