Walk Talk Tours Blog

Tower of London still a crowd puller

2008-05-15T01:48:00.000-07:00

Ravens, Beefeaters and the Crown Jewels are three of the things most commonly associated with the Tower of London today. In the past the Tower was the most feared prison in the land as listeners to the City & South Bank Circular mp3 guided tour will discover.

Two of King Henry VIII's wives were executed here. His second wife, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded her in 1536. Her trial began on 15th May, 1536. She was executed on 19th May. She was accused of committing incest, sleeping with four men and, most seriously, plotting to kill her husband. In reality, her fate was sealed because she had been unable to give Henry VIII the surviving male heir he craved. Catherine Howard, wife number five, met a similar grisly fate. For her sins, Catherine was beheaded on 13th February, 1542, having pleaded guilty to treason by embarking on pre-martial affairs with Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham. Culpeper was publicly beheaded; Dereham was hung, disemboweled, beheaded and then quartered. Public executions were held on Tower Hill. They were great crowd pullers.

Another famous figure in British history, Guy Fawkes, was tortured, on the rack, in the Tower. His captors were impressed - and unnerved - by the calmness with which he had responded to questioning. It was only after torture that he revealed the names of his accomplices. Guy Fawkes, the most famous conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot of 5th Novemeber, 1605 was executed opposite the Parliament he tried to blow up. Visitors to the capital can learn about the Palace of Westminster (Big Ben et al) with the Palace Trail city guide. York born Fawkes converted to Catholicism as a young man. Discover what help radicalise him with The Best of York downloadable travel guide.

One man who escaped the gallows in the seventeenth century was Colonel Thomas Blood. Find out what he did - and how he lived to tell the tale - with The City and The Tower iPod travel guide. To hear an audio sample from The City and The Tower podcast guided tour please click here.

The Yeoman Warders - more commonly known as the Beefeaters - came into existence in the late fifteenth century. Up until recently all the Yeoman Warders were men. That all changed in September last year when Moira Cameron became the first female Beefeater.

There are five Walk Talk Tours of London. Each of the London tours is available in English, French, German and Spanish. Every tour comes complete with a downloadable map

Auld Reekie long gone, but some things never change

2008-05-13T01:02:00.000-07:00

Edinburgh's Old Town was famously dubbed Auld Reekie by the precocious poet, Robert Fergusson, who penned a poem of the same name in 1773, which described the Old Town in rich colloquial speech. Fergusson wrote how the smoke from Edinburgh's Old Town's chimneys could be seen from Fife. The smoke (generated by coal and wood burning fires) has long since gone. Fergusson is buried in Canongate Kirkyard, on the Canongate. Tourists with The Royal Mile & More, Walk Talk Tour, podcast guided tour will learn about other famous Scots that are buried in the Kirkyard.

Some things in the Scottish capital do not change, as researchers compiling an online archive of Scottish acts of parliament passed between the 13th and 18th centuries discovered. Visitors to Edinburgh can hear how the new Scottish Parliament ran over budget and beyond timetable with The Royal Mile & More, Walk Talk Tour, mp3 guided tour. The overspend led the Parliament to be dubbed 'Follyrood'. The Scotsman on Sunday reported on 11th May how Parliament House, found close to St Giles Cathedral, was completed late and over-budget when it first opened in 1639. To hear an audio sample from The Royal Mile & More iPod travel guide please click here.

According to the research, environmental issues were regularly raised in the Parliaments of the past. The motivation may not have been the same as campaigners today. Maintaining animal stocks was regarded to be important so hunting could continue to take place. Landowners had their rights enshrined in law in a bid to curtail poaching. Tourists in Edinburgh can reduce their carbon footprint and burn a calorie or two with The Royal Mile & More and Old & New Towns iPod travel guides.

The latter downloadable travel guide begins in the Castle Esplanade then takes Walk Talk Tourists from the Old Town, via the Grassmarket, to the New Town. Edinburgh’s New Town was built to alleviate overcrowding in the Old Town. Listeners to the Royal Mile & More city guide will discover how Nor' Loch, on the site of modern day Princes Street Gardens, was once a place where suspected witches would be dumped into the water. As part of the plans for a New Town, which gained momentum from 1700 onwards, the loch was drained in 1759 and the Mound which separates the East and West Princes Street Gardens, was built using the excavated earth. Strict planning guidelines governed the design of building constructed in the New Town. James Craig, a young architect, won the competition to design the new development in 1767.

The Old & New Towns tourist guide finishes in Charlotte Square, where visitors can see a recreated Georgian House and Bute House, the official residence of Scotland's First Minister. The splendour of the New Town and the activities of some of the individuals who lived there led the city to be called 'The Athens of the North.' Graham Alexander Bell the inventor of the telephone was born close to Charlotte Square and Sir Douglas Haig, who became Commander of the British Forces during World War One was born in Charlotte Square. The elegance of the New Town must have seemed a million miles away from the horrors of the Western Front. The distance between the foul smelling overcrowded wynds (narrow road or path between houses) of the Old Town and the spacious, regulated development of the New Town would have seemed large enough.

To listen to an audio sample from the Old & New Towns podcast guide please click here.

Autumn Kelly set to be first 'native' Canadian royal

2008-05-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Canadian Autumn Kelly will marry Peter Phillips, the son of Princess Anne, in a service in St George's Chapel, Windsor, next Saturday. The service is set to be low key and light on pageantry in royal terms. Phillips is 11th in line to the throne. He has been able to pursue his own interests with relatively little media scrutiny for much of his life. That may all change, for a short time at least, as Kelly and Phillips have sold the much sought after story of their marriage to Hello magazine.

Visitors to London wanting to see pomp and pageantry need not have to wait until to the next royal wedding or big state occasion. Tourists can see the Queen's Life Guard at Horse Guards and discover which monarch formed the Guard and why with the Palace Trail mp3 guided tour. The two sentries on duty by the boxes, on Whitehall, form part of the Queen’s Life Guard which is charged with protecting the monarch when she is in London. The men of the Queen’s Life Guard are part of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. The final commentary point on The Palace Trail iPod travel guide is Buckingham Palace, where the Changing of the Guard Ceremony takes place. To make the most of your podcast guided tour look at our Where and When page to find out the precise times that the Changing of the Guards take place.

Obviously, Britain and Canada have long established ties. Autumn Kelly hails from Montreal and has renounced her Roman Catholic faith, so that her husband-to-be should not be debarred from ascending to the throne. Under the existing laws a member of the royal family would be excluded from the succession if they were married to a Roman Catholic.

North Americans in London can discover the sights with a Walk Talk Tour city guide. The Palace Trail begins outside Westminster Abbey takes in the New Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament, including Big Ben), Parliament Square, the Cenotaph and Downing Street. Listeners to the Palace Trail downloadable travel guide then take in Horse Guards - and Horse Guards Parade - before heading into Trafalgar Square, then under Admiralty Arch along the Mall, through St James's Park to Buckingham Palace.

Britain's great war leader, Sir Winston Churchill, was fond of Canada and her people. He described Canada as the "linchpin of the English-speaking peoples." Churchill was extremely quick witted, as listeners to the audio sample from the Palace Trail tour guide will discover.

Walk Talk Tours five tourist guides of London are available in French, German and Spanish.

St Paul's backdrop for City Salute

2008-05-08T00:40:00.000-07:00

Last night Britain's service personnel were honoured in an open air display on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral which was full of the pomp, pageantry and music more usually associated with the annual Trooping of the Colour. Flypasts, bands from the Royal Navy and ceremonial troops all featured in the ceremony. The City Salute was held to raise money for servicemen and women wounded on active service. The Help for Heroes charity and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSFA) will both benefit from the event.

Princes William and Harry are both patrons of the appeal. Proceeds from last night's display will contribute to the funding of a gym and swimming pool at a rehabilitation centre at Headley Court, near Leatherhead in Surrey and a project at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham. The Princes were part of a large crowd that assembled on the steps to St Paul's Cathedral. Pictures of proceedings were relayed to spectators in Paternoster Square via four big screens.

The famous Cathedral has a rich history as listeners to The Ride & Stride mp3 guided tour, The City & The Tower tourist guide or the City & South Bank Circular podcast guided tour will discover. During the City Salute images of serving British personnel were projected onto the front of St Paul's.

Inside Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece servicemen from overseas are commemorated. The American Memorial Chapel located behind the High Altar commemorates over 28,000 American service personnel who gave their lives in the defence of liberty, while stationed on, or travelling to, these shores. The roll of honour can be found by the chapel’s altar.

French, German and Spanish speaking tourists can enjoy Walk Talk Tours five downloadable travel guides of London in their own native tongue. Each tour comes complete with a downloadable map to help Walk Talk Tourists navigate from A to B. To hear an audio sample from The City & South Bank Circular tour please click here.

Visitors or undercover locals with a Walk Talk Tour iPod travel guide will find out how Wren overcame the difficulty of creating such a large dome. The Cathedral was devastated by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Discover which was the only monument to survive the inferno with a Walk Talk Tour city guide.

Visitors who missed last night's display of pageantry can still see serving soldiers on ceremonial duties at Horse Guards and outside Buckingham Palace. Both of these famous venues are commentary points on The Palace Trail tourist guide. Take a look at our Where & When Page so as to make the most of your Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour.

Edinburgh Fringe Still Top Dog

2008-05-06T04:41:00.000-07:00

The Brighton Fringe began this weekend, showcasing a range of stand up comedy and carabet acts. The festival finishes on 26th May. The annual Edinburgh Fringe is still top dog in terms of numbers of paying customers, range of acts appearing and international appeal. Brighton has a lot going for it, not least the fact that it is a mere sixty miles from London.

Heading to The Edinburgh Fringe can be an extremely costly undertaking. Competition for Fringegoers attention and patronage is at its most fierce on the Royal Mile. You may well want to get away from it all, stretch your legs before heading to one of The Fringe's venues later in the day. Discovering the secrets behind some of the Old Town's most famous and lesser known landmarks need not cost the earth. The Royal Mile & More, Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour begins in the Castle Esplanade, where the annual Edinburgh Military Tattoo is held in August. This year's Tattoo runs from 1st August to 23rd August.

Listeners to The Royal Mile & More iPod travel guide can learn about the native of Edinburgh who was the last person to be tried under the Witchcraft Act in the UK. Walk Talk Tourists then continue down the Royal Mile, past the Tron Kirk, which is now better known as The Hub, the Home of the Edinburgh International Festival. The Edinburgh International Festival began in 1947. It showcases the performing arts - opera, classical music, dance and theatre - and runs for three weeks between late August and early September.

Thankfully, visitors to the Scottish capital or undercover tourists are free to discover the sights - at their leisure, in their own time - with a Walk Talk Tour downloadable travel guide.

The Old & New Towns city guide begins outside the Castle before heading down into the Grassmarket where listeners to the Old & New Towns podcast guided tour will learn about two infamous characters from the city's past. To hear an audio sample from The Old & New Town downloadable travel guide please click here. The Grassmarket is situated close to two of the Fringe Fesitval's most popular venues: the Underbelly, on the Cowgate and the Underbelly's Baby Belly, which is located in The Caves on Niddry Street just off the Cowgate.

The Old & New Towns travel guide passes another of the Fringe's main venues, The Assembly Rooms. Visitors can learn about the building's distinguished past and hear about some of the famous individuals who have been honoured there. The Old & New Towns mp3 guided tour ends in Charlotte Square - where the annual International Book Festival, the world's largest international book festival, is held - and where the First Minister of Scotland has his official residence.

To hear an audio sample from The Royal Mile & More podcast guided tour please click here.

Banish Your Bank Holiday Blues

2008-05-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

Many people in England and Wales will be off work this Bank Holiday, Monday, 5th May. And their children will be off school, too. What should be a relaxing, fun day for all concerned is often fraught with difficulties, as different generations have dissimilar views as to how best to spend their additional day off.

Why not make the most of the extra day to explore the sights in three of Britain's most visited cities with a Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour? Walk Talk Tours offer excellent value for groups and parties. Have your kids got to that stage where they don't want to be seen with you, but you still want to keep an eye on them? By simultaneously undertaking the same tour at the same time, your offspring can learn something but feel 'independent'. The beauty of a Walk Talk Tour podcast guided tour is that it gives the user the freedom to stop and start as they see fit. No more traipsing after a man with an umbrella, or straining to hear a guide, or feeling conspicuous with mum in dad in tow.

There are five Walk Talk Tours of London which are available in French, German and Spanish. On The Palace Trail iPod travel guide users can discover where the 'true' centre of London is located and where the first ever General Assembly of the United Nations was held. To hear an audio sample from The Palace Trail please click here. Fancy a ride on an iconic Routemaster bus? The Ride & Stride city guide is for you. Discover what else design consultant Douglas Scott was responsible for designing during his distinguished career. The kids think that sightseeing is boring? Families taking The Ride & Stride downloadable travel guide together will find there is something for everyone. Learn about the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. That's Sweeney Todd to you me.

Have you ever been into the City of London on a Sunday? Why not have a look round this Bank Holiday Monday with The City and The Tower mp3 guided tour. Find out how Lloyd's of London got its name. Learn what one meaning of 'foreigner' was in fourteenth century Londoner in Leadenhall Market. In the same market spot where part of Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone was filmed.

Feeling creative? Fancy discovering some of the stories behind some of London's most famous Museums, Galleries & Performing Arts iPod travel guide. Follow in the footsteps of the stars in Leicester Square. From William Shakespeare to Charlie Chaplin its got it all. Enjoy the ambiance of Covent Garden. Hear about the area's colourful history. Take an interactive look at the history of the capital's transport in the London Transport Museum.

Feeling energetic? You could decide to embark on the City & South Bank Circular podcast guided tour. The city guide is a combination of the best of The Ride and Stride downloadable travel guide and The City and The Tower mp3 guided tour. Begin at St Paul's Cathedral take in The Bank of England, Lloyd's of London, The Monument and The Tower, before heading over the Thames via Tower Bridge and walking along the South Bank by the way of The Clink Prison, The Globe Theatre and Tate Modern...

In addition there are two Walk Talk Tour podcast guided tours in Edinburgh. There is one Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour of York, The Best of York.

Leicester Square in the Limelight

2008-05-01T01:32:00.000-07:00

On May 12 Leicester Square will host the opening premiere of the new Sex and the City Movie. Glitz and glamour are nothing new to Leicester Square as visitors to London listening to The Museums, Galleries & Performing Arts, Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour will discover. The red carpet is regularly rolled out - and the Square sprinkled with star dust - for premieres of one film or another.

A marble statue of William Shakespeare is the Square's centrepiece. The bard was born and brought up in Stratford upon Avon before he headed to the capital, where he wrote plays that were staged at the Globe Theatre. Tourists wanting to learn about the Globe Theatre can find out more by purchasing the Ride and Stride downloadable travel guide or the City & South Bank Circular podcast guided tour.

A modern master of both talkies and silent movies is commemorated with a statue in Leicester Square. Charlie Chaplin was born into a poor London family in 1889. Chaplin’s first silent movie was screened in 1914 and a year later The Tramp was a box office hit. His trademark down-at-heel appearance, in formal dinner wear, is well depicted in this statue. Chaplin did not appear in his first 'talkie' until the late 1920s.

Chaplin was banned from re-entering the USA in 1952, after promoting Limelight in the UK. Discover why he was prevented from re-entering the States and when he finally returned with The Museums, Galleries & Performing Arts city guide. Later in the tour listeners to this mp3 guided tour will also find out which nineteenth century actor turned theatre manager pioneered on stage lighting, the so-called limelight.

French, German and Spanish speakers can purchase any of the five London iPod travel guides in their native tongue.

To hear an audio sample from The Museums, Galleries & Performing Arts mp3 guided tour please click here.

Dr Sentamu's Protests Strike a Chord

2008-04-30T01:40:00.000-07:00

York is a beautiful, peaceful city as visitors who purchase the Best of York Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour will discover. The current Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has persistently voiced his opposition to Robert Mugabe's despotic regime in Zimbabwe. On Sunday,27 April, Sentamu led a day of fasting and prayer in a show of solidarity with the impoverished people of Zimbabwe.

The picture postcard Shambles is one of the oldest surviving Medieval streets in Europe. Undercover tourists or interested locals can discover the history of the street with The Best of York podcast guided tour. The Shambles was once home for a time in the late sixteenth century to a woman called Margaret Clitherow. She converted to Catholicism and refused to attend the established Church. Worse still, in the eyes of the authorities, she allowed neighbours to take the sacraments in her home. Margaret was imprisoned for practicing her beliefs on three occasions as listeners to the Walk Talk Tour iPod travel guide will discover. Margaret was charged of several 'crimes', including harbouring Catholic priests in her home inThe Shambles.

Margaret's purported defence to the charges made against her was eloquence and bravery personified: "Having made no offence, I need no trial." Margaret Clitherow was sentenced to death. She met a particularly grisly end, as listeners with The Best of York Walk Talk Tour city guide will find out.

Margaret Clitherow became a martyr for her faith. Her death helped to radicalise a young Protestant who later converted to Catholicism. Discover who the man was, and what he then went onto do with The Best of York Walk Talk Tour downloadable travel guide.

Thankfully, religious toleration and freedom of speech are two of the pillars of British democracy. Others are not so lucky. The information that is coming out of Zimbabwe seems to suggest that Mugabe and his henchmen will stop at nothing to retain their grip on power. Dr Sentamu cut up his dog collar in December and vowed not to wear it again until Mugabe had been removed from power.

To find out more about The Best of York podcast guided tour please click here. To listen to an audio sample from The Best of York mp3 guided tour please click here.

City Hall making a splash as election looms

2008-04-28T06:11:00.000-07:00

A burst water pipe near to London's City Hall forced the building - and several businesses located near it - to close earlier today. The water main began to gush into Tooley Street on Sunday morning. The BBC reported that up to 4,000 homes in south-west and south-east London found that their water was been supplied at a low pressure or they had lost it altogether. All the properties had their supply fully restored by the end of Sunday afternoon. The iconic London City Hall building is home to the Mayor of London, the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority as listeners to either The Ride and Stride or City and Southbank Circular Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour will learn.

The Mayor of London should not be confused with the Lord Mayor of London. The first Lord Mayor of London was appointed in 1189. The Lord Mayor is entrusted with the task of promoting the Square Mile internationally.

Registered voters in the capital have the chance to elect their Mayor on Thursday, 1st May. Only time will tell which of the three main candidates - Ken Livingstone the current Mayor and Labour candidate, Boris Johnson the eccentric Conservative or Brian Paddick the Liberal Democrats candidate - will emerge victorious and which of the candidates will be left high and dry.

Visitors undertaking a Walk Talk Tour iPod travel guide will hear about the powers that the Mayor of London enjoys. Additionally, tourists or interested Londoners will discover some of the design features that the architect, Sir Norman Foster, included to make the building eco-friendly.

Foster probably never envisaged that City Hall would flood. He has been responsible several iconic structures in London, including the Millennium Bridge - which visitors undertaking either The Ride and Stride city guide or The Southbank Circular travel guide will cross - and the Gherkin (former Swiss Re building) that is covered in The City and The Tower podcast guided tour. For more information on The City and The Tower downloadable travel guide please click here.

The five Walk Talk Tours of London are available in French, German and Spanish.

To find out more about The Ride and Stride mp3 guided tour please click here. To listen to an audio sample from The Southbank Circular iPod travel guide please click here.

Edinburgh Castle Still Rocks

2008-04-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

Edinburgh's most visited attraction still pulls in the crowds. Figures for last year show that a record 1.25 million people visited the Castle last year. Visitors to Edinburgh can learn about the fortress's long and turbulent history with a Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour. Both the Royal Mile & More podcast guided tour and the Old & New Towns Tour begin in the Castle Esplanade, where undercover tourists will have the chance to learn about some of the incidents that have shaped Edinburgh and Scotland's history.

The Castle rock was formed out of the molten lava of a volcano, over 340million years ago.

The Castle changed hands between the Scottish and English several times in the past. Listeners with either of the Edinburgh Walk Talk Tour iPod travel guides can discover about some of the grisly chapters in Scottish history that unfolded in the Castle. The Black Dinner ring a bell? It will do if you decided to purchase a Walk Talk Tour city guide of Edinburgh.

The Castle's ties with the military remain strong. The 52nd Infantry Brigade has the Castle as its headquarters.

Six days a week the sound of artillery fire booms out at 1pm exactly. As the timing suggests this is known as the One O'Clock Gun. Originally, the firing of the Gun was designed to provide sailors on the Firth of Forth with a time check.

The Honours of Scotland a powerful symbol of Scottish national identity consisting of a Crown, Sceptre and the Sword of State are displayed in the Crown Room. Discover who rescued the Honours from their inglorious state with either of the Edinburgh Walk Talk Tour tourist guides. To find out more about The Royal Mile & More mp3 guided tour your please click here.

In a survey of 2,000 people conducted earlier this year to find British citizens' favourite landmark Edinburgh Castle was ranked highly. Big Ben, the name popularly given to St Stephen's Tower came top in the survey. Visitors to London can learn about Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament with The Palace Trail downloadable travel guide. For more information about The Palace Trail please click here.

Please click here to find out about The Old & New Towns Tour. The Castle's opening times and admission charges can be obtained from our Where & When page.

For Hillary Clinton versus Barack Obama read Punch versus Judy

2008-04-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

The street entertainers performing in Covent Garden today may not realise it, but they are following in a long line of performers as listeners to the Walk Talk Tour Museums, Galleries & Performing Arts mp3 guided tour will discover. Samuel Pepys recorded the first performance of Punch and Judy show in England was here, under the portico of St Paul's Church, in May, 1662.

The puppets that Pepys recorded seeing in the seventeenth century would have been string puppets. The descendants of those puppets today are hand puppets. Punch's character has evolved, too. The attention grabbing pronouncements of old that characterised his seventeenth and early eighteenth century performances has been replaced by a new found aggression.

Punch most definitely has anger management issues that he needs to address. In the typical story he is left at home with his baby. He thumps the baby over the head with a stick to try and make it stop crying. His wife returns home. The two quarrel and Punch ends up killing his wife. Punch's catch phrase - uttered after he has killed Judy - is "That's the way to do it." He is imprisoned for his wife's murder. I will not talk anymore about the typical storyline as I do not wish to spoil it for anyone.

The race for the Democratic Nomination in the United States increasingly seems to resemble a fight between the children's puppets. The contest has become increasingly bitter. The Clintons have been accused of playing the race card by appealing to white conservative voters. Both of the adversaries are sapping their energy and draining their coffers, while John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, can set his sights on the election to come.

Visitors to Covent Garden can learn about a tussle of a different kind that went on for the Covent Garden Market in the 1970s with the Museum, Galleries & Performing Arts podcast guided tour.

Do It Yourself tourists can discover how the Covent Garden got its name with the Museum, Galleries & Performing Arts downloadable travel guide. Listeners to the iPod travel guide will hear about the seventeenth century development of Covent Garden and the subsequent slide, then rebirth of the area. To find out more about the Museum, Galleries & Performing Arts Walk Talk Tour please click here. To hear an audio sample from the city guide please click here.

The five Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tours of London are also available in French, German and Spanish.

Versatile Square takes Centre Stage for St George's Day

2008-04-23T03:02:00.000-07:00

Trafalgar Square will play host to a Festival of English food as England celebrates its patron saint today. Visitors to London can discover some of the protests and parties that have been organised in Trafalgar Square in the past with a Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour. Borough Market is relocating to Trafalgar Square for one day only in honour of St George. The prospect of sampling traditional English food would have been enough to turn the stomach of many a visitor in the not too distant past, but English cuisine like St George's Day itself has undergone something of a renaissance in recent years.

The Square was named after Admiral Horatio Nelson‘s naval victory, against a combined French and Spanish fleet, at the battle of Trafalgar, in 1805. Almost forty years passed before his statue was erected and the Square was open to the general public. French, German and Spanish tourists can discover the history and personalities that shaped some of London's most famous attractions with the Palace Trail podcast guided tour. The Palace Trail comes complete with a downloadable map to help visitors navigate from A to B. To find out more about the Palace Trail city guide please click here.

Negative national stereotypes are notoriously difficult to shake off. For many years the red cross of St George was synonymous with the Far Right in England. Devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has helped awaken a sense of English consciousness. Trafalgar Square has been packed full of people celebrating English sporting success, in the Rugby World Cup (2003) and the Ashes (2005). And of course Trafalgar Square was the scene for wild celebration when London won the race to stage the 2012 Olympic Games.

Indeed, this year is the first for many in which the flag of St George will fly over the Prime Minister's official London residence 10 Downing Street, alongside the union flag. Undercover tourists exploring Westminster can find out about the history of Downing Street with the Palace Trail downloadable travel guide. The Guardian reports that Gordon Brown will allow the Saltaire (Scotland's national flag) and the Welsh Dragon to fly over Number 10 on St Andrew's Day and St David's Day respectively.

The Daily Telegraph reports that a survey commissioned by Wells Bombardier Brewery found that Sir Winston Churchill was respondents' top English hero. Churchill was Anglo-American, his mother Jennine Jerome was an American heiress. He was nominated Britain's Greatest Briton in a BBC poll carried out in 2002. Listeners to the Palace Trail tour guide can discover how Churchill's statue in Parliament Square came to be located where it is and hear an example of the great man's quick wit. To hear an audio sample from the Palace Trail iPod travel guide please click here.

Mother of Parliaments still dominated by men

2008-04-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

John Bright the nineteenth century Radical MP declared in a speech made in 1865 that "England is the mother of Parliaments." Female MPs do not yet occupy twenty per cent of the seats in the New Palace of Westminster's Lower House, the House of Commons. An article in The Sunday Times from April 20th revealed how 31.6% of the seats in Germany's Lower House and 36.6% of the seats in Spain's Lower House were occupied by women.

Listeners to the Palace Trail mp3 guided tour will hear how Sir Winston Churchill once poked fun at Bessie Braddock, a Labour MP who represented a constituency in Liverpool. To hear an audio sample from the Palace Trail downloadable travel guide, which includes Churchill's put-down please click here.

One of the most respected and feared female MPs died on April 17th, 2008. Gwyneth Dunwoody was a forthright independent minded Labour MP who was renowned for her tough questioning in her capacity as chairman of the Commons Transport Committee.

French, German and Spanish speaking visitors can enjoy the Palace Trail and Walk Talk Tours' four other London mp3 guided tours in their native tongue.

Visitors with the Palace Trail iPod travel guide will discover how the two Houses of Parliament - the House of Commons and the House of Lords - operate today. People with the Walk Talk Tour podcast guided tour can learn about the history of the New Palace of Westminster. The Palace of Westminster - as the name suggests - was a royal residence until Henry VIII and the royal family vacated the Palace in 1512.

Most of the current complex dates from the nineteenth century. Westminster Hall is the only original Medieval building from the old Palace that is still standing. Both Sir Winson Churchill and Queen Elizabth the Queen Mother have laid in State here. Listeners with a downloadable city guide can discover some of the hugely significant decisons that were reached in Westminster Hall in the past.

The New Palace of Westminster is often referred to as the Mother of Parliaments as the model of government developed in London has been adopted by many Commonwealth countries. People listening to the Palace Trail tour guide will also learn about Big Ben the most photographed part of the Mother of Parliaments.

To see the route of the Palace Trail mp3 guided tour please click here.

Edinburgh Comedy Festival or the Fringe?

2008-04-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

The promoter of the if.comedy awards, Nica Burns, has warned managers of Edinburgh's top four comedy venues not to breakaway from the Fringe Festival which is synonmus with Edinburgh in August. Burns' warning came after the four biggest Fringe venues - the Assembley, the Gilded Balloon, the Underbelly and The Pleasance announced - that the comic shows put on in their venues would be termed as part of The Edinburgh Comedy Festival.

Duplication will be the name of the game for ticket holders for comedy shows at any of the four venues, as the Assembley, the Gilded Ballon, the Underbelly and the Pleasance have produced 400,000 copies of their own Comedy Festival Programme. But their acts also appear in the main Fringe Programme that was released in June. So long as everyone realises that the two names refer to the same thing as regards comedy at the above venues that's fine...

Anthony Alderson the Director of the Pleasance was quoted in The Scotsman on Tuesday 15th April as saying: "We do not want to be separate from the Fringe, just give comedy its own platform."

Visitors to Edinburgh can clear their heads, stretch their legs and learn something new about the city with a Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour. Walk Talk Tours brings you two podcast guided tours of the Scottish capital: The Royal Mile & More Tour and The Old and New Towns Tour.

The Assembly Rooms have been the venue for the Assembly for over twenty-five years. Confused, again? It's not intentional on my part, honestly. Musicians, top stand up comics and theatre all take place in the annual August extravaganza. Listeners to the Old and New Towns iPod travel guide can discover which well known British comedian fell foul of Scotland's anti-smoking ban in the not too distant past.

Visitors with the audio tourist guide will learn about some of the famous visitors to have been entertained - and as in the case of Charles Dickens in 1841, when he was made a freeman of the City of Edinburgh - honoured in the Assembly Rooms.

To hear an audio sample from the Old and New Towns tour please click here. To see the route of the podcast guide in full, please click here.

Twelve Empty Gherkins?

2008-04-16T02:13:00.000-07:00

The current Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has had a sticky time of it of late. He's not the only one, The Times estimates that the City could lose 40,000 jobs as a result of the credit crunch - that's twelve empty Gherkins or so the paper claims.

The Gherkin, or Swiss Re building as it is more commonly called, is one of the highlights on audio downloadable travel guides of the City offered by Walk Talk Tours. Even the name isn't entirely correct as Swiss Re no longer own the building. It's very close to the next commentary point, Lloyd's of London.

Residents of London and visitors alike can learn about the history of Lloyd's of London with the City and the Tower podcast guided tour, or if they feeling fit they can enjoy the best of our Tours, London Two (Ride and Stride) & London Three (The City and the Tower) with the City & Southbank Circular.

Walk Talk Tours' five London podcast guided tours are available in English, French, German and Spanish.

Lloyd's is a marketplace not a single business. The oldest insurance market in the world had humble origins in a coffee house. The propreitor of the coffee house was one Edward Lloyd. Men would meet in his premsises to secure maritime insurance.

Listeners to the City and the Tower mp3 guided tour will learn about some of the developments at Lloyd's down the years. Explorers with a Walk Talk Tour downloadable travel guide will hear about some of the things that Lloyd's have insured in the past - and the one thing they will not insure. The current Lloyd's building at One Lime Street was designed by Richard Rogers and opened in 1986. The building was designed and built in the distinctive 'inside out' or inverted style with the various services like elevators, ducting and staircases clamped magnet like to the outside of the building.

Lesser well known to residents and workers in the City is the history of Ledenhall Market. The earliest recorded reference to a market in Ledenhall Street was made in 1321. It became a place where 'foreigners' or non-Londoners could sell poultry. The market was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Another structure was built. This in turn was replaced by today's market halls which were designed by Horace Jones, the architect responsible for Tower Bridge. You can learn about some of the hairy incidents on London's most famous bridge on The Ride and Stride Tour, Travel guide. To hear an audio sample from The City & Southbank Circular please click here.

To find out more about the route of the City and the Tower iPod travel guide please click here. To hear an audio sample from the tour guide please click here.

Gathering 2009 to Showcase 'Scottishness'

2008-04-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

Think of things that are typically Scottish and what springs to mind? Men in kilts? Men in kilts taking part in the Highland Games?

The Royal Mile is awash with shops selling tartans representing ever conceivable clan. The weekend of July 25-26th next year will put Holyrood Park centre stage as it hosts the Gathering 2009, an event where members of St Andrew's and Calendonian Societies from every corner of the globe will be able to display their own distinctive identities. Events will include a World Highland Games Heavy Events Championship, including events like tossing the caber. A Clan Parade in which clans men (and women) will parade from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to Edinburgh Castle.

If, however, you happen to be heading to Edinburgh before then you can discover the history of Holyrood Park with the Royal Mile & More Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour.

Visitors to the capital of North Britain can learn about the history of the Queen's official Scottish residence the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Both the Palace and the Abbey have had long and turbulent histories. The Abbey's roof collapsed in 1768 and was never replaced. Discover how the precincts of Holyrood Abbey served as a sanctuary for debtors right up until the late nineteenth century. Find out how extensive the debtors' sanctuary was with your own Royal Mile & More iPod podcast guide and what privileges were extended to them with your Walk Talk Tour downloadable travel guide.

Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, is patron of the Gathering 2009. The event next July promises to be a great spectacle. Public gatherings of the clans before royalty are nothing new to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, or Edinburgh. In 1822 Sir Walter Scott insisted that the male members of the Scottish nobility dress in their respective kilts for the visit of George IV. The King's trip North was awash with symbols of Scottish nationalism and displays of pagentary, as you will hear with your Royal Mile & More audio downloadable tour.

To discover the precise route and all the commentary points on the Royal Mile & More mp3 guided tour please click here. To here an audio sample from the Royal Mile & More Walk Talk Tour please click here.

Old Lady of Threadneedle Street kept in good company...

2008-04-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hold onto your seat, tighten your belt, tough times are ahead, or so some analayst would have it. Many mortgage holders coming towards the end of their existing deals are concerned about the prospect of having to try and secure a new deal.

The pound has been struggling against the Euro recently, which is good news for European visitors wanted to get the most out of a trip to London. French, German and Spanish apeaking visitors can also discover the hidden secrets behind some of the capital's most famous landmarks with a Walk Talk Tour downloadable mp3 guided tour.

The City and the Tower tour takes in some of the most important financial institutions in the UK, including the venerable Old Lady of Threadneedle Street. Visitors listening to their Walk Talk Tour podcast guided tour will hear how the Bank of England was established by a Scotsman in the 1690s. Tourists using the downloadable City and Tower travel guide will find out when the term 'Old Lady of Threadneedle Street' was first used, and how it was popularised.

The Bank of England has been the subject of some audacious fraud attempts down the years. You can learn about some of them at your leisure with the City and the Tower iPod city guide.

You will also discover how a genuine famous female once lived close to the Bank of England. St Mildred's Court, opposite the Mansion House, was once the home of Elizabeth Fry a woman who campaigned tirelessly for the welfare of prisoners in the early nineteenth century. The 'Angel of the prisons' successfully brought her influence and knowledge to bear on senior politicians at a time when most men and no women had a political voice. A likeness of her image appears on the back of the five pound note issued by the Bank of England.

To find out more about the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street and Elizabeth Fry and the route of the City and the Tower guide please click here. To listen to an audio sample from the City and the Tower tour please click here.

As if running the London Marathon was not difficult enough...

2008-04-10T01:37:00.000-07:00

Some participants in the London Marathon are determined to make themselves get noticed, or just make life difficult for themselves. Susie Hewer is attempting to break her own Guinness World Record for the 'longest scarf knitted whilst running a marathon'. Susie is running in aid of the Alzheimer's Research Trust.

Andrew Scriven intends to run this year's London Marathon in a Fred Flintstone outfit accompanied by his friend Lydia in a Wilma costume. They will be running together in an improvised Flintstone vehicle, in aid of the Stroke Association.

Susie, Andrew and Lydia's preferred ways to run a marathon seem strange enough, but they are dwarfed by the effort's of former professional footballer Lloyd Scott as listeners to the Palace Trail mp3 guided tour will discover. Lloyd has completed the London Marathon in some very unusual outfits in a bid to raise money for his charity. Visitors enjoying their Walk Talk Tour downloadable city guide will discover how Lloyd ran the 2002 London Marathon in an antiquated deep sea diving suit. He particpated in the London Marathon again in 2006 when he donned a 100lb suit of armour and pulled Derek, a 200lb dragon, round the course! This year he plan to complete the course in a 9ft iron giant costume, in a bid to raise funds for the Autism Trust.

For those of us with a lower pain threshold, strolling through St James's Park can be a most relaxing experience. Discover the history of the Park with a Walk Talk Tour podcast guided tour. The Palace Trail begins outside Westminster Abbey, then takes in the Houses of Parliament (including Big Ben), before heading up Whitehall past the national memorial to Britain's war dead, the Cenotaph, to the Prime Minster's official residence, 10 Downing Street.

People listening to the Palace Trail will have the opportunity to enjoy the pageantary of Horse Guards Parade, before discovering where the 'true' centre of London is located. Find out where London's smallest Police Station was once situated, before heading down the Mall into St James's Park. The Palace Trail finishes outside Buckingham Palace.

To find out more about the Palace Trail, please click here To listen to an audio sample from the Palace Trail, please click here

Protests nothing new for London

2008-04-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

Protests are nothing new to London, so yesterday's demonstrations during the Olympic Torch relay were unsurprising. Thankfully, the relay has left Britain's shores and residents, workers and visitors to the capital can go about their business relatively unhindered, again.

One man continues to protest against the British Government's decision to invade Iraq in Parliament Square. Brian Haw is joined in the Square by several household names from the past, and indeed the present. Visitors to London can learn about Britain's great wartime leader, Sir Winston Churchill, who is commemorated with a statue in Parliament Square with a Walk Talk Tour downloadable travel guide. To hear an audio sample of our commentary from the Palace Trail Walk Talk Tour please click here

Nelson Mandela is the first black person to be immortalised in sculpture in Parliament Square. Mandela unveiled his own statue in August 2007.

Protestors and well wishers alike saw the Olympic Flame outside 10 Downing Street. Unfortunately, even tourist with a Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour cannot go and pose for pictures outside the most famous front-door in London. Visitors listening to the Palace Trail can find out why the security gates were erected and also discover the various functions that Number Ten serves today.

Resume your walk and head up Whitehall towards Trafalgar Square. En route you will have the opportunity to stop and see the Queen's Life Guard at Horse Guards Parade. The pagentary and professionalism displayed by the sentries is something that visitors are drawn to time after time. It must be difficult trying to stand or sit still in the case of the mounted sentries - let alone keep a straight face - when countless tourists want to have their picture taken with you.

Continue up to Trafalgar Square - by way of Charing Cross - where people have gathered down the years to celebrate and to protest. You will learn about some of the more memorable and menacing on the Palace Trail Walk Tour podcast guided tour. Thankfully, most of the time, people can wander freely through the Square. The only thing that you are likley to get reprimanded for is feeding the pigeons...

To read more about the Palace Trail please click here

York: More than just the Minster

2008-04-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

Royal Air Force personnel past and present celebrated the Force's ninetieth birthday, yesterday, on Tuesday 01 April, 2008. Veterans gathered in the historic city of York to witness a fly-past, by nine RAF aircraft from Linton-on-Ouse, over the famous Minster.

Group Captain Mark Hopkins from nearby RAF Linton-on-Ouse then symbolically turned a page in a book of commemoration that contains the names of 18,000 airmen who died in the Second World War, while stationed at airfields in Yorkshire and the North East of England.

The Minster, the largest venue for Christain worship north of the Alps, was fitting place to hold such a ceremony.

The first Minster, dedicated to St Peter, was constructed from wood and opened in the seventh century. Later various stone incarnations of the Minster were built. The Minster we see today was built on the instructions of Walter Gray, an archbishop of York for forty years, in the thirteenth century. Visitors to York or interested locals can discover the Minster's history in full with a Walk Talk Tour audio downloadable travel guide that customers can listen to via their iPod, MP3/MP4 player or mobile phone.

The Minster is the final commentary point on the Best of York Walk Talk Tour. The tour offers plenty of interest for the undercover tourist or the DIY visitor. The tour begins on St Helen's Square close to Betty's and Porta Praetoria the south-west entrance to York's Roman Fortress. The square takes its names from the St Helen's Church. (The Church is pictured at the top of this page). A chapel is said to have stood on the site before the church was built which was named after Helena, the wife of Roman Emperor Constantinius Chlorus who died in York in AD 306. The tour then continues to the King's Manor - by way of the eighteenth century Assembly Rooms - where listners with a Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour will hear how one of Henry VIII's wives ran into trouble in the rose garden. The tour continues through the Museum Gardens, before crossing the Ouse via Lendal Bridge where tour takers will hear about the Rowntree's legacy.

To find out more about the Best of York tour please click here To hear an audio sample from the Best of York tour please click here

New Scottish Parliament: expensive talking shop or progressive legislator?

2008-04-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it never rains, but it pours. Just ask British Airways. The airline's shiny, new Terminal Five opened on time and on budget, but has been beset by luggage handling problems.

Similarly, the new Scottish Parliament on the Canongate, at the foot of the Royal Mile was dogged by problems. Chiefly, to begin with concerning cost. Visitors to Edinburgh can discover the history of the new Scottish Parliament from its official opening by the Queen in 2004 (the Scottish Parliament reconvened after a gap over 290 years for the first time in 1999) with a Walk Talk Tour mp3guided tour. The new Scottish Parliament at the foot of the Royal Mile cost more than ten times its original budget of £40 million and took three years longer than planned to complete. The final taxpayers’ bill was £414.4 million.

The architect resposible for designing the new parliament, Enric Mirrales, purpotedly based the windows of the Scottish Member of Parliament's offices on the shape on Raeburn’s painting of Reverend Robert Walker ice skating on Duddingston Loch. Tourists or curious natives of Edinburgh can see the painting if they take the Old and New Towns tour, which takes in the National Gallery of Scotland, on its route from outside Edinburgh Castle to Charlotte Square. For more information about the Old and New Towns tour click here

Sadly, Miralles died before he could see his overall design come to fruition. The Scottish Parliament also lost its First Minister, Donald Dewar, who was elected to the post in May 1999, but sadly died a year later. Dewer's memory lives on in the Donald Dewar room in the ground floor of Queensberry House. Queensberry House is the oldest part of the Scottish Parliament and it has a gruesome tale to tell, which you can hear on the Royal Mile & More Walk Talk Tour visitor guide.

Thankfully, the SMPs seem to be a civil bunch. Critics 'Doon South' claim that the Scottish Parliament subsidises a whole manner of activities from university education to care for the elderly thanks to higher capita spending over the border. Supporters of the Scottish Natonalist Party (SNP) led by current First Minister, Alex Salmon, want Scotland to become fully independent (though no date has been set for when this might be attainted). SNP supporters believe that independence could be financed - to a large degree - by North Sea oil reserves that lie in Scottish territorial waters. Currently, revenues go to the Treasury in London.

Come and visit Edinburgh; let Walk Talk Tour be your city guide and you can reach your own conclusion about the Scottish Parliament. To hear an audio sample from the Royal Mile & More tour click here.

Ride The Last Routemasters

2008-03-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

Think of London and what springs to mind? Big Ben? Buckingham Palace? The London Eye? For many people, mention London and they immediately will think of a red Routemaster double decker bus. Sadly, the vast majority of London's iconic buses have been replaced by bendy buses.

Visitors wanting to ride on one of the most famous buses ever made can jump on a Number 15 Heritage bus, near Trafalgar Square, at the beginning of the Ride and Stride Walk Talk Tour. Listeners to the mp3 guided tour will discover how design consultant Douglas Scott helped create the distinctive Routemaster look. Scott's brief was not restricted to the Routemaster, he forged his reputation designing the Aga stove and then the universally popular traditional red British telephone box.

Tourists making the most of their visitor guide will hear how Fleet Street became the centre of the British print press. Visitors can also learn about another instiution that has London roots: the traditional layered wedding cake, which was said to have been modelled on Sir Christopher Wren's St Bride's Church.

Passengers then alight at St Paul's Cathedral. The beauty of letting a Walk Talk Tour be your city guide is that you're free to stop and start as you please. If the weather takes a turn for the worse, why not head inside St Paul's? Cathedrals not really your thing? Continue on your tour, heading south over the Thames via the Millennium Bridge.

Once you've reached dry land again, you can wonder or bemoan the quality of the exhibits on display at the Tate Modern. Learn about theatre in Shakespeare's day outside the Globe Theatre. Continue your journey on foot (good for the waistline) along the south bank by way of the the Clink Prison, the Golden Hinde, Hay's Galleria and HMS Belfast.

Just before you reach London's most iconic bridge - Tower Bridge - you will see City Hall home to the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The two main candidates in the upcoming mayoral election have adopted different stances on the Routemaster. The current incumbent, Ken Livingstone, has vowed that the Routemaster is finished. His chief rival, Boris Johnson, has said that he intends to replace the bendy buses with a 'new-generation' Routemaster. Watch this space.

To find out more about the Ride and Stride Walk Talk Tour, please click here

Covent Garden: Street Theatre Heaven or Shopping Mecca?

2008-03-28T03:46:00.000-07:00

One of London's most popular tourist destinations has hit the headlines recently, with speculation that the new owners of Covent Garden want to reduce the number of street performers who ply their trade on the market's cobbled streets.

Visitors to this popular retail and entertainment district can discover Covent Garden's rich and varied history with a Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour. A Walk Talk Tour is a downloadable travel guide that visitors can listen to as they explore the sights in some of Britain's most visited cities. Recent excavations under the London Transport Museum building revealed that Covent Garden was the hub of a thriving Saxon settlement called Lundenwic, with its own port on the nearby Thames. This area was then abandoned when the Vikings invaded, to be later cultivated by the monks of Westminster Abbey, or Westminster Convent, as it was then known.

Controversy is nothing new for Covent Garden. The piazza designed by Indigo Jones in the seventeenth century was intended to be one of London's most desirable addresses, but the well heeled residents gradually moved West to Soho and Mayfair. The piazza took on an altogether different character as Turkish baths, taverns and rooms to rent - no questions asked - abounded. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century the area was a notorious red light district.

The central market halls were added in the 1830s. The fruit and vegetable market moved to Nine Elms, in Wandsworth, in 1974. The Market reopened in 1980. It is now populated with eateries, emporiums and the like. The London Transport Museum is now housed in the former Covent Garden Flower Market Hall. There are plenty of interactive and stimulating activities inside designed to bring out the 'big kid' in all of us.

I hope that any difficulties relating to the number of street entertainers operating in Covent Garden can be resolved. It would be a real shame if London's answer to Boston's Fanueil Hall Market Place/Qunicy Market or Edinburgh's Royal Mile were to lose any of its colourful characters that help create its unique atmosphere.

To hear an audio sample from the Museum, Galleries & Performing Arts Walk Talk Tour click here

KEEP YOUR BRAIN AND BODY FIT USING YOUR IPOD

2008-03-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

##Press Release 26 March 2008##

Recently the iPod and the MP3 have become much more than simply a music player. Consumers can now use them to watch films, listen to comedies and have their favourite books read to them. Now tourists or interested residents of London, Edinburgh or York can discover the stories behind some of Britain's most famous landmarks and buildings, do their bit for their carbon footprint and burn a calorie or two in the process.

Walk Talk Tours is a newly launched company offering downloadable city guides available at walktalktour.com, so that users can take a tour whenever is convenient for them. City dwellers can ‘do the tourist thing’ without feeling embarrassed that they have to tag along with all the other tourists at the weekend, and can truly discover what their city has to offer them at a pace that suits.

City tours have come a long way from following a man with an umbrella across town and are now more accessible than ever. Tours in the noughties are embracing the very latest technology allowing users to download city guides onto iPods and MP3 players, revolutionising the way in which tours are taken.

Tourists visiting each city will enjoy the freedom of being able to take a tour that fits in with their trip’s schedule and discover their chosen city in a way that is unique to them. Each Tour also comes with a Walk Talk Tour Plan, a downloadable map which helps users navigate from A to B, ensuring listeners don’t miss any attractions along the way.

Walk Talk Tours are now available for London, York and Edinburgh, and take individuals on a fascinating journey through the sights, stopping off at key points to inform them of interesting, informative and sometimes amusing facts about the city they have chosen to visit.

Did you know Number 10’s famous front door can only be opened from the inside, or that James I kept an elephant, crocodiles and camels in St James Park? There are many interesting facts to learn about Edinburgh, including the origins of the “Georgie Porgy pudding and pie” children’s nursery rhyme.

Walk Talk Tours is the brainchild of History graduate, Phil Nash. Now in his mid twenties, Phil started tour guiding eight years ago in his native Tyneside. He was the official guide on the first open top bus sightseeing tours in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

Taking his love of history and guiding experience, Phil has written all the tours himself. Phil explains: “Each tour will give you a unique experience of the city which you are visiting. I guarantee, when you take the tours you will learn something that you hadn’t already known before.”

The six English tours are narrated by Jonathan Keeble, while the Edinburgh tours are presented by Graeme Mackenzie.

All the London tour commentaries are currently available in English, Spanish, French and German. The York and Edinburgh commenatries are avaliable in English. There are plans to add further cities to the walktalktour.com portfolio both in the UK and abroad, and also to translate the tours into additional languages.

ENDS

For further information please contact either Charlotte Jones or Danielle Newman at Pazang on 0845 090 0171 or email charlotte.jones@pazang.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Walk Talk Tours are available on the website www.walktalktour.com and are priced at £5.95 (£.4.50 in York)
There's a 20% discount for the purchase of two tours and 30% for three tours or more