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‘It was something I felt comfortable with and I got the backing of my wife Anne and the family. Being away from home at times can be difficult but I just met wonderful people like Anne Lister, Jean Duncan and Pat Dishon and they said when guides are stuck they ask you and you should really think about training as a guide yourself.
‘But although I was very outgoing I was inwardly very shy about my inadequacies in putting together a written essay or things of that nature. There was a driver at Silver Fox, Dave Stalker. Dave had a certain aura about him and was able to share his knowledge of history with me.
‘I applied for the course and by sheer luck was accepted and Anne Lister was probably my ‘go to’ person for help. Anne Lister was a giant. Someone who was so natural with it and who wasn’t trying to push anything. She always had time to answer a question. It was the same with Jean Duncan and later on Pat Dishon.
‘Everybody was very nervous and I was no different. And they would say Kenny you have got the most wonderful voice, little things that got you over that hill. When I was away working I would be trying to read up things for the course and the other drivers would say “we’re going to the pub. Kenny.”
‘Con Gillen was an absolute giant and Basil Skinner was incredible. All these people and the guides were pioneers in my estimation. They saw that bigger picture for tourism.
‘I continued coach driving for a short time after passing the course and it was a passport for me. A couple of coach operators wanted my services because I was a Blue Badge guide and it meant that they could offer a driver guide. That would allow them to put a premium on a tour. I just felt so proud to be a blue badge guide and it meant so much.’
As it turned out, although 1986 was a tough year, things started to improve towards the end.
In December 1986 Jane Orde, in her then capacity as Editor of the STGA Newsletter editor, reported it had been a tricky year for everyone in tourism, though the latter part of the season seemed to have picked up a bit as Americans ventured across the Atlantic.
‘Let us hope they were reassured by what they found and will continue to come next year,’ she said.
Sadly George Cochran, space who had received the MBE in the New Years Honours in 1981, died five years later and Mrs Margaret Bore became the new voice of the STGA booking service for the Edinburgh branch.
Edinburgh castle announced plans for coaches to park in Johnston Terrace instead of the esplanade with a proposed escalator to take passengers to a reception centre at the upper end of the esplanade!
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