New Tour Guide Collective says it’s time to ‘Discover where you live’

14th November 2025

Pictured (L-R): John McConnell, Rebecca Cupples, Gavin Walker and William Hutchinson of the Collective

A group of walking tour guides have come together to launch Coast and Country Walking Tours, a new collective with the ambition to offer a full calendar of guided walking tours across the Ards and North Down Borough from next summer.

Bringing different interests and knowledge to play, the tour guides have been supported financially and with marketing expertise by the Council.

A member of the Collective, Gavin Walker, said, “We are all grateful to the Mayor and Council for their support of our ambition to encourage residents and visitors alike to pull on a pair of walking shoes and join us as we discover the history, geography and beauty of the place we call home.”

Another Collective member, John McConnell added, “We each bring different aspects of knowledge and expertise to our tours, so people seeking different experiences from walking tours will certainly be able to access a tour guide who can add to their knowledge in that area.”

Rebecca Cupples, whose tour Bangor’s Wee Pilgrimage is a beautiful combination of walking the monastic ancient trails accompanied by reflective meditations, added, “There are so many aspects of our Borough that can be easily missed if passed in a car. But by walking gently and taking time to appreciate what is around us and the history in the soil, we can get so much more from the place where we live.”

William Hutchison added, “Having carefully developed and curated our walking tours we are able to share the love we have for this place we call home. We hope that our wide variety of walking tours will appeal to many people who live here as well as those who might be visiting.”

In concluding remarks, Gavin Walker said, “We know there are other walking tour guides within the Borough, and we would encourage them to join us in our collaboration to help build a guided walking tour offering to rival any other region across Northern Ireland.

“If they have the required level of qualification and are members of a professional body, we would like to hear from them.”

Interested tour guides should contact Gavin on 0759 357 0390. gavinhwalker@gmail.com