Visitors from Round the Globe

We have always welcomed visitors to the Water Tower and have allowed them to wander round the outside of the tower at least.   In so doing we have met some amazing people and it has been a delight to share with them a glimpse of this wonderful building.

Obvious interest in the tower started from the moment it first appeared on TV.   We rather expected this to ease off with the passage of time but far from it.   The TV programmes have been repeated often in the UK but also and increasingly, worldwide.

With no encouragement on our part we find ourselves a tourist destination.  We are even on Trip Advisor (Five Stars too)!

We are lucky enough to live here and it is comforting to know that other people share our enjoyment but should we draw a line somewhere and pull up the drawbridge?   Difficult when people have traveled from far and wide to see the place.

During August we thought we would try a bit more of an open gate policy (with the agreement of our insurers, NFU Mutual).   We put up a couple of low key notices and marked a route with arrows:

click to enlarge

We only display them when we are round and about the tower so retain some control and answer questions.

The results have been astounding.   It's hardly a stately home but I guess that some stately homes would be glad of so many visitors.   By no means everybody signs the visitors book so we do not know just how many people have wandered round but it will be in the hundreds.

Here, simply in order of appearance in the visitors book are some of the foreign addresses in August 2015 alone:

Saudi Arabia

France

Dunedin

Australia

Vancouver

South Africa

Jacksonville, Florida

New Zealand (too many to list)

Lusaka, Zambia

Zurich

Brisbane

Pittsburgh

Stuttgart

Ottawa

Perth, W Australia

Melbourne

Norway

Spain

Geneva

Not sure what to make of all this but such worldwide interest must at least be good news for the local economy?