IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
Susan - Highland Park, NJ, United States
February 2012
GREAT TOUR!! My granddaughter and I both absolutely loved the sherlock holmes tour earlier today! The tour guide (Richard the 4th) was especially great. And all the places we stopped were really fascinating! One suggestion for the future might be that when the tour stops, to stop in the same places but have the guide talk closer to steps or benches so that older folks like me have a place to sit down in between all the walking, while still being able to hear what the tourguide is saying.
All in all, however, utterly fantastic service!!
Thanks again,
Susan
John Goodwin - Glendale, Ca. 91201
June 2010
Even though it has been some weeks since I took the
"Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes" walking tour it has not
dulled the wonderful afternoon we had with guide
"Richard the 4th". Here is a guide who is not only an authority on the subject but his love of the topic is infectious to both young and old. Any children who were not familiar with the stories are probably busy
reading them now and the hard core "fans of the Canon" were equally impressed and enthralled by our
guide into the world of London, Holmes and Doyle.
Chris Adams - Walton on Thames, Surrey
April 2007
Took 2 American friends on this walk on 26 Apr 07. It was their choice but you need to be a real Sherlock Holmes fan to enjoy it. Lots of information and references to the characters but I was expecting more on the history of places and the buildings on the walk.
Recomendation:
If you are are Sherlock Holmes fan and you know the stories and characters go on walk. If not, then you will not enjoy as I did not.
 
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Hi Chris,
 
I'm in hopes that the discussion will "widen out" a bit. Perhaps Corinna and/or Richard IV, who guide the Thursday afternoon Sherlock Holmes walk, will want to respond here. And for that matter, it would be great to get some feedback from other people who've been on it - and especially people who, like you, are not an aficionado. We take several hundred people a year on that walk - and there's no way that all of them are going to be Sherlock Holmes buffs. And I think it highly unlikely that yours will be the universal reaction amongst all of those "casual interest" walkers. I think that based on the general feedback we've had about that walk over the years. But let's suck it and see. We've now got this "forum"...so sooner or later we should get some more feedback about this very point.

And to give Corinna and Richard IV. their due, they'll certainly have been at pains to fashion a walk that is interesting and fun for both the aficionado who knows the stories inside and out and someone who's got only a passing acquaintance with the great detective and his and Dr. Watson's adventures. The which is necessarily a bit of a balancing act.

What's especially valuable about your point is the bigger door it opens. Which is by way of saying, people should feel free to give us a bell and ask about any given walk. Or send an email. In short, see us - and use us - as a "resource". If you'd given us a bell beforehand we certainly would have talked the possibilities through with you...and in all probability have made a recommendation or two.With a view to getting the best possible "fit" for the three of you on that particular afternoon. In this instance, we almost certainly would have said something like, "well based on what you're telling us, our recommendation would be that you send your two American friends on the Sherlock Holmes walk...and on the different strokes for different folks principle you should plump for the Old Westminster walk. Afterwards meet your friends at the Sherlock Holmes Pub. Meet there 1) because that's where the Sherlock Holmes walk ends and 2) because the re-creation of Holmes' study there will float anybody's boat, even the 'take him or leave him but prefer to leave him' crowd! And then the three of you can get down to the real fun: 'comparing notes'. And I can guarantee you you'll have a stonkingly good time doing so.That Old Westminster walk is all about 'making the familiar new and the new familiar' so it'll work brilliantly for you. And your American friends will be abuzz with that heady combination of a literary pilgrimage completed and a 'sense of place' grasped....in one of the most attractive and stimulating of central London neighbourhoods! Can't be bad." Or words to that effect!
 
Finally, feedback like this is very good in another sense as well. It's a little bit like a director looking in on a show that's been up and running for a while - the "notes" from the director are always very welcome. Sometimes just a tweak or two can make a huge difference - without,  in this instance, taking anything at all away from the dyed-in-wool Sherlock Holmes aficionados. Okay, time to "onpass" to the guides. Thanks for writing.
 
Bestest,
 
David