They are the people at the forefront of Southampton's tourism push.

Now a tour guide group battling to raise the profile of the city's "undersold" history has taken on six new recruits.

The Southampton Tourist Guides Association welcomed its first new guides in four years who passed a rigorous seventh month training programme.

The association hopes its new blood will help spread the message that the city is a historical attraction in itself.

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There are fears it is seen by the growing cruise industry as little more than a staging post for trips around the rest of the south of England.

Chairman Trisha Eldridge said she was alarmed at how little was made of the city's history and heritage.

"It's completely undersold. It's not advertised well, which is a shame. It's not publicised as well as it should be.

"On the whole even Southampton's own citizens are very ignorant about the amount of history there is."

She said she hoped the rebranding of Southampton as a maritime city would not come at the expense of its history, adding she was in talks with cruise giant Carnival about how to better inform visitors about tours and Southampton's historical attractions.

Diana Callaghan, 56, an IT training specialist, recently took her first solo tour after the mayor, the association's patron, presented her with her "green badge", a qualification comparable to a level three NVQ.

"I was really surprised by what we have. I've lived here for ten years and never realised it was such a good example of a medieval town," she said.

The association's walks aim to give a flavour of Southampton's rich history which stretches back to Roman times through to more recent events such as the Titanic and Southampton's association with the preparations for D-Day during the Second World War. It runs 90-minute walks around the Old Town and specialist tours such as the Titanic Trail and Jane Austen's Southampton.

Free walks are held every Sunday morning from the Bargate, increasing to twice daily in August.

The association also takes booking for private tours, charging a small fee to cover its guides' expenses. The city council makes a small grant for the costs of the free walks.

  • For further information contact Don Robertson on 023 8057 1858 during office hours, or e-mail drob007@aol.com.