PRESENT day tourist guides in Oxford owe their existence to an irate Canadian visitor.

After joining a tour of the city’s historic centre, he quickly realised he knew more about Oxford than the guide.

He wrote a letter of complaint to our sister paper, The Oxford Times – and that led to the creation of the Oxford Guild of Guides, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary.

It was known that unqualified people were coming to Oxford from London and Birmingham to conduct tours, but there were no powers to stop them.

There was one small official group of guides who had been trained by the City Librarian.

This group was harnessed to cope with the rush of tourists who came to Oxford during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.

That busy year, plus the Canadian visitor’s complaint, convinced everyone that an efficient and responsible group was needed to give a true picture of the city and university.

In its 30 years, the Guild has satisfied thousands of visitors from all over the world. Last year, the number taken on tours topped 56,000.

The Guild now has 56 active guides, including 34 who speak a total of 13 languages.

For an article in 1979 with The Oxford Times, writer Helen Turner interviewed Elizabeth Willmott, who had been conducting tours since 1960, about the skills of being a guide.

Mrs Turner wrote: “Mrs Willmott loves Oxford and is very knowledgeable about its history, possessing the gift of communicating both enthusiasm and information.

“She understands to a nicety the practical problems which, if neglected, can spoil what may be the visit of a lifetime – Oxford’s variable opening hours, finding somewhere quiet to talk to her party and assessing the point at which fatigue sets in.

“Perhaps, most precious of all, she has the gift of seeing her tourists not as animated bundles of merchandise, but as individuals.

“It is her job to ensure that they see Oxford as enjoyably as possible.”

One popular development has been the Morse tours, where visitors are shown locations featured in the Inspector Morse TV series.

The Lord Mayor, Mary Clarkson, invited the guides to a civic reception at the Town Hall to mark their 30th anniversary.

  • Fascinating facts about Oxford:

    1. Beaumont Street takes its name from the palace built there in 1133. Richard the Lionheart was born there in 1157 and his brother John in 1167.

2. High up on the Turl Street facade of Exeter College (1314) is the name of the first female head of the college, Marilyn Butler.

3. The Church of All Saints (1720) in High Street, next to the Mitre going east, has been a library for members of Lincoln College since 1974.

4. The fountain at The Plain was inaugurated by Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Louise.

5. Oxford Brookes University takes its name from John Brookes, Principal of the Oxford School of Technology, Arts and Commerce in St Ebbe’s.

6. Nuffield College was founded by Lord Nuffield, formerly William Morris, who created the car industry in Oxford and made many benefactions to medicine.