Biography
Cook, PA and ...
Susan was a cook on a yacht in the Mediterranean in the 60s when she met Brigitte Bardot's ex-husband Gunter Sachs and went to cook for him and his celebrity guests in his chalet in St Moritz.
In the early 70s Susan worked for Sir John Betjeman, soon to become Poet Laureate. She stood in for his long-standing PA for a year and met his famous teddy bear, Archie.
Susan then worked for the British Tourist Authority, organising and escorting groups of foreign journalists around the country. She went on to work for the British Council, welcoming foreign students to London.
Guide
After completing the notoriously demanding exam set by the London Tourist Board, Susan qualified as a Blue Badge Guide. This most prestigious qualification in the profession enabled her to guide at all the major London sites and throughout the UK.
As a guide, she has accompanied an amazing array of specialist groups on tours around the UK. These have ranged from hymnologists studying hymn writers to Mills & Boon authors specialising in the Regency period, and from debt collectors to the American Bar Association and the 200-strong Yale Alumni Choir.
See some comments from clients for Susan Howe's guiding.
Tour manager
As a result of being a Blue Badge Guide, Susan has worked as a tour manager overseas alongside specialist lecturers. She has taken painting tours to Zanzibar, riding tours in the Rockies, wildlife tours in Africa and tiger tours to the jungles of India. She has a special love of the subcontinent and has researched and escorted a tour of private gardens in India.
Hotelier
In between all this Susan, together with her late husband, has run an award-winning country house hotel and leased a stunning National Trust property on the Devon coast, Coleton Fishacre.
If you would like Susan to give a talk about her fascinating life, or to act as a guide, please contact her.