Blue Badge Guides

I have been emailing various people about blue badge guides - I have been making the point that, although its a good scheme, they do not have a monopoly on guiding skills. Sometimes what you want is an expert in a subject, or an actor, storyteller, poet. Sometimes the teacher/lecturer needs to lead the guided tour, but Blue Badge leaders seem to think, I think, that only Blue Badge guides should be allowed to guide.

David Tucker of London walks made some pertinant points - although I would accept that maybe a couple of hours is optimistic but his point that it does not take 2 years is valid.

'"Guiding skills" can be taught in a couple of hours. It's (to us) obvious stuff like having your back to what you're talking about so your guidees can be looking at it. Being audible. Having at least some "audience awareness". Being very safety conscious. Etc. etc. etc. You don't need two years to "cover that ground".

And the whole business of people like us sitting the exam w/o doing the course is also mostly nonsense. It "assumes" that there's a minimal, general body of knowledge or "expertise" that all those different professionals or experts would have mastered. It's palpable nonsense. I couldn't begin to take that exam - that set of exams - cold and pass it. I know I couldn't because my wife, Mary, is just now finishing the course - her exams start the week after next - and I know what she's had to "get across" to pass those exams. By the same token, I, e.g., could easily "set" a Literary London paper, e.g., that almost no Blue Badge person could pass.

And Literary London is just one of hundreds of examples. Strand on the Green, for example. Is there a Blue Badge in the universe who can guide that "village"? Or even Kensington? Sure, they could manage something there - mostly having to do with the palace, I daresay - but they couldn't begin to do anything that even approaches the depth and richness that I bring to that particular patch of London. Depth and richness built up over 25 years or so of guiding that place and earned by getting to know - and learning from - the locals, etc. etc.'

I have suggested that the Blue Badge people should run a conversion course to train up people who have the knowledge to guide but could do with a bit of formal training.