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Shakespeare’s hometown. However, I think our passengers got more than they bargained for. Other enterprising guides set up walks in St. Andrews and Dundee, while some came to an arrangement with the local Transport Department Buses Service to take them on board which proved a hit. One or two managed to get a part time job in the Museum. However things started to pick up considerably when the following year Dundee held is Octocentenary.
‘In the early days Dundee Jute Barons had invested their money in opening up America, ploughing money into the railroads and opening up one of the largest Cattle Ranches in Texas called the Matador,’ Toni continued. The Director of the event was a Canadian who invited the owners of the now Matador Ranch to visit the City whose money had started it up in the first place. Not only did the Director market the Octocentenary superbly, she brought a considerable number of visitors to the area. This was right up our street and guides took advantage organising tours and were appointed the official guides for walks. As Rosemary Thomson said with feeling and on behalf of all of us: “Getting and doing our first official tours was a nerve-racking process for all of us and it is a tribute to our training course that we not only survived but were still keen to move forward.”
‘However, at the end of 1991, Jean Kidd our booking agent was not too optimistic as walking tours had dropped off and bookings for the Bus Tour suffered from lack of publicity from the Company involved.
‘We all knew that Dundee was never going to be one of the hotspots but guides were still hopeful that things would change. Sadly in 1994 guides who lived in the Perthshire area decided to leave the Dundee, Angus and Fife Branch to set up a new Branch in Perth in the hope of attracting more work.
‘In 1996 the homecoming of Dundee’s ship RRS Discovery proved to be an attraction bringing more and more visitors to the City and the fact that it was put in the Dock already housing the Frigate Unicorn gave the Guides a challenge and they did well for a while working for outside Tour Operators. Other guides began to leave the area for personal reasons and numbers were beginning to fall. However our never say never group decided to make the International Tourist Guide Day one to remember. They took a party of blind people and accompanying minders on board the Discovery because they wanted to see everything about the ship; hosted a visit by residents of the MacKinnon Centre, Broughty Ferry and other adult training centres to the McManus Galleries and finally took two coachloads of old folk from old people’s homes around the City visiting “old haunts” and updating them on the changes that were taking place; crossing the Tay Road Bridge and visiting Broughty Ferry then finishing off with a visit to Shaw’s Sweet
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