Tourism accolade aids South African pilgrim's progress
by Charles Gardner
June 11, 2007
SELBY, UK (ANS) -- A South African-born British journalist has been short-listed for two tourism awards within the first year of re-launching himself as a tour guide for Americans wanting to search out their spiritual roots. Russell Hocking, a sub-editor for many years with a highly successful Christian publishing house, launched Pilgrim Tours last September, a business based in North Nottinghamshire, England, which aims to help tourists re-live the experiences of America's early settlers.
He is now running guided tours of sites associated with the Pilgrim Fathers and was nominated in two categories of the prestigious Nottinghamshire STARS awards 2007, a glittering ceremony sponsored by ITV Central, Center Parcs and Nottingham City Council.
The awards recognise excellence in tourism, culture, leisure and hospitality, and Russell was short-listed for Creativity in Practice and Best New Entrant to the Industry but had to settle for runners-up prizes - still a great achievement in his first year as co-ordinator of the North Nottinghamshire-based business.
Russell launched the business in partnership with wife Shelly (Rachelle) and with full support from the marketing department of the local Bassetlaw District Council in North Nottinghamshire.
Business is aimed chiefly at the American market - five million Americans can trace their ancestry to the Pilgrim Fathers - but is also geared to Dutch people (as the pilgrims initially fled to Holland) along with more local groups.
Though it is generally understood that the pilgrims sailed from Plymouth in Devon on the Mayflower in 1620, it is much less widely known that many of the key founders of America originated from a quiet corner of England just south of Doncaster, bordering on North Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.
The venture is expected to be greatly boosted by the recent opening of an international airport at Finningley, near Doncaster, barely a couple of miles from the village of Austerfield, the birthplace of the New England colony's first ever governor, William Bradford. And the so-called Robin Hood Airport - already a busy departure point for many European destinations - is now introducing long-haul flights to America.
Russell says: "I'm confident that with Robin Hood Airport opening to more long-haul flights, and with plans for a Pilgrim Fathers Visitor Centre in the area being realised, success can only lead to more success for all of us. Of course I was absolutely thrilled about being short-listed for two high-profile awards within the first year of business."
Also on the 'Pilgrim' trail is the village of Scrooby, just two miles south of Austerfield, where Bradford's mentor William Brewster formed the original Separatist Church 400 years ago with Richard Clyfton as its pastor.
Clyfton had just been deprived of his living at the nearby Babworth Rectory for his Separatist views. Basically, the Scrooby gathering had come into a living experience of God as a result of which they no longer wished to be restricted by the formal, rigid and ritualistic services of the Church of England.
So they met informally to study the Bible and freely worship the Lord outside of the constraints of the state church. But for this they were pilloried and persecuted to such an extent that they felt forced - in 1607 - to flee the country to a more sympathetic Holland. There they stayed for 12 years until King James finally agreed to the charter of the Mayflower by Doncaster businessman John Carver in return for the pilgrims extending his influence to the New World.
Also on the trail is beautiful Babworth Church, with its matchstick model of the Mayflower and a rare copy of a 16th century Geneva Bible (used by Clyfton), along with magnificent Gainsborough Old Hall, where the Separatists had also met secretly under the protection of wealthy landlord William Hickman and where a 'Pilgrim' exhibition is still housed. Boston, Lincolnshire, also has a place in the Pilgrim Fathers story.
Tours are also planned to incorporate further major historical interest in the area such as the home of the Wesley brothers in Epworth, near Doncaster, along with the haunts of the legendary Robin Hood, and even genuine connections with George Washington.
Russell explains: "My team and I are geared for providing specialised tours along the Mayflower Trail in Babworth, Scrooby, Austerfield, Sturton le Steeple and Gainsborough. We promote our area for a wide range of visitors, including local schools and the millions of Pilgrim Fathers' descendants in the USA. We're also excited about getting ready to expand into Epworth, Blyth and Retford, and in September to start day trips to Boston via Willoughby, birthplace of adventurer and New World explorer Captain John Smith."
Russell came to the area from South Africa seven years ago and soon realised the potential for tourism of the region's deep-rooted links with America. Then, more recently, he got involved in a Scrooby-based schools event on the Pilgrim Fathers, dressing up in period costume as he and others acted as 'guides' for primary pupils on a trip back in time to explore the courage and purpose of those early men and women of faith. He shared his vision with a council marketing officer attending, and it soon became a reality. The schools event is to be repeated this summer.
Russell, who once acted as tour guide for visitors to Cambodia when the notorious Khmer Rough 'Killing Fields' was among the sites, is being assisted by several local history experts.
Among them is novelist Sue Allan, author of Mayflower Maid (Babash-Ryan Publishers) and fellow South African journalist and friend Charles Gardner, who has himself researched into the Pilgrim Fathers in recent years and whose wife Linda was responsible for the schools event that changed his career.
Russell says: "Pilgrim Tours is geared to provide enthusiasts with a unique opportunity to explore one of the richest and most fascinating legacies of all time."
You can find out more about Pilgrim Tours by clicking on www.pilgrimtours.co.uk
