
| Name | Debs |
| Area Covered | Lancashire, UK |
| Interests | Local food & drink, Language teaching, Adventure sports, Cultural traditions, Ecology, Markets & shopping, Arts & literature |
I currently live in London and work for Dorling Kindersley’s Travel division as a trouble shooter, program manager and general all-round fixer. I also train horses as a hobby, dealing with youngsters and problem horses, training dressage and terrorizing walkers in the woods near Guilford. I like to get out of London when I can, and have recently been discovering the ‘South’!
Prior to living in London I worked in Tourism for 5 years. I spent a year in the Waterberg, South Africa as a horseback tour-guide before going to Chile for a year, where I guided on horseback up and down the Andes, as well as acting as translator and boat-guide for the company I worked for. When I left Chile I returned to South Africa, this time to the Lowveld adjacent to Kruger Park, where I worked as a horse trainer and qualified as a safari guide on a ‘Big 5’ game reserve. I also ran their volunteer work program. My other travel experience includes spending a month working in Nice and trips to Spain and Northeastern USA during my university years. Since returning to the UK I have been back to Africa twice and will be taking a trip to Costa Rica at the end of this year. Wherever I have worked, local tourism has been of great importance to the whole community. Tourism, when properly managed, can have a hugely beneficial effect on a particular area. In Lancashire local tourism is increasingly important as traditional farming becomes more difficult and less cost efficient. Farmers often have a deep-seated mistrust of tourists based on bad experience, but when approached with the proper respect it can be a very beneficial partnership: quiet accommodation in beautiful rural areas is exactly the sort of idyll visitors are looking for, whilst they simultaneously provide a substantial supplementary income to farmers. This is just one of those essential tourist tips that local guides can easily provide, allowing you to plan the very best travel itinerary for a break in the UK.
Some unique local experiences I can help you plan are:
- A trip to the Sabden Treacle Mines
- A Hike to the top of Pendle Hill
- A trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach and the Illuminations
- A trip back in time round the sites of the Lancashire Witch story
- A steam train ride through the idyllic countryside
Ask me about these experiences or anything else about my area. I'd love to help you plan your trip!
Food and Travel in Brittany and Chile
A seafood feast, fishing, barbecuing and a few too many Pisco Mates in Chile! These are some of my favourite food memories from travelling.
My Winter Weekend in Lancashire
Winter is a wonderful season to visit Lancashire to appreciate the truly wild beauty of the landscape. If you want some wonderful winter walks I can point you in the direction of routes to suit all staminas that will take in the quiet splendour of the rolling hills and valleys in the crisp fresh air. And, of course, the area is teeming with... (read more)
National Bike Fest & Road Race in Pendle, Lancashire
The Lancashire countryside. Alive with the sounds of birds singing and lambs calling to their mothers as they play in the sunshine. A rural haven of dry stone walls, meandering streams, rolling hills and, for one weekend in June, hoards of lycra-clad, sweat dripping, Olympic cyclists! 26th-27th June 2010