Our Monthly Sunday Walks
Every other week, on Sunday afternoons in the summer months, we also offer two other guided walks:
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a walk down Old London Road and Clarence Street
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a walk pointing out the old pubs of Kingston
Please see Walk Times for details.
Meet the Guides
Julian McCarthy's passion is searching for obscure, forgotten historical nuggets of Kingston that he believes are waiting to be found, buried in the pages of old books, maps and photos. A now-retired Chartered Design Engineer, he is also the author of four books about Kingston upon Thames and became Chair of the Guides in 2020.
Charlotte Morrison is the Booking Secretary and has been a Kingston Tour Guide for since 2016. She has always been interested in history and finds being a guide challenging but most enjoyable. She looks forward sharing Kingston's rich history with you.
Bernadette Jansen joined the Kingston Tour Guides in 2018. She was previously a Blue Badge guide in Cambridge and showed tour groups round the UK and Europe. She is interested in meeting people and sharing Kingston's fascinating history. Bernadette is currently the Guides' Minutes Secretary.
Mike Gibbs is a Northerner who has lived in Kingston upon Thames for over 30 years. He joined the Kingston Tour Guides in 2015, partly because of how much he has enjoyed watching tour guides "perform" in other historic towns and because of his love for his adopted town and passion for local history. Mike is the Tour Guides' Treasurer and Webmaster.
Martha Liddle has lived and worked in Kingston for 20 years. Recently volunteered to join KTG, due to her passion for local history. A multilingual tour guide, Martha's interests also include photography and architecture.
Bryony Bridges has been a Kingston Tour Guide since 2012. As well as local and general history, her other interests include singing in a choir and wildlife and conservation.
David Bowell was born in north Kingston and has lived in the Royal Borough all of his life. He has memories of Kingston during the second world war and has seen many changes over the years. After attending a walk which sparked his interest, he became a guide in 1998.
Naomi Hemans volunteered to join Kingston Tour Guides, due to her keen interest in local history. She also volunteers with Historic Royal Palaces and is a City of Westminster guide. She has a background as a film archive researcher and dance tutor and her other interests include arts, crafts and the natural history of river Thames.
Sheila Taylor has been a Kingston Tour Guide since 2007 following her passion for local history. A retired town planner Sheila's other interests include art, architecture, rock music and swimming.
Carole McGrath joined the Tour Guides over 15 years ago and is now one of our most experienced guides. Nevertheless, she still delights in learning nuggets of history about Kingston and its fascinating buildings, people and events. Fluent in French, Italian and German, Carole specialises in giving tours of Kingston to overseas students as well as UK schools - she is especially passionate about opening children's eyes to history.
David Bridges has lived in Kingston for forty years. He has a broad interest in matters of local, national and international history particularly as regards the 17th Century. He is also keen on natural history and conservation matters.
Mike Goode has been resident in Surrey for over 35 years and has been passionate about history since his days at university. Newly qualified as a Kingston Tour Guide, Mike has been a historical guide in London for many years. He is particularly interested in the 'quirky side' of history!