Fly, My Pretties

There’s no other job where you are coached on...

• the best moment to scream in a story;
• on 'what do ghosts REALLY look like';
• practise whipping on your fellow trainees to ensure maximum drama and minimum injury;
• what to do if someone throws chips at you whilst you’re telling a story

When it comes to training here, it’s a unique and often surreal experience.

In the past couple of weeks, our freshest batch of guides did their first solo tours and they did a fantastic job. The hours, weeks, months of learning stories, watching our ‘old hands’ and even practising their screaming techniques – it all came together intoa great solo tour.  For those who have experienced that ‘first tour’ feeling, you’ll know there ain’t nothing like it – regardless of how long ago it may have been!

But whilst we congratulate the new guides, spare a thought for the guides who have helped train them. It’s like watching your children grow up and fly the nest. They don’t need your guiding hand anymore. You sit back like a wise grandparent and watch them do wonderful things and then smile when they make those silly mistakes, the same ones you made when you first started.

Falling over a bollard at the Mercat Cross, that’s a rite of passage we all have to endure……or was that just me?