Walk Talk Tours Blog

London's early law enforcers remembered

2010-02-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

On this day in 1788 Robert Peel was born. Peel would become Prime Minister and for fans/students of nineteenth century British history, he is perhaps best known for repealing the Corn Laws in 1846.

Seventeen years before he made his mark on policing by establishing the Metropolitan Police in the British capital. Policemen were affectionately dubbed 'Peelers' and 'Bobbies' as a mark of respect to the Force's founder.

Prior to the creation of the 'Met' paid officers known as the Bow Street runners patrolled the parish of Bow Street. The Bow Street runners were set up around about 1750 by John Fielding. The success of the policing instigated in the area owed much to the dedication and tenacity of John and his older half-brother Henry.

Henry earned his living as a writer. Indeed, Sir Walter Scott went as far to call him 'the father of the English novel'. His best known novels are Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones, and Amelia.

John was blinded in his late teens. In spite of this handicap, he was appointed a magistrate. Initially, the Bow Street Runners wore plain clothes, but John - who was knighted in 1761 - instigated a switch to a formal uniform consisting of a blue coat and trousers and boots. He earned the nickname of the 'Blind Beak' on account of his ability to identify an estimated 3,000 criminals by their voices alone.

Visitors to London can hear more about the Fielding brothers with the Museums, Galleries & Performing Arts audio tour guide. Like the other four Walk Talk Tour London walking tours it is downloadable in MP3 format and available in English, French, German and Spanish.

The walking tour begins outside the National Gallery and concludes outside the British Museum. The tour consists of stops (or commentary points) like tracks on a iTunes album. To hear an audio sample from the tour please click here.

Buy One Walk Talk Tour and get the second free by entering the following code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

The bronze sculpture situated here is the Young Dancer by Enzo Plazzotta (pictured top). The Bow Street Runners were based in the building on the corner of Broad Court and Bow Street.

Memories of Urbis

2010-02-01T03:24:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday last week, I headed along to Urbis to have a look round the museum of city life's final exhibition: 'Urbis has left the building: six years of the best exhibitions in pop culture'.

I found the most profound part of the exhibition was the comments wall, which was composed of post stick notes where members of the public had written about their feelings for the place. I found myself walking slowly back and forth alongside the wall. Many contributors spoke of their loss, disappointment and anger at the fact that Urbis would be closing.

The other thing that struck me was the internal wall which had a list of the names of all the individuals who had been involved in Urbis. It felt a bit like a war memorial, only the age and rank of the individuals concerned were not listed, too. If the writing on the wall was the roll of honour, the post stick notes formed the pages of a book of remembrance.

The closing exhibition is divided into five sections: International artists, Design, fashion and architecture, Manchester's creative community, Music culture and Family shows.

One of my favourite exhibitions staged at Urbis was entitled Manchester 24 which falls under the 'creative community' title. The exhibition was made up of forty contributors who each filmed a day in their life. Contributors included the late Tony Wilson, a taxi driver and an airline pilot. It was interesting hearing about the Hidden Manchester exhibition which I had not seen first time around.

The exhibition has something for everyone. 'Urbis has left the building: six years of the best exhibitions in pop culture' is open until February 27. The National Football Museum is due to open in the building in 2011.

Discover the best of Manchester at your own pace with the Manchester: Then & Now audio tour guide. The 2.4 mile (3.8 km)tour is composed of commentary points (like tracks on an iTunes album) and begins outside the Town Hall and concludes in Cathedral Gardens. Download and away you go.

Will Smarter mean better Value?

2010-01-27T02:15:00.000-08:00

The planning for the 2012 Olympic Games is well under way. Laurence Bresh, VisitBritain's marketing director, was quoted yesterday as saying that: "Our global approach, together with the integration of the 2012 Games, will bring a new dimension to VisitBritain’s marketing strategy, as we work to outsmart rather than outspend our competitors." Wise words with a General Election scheduled for May and the British economy the last of any developed nation to officially emerge from recession.

Media campaigns on various platforms will be based on five core themes: dynamic, classic, luxury, generation Y, gay and lesbian.

VisitBritain will continue to utilise social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to try and persuade people to come to Britain.

Broadly speaking there are four definitions of value (and a fifth, the plural values) -
1. Importance or usefulness.
2. Monetary/financial worth.
3. Satisfaction, e.g. value for money.
4. Maths particular number represented by a figure or symbol.
5. Guiding ideals/moral principles - values.

I am not a social media expert, but it strikes me that many big organisations could get more out of Twitter, say, if the person responsible for tweeting the organisation's message actually said who they are. It would only take a single tweet. E.g. 'Hi it's Phil here going to be tweeting for you until..." A big organisation could even make a virtue of the fact that a certain person with a specialist interest area would be tweeting at a particular time of week.

People buy from people. We sell audio tour guides of five UK cities, including London. Our London tours are available in French, German and Spanish. I blog here and tweet (@WalkTalkTours).

Unlike a conventional guide, listeners to a Walk Talk Tour can take as long or as little as they wish to enjoy the sights. Typically, a Walk Talk Tour will set you back far less than a guided bus tour or many themed walks.

The announcement that London had won the race to host the 2012 Olympics was celebrated in Trafalgar Square (above).

East Coast journey times set to fall

2010-01-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

The current Transport Minister, Lord Adonis, plans to introduce a service which will link London and Edinburgh by rail in less than four hours. Unfortunately, the proposed 'Flying Scotsman' service will not be 'on-line' (sorry about the pun) until 2012. In another initiative, journey times between the English and Scottish capitals are to be reduced to 4 hours and 20 minutes by May 2010.

The Yorkshire Evening Post reports in a piece today that the number of trains from London to York will increase from 32 to 37, Monday to Friday. The newspaper notes that the average journey time from York to London will be brought down by almost ten minutes to 1 hour and 51 minutes.

It is well worth making the journey to York at anytime of year. The city is approximately halfway between London and Edinburgh. York is perhaps best known for its magnificent Minster (pictured above). The city has plenty to offer in terms of shopping and has some underrated museums, as well as better known establishments like the Jorvik Viking Centre which celebrates its 25th birthday in April this year. The Jorvik Viking Centre is closed until January 31, 2010.

Laudable though the aim to reduce train journeys time is, one of the biggest factors in taking a train journey of any distance in the UK, for many people, is the cost. Seeing the sights when you arrive can seem extortionate, too.

Explore the city with the Best of York audio tour guide, which costs just £4.50 and is yours to keep. Like the other Walk Talk Tours it is composed of commentary points (like tracks on an iTunes album or a CD). Simply download and away you go.

And if railways are your passion, York is the place for you as the city is home to the National Railway Museum. The Museum is home of the original Flying Scotsman. Please note that the National Railway Museum is not a commentary point on the Walk Talk Tour of York.

The picture (above) shows the Queen's Gallery, which is located at the foot of the Royal Mile opposite the new Scottish Parliament in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland. Visitors to Edinburgh can hear about these places with the Royal Mile & More, Edinburgh walking tour.

Buy One Walk Talk Tour and get the second free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

Visitors to York can also hire on a MP3 player preloaded with the Walk Talk Tour of the city and neck phones from the De Grey Rooms Tourist Information Centre. (Please note that the Tourist Information Centre is scheduled to move in May).

Chocs Away?

2010-01-19T07:32:00.000-08:00

Another great British manufacturer looks set to pass out of British ownership, after the board of Cadbury plc accepted a takeover bid from Kraft earlier today. The takeover of the Birmingham based confectionery company by Kraft will create the world's largest confectionery entity. We live in an ever increasing global age, where the competency of the board of directors in ensuring the jobs of the workforce should matter more than the ethnicity, race or nationality of the directors themselves.

The historic city of York has a long association with the confectionery industry. Two names stand out in that history: Rowntree and Terry's. Sadly, Terry's factory in the city closed in 2005 with the loss of over 300 jobs (after Kraft, its new owners opted to stop production in the city) but Rowntree continues to mass produce chocolate in York, though the company was acquired by Nestle in 1988.

There are a number of similarities between the Cadbury and Rowntree families. Both began their businesses in the nineteenth century and both families were concerned about the welfare of their workers and invested heavily in amenities for them. Henry Isaac Rowntree was a committed Quaker as were Richard and George Cadbury, who instigated the building of the Bourneville model village for Cadbury's workers in Birmingham. The Rowntree family also built a model community at New Earswick, outside York. No pubs have ever been built in Bournville or New Earswick.

Visitors to York can hear more about the Rowntree family's association with the city with the Best of York walking tour. The tour is downloadable in MP3 format and comes with a free map for listeners to print out.

York is a great place to go on a short break. The city has plenty of Old World charm and history a plenty, which listeners to the Walk Talk Tour of York have the flexibility to enjoy at their own pace. To hear an audio sample from the tour please click here.

The modern office block pictured above stands on the site of the Rowntree brothers' first sweet/candy making factory.

Buy one audio tour guide and get a second free by entering BI123 into the shopping basket page. Select your tour(s) download and away you go!

Manchester and Edinburgh head to head

2010-01-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

The director of the Manchester International Festival, Alex Poots, has spoken of his desire for next year's celebration of the Arts in the city to challenge established festivals in cities like Vienna and Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh International Festival is arguably the 'daddy' of Arts Festivals having been first held way back in 1947; the Manchester International Festival was first held back in 2007.

So how do Edinburgh and Manchester compare?

Transport (trams) - Manchester has a fully functioning tram network which is the envy of residents of the Scottish capital. The building of a new tram system in Edinburgh has been mired in controversy, on account of the escalating costs and delay in opening the system. The official Edinburgh Trams website states that the trams "will be operational in 2012".

Sport - Manchester is home to two giants of football, City and United. The city hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and was voted the World City of Sport 2008 in the SportBusiness Sports Event Management Awards. Edinburgh has two SPL teams - Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian - and the city hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1986. Arguably the city's biggest annual sporting crowd puller is provided by the oval ball and Rugby Union; Scotland's home games in the Six Nations Championship are played at Murrayfield. This season Scotland face France on February 7 and England on March 13 in Edinburgh.

Influence - Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood, and the Scottish Executive. The Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the Royal Family in Scotland, is located at the foot of the Royal Mile. Manchester may not have its own parliament or royal palace, but the city has plenty of clout as the impending relocation of large sections of the BBC to Media City, to Salford Quays.

Population Size - According to a 2004 estimate Edinburgh had a population of approximately 450,000 (453,670 for you anoraks). In the same year, the city of Manchester was estimated to have a population of 437,000. Greater Manchester was reckoned to have over 2.5 million inhabitants (2,539,000 people to be precise).

Discover the best of Manchester and Edinburgh on your own terms, and in your own time, with a Walk Talk Tour audio tour guide. There are two tours of the Scottish capital and one of Manchester. Every Walk Talk Tour is composed of commentary points - like tracks on an iTunes album or a CD - and both come with a free downloadable map.

Buy one tour and get a second free by entering BI123 into the shopping basket page.

The picture top shows two street entertainers on the Royal Mile last year. The building in the background is St Giles Cathedral. The image (bottom) shows Manchester's museum of city living, Urbis. The Manchester: Then & Now walkign tour concludes in Cathedral Gardens, to the rear of the museum.

Beefeaters accused of making a mint

2010-01-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

The Tower of London is one of the English capital's most famous and visited landmarks. The Tower's Yeoman Warders are arguably as famous as the Tower itself.

The Yeoman Warders originate from 1485 and are responsible for keeping the Crown Jewels under lock and key. It is said that the Warders were allowed to eat as much beef as they wanted from the royal table and thus gained the nickname, Beefeaters. To become a Beefeater today you must have had 22 years of continuous, distinguished, service in the Armed Forces.

Unfortunately, the Beefeaters have made some headline for the wrong reasons after allegations of impropriety surfaced. Chief among the alleged misdemeanours is the allegation that some Yeoman Guards were charging £50 a head for nocturnal tours of the Crown Jewels at the Tower.

Other alleged impropriety included suggestions that a Beefeater had grown cannabis (for his personal use) in a garage at the historic Tower, while another allegedly let out his on site accommodation to tourists.

In 2006, the new governor at the Tower, MajorGeneral Keith Cima, ordered an investigation on learning of some of the allegations, including the nocturnal tours.

A spokesman for the Tower was quoted in The Sunday Times on January 10, 2010, as saying that: "The investigation concluded that weaknesses in the operation of the Tower club and poor administration could have left members open to allegations of impropriety.

However, allegations of individuals making personal gain could not be substantiated by hard evidence."

The Tower of London is well worth a visit. Tourists can discover more about the Tower's history - without having to pay the admission fee to enter the site - with the City and the Tower or the City & South Bank Circular walking tours of London. There are five Walk Talk Tour London audio tour guides in all.

Each tour is downloadable in MP3 format and costs just £5.95. All the Walk Talk Tours of London are available in English, French, German and Spanish.

Customers can buy one Walk Talk Tour and get a second free by entering the code BI123 in the shopping basket page.

You can follow Walk Talk Tours on Twitter at @WalkTalkTours.

Part of the Royal Mint was located at the Tower until the nineteenth century.

Edinburgh forced to grit and bear it

2010-01-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

The cold snap which is enveloping the UK continues to be keenly felt in the Scottish capital. Edinburgh Zoo remains closed. The response of the City of Edinburgh Council to the cold snap has come in for heavy criticism.

The Council's Environment leader, Robert Aldridge, was quoted in the Edinburgh Evening News as saying that: "We are looking at every possibility to solve the snow issue and are striving to ensure salt and grit are available, but there is not as much coming through as we'd like. If the weather keeps on going, we will hire private contractors to clear the streets."

Edinburgh City Council may need more heavy duty equipment (like the JCB below) to help clear the snow and ice.

The snow also presents opportunities. I know of many people, who have rediscovered the lost art of walking. As long as you are adequately shod and wrapped up warm, the current conditions can represent a chance to familiar yourself with the town or city where you live.

If you're in Edinburgh, why not take the opportunity to find out a little more about the city's heritage with one of two Walk Talk Tours of the city? Simply download and away you go. You can always save your tour and then download it to your iPod, iPhone or MP3 Player and listen to the tour when the conditions have improved.

Take a look at the City of Edinburgh Council website for all the latest information as regards attempts to clear roads and pavements of snow and ice in the city. The site also contains information about school closures in Edinburgh and advice for coping with the cold conditions.

Temperatures are not expected to climb much above freezing over the next five days, during the day.

Pictured above is Fettes, the private school whose alumni include the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Listeners to the Old and New Towns Edinburgh walking tour can hear more about the founder of the school (though the tour does not include the school among its commentary points).

Each tour is made up of commentary points (like tracks on a CD or iTunes album). Listeners hear about a particular point of interest and then receive instructions explaining how to reach the next commentary point. Unlike a conventional guided tour, listeners have the flexibility to go at their own speed - or as the conditions dictate.

Buy one Walk Talk Tour and get the second free by entering the code BI123 in the shopping basket.

You can follow Walk Talk Tours on Twitter at @WalkTalkTours.

Minster prices get a fiery welcome

2010-01-04T09:38:00.000-08:00

It is a building that dominates the skyline for miles around, which has impressed visitors for centuries; but the decision to increase the admission charges to York Minster have provoked a storm of criticism.

The price of looking round York Minster is set to rise from January 5, 2010. Adults will have to pay £8, while students and old aged pensioners will be asked to pay £7. The increase in admission price will enable visitors to look around the Crypt and Undercroft - which had previously been covered by a fee separate to the main admission charge.

The Dean of York, the Very Rev Keith Jones, was quoted in the York Press on December 29, as saying: "Our charges have helped us survive. In many countries, cathedrals and churches receive help from taxation, but English cathedrals are required to manage without grants from Government for repair or running... Our charges enable us to employ our work-staff, keep repairing the Minster, and remain open."

The Minster's coffers almost received a greater blow on the last day of 2009.

On New Year's Eve, firefighters battled for more than four hours to save the Minster's Great East Window which was being restored in the Minster's stoneyard when a fire broke out. Around thirty firefighters and staff from the Minster moved over 300 panels of stained glass, that constitute the 600 year old window, to safety. The Great East window is believed to be the largest medieval stain glass windows in the world.

After surveying the damage, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, was quoted by the BBC as saying that: "I am glad to say that, apart from the two offices that were damaged, fire officers worked at such great speed that the damage was limited and no one was injured."

The Minster itself has been damaged by fire on more than one occasion, as listeners to the Best of York tour guide can discover. The downloadable tour begins in St Helen's Square and concludes outside the Minster.

The professionally produced and recorded Walk Talk Tour of York is composed of commentary points. Listeners hear about a particular attraction and then receive instructions explaining how to reach the next commentary point. The tour costs just £4.50 to download and visitors without the wherewithal to listen to the audio guided tour can hire it from the city's Visitor Information Centre. To hear an audio sample from the tour please click here.

Visitors wishing to climb the Minster's Tower will still be required to pay an additional charge.

Buy one Walk Talk Tour and get the second free by entering the code BI123 in the shopping basket.

You can follow Walk Talk Tours on Twitter at @WalkTalkTours.

Put Your Best Foot Forward

2010-01-02T06:59:00.000-08:00

Early January is a time full of promise and expectation. It can be uncomfortable time when individuals recognise that they have spent and perhaps eaten too much.

Walking can be one of the most accessible ways of getting in shape. The website walking.org quotes the World Health Organisation as saying that: "A walker loses weight, lowers cholesterol, reduces conditions associated with hypertension, slows aging and the decline of aerobic capacity, increases strength, flexibility and balance, strengthens bones and increases stamina."

There are times when using a car versus heading out on foot is sensible, i.e. when you are going to undertake a weekly shop at the supermarket. There are times when walking is a good alternative - both cost wise and environmentally. Take sightseeing, for example.

Some of the most attractive parts of our towns and cities, like the Shambles in York, are only accessible to pedestrians. Similarly, many parts of London and Edinburgh are best explored on foot.

There are five Walk Talk Tours of London. Each audio tour guide is downloadable in MP3 format and comes complete with a free tour plan for listeners to print out.

Each London audio tour guide is available in French, German and Spanish.

Each walking tour is composed of commentary points. Listeners hear about a particular attraction and then receive instructions on how to reach the next commentary point.

Buy one Walk Talk Tour and get the second free by entering the code BI123 in the shopping basket.

You can follow Walk Talk Tours on Twitter at @WalkTalkTours.

I took the photograph (top) from Trafalgar Square looking down Whitehall, the equestrain statue of King Charles I, is in the foreground.

More to Edinburgh Hogmanay than meets the eye

2009-12-28T12:42:00.000-08:00

I spent my Christmas up in Edinburgh this year. On Boxing Day, my family and I enjoyed a walk through part of East Princes Street Gardens. The views from the Edinburgh Wheel were really good, like the picture of the top of merry-go-round/carousel(left), testifies. If you want to enjoy a ride on the Wheel you have until 22:00 on January 4, 2010 to do so.

Eyes will now be turning to Hogmanay, the celebrations that take place on New Year's Eve and on into New Year's Day in Scotland. According to A Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by Elizabeth Knowles (and published by Oxford University Press, 2006) The word Hogmanay perhaps derives from the "Anglo-Norman French form of Old French aguillanneuf [meaning] 'last day of the year, new year's gift'."

'The Winter Wonderland Ice Rink' in East Princes Street Gardens is also open until January 4. At least the 'Traditional Highland Village' in East Princes Street Gardens is free to walk around.

Disappointingly, but unsurprisingly, event organisers are keen to cash in on the Hogmanay festivities. Members of the public will have to pay a premium to ride on the Edinburgh Wheel between December 31, 2009 and January 2, 2010, inclusive.

The official Edinburgh Hogmanay website has a full run down of events that will be taking place in the Scottish capital from December 29, 2009 until January 2, 2010. Please note that many of the events require participants to purchase tickets in advance. So do your homework before you set out.

Enjoy the best of the Scottish capital with two Edinburgh walking tours brought to you by Walk Talk Tours. Hear about the development of the New Town, including the area which is now occupied by East Princes Street Gardens, where much of the Hogmanay festivies are due to take place, with the Old and New Towns audio tour guide. Simply purchase your chosen tour(s), download and away you go!

The tour is composed of commentary points (like tracks on a CD) and comes complete with a free downloadable map for listeners to print off. To hear an audio sample from the tour please click here.

The tour concludes in Charlotte Square, the home of the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland and the birthplace of several famous Scots. Prior to that listeners will hear about the heritage of St Andrew Square, which is home to the only Harvey Nichols store in Scotland(pictured bottom left in the snow)

Buy one Walk Talk Tour and get the second free by entering the code BI123 in the shopping basket.

You can follow Walk Talk Tours on Twitter at @WalkTalkTours.

An alternative Christmas Survival Guide

2009-12-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Please take extra care if you decide to go walk about over the festive period. Try and wear some sturdy footwear with good treads, to give you that extra bit of purchase on any slippery footpaths. And wrap up warm!

Walking in the snow and the winter sun can help restore perspective and balance away from the sometimes fraught domestic situations we can encounter over the festive period. Going walk about can help us see the wood for the trees.

I took the picture (left) in Tytherington Woods in Cheshire earlier this week.

In the run up to Christmas, our cities are teeming with life as shoppers try to get everything they need for the big day. On Christmas Day itself, streets can seem eerily quiet as every family goes through their unique Christmas Day ritual.

If you are wanting something an authentic present idea for a loved one this Christmas, why not buy them a Walk Talk Tour audio tour guide? Each tour is composed of commentary points (like tracks on a CD), listeners hear about a particular attraction and then receive instructions explaining how to get to the next commentary point. To hear an audio sample from the Palace Trail, one of our five walking tours of London, please click here.

Buy one Walk Talk Tour and get a second one free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

Grassmarket Glistens while Edinburgh shivers

2009-12-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

Edinburgh's Grassmarket does not often enjoy much time in the limelight in a city which seems to be constantly celebrating or promoting something, from Films to Books to the Arts.

There are various Christmas Markets currently being held in the city, including a Traditional Christmas German Market.

The Edinburgh Grassmarket is hosting a market called 'Glisten in the Grassmarket' which is designed to allow Scottish producers to sell their handcrafted and produced wares to the public.

According to the official Grassmarket Traders' Association website products on display and for sale include: "a full range of homewares, textiles, painting, fine art, clothing, furniture, classy craft, secondhand vinyl and many other gifts all with a vintage and recycled slant."

Stallholders at 'Glisten in the Grassmarket' will be open for business from 11am until 6pm until Tuesday, December 22.

If you're in Edinburgh and intend to try and pick up a pressie, that is that little bit different, from the Grassmarket wrap up warm, the BBC predicts that the maximum temperature in the Scottish capital will be two degrees Celsius with a high of minus one degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

Discover the best of the Scottish capital with two Edinburgh walking tours brought to you by Walk Talk Tours. Both audio guided tours are downloadable in MP3 format and come complete with a free downloadable map for listeners to print off. To hear an audio sample from the Old and New Towns tour please click here.

Buy any Walk Talk Tour and get a second one free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

The image top is ©freefoto.com. The photograph (bottom) was taken by Beltzner to view his Flickr profile please click here.

Alternative Clothing finds home in ancient York

2009-12-15T07:25:00.000-08:00

York has been home to a whole manner of different people from Romans to Saxon, Vikings, Normans and more. Now, two female entrepreneurs have brought alternative clothing to York.

Julie Aylward told me that she and her business partner, Kelly Brown, had no regrets about making the move from Hull in East Yorkshire to a shop on the historic Stonegate, in the capital of the White Rose County.

"The traders here on the Stonegate are really supportive of each other which is great. We were inspired to set up Heaven Forbid because we couldn't find the kind of clothes that reflected us as individuals. Most of our customers are tourists passing through, but we have a loyal and growing local following, too".

Heaven Forbid sells a range of t-shirts from rock to indie bands, mini-skirts, studded belts and hoodies. Many of the boutique’s products are British made.

Kelly said: "We stock Darkside, Hellbunny, Living Dead Souls, Death Kitty, Criminal Damage, Toxico, Iron Fist and Wedgewelly. And also independent handmade designs such as Frankenshirts, Pink Ribbon Boutique and Dolly Cool."

Both Julie and Kelly have a shared background in the alternative music scene, as Kelly explained: "We have links to Fibbers music venue, having done stalls at gigs there and also now their promo girl works for us too! Local bands we have links to are Raw Deal and Kid Ego, who we sell gig tickets and merchandise for."

You can connect with Heaven Forbid (alternative clothing) on MySpace, too.

Stonegate, which links Minster Gates to St Helen's Square, has been an important road for nearly 2,000 years.

Visitors to York can get to grips with the city’s rich heritage with the Best of York, Walk Talk Tour, which listeners can download to their iPhone, MP3 Player, iPod or mobile phone, for just £4.50. Unlike a normal guided tour with this self guided audio guide, listeners have the flexibility to stop and start as they see fit. The tour, which is made up of commentary points (like tracks on an iTunes album or a CD), begins in St Helen's Square and concludes outside the magnificent York Minster (pictured bottom left).

Visitors without the wherewithal to download the tour can hire it from the Tourist Information Centre at the De Grey Rooms.

Manchester: Red, Blue & Green all over

2009-12-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

Manchester is a city which is synonymous with the Blue of City and the Red of United, but now Manchester is set to be Greener, too. For Manchester is to be a designated low-carbon economic area (LCEA).

The UK Trade & Investment website states that the: "Five-year retrofit programme is expected to generate £650 million for the economy, save six million tonnes of carbon and support 34,800 jobs. It will involve the installation of small-scale renewable-energy technologies and the introduction of smart meters allowing households to see how much energy they are using."

The programme will be delivered by a variety of public sector organisations, including Greater Manchester's commissions for the Environment and the New Economy and the North West Development Agency.

Manchester was the world's first industrial city, and in the nineteenth century a place where people flocked in search of work. Friedrich Engels wrote The Conditions of the Working Class in England, while he was living in Manchester for a time in the 1840s. The images conjured by reading about Engels' Manchester and other writers of the period and the stick figures in paintings by L.S. Lowry have made a deep impression in stereotyping the city often in a negative way, but so much has changed - and for the better.

Go walk about in the world's first industrial city with the Manchester: Then & Now, Walk Talk Tour. The guide is composed of commentary points (like tracks on a CD or an iTunes album). Do your bit for the environment and your waistline. Listeners will hear about a particular attraction and then receive instructions explaining how to get to the next commentary point. The tour comes with a free downloadable map for listeners to print out. To hear an audio sample from the tour please click here.

Visitors without the wherewithal to download the tour to their iPhone, iPod, mobile phone or MP3 player can hire it from the Visitor Information Centre, in the Town Hall Extension, on Lloyd Street.

Green Makeover for London's City Hall

2009-12-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

The charismatic Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has spoken of his desire to "make London the greenest city on earth." Mr Johnson signed up City Hall to the 10:10 campaign, which is designed to ensure greenhouse gas emmissions are cut by ten per cent by the end of 2010.

Visitors and locals alike can get to grips with the best of London's rich heritage and do their bit for the environment by going walk about with a Walk Talk Tour audio donwloadable walking tour.

Find out more about City Hall and the South Bank with the City and South Bank Circular mp3 guided tour. Mr Johnson was quoted in The Guardian as saying that:
"We will be redoubling efforts to drive down energy use at City Hall, notably through motivating our staff to become even more alert to wasteful practices. There are also plans to introduce more efficient lighting and smart meters."

London's City Hall is home to the Mayor of London, the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority who moved into this 45 metre high, ten storeys building in July 2002. More eco friendly, than a traditional office block of similar size, the egg shaped building minimises its surface area so that less energy is wasted.

As a keen jogger and cyclist, Mr Johnson would no doubt enjoy taking in the sights on the South Bank with the City and South Bank tour. Exploring the English capital on foot generates a fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions that seeing the city on a tour bus does. And a Walk Talk Tour of London is cheaper...

Each London audio tour is available in English, French, German and Spanish and costs just £5.95. Use the following code to buy one tour and get a second free: BI123.

Historic York street gets ‘Glamorous, Sexy and Beautiful’ look

2009-12-04T05:20:00.000-08:00

These adjectives are imprinted on the wall of the Elizabeth Wells lingerie boutique on the historic Shambles, in York. The boutique is the brainchild of Sarah Wells. Elizabeth is Sarah’s middle name.

The premises feel bright, spacious and the merchandise is attractively displayed; unlike some lingerie shops that I have visited. Sarah told me that: "Many customers have remarked that they like the shop because it feels bright and is uncluttered."

Sarah broke her back just after Christmas in 2005 whilst sledging in the snow with her brother. She had six months in a back brace recuperating from her injury. On her return to work, Sarah honed her skills in retail management with a six month internship with high street soap firm, Lush.

The experiences that Sarah gained on her internship – allied to her enthusiasm and determination - left her confident in her capabilities to run her own business. And as she rightly points out, recession or no recession, "everyone should have good underwear".

Elizabeth Wells' ranges are affordable, up-to-date and many are designed and made in the UK. Sarah said: "I stock many UK designers' work; people who handmake their underwear or who are based in and design in the UK. I know each of my suppliers personally and I know where my products come from."

Sarah has a range of lines for the larger lady, from 28 to 40J.

Sarah has capitalised on the growth in the use of social media, particularly Twitter. You can follow the business @ElizabethWells or become a fan of the Elizabeth Wells Facebook page. If you cannot make it over to the boutique in York, why not shop online at Elizabeth Wells? If you’re not sure, what to purchase you can always opt for an Elizabeth Wells’ Gift Voucher.

The Shambles is one of, if not the best preserved, medieval streets in Europe. It was even mentioned in the Domesday Book, making the street over 900 years old. Visitors can find out more about the Shambles rich heritage with the Best of York audio guide, which listeners can download to their iPod, iPhone or MP3 player.

The Walk Talk Tour of York can also be hired from York Tourist Information Centre, which is based at the De Grey Rooms, opposite York Art Gallery.

Six Female Firsts: The Houses of Parliament

2009-12-02T02:44:00.000-08:00

Women in New Zealand were the first to be given the right to vote in a national election back in 1893. The struggle for female emancipation was a long and bitter one in Britain.

1. In the 1820's Elizabeth Fry, a tireless campaigner for the improvement of prisoners' welfare, became the first women to address a House of Commons Committee and persuaded the Government to include many of her recommendations in the Gaol Act of 1823. This provided for the payment of warders and stipulated that females should supervise female inmates.

2. On December 1, 1919 the American heiress Lady Astor became the first female MP to take her seat at the Houses of Parliament, having stood in for her husband as the Tory candidate for the safe seat of Plymouth Sutton. Many feminists felt dismayed that a woman with no record of championing female causes should be Britain's first female MP.

3. In 1958 Barbara Wootton of Abinger became the first female Life Peer in the House of Lords when she was made a Baroness under the Life Peerages Act of that year.

4. In 1982 the Conservative peer Baroness Young became the first female leader of the House of Lords. Janet Young was the only female appointed to the Cabinet while Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. In her later career, Baroness Young was best known for her opposition to Gay Rights. She died in 2002.

5. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister in British history. The dominant figure of the Conservative Government, Thatcher succeeded in winning three consecutive General Elections. Divisions within her party caused by disagreement over Europe and controversial domestic policies, such as the introduction of the poll tax, led her to stand down from her role as Prime Minister in 1990.

6. In 1992 Betty Boothroyd was elected as the First Female Speaker in the House of Commons. Boothroyd who won cross party support for her measured and down-to-earth approach. She dispensed with the tradition of wearing a wig and rather than shout "Order, Order" as her predecessors had done, Boothroyd would simply say "Right, time's up". Boothroyd stepped down from her role as Speaker and resigned her parliamentary seat in 2000. She was made a Life Peer in the following year.

Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords are dominated by men. The most photographed and recognisable part of the Parliament is St Stephen's Tower, commonly known as Big Ben (even though that is just the bell in the clock tower).

Discover more about the Houses of Parliament and the best of royal and monumental London with the Palace Trail. There are five Walk Talk Tours of London. Each tour is downloadable in MP3 format and comes with a free tour plan for listeners to print out. To hear an audio sample from the Palace Trail please click here.

Each London tour costs just £5.95 and is available in French, German, Spanish and English.

Buy any Walk Talk Tour and get a second one free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

Vinyl still Alive and Kicking in York

2009-11-27T03:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the annual four day St Nicholas Fayre began in York. Amid all the festive fun, visitors should look beyond the market stalls and check out some great independent stores, offering great friendly and knowledgeable service in the historic city all year round.

Take Attic Records, where two young entrepreneurs who spotted a gap in the market started to sell vinyl records from an attic shop in York, just three months ago.

Gareth Hesketh, 27, and Alex Fox, 28, sell a wide range of records from Attic Records, which is based at 1 Patrick Pool, in York.

Alex told me that "Record shops died out. There are still lots of people who enjoying listening to vinyl. Many of our customers like the idea of having something tangible that they can collect. People always seem interested in York as a place, so this seemed like a good place to open a business."

The duo’s enthusiasm and knowledge of records and the music scene are obvious. There’s a record player where shoppers can put a tune on and try before they buy.

Records by bands like the Rolling Stones and Beatles are popular with Attic’s growing legion of customers. Alex pointed out that the shop is trying not "to be too specialist. We get new releases, usually once a month of more recent music, like indie records. We stock the largest collection of 7"'s anywhere in York."

Customers can also purchase tickets for local gigs and t-shirts (like the popular i heart y t-shirt) in store, too.

Alex and Gareth have good links with local bands and venues. Some bands have even performed in the shop itself to great acclaim. To find out about the latest happenings in the world of vinyl join Attic Records' Facebook page.

You can follow Attic Records on Twitter @atticyork. Walk Talk Tours is @WalkTalkTours on Twitter. Come and join the conversation.

Visitors can discover York’s rich heritage with their own audio downloadable walking guide. The Best of York audio tour is composed of commentary points (like tracks on a CD) and listeners can stop and start as they see fit. The tour concludes at the magnificent York Minster.

Visitors can also hire the tour from the De Grey Rooms Tourist Information Centre on a preloaded MP3 player, neck-phones and a copy of the tour plan are provided.

Chester set for a herd of Rhinos

2009-11-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

Natives of Manchester may have fond memories of the Cow Parade that adorned the city's streets in the summer of 2004. Well, the historic city of Chester is set to have its own four legged invasion - with as many as 70 fibreglass rhinos set to be installed in a line from the city out to Chester Zoo next summer, from early July to mid September. Each beast will be approximately 6ft long, 5ft high and 2ft wide. They'll weigh around 60kg or 132lbs!

Cheshire artists will have the opportunity to create a design for the skin of one of the fibreglass animals. The event called Rhino Mania is designed to raise funds for the Black Rhino Field Conservation Trust and swell the coffers of businesses in the city.

Rita Waters, the Chief Executive of Chester Renaissance, one of the Quangos charged with promoting the city, believes that the trail will attract 400,000 visitors to the city.

Mrs Waters was quoted by Chester First as saying that the project was "also about raising awareness of the endangered Rhinos and it’s about bringing key groups within the city together to achieve this successfully."

Chester has a long association with bears. The cruel practice of bear baiting was once practiced at the Cross in the city centre. Visitors to the city can hear more about its rich history with a Chester Revealed audio guide, which listeners can download to their cell phone, iPhone, MP3 player or iPod. To hear an audio sample from the tour please click here.

The baiting of bears, bulls and other animals was outlawed in 1762. Nevertheless, bull baiting continued outside Chester’s walls for over forty years. One of the city's most famous watering holes is the Bear and Billet (pictured above). John Lennon's maternal grandmother, Anne Jane Millward, was born in the Bear and Billet in 1873.

Buy any Walk Talk Tour and get a second one free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

Visitors without the means of downloading the tour, can hire it from the Tourist Information Centre for £6 per MP3 player (plus a £10 deposit per device which will be refunded on the return of each device). A set of neck-phones and a copy of the tour plan are included in the price.

For more information about Rhino Mania take a look at the official website.

Book Festival outgrows Gardens, but is bigger better?

2009-11-21T03:45:00.000-08:00

The Edinburgh International Book Festival, which celebrated its 26th birthday this year, is looking to expand beyond its home in Charlotte Square in Edinburgh’s New Town. The Festival attracts more than 200,000 visitors a year and The Scotsman reports that more than 80 per cent of tickets for its recitals have sold out in the last two years.

Charlotte Square is a private garden in a very public place – as many gardens are in Edinburgh’s New Town. For two weeks each summer members of the public can hear leading authors from around the globe.

The picture above, which depicts the equestrian statue of Prince Albert in the centre of the Gardens in Charlotte Square, was taken by Bob the Courier. To view his Flickr Photostream please click here.

The Book Festival’s new director, Nick Barley, is keen to stage some events – particularly those featuring blockbusting authors – in nearby venues.

The International Book Festival is not the only literary event to be hosted in the Scottish capital each summer. For the past two years, booksellers in the Old Town have been staging their own literary festival, the West Port Book Festival, in venues in and around the West Port, in the city's Old Town. I attended a couple of events at this year’s West Port Book Festival and was struck by the enthusiasm of the participants and festival goers alike. The event felt unsullied by commercialism. The third annual West Port Book Festival is scheduled for next August and it will be an opportunity to see and hear talented artists, writers and poets in the flesh.

The picture below shows Sharon Whyte, an Edinburgh based artist, who gave an interesting talk about 'Learned Animals' - which magicians had members of the public believe could perform amazing feats. The venue was the Blue Blazer Pub.

The West Port Festival has really got to grips with social media, particularly Twitter. You can follow the West Port Book Festival on Twitter @wpbookfestival.

Visitors to the Scottish capital can appreciate the best of Edinburgh with two audio walking tours. Both the Royal Mile & More and the Old and New Towns Edinburgh city guides are downloadable in MP3 format. Each tour is composed of commentary points (like tracks on an iTunes album or a CD).

To hear an audio sample from the Old and New Towns tour please click here. Listeners to the tour will hear about various great – and maligned Scots – who grew up in this part of the Scottish capital.

Both Edinburgh Walk Talk Tours cost just £5.95. Buy any Walk Talk Tour and get a second one free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

York set fayre for St Nicholas

2009-11-16T06:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas is nearly upon us. Many UK cities stage Christmas Markets in a bid to lure in shoppers with the promise of something a bit different. One of the best known seasonal markets in the North of England takes place in the picturesque city of York.

The city's annual St Nicholas Fayre begins on November 26. The Fayre lasts for four days. Traders don traditional Victorian outfits and sell their produce from three distinctive venues in the city. For more information take a look at the following link to Visit York, the official tourism board for the city.

York is an enchanting city, which once visited is never forgotten. The best way to explore the city is on foot. As a city that was estabished by the Romans, then occupied and expanded by the Saxons and the Vikings motorcars were not on the agenda of town planners!

Some people will tell you that this is the best time of year to visit York, which was voted the most haunted in Europe by President of the Ghost Research Foundation International(GRFI), Jason Karl, in 2002. Visitors can hear about some of the spooky goings on in the city with the Best of York audio downloadable tour.

The Best of York tour begins in St Helen's Square. Listeners will hear about the city's Roman origins, Viking past and much, much more. Enjoy a stroll on the city's walls before concluding your audio walking tour outside York Minster. To hear an audio sample from the tour please click here.

Each Walk Talk Tour is composed of commentary points - like tracks on a CD or iTunes album. Listeners hear about a particular landmark or attraction and then receive instructions explaining how to reach the next commentary point. Listeners have the flexibility to stop and start as they see fit. And each tour comes with a free downloadable tour plan (with each commenatry point marked on it) for listeners to print off.

Buy any Walk Talk Tour and get a second one free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

Would be listeners who do not wherewithal to access the tour can hire it from the Visitor Information Centre (which will be relocating to 1 Museum Street in the New Year).

The picture of buskers at the St Nicholas Fayre in 2007 (top) was taken by Janet59; to view her Flickr photostream please click here.

'They buried him among the Kings' - Britain's Unknown Warrior

2009-11-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

November 11 is Armistice Day, a day when at 11 o'clock, on 11 November 1918 the guns of World War One finally fell silent. World War One saw killing on an industrial, hitherto unimagined scale. Thousand of Britons stood in silence for two minutes at 11am earlier today to show their respects for servicemen and women killed in the two World Wars and more recent conflicts - including on campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Queen laid a huge wreath on the Unknown Warrior's grave at the end of a service at Westminster Abbey today.

A chaplain by the name of Reverend David Railton was the catalyst for having a national tomb for an unidentified serviceman who could be a focus for the bereaved, especially those whose bodies were never recovered.

Railton was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 for rescuing an officer and two men despite been under fire. Railton spoke to Herbert Edward Ryle, the dean of Westminster Abbey, about his idea of having an unknown British soldier interred at the abbey. Lloyd George supported the idea. A number of bodies (between four and six), were exhumed from battlefields in France where British soldiers had fallen, and placed in a plain coffin.

Brigadier-General L. J. Wyatt, the officer commanding troops in France and Flanders, selected a single coffin. The official Unknown Warrior was thus chosen and placed in a coffin which bore the inscription: 'A British Warrior who fell in the Great War 1914–1918 for King and Country'.

A union flag which belonged to Railton - and had been used during his church services at the Front - was draped on the oak coffin. The Unknown Warrior was brought to Britain on the destroyer HMS Verdun.

On November 11, 1920, the Unknown Warrior was drawn to the Cenotaph (pictured above). King George V placed a wreath on the coffin; and then after the Two Minutes Silence at 11:00am, the Unknown Warrior was transported to Westminster Abbey.

The tomb of the Unknown Warrior is buried at the west end of the nave in Westminster Abbey. The grave is covered with a slab of marble and contains soil from France. The marble is inscribed with the words: "They buried him among the Kings because he had done good toward God and toward his house." (2 Chronicles 24:16).

Visit the Royal British Legion website for more information about what you can do to support British service personnel - past and present - and their families.

Reverend Railton died in 1955.

Both the Cenotaph and Westminster Abbey feature on The Palace Trail audio downloadable tour of royal and monumental London.

St Andrew's Day 'Do' a welcome distraction?

2009-11-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

The Scottish capital will play host to an array of activities over the weekend of November 28 - 29. And then again on St Andrew's Day itself, Monday, November 30. This year has been the year of Homecoming Scotland 2009, where the country has tried to attract visitors from around the globe with a series of Scottish themed activities.

The saga of Edinburgh's new tram system rumbles on. The 18km stretch of track from Edinburgh Airport to New Haven via Leith was originally planned to open next year, but it is not now scheduled to begin operating until February 2012 and be a minimum of £33m over budget. Richard Jeffrey, the Chief Executive of Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE) told the Sunday Herald "I am working to try and deliver this project for £545m. I think if we do that it will be a great success."

Unfortunately, one of the other great building projects in the Scottish capital of the last decade, the new Parliament at the foot of the Royal Mile was also embroiled in controversy; it was £40m over budget and took three years longer than planned to complete. The complex designed by the late Enric Miralles is full of interesting shapes, which capture the photographer's eye - even on a grey day. (See picture below).

Staff at the Royal Bank of Scotland - which has its Headquarters in Edinburgh - are braced for job losses after it was announced last week that nearly 320 branches will have to be sold.

Edinburgh needs revenue from tourists vacationing, or attending Festivals or sporting fixtures more than ever. There is a flexible and affordable way to get a handle on Edinburgh's rich heritage. Visitors can download two Walk Talk Tour audio walking tours of the Edinburgh to their iPhone, MP3 player, iPod or mobile phone.

Both The Royal Mile & More and the Old and New Towns audio walking tours begin outside Edinburgh Castle, the setting for a fireworks display which will bring the curtain down on the St Andrew's Day festivities. Both tours can be completed in two hours, though listeners have the freedom to stop, start and resume their tour as they wish. To hear a short audio sample from the Old and New Towns tour please click here.

Buy any Walk Talk Tour and get a second one free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

Pictured top: a pavement artist at work on the Royal Mile this August.

The Houses of Parliament in Numbers

2009-11-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

645 - The number of Members of Parliament (MPs) in the elected House of Commons.

15 - The number of political parties represented in the House of Commons. Five parties have a single representative. Labour currently have 349 MPs, the Conservatives have 193 and the Liberal Democrats have 63.

1605 - The year in which a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament was thwarted.

36 - The number of barrels of gunpowder that one of the conpirators, Guy Fawkes, was said to have been discovered with, by a party searching the cellars beneath Parliament late in the evening of November 4, 1605.

1834 - The year in which much of the Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire.

1870 - The year in which the new Palace of Westminster was completed. Neither Charles Barry, the architect responsible for the Gothic building, or Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, the man who designed much of the Palace's interior, lived to see the completion of the Houses of Parliament.

1918 - The year in which women who met a property criteria were allowed to vote. Ten years later, the Equal Franchise Act (1928), finally gave women the same voting rights as men.

737 - The number of members of the House of Lords, the Upper Chamber.

150 - The number of years since Big Ben, the great bell, in St Stephen's Tower first came into operation. The official Parliament website (parliament.uk) reports that: "The Great Clock started on 31 May, the Great Bell’s strikes were heard for the first time on 11 July and the quarter bells first chimed on 7 September."

1949 - The year in which a flock of birds landed on the minute hand of Big Ben, causing the great timepiece to lose five minutes!

Visitors to London can discover more about the new Palace of Westminster, as the Houses of Parliament is officially known, with the Palace Trail audio guide. Download and away you go. To hear a short extract from the tour please click here.

5 - The number of Walk Talk Tour audio walking tours of London. All five London tours are available in French, German and Spanish.

Buy any Walk Talk Tour and get a second one free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.