1,000th Guildford Ghost Tours And Still Counting

Published on: 27 Nov, 2019
Updated on: 1 Dec, 2019

By Hugh Coakley

Friday, November 22, saw a landmark achievement in the town with the 1,000th Guildford Ghost Tour assembling in the High Street. And, professional actor, Philip Hutchinson, who runs the tours, has no intention of being spooked into letting it stop there.

The 1,000th Guildford Ghost Tour under the Tunsgate arch on Friday, November 22. The Mayor of Guildford, Richard Billington, attended the wonderful achievement.

Unexpectedly, it seems it is mainly locals who love to be scared, not the visitors to Guildford that Philip anticipated when he started back in August 2001.

Philip said: “About 75% of the people on the tours are from Guildford and the area around. It’s very popular and I regularly get about 100 people coming at Halloween. All the stories are true but I make sure that the tour is comical.”

Philip Hutchinson on his celebrated Guildford Ghost Tour.

He is a sceptic himself and doesn’t believe in the most of the ghosts and ghoulies that go bump in the night. His disbelief makes it all the more convincing when he experiences things that can’t easily be explained.

He said that he is an Honorary Life Member of The Ghost Club, the oldest paranormal society in the world, founded by Charles Dickens in 1862. So he takes it seriously when people on his tours report to him first-hand encounters.

Apart from the ghost tours, Philip is a very busy man. He is the custodian for Guildford Castle, an author, does Jack the Ripper tours in London and is actor/ manager for the two man Lucky Dog Theatre Productions team.

To reach 1,000 ghost tours shows the attraction is not a fad; it speaks volumes for what is billed as the only independent tourist attraction in the town.

If you want to hear about “why Holy Trinity Church is cursed, the identity of the mysterious lady in grey seen around Tunsgate or where Guildford’s criminals were executed”, turn up this Friday, November 29, at 8pm for the last tour of the year, although private tours can be arranged.