Tonight was my first virtual talk using Zoom for Pontefract Civic Society on the WWI  Munitions Works at Barnbow, one of my most popular talks.

The talk took the usual 45 minutes and the chat board was a very useful way for participants to post questions, which I answered at the end of the presentation.
There was some nice comments as well and I'm now looking forward to other virtual talks I have booked with other organisations over the next few weeks.

Having 'proved' the format works, if you are thinking of going down this route then please let me know and we can talk through the mechanics of setting up a virtual talk.

Even after the present restrictions have been lifted, if your society or group are perhaps too far away to consider a face-to-face meeting this new way of working would mean you could still have one of my talks in this virtual format using any one of the various platforms available.

Just drop me an email and we can talk through the issues involved.

During lock-down, and maybe beyond if there is a call for it, I am now offering my talks in a virtual  environment.
For those not familiar with the process I would set up an on-line meeting room and all those participating would then be sent an invitation to join.
Alternatively, this could be done in reverse with a society's secretary or speaker finder setting up the meeting and inviting me to join once all the members are logged-on.

There is no special equipment required, you would see the presentation on your computer screen and see me inset in the bottom corner while I deliver the talk,

Whilst the applications that facilitate virtual meetings, Zoom, Hangouts etc will work on  a smart phone they are better on a computer or a large-format tablet.

If you think this might be of interest then please get in touch and we can talk through the possibilities.

As I'm like everyone else, in lock-down, I decided it was an ideal opportunity to compile a new talk, and it's now finished.
Entitled 'Model Villages and the rise of the Philanthropic Movement' it tells the story of how forward thinking industrialists like Sir Titus Salt and the Cadbury and Lever families set about transforming the lives of their workers by providing decent housing at a fair rent, together with a host of other social facilities which today we take for granted.

Prince Albert's Cottages, 1851

Like all my talks it's accompanied by a Power Point presentation, in this case of 37 slides.

I hope you will find it of interest to your society or group, telephone or email me to discuss possible bookings once the current crisis is over.

During the current crisis groups and societies have understandably cancelled or postponed their usual meetings so I won't get to meet old friends and new during my talks.

I sincerely hope that all group and society members come through this difficult period unharmed and I look forward to meeting you all again when these troubled times are behind us.

February has been a bleak month for talks with nothing in my diary. Thankfully March is here and a talk on Monday the 2nd to the Carleton Ladies Group on the subject of the Pontefract Sessions House.

It will be good to be back in the saddle with another three talks on a variety of subjects to come before April.

January saw me giving three talks, to the Morley Monday Club on Canals and the East Keswick Local History Group, the Castleford Historical Society and Sherburn-in-Elmet Country Womens' Association, all on The Kingdom of Alms, my talk on the history of almshouses.

Originally a talk which was predominantly about Pontefract's almshouses, and as such had a limited interest at venues outside Pontefract, it has now been widened in scope to take in almshouses and their development in other parts so as to tell a better story.

Judging by the positive reception at all three venues it seems I am on the right track.

So if the subject of almshouse might be of interest to your group then rest assured it will not be just about Pontefract.

As well as a generalised over-view of almshouses I always try to include those local to the area I'm visiting so as make in personal to my audience.

The Joseph Crossley Almshouse at Halifax

A belated Happy New Year to all my followers and especially those who have booked me to speak to their society.
The new year brings a plethora of talks on Almshouses, no less than three presentations of this particular talk just in January and which uses a more generalised version suitable for any audience, and where applicable includes some reference to Almshouses in the area I'm talking to at the time.

These are Almshouses built in 1868 by the industrialist Titus Salt for the retired workers at his model village of Saltaire; these and many others are described in my talk.