New Talk
My talk on the history of England's canals is now finished along with a PowerPoint presentation of over 30 slides.
It covers the period from the building of the Bridgewater canal in the 1760s up to the present day and the transformation of the canals from privately-owned commercial waterways into a state-owned leisure and tourist facility.
I've made some changes to the Kingdom of Alms, making it not just about Pontefract.
It now includes details of those almshouses built on the great estates, such as the Gascoigne Estate at Aberford
and those constructed by the Victorian industrialists during the 19th century, such as these at Saltaire
and I hope it will now appeal to groups outside Pontefract.
For anyone out there with an interest in WWI, especially as 2018 is the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice on November the 11th, I have two talks which may be of interest:
'Armistice' - the factors both political and military leading up to its signing, and;
'Remembrance' - the instigation of war memorials and the bringing home of the Unknown Warrior after WWI.
Both fully illustrated with many rare photographs.
I also have a video version of the Remembrance talk which includes a black and white film made at the time detailing the return of the Unknown Warrior.
This takes slightly longer than the still image version and you should allow about one and a quarter hours for the entire presentation.
