Kirker Tour Leaders

Stephen Nelson is an artist who divides his time between London and southern Italy. His work has been exhibited internationally as well as in the UK, including at Camden Arts Centre, the Whitechapel Gallery, the Fine Arts Society and twice recently at the Royal Academy Summer Show.

Simon Monckton studied Theology at Durham University. He is particularly interested in the influence of religion on great Mediaeval cathedrals and how this differed throughout Europe.

One of the UK’s leading food and travel writers and an expert on France, Carolyn is a contributor to The Guardian, The Times, National Geographic Traveller Food and BBC Good Food, and was editor of France Magazine for nearly a decade.

Mark is a wine expert and a director at Decorum Vintners, which champions the best artisanal wine growers, many of which are organic or biodynamic.

Guido is an expert in volcanology and geothermics. His experience is broad and includes the physical volcanology of eruptive, transport and depositional processes, the geochemical evolution of magmas from source to vent, the rheology of magmas, from case studies on all continents and geological settings.

Born and raised in Madrid, Omar’s love for cooking was ignited in his family kitchen, where food was the centrepiece of life. Inspired by Spanish culinary legends like Ferran Adrià, Omar trained professionally and moved to London at the age of 21.

Jonathan Ray is the Drinks Editor for The Spectator magazine, drinks columnist of The Field and Spear’s Magazine, contributing editor of Boat International and author of several books on wine and spirits including All About Wine, Bloodlines & Grapevines, Drink More Fizz! and That’s the Spirit!

Writer, broadcaster, teacher and chef, Sophie Grigson moved to Puglia in 2019, drawn to the beautiful seasonal ingredients and a “joyful lack of pretension” in the local cuisine.

Dr Giovanni Di Pasquale is the Associate Scientific Director at the Galileo Museum, Institute and Museum for the History of Science in Florence.

Anna, an accredited Blue Badge Tourist Guide with 14 years’ experience, specialises in personalised tours of Hadrian’s Wall, the Lake District and Cumbria.

Frances has been a curator with English Heritage for 8 years, looking after collections focussed on Hadrian’s Wall but also more widely in the north east.

Frank has been Archaeological Director of Uncovering Roman Carlisle since its first investigations took place in 2017.

Martin Griffiths has been teaching astronomy for over 40 years and was senior lecturer at the University of South Wales before he retired.

Craig is the Adam Smith Senior Lecturer in the Scottish Enlightenment at the University of Glasgow.

Christofilis Maggidis is currently assistant to the director of Mycenae, and president of the Mycenaean Foundation with nearly three decades of field experience at major archaeological sites, including Mycenae, Glas, Crete (Archanes, Idaion Cave), and Akrotiri (Thera).

Darren Price is a Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, UK. He read Mathematics at Cambridge, followed by an MSc and PhD in experimental particle physics.

Christopher was a choral scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford where he developed a passion for both performing and teaching.

Jane has had a long association with Kirker Holidays and over the last decade she has escorted several exclusive Kirker music festivals in the UK and at sea, as well as tours in Europe.

Richard is currently a senior lecturer in early modern history at the University of Edinburgh, where he also serves as director of undergraduate teaching for history.

Graeme Coles has worked in the hospitality industry all his life, working in hotels both overseas and in the UK. It was whilst managing a hotel in Lewes, close to the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, that he developed a keen interest in opera and classical music.

Tim was co-founder of the UK's leading wine tours company, which he ran for nearly 30 years leading numerous tours to wine regions worldwide. Having sold the company some years ago, Tim has been busy with other projects, including making a delicious passito wine on the Greek island of Samos.

Emily is a research assistant professor at the University at Buffalo in New York state and director of the Pran’e Siddi Project, an excavation and survey that researches the Bronze Age Nuragic culture of Sardinia.

Kirsty Fergusson exchanged a career in academia (she is a PhD specialising in French philosopher-novelists) for a life in gardening. Trained at Capel Manor, she was head gardener at Mapperton in Dorset during the early nineties, where a series of fortunate encounters opened the door to garden writing.

Olivia Thackstone has over 15 years’ experience in tourism and hospitality. A former Front of House Manager at World of Wedgwood, she specialises in promoting the rich heritage of The Potteries, bringing its ceramics history and cultural legacy to life for visitors.

Reuben Grima is a senior lecturer in the Department of Conservation and Built Heritage at the University of Malta, lecturing mainly in cultural heritage management.

Victoria Martin is a Professor of Physics at the University of Edinburgh and a researcher on the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and the CLICdp projects at CERN. Victoria grew up in Kilmarnock and attended the University of Edinburgh (BSc, PhD).

After studying at the University of Wageningen, near the Dutch city of Arnhem, Ger began his career as a consultant, before working as a guide and tour leader both in his native Netherlands and abroad.

Juliet Rix is an award-winning journalist working for British national newspapers, magazines, and online media as well as the BBC. Juliet is a regular traveller to destinations throughout Europe with a special interest in Italy and the islands of Malta and Gozo.

Ellen Jones graduated from University of Oxford with a PhD in Egyptology and has participated in archaeological missions to Egypt since 2018.

Since founding her company in 1984, Dame Emma Bridgewater has become one of the country's best-known ceramic designers and entrepreneurs.

Andrew Taylor graduated from the University of St Andrew's in 1989 with a degree in Church History. He has a further degree in Classical Studies and a Masters in the History of Art.

Charlie Hall has known Italy intimately since 1965 when his father set up the excellent John Hall Venice course for gap year students who wish to become enlightened by many aspects of Venetian and Italian culture.

Ned’s cheese career began at Borough Market in December 2000, and he then joined Neal’s Yard Dairy in 2002 working on retail, wholesale and as an affineur, and travelling around the UK visiting cheesemakers.

Colin is a multi-award-winning astronomy author and speaker who has talked to over half a million people about the universe.

After receiving a 1st class degree in Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, Fiona went on to carry out a PhD in Pharmacology at King’s College London specialising in inflammation and pain.

Joshua White taught for over 20 years at Christie’s Education in London where he was director of ‘The London Art Course’ as well as Sotheby’s Institute and Tate Modern.

Patrick Bade taught for the University of Glasgow MA programme at Christie's Education in London. He had worked at Christie's since 1981, where he also gave courses on the history of opera.

Valentina is a noted chef, author and broadcaster on the subject of Italian cuisine. She has published more than 30 books including Risotto! Risotto!, Italian Regional Cookery and Food and Cooking of Milan and Bologna.

Dr Alex Koller was born and schooled in Vienna. He studied Art History and Slavonic studies at the Universities of Vienna and Salzburg and then went on to obtain his PhD at Magdalene College, Cambridge (1998). Since then he has led cultural tours throughout Europe and the Far East.

Oliver Condy has been a classical music journalist for over 25 years, including 17 as editor of BBC Music Magazine from 2004. He is an experienced broadcaster, and has appeared on BBC Radio and TV on a variety of programmes, including Record Review, Today, In Tune, Front Row and the BBC Proms.

Elaine Padmore is best known as the Director of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, a post she held with great distinction between 2000 and 2011. She began her career as a BBC producer and was Director of Opera there for many years.

Richard Goldsbrough is the regimental historian of his former regiment, 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards. He studied military history at Balliol, Oxford, and has written several articles on his topic, including a Short History of the Queen’s Dragoon Guards and The Cavalry that broke Napoleon.

Robin Wallis studied Modern Languages at Downing College, Cambridge and International Relations at the London School of Economics.

Caroline Howard studied History of Art at Edinburgh University and now lives in Rome.

Hugh Macdonald-Buchanan has long had an interest in the battlefields of The Western Front and has led many tours there for clients from all over the world.

Jonathan Phillips is Professor of Crusading History at Royal Holloway, University of London. His most recent book was The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin (2019), translated into several languages including Italian, Turkish and Indonesian.

Landscape architect, writer, photographer and lecturer, Roger Butler has a particular interest in the unique history, architecture and traditions of Britain’s canal network.

Andrew Allen read History of Art at the University of East Anglia and undertook his postgraduate study at the University of Essex taking his MA in early Italian painting.

Andrew Biggs has designed, planned and organised Opera and Music holidays with Kirker, BBC Music Magazine, National Trust and The Daily Telegraph for over 30 years. Recent tours led by Andrew include The Sibelius Festival in Lahti and La Scala in Milan. His 2026 tours will feature the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and a return trip to Finland.

Declan Hamilton has been leading music tours for many years. He studied singing at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music, and sang major roles in a number of operas both as a student and professional.