IT was a little more than three years ago that two women, who found themselves at a bit of a loose end employment-wise, decided to take the plunge and become their own bosses.
Finola Faller and Eilish Quigley had first met each other in 1999, but circumstances did not conspire to bring them together as business partners until late in 2004.
Finola recalls meeting Eilish -the other half of the double act that has since become 'Tours 'n Trails' - at a tour guiding course. It was the first course of its kind in Londonderry, set-up by the then Bord Failte and The Cert (for local, marine and countryside guiding).
"The course lasted six months and was very intense. I have six children and they were all quite young at that stage, but somehow I felt I just wanted to do something and I thought this would be very interesting. At that stage though I knew nothing about our City, not the Walls, nothing. Zero, " recalled Finola.
"I could just see it was something I could be really interested in. I went out for the interview in the Visitor Convention Bureau, and I actually thought you needed some knowledge or some background or working in the tourism industry, but they actually took a group of different people, a very wide spectrum of people, on the course."
Not blessed with a third level qualification, and with family commitments, Finola was determined to make a go of it and dived in once she was offered a place on the course.

Opportunity

For Eilish the course offered her an opportunity to meet other people as she had just returned 'home' from England and felt dislocated.
"I had not long come back from England where I had lived for 10 years, and I was a Civil Servant and had also worked in a couple of charities.
"I got involved in a venture with my nextdoor neighbour who had a horse-drawn carriage, and we were going to do tours in the Guildhall Square, so I got involved in guiding through Martin.
"We then both saw the advertisement in the paper and I thought it could be good for developing my skills," she said.
So they found themselves at an open meeting hosted to provide more information but it was to be another five years before they 'clicked', as they say.
Having sampled a little of the history of the City for her work with the children's charity the NSPCC, Eilish was tempted to 'go for it'.
Having both completed the course the pair went their separate ways, only meeting at regular intervals as members of the North West Guiding Association. The insurance for guides at the time was a hefty fee, and by working as a collective through the organisation it meant things were a little more affordable.

Association

"There were 12 members of the Association at the time," recalled Finola, who added: "A lot of the people were working full time so for whatever reason it just dissolved through time, so Eilish and I decided because we were still very keen to keep going and were very much into tourism, that we should set up together. From there were named ourselves Tours 'n Trails, and we spent a good three years researching Donegal, the Antrim coastline and the City and the surrounding area, and we worked out a range of different tours and trails.
"We wanted to offer something off the beaten track and unique, and we now have developed a wonderful portfolio of walks and tours, because we really felt that we needed the knowledge and once we had that then we could confidently carry out our tours in each of the areas,"said Finola.
Eilish picks up the thread of the conversation: "We kind of specialise in the north west region, and all that research really is the basis of what we offer. Then we set about looking at producing fliers, our corporate image and getting a website up and running - www.toursntrails.co.uk ."
But their thirst for knowledge and attention to detail did not stop there, as Eilish reveals they also went on to undertake the Business Start Programme offered by North West Marketing.
One area of their work where they do feel that there is 'something missing' is in the history and the personal and family stories of those who have left the Cityside due to the troubled modern history associated with Londonderry. It is a problem further exacerbated by a general malaise when it comes to native people taking a pride in their shared history - from the shirt factories that populated the north west to the modern migration stories that are in danger of being lost.
"We see people from both 'communities' here not taking an interest in the history of the City. The local market is the hardest one," said Eilish, adding: "It is really difficult. It tends to be that we attract more foreign visitors.
"We are still trying to find our feet with our market and we have been trying to look at it very strategically. We have got tourists, visitors coming to the City from all over Britain and Europe, but the American market looks to be going down. It is from our website and from recommendations that we are getting the work. The tourist office would employ us a lot of the time, but we would love the people from the City to contact us," she confessed.
Much of the work that the intrepid duo also undertake is through school groups and history bookings and other community groups also occasionally book them for one of their unique sculpted tours.
"What we are now focusing on is developing the trails. The home market is a separate proposition and it takes a bit more to entice people to enjoy it. But the other aspect that we really want to develop is the community groups. There are loads of community centres and groups that we want to reach out to to encourage them to celebrate their city and the rich culture and heritage of the north west," says Eilish.
Finola adds: "We feel that locally if people really got to know the history of the City they would appreciate each other's cultures a great deal more."


l To contact Tours ''n Trails to make a groups or school booking telephone 028 7136 7000 or log on to the website at www.toursntrails.co.uk.