2010 - 50 Years of The Guild

 

 

Just about the time I was learning to walk, a small group of people gathered together for a cup of tea in the Thomas Cook offices in Park Lane to discuss the idea of an organisation that would bring travel writers together. And so the British Guild of Travel Writers was born, with Lt Col Geoffrey Portham as its first Chairman.

 

Fifty years on, I am truly honoured to be in the chair as we celebrate our Golden Jubilee. Very few of the founders are still with us, but some of the earliest members are still going strong. My immediate predecessor as Chairman, John Carter, was also the Guild's fourth Chairman, way back in 1966-8.

 

In the bar, after last year's Awards dinner, someone asked me "what's the Guild for?" I started trotting out the standard reply about it being a professional association for travel writers but then I stopped to think. Like many long-established organisations, the Guild has become a more complex organism along the way. For what is a relatively simple society of like-minded professionals it arouses surprisingly strong emotions, of all sorts, both within the Guild and amongst the industry. All I can do is speak about what it means to me and why I feel it is important.

 

Open to all involved in travel publishing - as writers, photographers, broadcasters, editors or publishers - whether staff or freelance, the Guild is undoubtedly valuable for its networking potential, both amongst the membership and with the industry and the media. With our tough membership criteria, dealing with a Guild member offers the industry a guarantee that they have a true professional in front of them. It also gives them someone to complain to should things go wrong!

 

For those who choose to engage more actively however, the Guild also comes to mean something more. The vast majority of our members are freelance and as most of them say on their application forms, writing can be a lonely business. As travellers, we are in an extraordinarily privileged position and we can't always talk freely to non-travelly people. The Guild gives us an invaluable network of people with the same experiences and problems, some of whom become close friends. We have even had one Guild wedding. I also believe passionately that as an industry we need to speak with a united voice, particularly as recession and changing technology batter at the economic foundations of the travel pages on which we rely.

 

For me, the Guild has provided the camaraderie that most people find at the office. It has helped me through tough times, and taught me more about how to run my working life. It has helped me find work, saved me money through facilities, and helped me get trips. It has entertained me at countless events and as a longterm committee member/chairman presented me with a fair few conundrums along with the pleasure!

 

But it's been worth it because above all, the Guild has introduced me to the most extraordinary and wonderful cast of characters, from Harold Dennis-Jones who spoke 40 languages and seemed to be allergic to all foods other than salmon, strawberries and champagne to Russell Chamberlin who wrote fabulously erudite books on religious history, loved good red wine and hated heights, mentioning the fact in every description of an Italian campanile. So thank you, BGTW, for your friendship and support. Here's to the next 50 years.

 

Melissa Shales