Following the overwhelming success of the Crichton Crypt Tours, which launched last October, Mostly Ghostly Tours are preparing to launch a brand new venture geared towards children and families. The award winning team, who are proud to be working in collaboration with The Crichton Trust, are keen to encourage and expand young people’s interest in history. The team have welcomed over 500 people to their hugely popular tours of the Crichton Church and Crypt and hope their latest venture will appeal to a wide range of people.
Team founder Kathleen Cronie tells us more:
‘We’re delighted to be working with our friends at The Crichton Trust on the new Family Crichton Tour. Given The Crichton’s rich past and atmospheric surroundings, it’s a brilliant location for storytelling, and with the Easter Holidays just around the corner, we felt it was a super time to promote this exciting and educational event, suitable for history lovers of all ages to enjoy.”
Guests will meet Elizabeth Crichton, the hospital’s remarkable founder, brought to life by Mostly Ghostly’s Mary Wood, and discover the fascinating past of Crichton Hall, before learning what life was like in the old Southern Counties Asylum. From the early beginnings of The Crichton Royal Farm to the story of how patients escaped a deadly epidemic, there’s much to enthral visitors.
The tour will start from Easterbrook Hall and guests will have the opportunity to visit The Crichton Gardens, The Crichton Royal Farm, The Crichton Memorial Church and enjoy a guided a walk through the landscaped grounds passing Crichton Hall, The Crichton Business Park and Academic Campus before making their way back towards Easterbrook Bistro, Bar & Spa.”
When the Crichton Crypt Tour, the first of its kind, was announced last year, the team were inundated with enquiries. Kathleen tells us more:
‘We felt sure the tour would inspire and intrigue, what we hadn’t prepared for was the level of interest: messages, e-mails, phone calls, enquiries at the Midsteeple Box Office and a buzz wherever we went! The first tours booked up within a day and to date, every tour has sold out! It’s also been brilliant to receive bookings for private tours – it’s safe to say the unique nature of The Crichton has captured a huge amount of attention!’
The team hope the family venture will continue to attract visitors to The Crichton. Team member John Hill said:
‘We love working with young people and guided a series of mini Crichton tours for school groups at the 2018 Big Bang Fair. This year, we’ve been exploring more ways of engaging with younger guests and felt The Crichton would be a fantastic location to explore in more details, giving guests a chance to enjoy beautiful surroundings, amazing architecture and unique history’.
Chief Executive of The Crichton Trust, Gwilym Gibbons said: “It has been a pleasure working with the team from Mostly Ghostly Tours and to have witnessed the enthusiasm for the Crichton Crypt Tours. I’m sure the new Family Crichton Tours will encourage even more people to visit The Crichton to learn more about its past as well as what it has to offer today. Whenever you visit, you will be made most welcome.”
Partnership working has always been a top priority for Mostly Ghostly and the team are thrilled with the support received so far. Kathleen said:
‘We’ve received first class support from The Crichton team, who have been incredibly helpful and enthusiastic since the tours began.’
Summing up, Kathleen said:
“We’re very excited about welcoming our first guests to the Family Crichton Tour! This is a great opportunity to encourage new and past visitors to explore different elements of The Crichton’s history, helping to raise the profile of this awe-inspiring location to local people and visitors alike. We aim to encourage more people to visit The Crichton and discover all it has to offer, another fabulous reason to come to Dumfries!’
