Mayor’s charities feel the ‘Midsomer’ effect

THE Mayor of Thame’s charities, the Red Kite Family Centre and Thame & District Day Centre, will benefit from Thame’s popular Midsomer Walking Tours.

Pictured L to R Midsomer tour guides, Erroll Bateman, Elaine Harrison, Tony Long, and (on the other side of the Mayor) Bernadette Tildesley, Peter Sawyer, Nick Weir

A cheque for £374, to be shared between the two charities, was presented by the Midsomer Tour Guides to the Mayor, Cllr Tom Wyse, on Tuesday, November 28.

The Midsomer Tours, which take in locations used in filming the internationally popular,  ITV drama, Midsomer Murders, were held weekly for the first time this year, between May and October, run by six trained volunteers who are all members of Thame Players. The tours have proved to be highly successful, with 200 people buying tickets, not only from the UK and local areas, but also from overseas countries, including Australia, Scandinavia, USA, and Germany.

The tours cost £7.50 per person and it was agreed at the outset that the tour guides themselves would receive no income, preferring to donate two thirds of receipts to the Mayor’s Charities and Thame Museum (a Midsomer filming location), while the remaining income would be used to fund promotion for the 2018 season.

Thame is one of the most frequently used filming locations for Midsomer Murders and regularly features, either as Causton, or as one of the many villages in the fictional ‘Midsomer County’. Midsomer Murders is still going strong after 20 years with regular screenings in the UK and all over the world. Over six million people watch Midsomer Murders in this country, and millions more in over 100 countries worldwide. Once they have seen it on TV, people want to come and visit the quintessentially English towns and villages of Midsomer.

Tony Long, coordinator for the Midsomer tour guides, said: “We are delighted with the success of the Midsomer Tours this year, and are equally delighted to be able to donate much of the proceeds to such worthy causes as the Mayor’s Charities and Thame Museum. We’re looking forward to running the tours again next year, every Wednesday from April 4, through to the last Wednesday in October.

“We believe these tours add a welcome new facet to tourism in the town, attracting more visitors to the historic town of Thame.”

• The Midsomer tours for 2018 will take place weekly between 4th April and 30th October, every Wednesday at 11.00am. They will start from inside Thame Museum (79 High Street, Thame, OX9 3AE), one of the filming locations, taking in many buildings in the town centre. The tours follow on from the original tour created by David Dodds of Thame Museum, and are held under the auspices of 21st Century Thame, an organisation that brings together local businesses, community groups and councils to help keep Thame vibrant and viable as a market town.
• Tickets may be booked online at thamemuseum.org or at ticketsource.co.uk/thamemidsomer or purchased in person at Thame Museum (open 10am – 4pm Tue, Wed, Sat, and 12pm – 4pm Sun).
• Bespoke tours at other times can be arranged for groups of at least 4 people or more. For more information about specially arranged tours, please email thamemidsomertours@gmail.com.
•  There is a free Midsomer Walking Trail leaflet, which enables you to do the tour yourself without a guide. It covers both the Thame Midsomer locations and those in neighbouring villages in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Copies may be obtained at Thame Town Hall Information Centre and Thame Museum, as well as at hotels, pubs, shops and cafes in the local area. Contact Helen Johns at helen.johns39@gmail.com or on 0771 743 4983 if you would like supplies of the leaflet, which will be updated for the 2018 season.