Golden Key Academy graduate Debbie Kent discusses her experience learning to become a London built environment tour guide

Why did you apply for the Golden Key Academy and what were you hoping to achieve in terms of personal and professional development?

I love cities and walking in them, and I have a deep love of London in particular, the city where I have lived all my life. I am fascinated by how the built environment has been shaped – and how it shapes the way we live and work and think and feel and move. I’ve long been interested in the work Open City does to engage the wider public with those questions.

I have previously planned and led various sorts of walks in different parts of London, from sensory walks to audio walks to psychogeography-inspired explorations, looking at all sorts of ways people engage with the city. Through the Golden Key Academy I wanted to improve my skills and knowledge to make guided tours a part of my repertory.

In what ways has the academy transformed your confidence and ability to lead tours?

One thing that I found really useful was learning how to tell a story and how a strong narrative transforms a tour into something memorable and special. Once you know what sort of story you are trying to tell, it also makes organising and editing your material much easier and it makes it easier to remember what you need to say.

Previously I would have been daunted by the idea of taking a large group of people on a tour, but by the time the Open House Festival came around in September the research, preparation and rehearsals I had done meant I could focus on what it was I wanted to communicate. I had a great time showing about 20 people one of my favourite parts of London and talking about the challenges of placemaking in post industrial developments. Now I’m looking forward to creating more tours.

Part of the course is developing your own unique tour, exploring a neighbourhood or theme of your choice, to feature in the Open House Festival. What inspired your tour?

I had already researched the Royal Docks for other projects and had been exploring the area for quite a few years — watching its rapid transformation up close. I was originally drawn to it when I was looking for parts of the city that were in the throes of intensive regeneration and redevelopment, but I fell in love with it in a way that’s not really rational.

It is a heady mixture of cement works and construction sites and images of computer-generated utopias, with remnants of industrial and imperial history, and communities attempting to take shape in a landscape that was designed for another era. All the challenges of urban development in microcosm.

What parts of the course did you find most useful in preparing your tour?

I learned so much from joining tours — both Open City’s year-round tours and those delivered by my peers in the academy where we gave and received feedback. Getting a critique from my lovely mentor Nick was so useful. The ‘classroom’ sessions were super useful too in giving us practical advice on things like insurance and safety. My favourite class was the public speaking one, which was way more fun than I had expected.

What are your words of wisdom for all those signing up for the 2024 course?

Firstly go on the Open City boat tour, it is a fantastic way to see the city in context and take advantage of as many of the free tours as you can. It is really useful to have Open City’s extensive year-round tour programme at your fingertips and you will learn so much about London as well as about tour guiding from experienced guides.

Other people on the course will have a really interesting range of backgrounds and experience. Be proactive and meet up outside of the sessions, you will learn so much from each other. Lastly, don’t be shy to ask. The Open City team are ready to help with anything you need or point you towards someone who can.