22 Jan 2025
What does it take to become a St Albans Cathedral tour guide? Former lawyer Peter Goodman is undertaking six months of formal training for the role, and invites us to join him on his journey…
Months have passed and a New Year has dawned so it’s time to get on with the story of my experiences as a trainee guide at the Abbey.
Our first formal training session took place in the evening in a deserted Abbey. This certainly added to the atmosphere. There were only four of us as others were away. Our three person training team (Liz, Julia and Clare) are all experienced guides. We received a lot of information about the building, its history, the monks and the Victorian restoration. We also learned a little of the acoustics of the building. Where not to talk because your voice disappears, where not to look when speaking to the guests etc.
The importance of timing (the daily tours last 60 minutes) was heavily stressed. We were given another list of publications to read – 70 in total! Finally we were sent on our way with homework, a list of 20 questions to be answered before the next session.
It all rather flew over my head because the next morning I was off on holiday, only returning three days before the next formal training session. While I was away I answered the questions (with a little help from the Abbey website) and made contact with my mentor, Ann.
She is an experienced guide as well as being kind and supportive to me – not to forget the occasional reminder as to what I should be doing. She is an important part of the process for me and I’m sure the same is true of the other trainees and their mentors.
The second training session was more of the same. We were joined by Stephen, an uber-experienced guide and larger than life character whose image is often seen in representations of Abbey guides. He is the fourth member of the training team and we appear to be a group of eight trainees.
We learnt how not to be an Abbey guide (Imperfect Harmony) and then how to do it correctly (In Perfect Harmony). This includes timing, always to stand facing your group and the key parts of the building that you MUST point out to the group. The evening concluded with each of us being given an area of the Abbey to talk about for two minutes (exactly) at the next session. Mine was the Romanesque (Norman) part of the Nave.
In the next month I learned my talk, discussed it with Ann and attached myself to a dozen or so daily tours. While all of the guides covered the key areas it was interesting to see their differing strengths. Some emphasising dates, some not so much. Some affable, some being more precise in their delivery. Just differing human characteristics appearing in the process.
The day arrived for my talk and I was first. With my background as a trial lawyer and around 40 years of talking to client groups and schools, I was sure it would be fine. It wasn’t! I let my audience scatter so I couldn’t face them all and I talked for too long. A chastening experience.
There’s one other thing I’ve done as a trainee guide that was absolutely wonderful and I strongly recommend that you come and see it. It is called Abbey by Night which is a good description. The event usually takes place twice in an evening and the next ones are on January 22 and February 5. The Abbey is completely dark save for candles. You walk slowly through the Abbey from the West End to the shrine of St Albans meeting various characters along the way. You also get to see the stunning sight of the High Altar screen illuminated in an otherwise dark building. My role was to be an escort monk, a silent role!
The guides at the Abbey (all of whom are volunteers) carry a significant number of tours. There are three daily ones, four on Saturday, for which there is no charge and a host of specialist tours which need to be booked and for which there is a fee of typically £10-£15.
These include Tower Tours, Ancient Graffiti Tours, Great Survivor and others.
Below I’ve listed the currently available special tours:
Winds of Change – Monday January 20, Sunday February 23;
Rogues and Rebels – Tuesday January 21
Abbey by Night – Wednesday January 22 February 5 (8pm performance sold out on January 22, good availability for 8.30pm and on February 5);
Wars of the Roses – Saturday February 15 and April 14;
Let the Women Speak – Saturday March 8 (International Women’s Day) and March 25.
More to Explore:
Nave screen (February 2);
Treasures from the Muniment Room (March 16).
Patron Saints (April 27)
While there is no charge for entry to the Abbey and no charge for the daily tours we must always remember that it costs £6,000 per day to maintain the structure and mission of the Abbey so contributions are welcome.
