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Over on the west coast, Cherrie Donald qualified in Glasgow as a BBG in 1970 when she was 56. She kept guiding until she was 78 and one of her most memorable guiding experiences was taking French President Jacques Chirac and his wife on a tour of Glasgow.
Another early STGA member was Helen Murdoch who became a Blue Badge guide after a successful career in education and the theatre. She was born in Glasgow and worked as a teacher and later as a lecturer at Hamilton College of Education. But she also wrote children's plays which were published and performed in the Edinburgh Fringe. Before becoming a guide she worked for the Lyceum theatre. She died in 2016 aged 84.
Margaret Butcher qualified as a guide in 1978 and became a stalwart of the STGA. Ros Newlands said Margaret’s favourite wry comment when she was on the STGA Edinburgh committee was: “I like to throw a pebble in the pool and see where the ripples go”. ‘She then followed up with ideas, solutions and campaigns,‘ said Ros. ‘Before I’d even heard of the STGA my EF students had Margaret as a guide on a Trossachs tour. I sat at the back awed by her knowledge. She asked me if I was taking notes to do the tour myself next time!! The very idea horrified me - I knew nothing!! But it inspired me to find out and take the STGA training and become a BB guide in 1983. Margaret was an advisor and support in everything I did in the STGA thereafter including when I was Edinburgh chair and a board member. She never sought the limelight - just worked tirelessly away in the background, although she did reluctantly fill in as Edinburgh chair for a year.’ Ros continued.
Isabel Lennie recalls that Margaret was stalwart in her defence of the Blue Badge and part of the long struggle for recognition in the academic world. The STGA was trying to get the Blue Badge benchmarked against academic qualifications and Margaret was chair. The authorities wanted the Blue Badge qualification to be Level 3 SVQ and the STGA was going for Level 4 or 5. Margaret was told that level five was for Captains of Industry so the STGA ended up with Level 4 which became the current Level 7 which is equivalent to a certificate of higher education or second year university qualification.
Sue Casely said she owed a great debt to Margaret for her honest and generous help to her to become a guide. ‘I was in awe of her but her advice was always worth listening to. She was so professional in everything she did. I remember her with great affection. Norma Clarkson recalls Margaret regularly doggedly fighting the STGA corner with Edinburgh City Council. An example is a letter she sent to the council in 2001 when it banned coaches from a section of the Royal Mile. ‘On Wednesday this week I took my first city tour with visitors from the USA since September,‘ she wrote. ‘When going up the Royal Mile
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