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The
British Bobby Touring Company is owned and run by
James Bothwell, a former London policeman, who specializes
in organizing and conducting unique escorted group tours
of Britain.
Whether you are a couple requiring your very own private
tour of England, Scotland and Wales or a group of fourteen
with specific requests, let us guide you on your trip
to the UK.
The difference between our company and others is that
we remain involved from your initial contact right up
until the time we say our goodbyes at London, Paris or
any other airport. We personally design and drive you
on all our guided tours. It's the safest and best way
to see Britain. Each tour is custom made for you!
You choose where you want to go, and the places you wish
to see. You let us know these, together with your interests.
We put them together, add a few places we know you will
love, and come up with the perfect vacation for you.
The tours are normally for one or two weeks - but longer
or shorter tours can be arranged. Time permitting you
can go from John O'Groats to Land's End. If you prefer
you can tour a specific area of Britain or you can combine
different areas. You can also combine Britain and Europe
- it's your choice!
The
Story So Far....
In the mid 1980s, whilst working
as a policeman in London on Changing of the Guard
Duties outside Buckingham Palace, James Bothwell
dealt with tourists from all corners of the world.
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Often he would see a large group of
people being rushed off a bus, rushed through the ceremony
and then rushed back on to the coach. He watched their
occasionally confused faces peering out of the bus as
they were driven on to the next major tourist site their
travel agent and the bus company had convinced them was
a "must see".
In James' eyes this did not seem the way to see London
and was certainly not the way to see England, but he was
aware of the limited options being made available when
booking vacations from abroad. From beside a diesel fumed
60 seater bus the concept of "British Bobby Tours" began
to take shape. In the mid 1990s people carrier vans, which
could transport up to 6 guests around London and sometimes
5 through the country with luggage, were being sold by
all the major manufacturers throughout Britain. If the
travelling public were made aware of tours being conducted
by ex-Bobbies along the backroads of Britain surely they
would jump at the chance of this type of tour rather than
one with 55 others in that big coach again.
The tours were to be unstuffy, informal and at a relaxed
and gentle pace. Although the ex-Bobbies would not be
historical guides, they would have the kind of social
skills to surely make the trip memorable. They would have
advanced driving qualifications and they would make sure
their guests were looked after and safe. These would be
real tours for real people. James took his ideas to the
British Tourist Authority and certain magazines representing
British travel and distributed through the USA. He checked
out the opposition and most places he turned a name would
crop up…..Paul Treverton. While James had been identifying
this "niche" market back in the mid 1980s, Paul had been
embracing it and already had been granted Honorary Citizenship
of Texas for his services to tourism - an act that will
surely not come back to haunt George Bush Jnr.
James began conducting tours in 1996 and one fine Summer
evening in this year, while busy with guests following
in the footsteps of Samuel Johnson and Boswell on the
Isle of Skye in Scotland, they pulled over on the road
in the shadows of the Cuillin Hills for a view of the
summer sea and woodland glens. Another driver had pulled
over to show his guests the view too, and on a Hebridean
island several hundred miles from home, in front of several
bemused guests, James and Paul first shook hands. The
next handshake was in the Winter of 96 by a roaring fire
in a London pub where the ex-Bobbies decided to "join
forces" and offer guests from abroad something jointly.
The British Bobby Tours web site was launched and advertising
was shared in some USA publications. Paul continued to
write travel articles and we got occasional write ups
in USA newspapers. By the end of the millenium we had
over five hundred clients in the USA and had cemented
some excellent relationships with the travel trade "across
the pond".
In 1999, bearing in mind those early days by Buckingham
Palace, we also began to offer personalised coach travel,
where we organise "one group" travel for guests travelling
as a one party group. Interesting tours have led to us
arranging Celtic weddings and cricketing tours of England.
We also added self drive itinerary planning to the services
we offer booking guests' accommodation in the places we
know and love through Britain.
We aim to keep the format the same and maybe add a driver
or two to our portfolio. We hope to continue offering
value for money unique tours of the British Isles and
remain probably one of the busiest companies in our enjoyable
field of business.
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