Plymouth’s fist Twittour takes place on Saturday, October 10. The event starts with a traditional Devonshire cream tea. We caught up with one of the organisers Gavin Sheppard, from Devonshire Tea, to find out how the Twittour idea was brewed up (geddit?)
We were introduced to Twitter a few months back, and it was a few weeks ago that the idea for a fun walking tour of Plymouth – a ‘Twittour’ “(being a mix of Twitter and Tour) – for local tweeters was discussed among a few people while networking at the first Tweetup of the Devon Social Media Café @DevonCafe in the Bar HaHa Armada Way Plymouth.
Since then @devonshiretea and @BestTourGuide “virtually” got together to create a real-world Tweetup, with a difference.
I am one of two directors of Devonshire Tea, a family-run company based in Plymouth. We launched our exclusive blend of tea onto the Devon market on March 2 this year, and have followed this up by exhibiting in London at The Speciality & Fine Food Fair, where we launched our tea across the UK.
The idea for Devonshire Tea came to us in June 2006 while in Australia. There they serve “Devonshire Teas / Cream Teas” across the country – as indeed do many countries across the world. Devon, or as we prefer to call it Devonshire, is world famous for its wonderful cream teas, so we thought ‘why on earth hasn’t it got it’s own blend of tea’.
After all, Yorkshire has, and it’s famous for those puddings you have with your Sunday roast. And so has Lancashire, but it’s famous for hot pots. So, that was it, we set about creating a blend for Devonshire and almost three years later we were able to launch our tea onto the market.
The tours will be led by @BestTourGuide’s Jane Dymock, who qualified in 1998 as a West Country registered Blue Badge Guide.
Based in Plymouth, Jane offers tours throughout the West Country – in cities/towns, museums and galleries, in castles, churches and countryside, and is not charging a fee for the Twittour, but instead, will be collecting for a charity.
Take a look at the map of the tour, which will be led by experienced professional guide, Jane Dymock. Funds raised during the event will go to charity
The first “Twittour” takes place on Saturday, October 10, where those attending will meet at the Tudor Rose Tea Rooms, New St, The Barbican Plymouth.
• To take part, you can either meet at the Tudor Rose Tea Rooms, New Street, The Barbican, Plymouth, at 2.45pm for a Devonshire Cream Tea (£4.50 per person).
Or you can meet the ‘Cream Tea Gang’ outside at 3.30pm , when they’ll set off for a guided walk of Plymouth, lasting approx two hours and finishing up at View2 on Vauxhall Quay for a ‘lovely cup of Devonshire Tea’.
To confirm the numbers for the Cream Tea part of the Twittour, Tweet @devonshiretea by tea time on Wednesday, October, 7.
