About Us

Great Britain has a unique island story that needs to be told properly

"A nation that forgets its past has no future." Winston Churchill

We all believe - and that's Jonathan Dickins on the left - that our Island Story is exceptional. Not just for its extraordinary twists and turns but because it has affected so many other peoples in the world right down the ages.

Many visitors have come to us unsure how the sites and story they are seeing & hearing fit into the broad sweep of British history and culture...

..because there’s an awful lot to take in. It's now almost 950 years since Britain was invaded by William of Normandy – King Harold was killed more than 400 years before Columbus even set eyes on the Bahamas. Put another way, its only around 250 years since George Washington crossed the Delaware, Captain Cook claimed New South Wales and General Wolfe scaled the Heights of Abraham in Quebec - and that’s a whole lot of history too.

Private escorted tours of the UK

We can create a bespoke tour for you: with us you get more information, better told and with more anecdotal detail. If you want amusing stories mixed with crystal clear history to make it live, then come to us.

 The greatest Olympics ever preced by the greatest Royal Wedding ever

Many respected commentators believed London 2012 to be the greatest modern Olympiad ever seen. Certainly, it gave the nation a spring in its step and a smile on its face.It realized that it was actually good at organizing and managing! Froma Visitor's viewpoint,Londonhasneverlooked soclean and spruce:a great time to see thisfinestof cities.

2011 saw the first Royal Wedding for 25 years. There is now real opportunity for the Royal Family to redefine its place in the nation's future. A commoner to become Queen should allow the Royal Family to be seen as more accessible than at any time in their history: the Duchess of Cambridge has a special role to play. Her family continue to be impressive:a credit to themselves & their country.

'Welcome to my Home': a unique service

We have developed relationships with a number of private homeowners in such places as Bath, Cirencester, Stonehenge, Suffolk, Chartwell and, of course, London. They vary from converted Victorian townhouses to Grade 2 Listed hunting lodges. Here guests can see the true Great Britain; be welcomed into gracious homes so they may relax in an environment which you simply cannot experience in a hotel or restaurant.

We believe this is a unique service: top class relaxed hospitality and enjoying genuine home cooking to master chef standards - one of our hostesses recently won a top national award. This can make the difference beween 'very good' and 'truly memorable'. Highly recommended.

Great British Country House Parties

If you seek a grander venue to enjoy Britain, consider staying at one of a number of great country houses for a few days.If you aspire to celebrate the kind of life our wealthy Edwardian ancestors enjoyed, then this is for you.

We offer a range of themed stays: more details are set down in the Private Lectures,Talks & Country House Parties section.

 Have a drink on us

We keep a cool box in our vehicles so you can enjoy a soft drink with our compliments as we move around. Just help yourselves.

A free farewell gift from us on departure

Lastly, to complete our Churchill connection, each group booking a Full Day Tour or longer will receive a farewell gift from us of either a CD of Winston Churchill's greatest speeches, a book celebrating the great man’s wit and wisdom or a gift of similar value to remind them of 'this sceptred isle' as Shakespeare called it.

Winston Churchill’s contribution

Winston Churchill was voted by this country as 'the Greatest Briton' of all: a prolific & celebrated historian as well as statesman, painter & bricklayer too. His four volume History of the English Speaking Peoples has woven in this island’s story with that of America & all those former outposts of Empire and Commonwealth.

Now all our English-speaking Customers, whether of British origin or not, can understand how their own and this island’s heritage are, in many ways, part of the same story.

Another famous Briton, John Donne put it best:

‘no man is an island entire of itself'...

for this country’s story is, if you like, the story of all nations – it reflects the hopes & fears, the trials and the successes, the follies & the foibles of Man....perhaps more than anyone of that time, Churchill understood that best. As broadcaster Ed Murrow remarked: ‘he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle’

We are just adding a little more perspective and a lot more fun and value to our Winston Churchill Tours.

Lead Tour Guide

Jonathan will, where possible, escort as many groups as schedules allow. He studied Modern History at Corpus Christi, Cambridge under celebrated scholar and spy expert, Professor Christopher Andrew. Whilst he was no scholar – two rugby Blues and a brief flirtation with England's Under 23 rugby squad confirm he had a deeper knowledge of sport than the University Library - a good degree encouraged him to continue an interest in British history and the 20th century particularly.

His career has taken him through a variety of marketing roles internationally and in UK and he has spent much of the last 25 years in the leisure industry. He is married with 3 grown-up children and has lived in London all his adult life; he lived in New York for a while too and has travelled all over the world for business and pleasure. His family also has a home on the Isle of Wight, close to Osborne House.

Our Tour Guides and Presenters

We have hand-picked tour guides and presenters who we know are good with people of all ages. We are used to families, educational groups, retired folks, company executives…those vacationing in Great Britain on a tight schedule and those with some time on their hands. We will allocate the Tour Guide we think suits your group the best.

Our key criteria for Tour Guides:

• Do they enjoy what they do?
• Are they knowledgeable?
• Can they put our Customers at their ease?
• Can they communicate their enthusiasm?
• Are they good storytellers?
• Do they have a great sense of humour and, of course...
• ...are they professional, courteous and timely?

So, we can draw from a wide spread of top quality talent: for instance,an experienced tour guide who used to be in film production, a lady history teacher with 25 years experience, perhaps a former air stewardess with the latest guiding qualifications, or maybe a former army officer with a Cambridge background?

You choose what you wish to see and hear about

We have a wide knowledge allowing us to respond not just to the selection of talks we have made but those you would like to hear about. Just ask.

‘If the present tries to sit in judgement of the past it loses the future’.
Winston Churchill

Our approach to entertaining: for our Tours, Lectures,Talks visits to private homes & Country House Parties

We seek to educate, of course, but more importantly, we seek to invigorate, enliven and, above all, entertain.

We seek to customize whatever we see together into the context of this island’s story and how it may relate to your own history.

If you are from outside Great Britain, and your own experiences wherever you are from. If you are into history on the left is a download list of a few books and CDs which are worth a look before and, maybe, after you have taken your Tours.

Suggestions

If you have any suggestions about this website or recommended tours, please make contact.