The Take Me to London team qualified as Blue Badge Tourist Guides in London in 2018.
We’ve always loved the city but at the same time, we’ve all always been drawn to nature. Jill and I are keen hikers, and Jackie has a home with horses and Shetland ponies in the Ardennes.
2019
I took my Hill Moorland Leader course just before the pandemic. I remember coming back from the Peak District on an almost empty train.
When the pandemic hit everything fell apart. All our assignments were cancelled and we couldn’t guide. When we were allowed outdoors again our ideas started to take shape. I was also outdoor first aid qualified and insured for lowland walks so she started to prepare walks outdoors. Jill and I pre-walked the walks and researched routes. It started with my London tea walk then venturing further into the countryside.
2020–2021: History Hikers Group
The History Hikers group was founded. I started to offer small group outdoor activities, taking the train from London and always making sure that social distancing could be applied. Our hikes always involved a combination of nature and historic sites.
When lockdown ended the History Hikers group continued and started to include internal visits to sites, or small churches along our hikes always donating and encouraging donations. I had no idea at this stage that this was technically sustainable tourism. It just felt right.
Participants were always told about the countryside code.
2022: North Downs Way Ambassador
Then the opportunity came for me to train as a North Downs Way Ambassador. The training covered not only lowland navigation but also the flora and fauna of the area. It made a huge difference and we all gradually started to be more conscious about sustainability.
2023: Wales
In May 2023 I qualified as a Blue Badge Tourist Guide in Wales. Wales was love at first sight. When certificates were presented by Dafydd Wigley, I was moved by his inspirational speech, emphasising the importance of sustainable tourism.
2023-2024: Qualifications in Sustainable Tourism
In October 2023 I attended a short course called SMART Tourism and Responsible Travel by Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham Business School and in January 2024 gained a qualification in Sustainable Tourism by GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) and signed up as a member. Jill has completed a continuous development course on sustainability offered by the Association of Professional Tourist Guides and Federation of European Tourist Guides Association.
We started to think about how to apply sustainability to our tours in a big city such as London, we changed the way the tours were delivered, updated the website and I made changes at home too, monitoring water and energy usage, changing the products she used to clean her house and swapping to Bower Collective eco-products.
At the end of January 2024, we gained the Silver Green Tourism Award.
What is yet to come?
I am the first Blue Badge Guide to qualify in Sustainability in London and Wales. I am also preparing for my Hill and Moorland Leader Assessment, attending workshops on geology, and glaciation and tackling environmental challenges for a sustainable future. We are starting our tours, Cardiff by Rail, offering nature walks combined with history. We all continuously seek to learn more.
Find out more at: Take Me to London
