Graham Morrice

Hello from my homeland here in Kirkwall (the capital of Orkney) where I was born and still call home today.

I became an qualified Orkney Tour guide in 2005 whilst at the same time I was studying for an HNC (Higher National Certificate) in Tourism at Orkney College and I’m glad to say I passed both and I’m extremely glad I did.

It all happened in 2004 when my careers adviser asked me if I was interested in doing the HNC tourism course at Orkney College

(I studied travel and tourism at school and enjoyed it, plus it was really the only subject I would say I was good at)

So I tried it, enjoyed it and passed - it was a big achievement for me.

Then in 2005 an advert appeared in the local newspaper looking for people interested in training as tour guide in Orkney (this was still when I was doing my HNC) and so I thought the two courses could work together and would make sense to try it, so me and a fellow class mate applied for it and to be honest I didn’t think I would get very far with it. To my surprise I got invited to an interview (something I will never forget) and then more to my surprise they said yes and I was on the course, then surprising again I passed it, big achievement number two. So doing the two courses together did get tough by the end of them all, but with help and encouragement from my new friends I got there thankfully and never regretted both.

Ever since then I’ve loved being a tour guide here in my homeland of Orkney, because not only am I privileged to meet nice people and share my homeland with them, but personally it allows me to gain new skills and to really work on my personal development.

2006 saw me get a job at Skaill House, Orkney finest 17th century mansion house, as a part time seasonal custodian (plus I was still guiding) between April to September, then I was back there again in 2007 but this time full time and I really loved my time there, it was a fantastic environment, meeting nice folk and my staff colleagues where fantastic and I made some good friends. Though coming up to the end of the season I was making the decision that I might not coming back next season and that it was time to move on, but to what was the question. So that winter passed and then around April 2008 an advert came in the paper from Historic Scotland looking for staff at Skara Brae (the best preserved Neolithic village in Northern Europe) so I applied for it and I got the job, though as a part time steward and I’ve been there ever since and again it a good place to work at to, plus its just down the path from Skaill House so it wasn’t that big a move on for me. And of course I still get to guide.

So as I’ve learnt about more about Orkney with my HNC, guiding job and my jobs at Skaill House and Skara Brae, they have made me more aware of what the Islands have to offer and appreciate it more. So it makes living in Orkney more exciting.

My main interest is ships and photographing them really, with being a group of Islands we have a pretty good shipping scene here. I particularly like cruise ships and so being a tour guide in Scotland’s number 1 cruise port and 3rd after Southampton and Dover, I count myself very luck!

So a folk that’s pretty much me, so hopefully I’ll meet you here someday.

All the best

Graham Morrice

Promoting the highest standards of guiding within Orkney

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