Derek James profiles Norwich history tour guide Paul Dickson

Now Paul Dickson is looking forward to a busy year as he continues to add to his long list of walks and outings across the city and county.

“I took the opportunity to train as a City of Norwich tourist guide 10 years ago. I had done some tours for The National Trust, when I worked for them, and had always been interested in becoming a guide,” he said.

Paul was keen to increase his knowledge of Norwich’s history which he continues to do – almost on a daily basis.

At first he trained to do to a general tour of Norwich and then explored special themes such as City Hall and the Guildhall, Tudor Norwich and Merchants and Markets.

“I gradually developed my own business as Paul Dickson Tours, initially doing tours for the Maids Head Hotel, focussing on the hotel’s history.

“This led to my Shardlake’s Norwich tour which launched in 2019 and celebrates CJ Sansom’s novel Tombland and looks at the story of Kett’s Rebellion,” said Paul.

At the same time he became involved in the National Park Collection, a project to develop experiences throughout the English National Parks.

“My tour in the Broads, which is part of the collection, is Rails, Trails and Sails, which takes the train to Reedham and explores the area with a half pint at Humpty Dumpty Brewery,” he says.

“I worked with Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden for many years and added two tours which start and finish at the garden: Fairhaven Garden, St Benet’s Abbey and South Walsham Marshes and Fairhaven Garden and the ‘Cathedral of the Broads,’ which goes to Ranworth,” added Paul.

Working with the Festival of Architecture in Norwich and Norwich led him to create a tour celebrating the architectural legacy in Norwich of Edward Boardman and George Skipper – the great Victorian/Edwardian architects.

This evolved last year into an additional tour in Cromer looking at Skipper’s work in the town and this year called The Birth of Poppyland looking at Skipper’s work in the town.

And this year Paul is launching a tour called The Birth of Poppyland covering the story of Cromer’s evolution as a tourism destination from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries.

*Paul is offering more than a dozen different tours in the city this year and in March he will be doing a special series to mark English Tourism Week. For more information and ticket booking go to www.pauldicksontours.co.uk/tour-dates

*He is also leading several George Skipper tours with Yalm at the Royal Arcade in March. Book tickets at https://buytickets.at/yalmlimted/115874

*In association with Visit Norwich, you can join Paul on a free Great Anniversaries tour on Friday March 22pm at 2pm. This features The Grosvenor Fish Bar (100th anniversary), The Royal Arcade (125th anniversary) and Heritage Open Days (30th anniversary) with visits to Dragon Hall and the Maid’s Head where there will be tea and cakes and collection for the hotel’s charity of the year, Age UK Norwich. Free tickets can be booked at Eventbrite.

*And Paul’s first Jenny Lind and Norwich tour to celebrate the 170th anniversary of the hospital is on Wednesday April 3 at 2pm, with other dates throughout the year.

For more information about all the tours go to www.pauldicksontours.co.uk or call 07801 103737.

Best give those walking boots a shine!