Meet your guide, Dale Edwards

Dale was born and bred in York, officially declared the world's haunted city and shares his May 27th birthday with the great horror actors Christopher Lee and Vincent Price (RIP) and his favourite singer, Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees. A banshee was the wailing spirit of a dead female who died during childbirth and to hear the cry of the banshee was an omen of death.

Highly educated with 29 separate qualifications Dale spent four years studying in Scarborough in the 1990s. firstly taking a Higher National Diploma in Tourism Studies at the Yorkshire Coast College in which he achieved a record 91% for his Arts and Entertainment module. He then continued to University College on Filey Road studying for his BA (hons) in Leisure and Tourism Management. Although narrowly failing to achieve a 1st class University of York degree, he managed to beat off challenges from his 77 fellow undergraduates to be presented the 'Graduate of the Year' and 'Dissertation of the Year' awards. Subsequently he was presented with prizes from both Scarborough Economic Action and Scarborough Forum for Tourism. Dale has also studied regularly at York College and, highly relevant to the walks, has a qualification in Britain's Social and Economic History.

Having worked as a tour guide in 1996 Dale returned to tour guiding in York in 2001, as he loves playing to an audience and is employed by the national organisation, Guide Friday. He is well known amongst the driveres as being the only guide from the three dozen or so who manages to achieve a round of applause upon completion of his shift and regards himself as much an entertainer as a tour guide. Following positive feedback during 2002, Dale completed an 'Acting Skills' course at Harrogate College over the winter, followed by a Leeds University 'Exploring Performance' course, held at West Yorkshire Playhouse. He was then promptly offered three different roles in Sir Alan Ayckbourne's 'Comic Potential' at York's Friargate Theatre.

Dale has appeared on stage twice. Firstly in 1996 at Elland in West Yorkshire, taking a lead role in a Yorkshire wide dramatics competition playing Dr Who for a York entry. Although York failed to win anything he was inspired to enter the same competition the next year in Wakefield. This time Dale wrote the script single handedly and both narrrated the play and played a judge and the York entry won - only their 2nd win in 22 years of entering the competition! Sadly the contest ended with York's win but after 4 years of historical research Dale has once again single handedly devised a script, comprising ghost stories and much more and would love you to join him.

Dale's walks are varied, entertaining, scary and theatrical as his own Geminian self. In real life Dale's favourite colour really is black and although he cannot guarantee that anyone will see a real life ghost on his walk, as a little chld put it upon seiing Dale recently on a train as he returned to York from a night out in Leeds, "Look daddy, it's a ghost".

He looks forward to seeing scaring you soon.