Private Walks and Talks

PRIVATE WALKS AND TALKS

We are happy to organise walks and talks for private groups. We currently have a minimum charge of of £80 for up to 8 people and £10 for each additional person thereafter.

We offer a range of PowerPoint illustrated talks, as detailed below. We would come to your venue with all the equipment required to deliver a presentation. We can also arrange to deliver our talks using Zoom software. Please enquire for more details.

WALKS FOR PRIVATE GROUPS

Groups are able to choose from one of the range of walks we offer to the public, or one of the additional choices below:

St Albans Conservation Area This walk looks at the many interesting buildings within the central Conservation Area, and how our history and heritage has been preserved for ourselves and future generations to enjoy.

Mayors, Magistrates and Museums - A Town Hall Revealed We offer guided tours of the Museum+Gallery, which was formerly the Town Hall and Magistrates Court. Nearly two centuries of St Albans civic life happened in this building, which our guides are happy to give you an overview of in a 50-minute tour.

Art and Architecture Explore the Art and Architecture of St Albans - friezes, carvings, stained glass and the buildings themselves. Many famous and well known architects have worked here from Sir Christopher Wren's stone mason, Edward Strong, to the much loved local artist and architect, Edgar Wigram, rambling through Europe, painting his water colours as he goes. Meet them all, hear their stories and appreciate the art and architecture of this fascinating city.

We also offer a City and Cathedral Highlights Tour, exploring the City and Cathedral. This special joint tour, run by the St Albans City Guides and Cathedral Guides, has been devised to offer groups an experience which highlights some of the fascinating places and stories of St Albans City and the Cathedral. Lasting 90 minutes (45 minutes for the City and 45 minutes for the Cathedral), the tour starts outside the new St Albans Museum + Gallery in the city centre, and finishes in the Cathedral. The cost is £15 per head, with a minimum charge of £150 for up to 10 people.

Wheelchair Accessible Tours We offer a choice of two tours which have been devised to be particularly suitable for those in a group who may be wheelchair users. Please ask for more details.

If you are planning to arrive by coach and would like advice on drop-off and parking arrangements, please include this in your booking enquiry.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

St Albans Tour Guides Association now offers walks for schools and other young persons groups.

They are particularly aimed at key stages 2 and 3 but can be adapted for older pupils.

The Roman Town of Verulamium

This walk takes the children around the visible remains of the Roman town, including the theatre. The children are helped to understand what life would have been like for people living in the town, through various characters who lived there.

This walk fits in very well with a visit to Verulamium Museum.

We also offer guided tours to school groups who would just like to visit the theatre or the museum.

The History of St Albans

This walk begins at the Museum+Gallery in St Peter's Street. and takes the children around the historic centre of the town, including the outside of the Clock Tower, the Cathedral and the Gatehouse. Again, characters living in the town in the past are a focus to help the children to understand what life would have been like, particularly in the Middle Ages.

Tudor St Albans

This walk also starts at the Museum+Gallery, and gives an understanding of life in St Albans throughout the Tudor period. Learn about who lived here, and some very important visitors.

Victorian St Albans - A Time of Change

The coming of the railway to St Albans brought industry and prosperity to our city. See the many splendid buildings still here today, and hear about how people used to live in this period of great social change.

Harpenden Family Walk

Time travel with your family back to Herpedene, to Harpenden’s past life. Your children can use all their senses on a specially designed, family guided walk: hunting for pirate symbols, touching a fairy stone. Guessing why ducks were coloured blue? Deciphering ages of buildings and spotting a “monster”. Hearing about some very naughty local boys. Working out why a lane has a stinky name and imagining the noise and bustle of a busy inn yard 500 years ago.

In addition, we offer more light-hearted walks particularly suitable for families with young children and for children's groups.

LOCAL INTEREST TALKS

We offer a choice of talks on various themes connected with the history of St Albans, in a PowerPoint presentation format. The talks bring to life periods of history that featured exciting and dramatic changes to the lives of the people of St Albans. From Roman times to World War II – a wealth of fascinating events and people. Currently there are fifteen available:

Twentieth Century Odyssey

From sedate Edwardian city, through two world wars, extensive suburban development and industrial growth and decline – we trace our city’s journey over the century.

From Monks to Mayors

The monastic rule over the town was absolute but ended abruptly. This talk describes the struggles of this era and the journey to modern democracy.

A City Beneath the Park

Recreating life as it was in the Roman town of Verulamium is the focus of this talk. Mosaics, wall paintings, buildings and how the people lived and died, all are vividly described in this presentation.

A City Steeped in History

This illustrated talk takes you through two thousand years of St Albans history. From the warrior Queen Boudicca, Wars of the Roses, revolting peasants to the man behind the Ryder Cup, St Albans has played host to many of the country’s key historical people and events.

A City at War – The Home Front

This nostalgic talk delightfully illustrates the memories of events and people during World War II. Land girls, rationing, make do and mend, and forgetting your troubles at the local cinema and dance halls are all part of the story.

Sons of St Albans

A talk about the variety of men whose lives have touched St Albans in some way, from Francis Bacon to Stephen Hawking, taking in Nicholas Breakspear, Samuel Ryder and Lord Grimthorpe along the way.

Great Women of St Albans

This fascinating talk focusses on the stories of a variety of women whose interesting lives were connected with the city. Hear about Queen Boudicca, Kathleen Ferrers, Judy Fryd, The Duchess of Marlborough and many more. We also offer a Harpenden edition of this talk.

Art & Architecture in St Albans

St Albans has a surprisingly wide variety of artistic and architectural designs in its historic and modern buildings, crafted by some of the finest architects in England. . The talk starts with the lovely Pemberton Alms Houses, moves through St Peter's church, down the High Street and finishes at the Abbey.

Made In St Albans

From straw hats to steam trains and from brickmaking to bouquets of orchids, the industrial past of St Albans is rich and varied and includes household names such as Roses Lime Marmalade. This illustrated talk looks at the industrial archaeology of the city from the picturesque watermills and blacksmiths to the breweries and printing works. This talk is a real trip down memory lane.

Samuel Ryder - the Man behind the Ryder Cup

This talk is about the life of one of St Albans’ most prominent citizens. Samuel Ryder was so much more than the man behind the Ryder Cup, although that is what he is remembered for worldwide. He was a man committed to the local government of his adopted town. He changed the face of gardening nationally with his penny packets of seeds.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry in Roman Verulamium

Did the Romans invent the burger? We shall see. They certainly knew how to feast and enjoy their food. Find out what they ate and drank, how they enjoyed themselves, and how they entertained their friends. You might just find out the real meaning of a Vomitorium!

Unique Street Memorials

St Albans is unique in that it has street war memorials to commemorate those who fell in the First World War, in addition to the Municipal memorial in St Peter’s Street. This talk tells the stories behind the names on those memorials, and what their lives were like as they fought for King and country away from their families and loved ones.

Scientists of St Albans

The city and district of St Albans is famous for such luminaries as Stephen Hawking, Francis Bacon and Eleanor Ormerod, not to mention research at Rothamsted. This talk looks at some of those experts in their field who have made a lasting contribution to our scientific knowledge.

The City that went up the Hill

In this presentation, we climb the hill from the old Roman town of Verulamium and see how the modern-day city evolved under the control of a powerful abbey. We have a man called Alban to thank for that.

Tudor St Albans

This talk looks at the Tudor period in England, and the impact that it had on St Albans. From the final battle of the Wars of the Roses to the death of Elizabeth I, life in Tudor times was never dull.

Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses; a desperate struggle for the throne between royal cousins who brought their fight to St Albans. Join us for an armchair tour back to the 15th century and the two battles which took place here, when St Albans’ streets rang with the sound of clashing swords and war cries.

Christmas in Medieval St Albans

Take an armchair tour of Christmas in Medieval St Albans. 12 days of licensed misrule. A time of feasting and dancing. Streets busy with mummers and musicians, heady with the scent of spiced wine and gingerbread. Homes and churches bedecked with greenery. At the Abbey, special masses, prayers and fasting.