First of all I'd like to wish all my readers, and those kind enough to book me to speak at their functions, a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

My news for the New Year is that my Tutankhamun talk, 'Wonderful Things', is finished and had its first outing to Harrogate and District Probus on 7th November. This is a wonderful talk (if I do say so myself) lavishly illustrated with 55 PowerPoint slides it tells the full story of the discovery of the tomb of the 'boy king' in the Valley of the Kings.

I've decided to try to add one new talk each year to my repertoire and for 2019 it will be 'The Gunpowder Plot',

the story of how and why dissident factions sought to assassinate King James I and the entire British establishment by blowing up Parliament during the State Opening in 1605, who the conspirators were, why the plot failed, how the plotters were caught and what their ultimate fate was.
The talk also examines a modern-day re-construction of the planned explosion and what the result might have been.