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7. Everyone with experience of guiding is asked some questions to which the honest answer is “I do not know”– such questions are often impossible to answer and depend on the extent of one’s knowledge. List three such questions you have been asked about the Castle.
8. Are there any legendary anecdotes about the Castle which you might make use of in the course of your tour.?
9. A modern stone plaque in the castle commemorates Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray. Why?
10. Mons Meg was sent by the Duke of Burgundy as a present to James II in 1457. Why is this piece of artillery so important, and how does it differ from eg the early 19th century cannon on Argyll’s Battery?
*Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh by James Grant was printed as a periodical in the 1880s and describes its history, its people, and its places by using anecdotal historical text with illustrations.
The newsletter said that several guides, however, had already completed and returned the test papers to the Information Officer, Craig Lindsay, and had the satisfaction of receiving a favourable reply to the effect that ‘Association members do know the Castle really well.’
But the new system was abandoned and the guiding at the castle returned to the status quo. At the Palace of Holyrood House STGA guides could escort their own groups inside the building. Until 1970 coaches were allowed to drop their passengers in the courtyard outside the entrance to the palace until it was decided that too much damage was being done to the fabric of the building. Coaches then had to unload at the North Gate but were allowed to turn round the fountain empty but by 1972 no coaches were allowed in the courtyard at all. In the past not only did visitors go to St Giles but Parliament Hall was part of regular tours. Coaches parked in Parliament Square until parking restrictions were introduced in 1970. In the 1970s it was also more usual for groups to have accommodation in Edinburgh and take one day tours to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and the Borders. Many ‘second class’ hotels left much to be desired and private bathrooms were provided mainly at a high cost at first class hotels only. Guides also had to cope with some very dilapidated coaches without microphones.
Attempts were made at various periods to have closer liaison with guides from other parts of Scotland and England.
In the mid 1970s the STB began organising courses and excursions for guides to new locations and regions including Perth, Dundee, Arbroath, Angus, Inverness, Loch Ness, Fort William, Glencoe, East Lothian and Stirling. Later the Edinburgh committee arranged the precursor to CPDs (Continuous Professional Development) - programmes of lectures on subjects of interest to guides and visits and excursions which covered places as diverse as the Island of Inchkeith, Holy Island, the petrochemical plant at Grangemouth and Aberdeen. There were also lectures given by guides to their colleagues on tourist centres in both Scotland and England.
The Edinburgh and Glasgow branches started working closely together and usually sent observers to each other’s AGM. But the radical idea of forming a national STGA was rejected by the Edinburgh branch in 1975 though sadly no written record of the proceedings has been found. In 1976 a group of guides from the English Guild of Guide Lecturers visited Edinburgh and a reception was held for them at the Caledonian Hotel where several of them were staying. They were taken on tours of the city, Trossachs and Borders.
A shock was in store for the STGA in 1976 when BBG Don Pottinger intimated that both of the badges which had been worn up to that time were illegal. The first one was illegal because it incorporated part of the Tourist Board symbol, and could only be used by people engaged by the STB. In fact, both badges had Scottish Tourist Board engraved on them and it was illegal to use either of them as freelance guides. In 1977 a new badge was issued and the STB was no longer responsible for them. The new post of Public Relations Officer
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