Would you like to tell the Frome story?

DISCOVER Frome is on the hunt for people to join the team as walking guides – sharing fascinating stories about Frome’s past with tourists,
Frome is fast becoming a town people want to visit and know more about. Discover Frome is offering an opportunity for anyone 16 to 90, to learn more about Frome and apply to lead walking tours in the Frome town centre (places are limited).
No experience or prior knowledge is needed, as full training will be given.
One of the stories you might be sharing is the town’s fascinating connection with the iconic Forth Bridge in Scotland.
Together with Sir John Fowler, the Forth Bridge was designed by Sir Benjamin Baker who was born on 31st March 1840 in Keyford, which is now part of Frome.
After attending school in Cheltenham, Sir Benjamin Baker went on to become an apprentice and later an associate partner in iron works companies.  He was instrumental in the construction of the Aswan Dam, the transportation of Cleopatra’s Needle from Egypt to the Embankment in London and in the development of the London underground system, especially the Metropolitan Line.
Construction of the Forth Bridge was completed in 1890 and it was named as a World Heritage Site in July 2015 by UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). The bridge was identified as an ‘important milestone in bridge design and construction during the period when railways came to dominate long distance land travel’. As the world’s first steel bridge, it is still the longest multi-span cantilever bridge and the longest illuminated railway bridge in the world.
Although William Morris said that the bridge was “the supremacist specimen of all ugliness”, and “a testament to robust and conservative over-engineering”, the Forth Bridge is an engineering marvel that was considered an eighth wonder of the world when constructed and is today proudly featured on the Scottish twenty-pound banknote…and it all started in the market town of Frome.
If you feel this is something you are interested in and you want to learn a new skill, get in touch with dawn adenton@aol.com to find out more and book your place on the September training programme so you can tell the Frome story.