In September 2023 I took a decision.
I decided I was going to take the exams to become a Blue Badge Tourist Guide for the Liverpool City Region - Liverpool plus Wirral and surrounding 'days out.' I am also a tutor on the course so it was logical to add the area to my guiding portfolio.
Move forward to now, April 2024, I have taken one exam and am preparing for the next one in May this year. And sometimes briefly wondering what I am doing.
What have I learned so far?
I am training with a superb group of colleagues and we all help and support each other (including a colleague accompanying me to get my ears pierced for the first time in my life.)
Liverpool is an awful lot more than football and The Beatles
A LOT OF INFORMATION - to the point where I am worried something vital may fall out of the back of my head.
How to guide on a coach
How to guide in a cathedral (Liverpool Anglican Cathedral)
How to guide in an art gallery (Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight)
All of this is helping me to be a better guide for the Bridgewater Canal, by the way..... Lots of connections to the Bridgewater Canal in Salford - not just physical via the Leeds/Liverpool canal and Bridgewater Canal junction with the River Mersey at Runcorn but people, places and works of art keep appearing. You'll have to come on my Bridgewater tours to find out what the connections are.....
........Did you know that Liverpool had its own style of red pillar box - the Liverpool Special? The one at the Royal Albert Dock was given a makeover for Eurovision 2023, which was hosted in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine.
