LATEST NEWS

Another new client for my talks is the Oulton Manor Care Home who have booked me to do a whole series of talks, starting last month with one a month planned up to the end of the year.

So far we've done Crime and Punishment and Wonderful Things, with Model Villages and the Gunpowder Plot in the pipe -line.

It is a truly beautiful venue and it's a pleasure talking to the guests there.

August and September are  proving to be a very busy time with no less than eighteen talks booked over the two months, plus I'm also going to repeat my guided walk around Pontefract on the 20th as part of the Pontefract Civic Society's Heritage Weekend.

 NEW TALK - NEW AUDIENCE

I've posted before about the invitation I'd received, following the recommendation of my good friend and fellow speaker Jackie Depelle, to give a talk about English country houses to a group of American tourists, on a whistle-stop tour of the UK visiting just about every stately home they could manage.

The talk, entitled "A Tale of Two Houses - Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall" was presented to the group last Sunday, the 8th of June, at a hotel just outside York.

It seemed to be well received, although it's often hard to judge such matters. In the event there were few questions as they were keen to get to their beds after what had been a long and tiring day.

No matter the outcome it was an interesting experience, talking English history to Americans, although I did manage to sneak in a couple of American anecdotes, re JFK's visit to Edensor village,  just adjacent to Chatsworth House, to visit the grave of his sister.

 Another new talk just completed, well not exactly a 'new' talk, more a special version of an existing one.

I've been booked to give a talk at a boat club I first spoke to in March, then it was Highwaymen but not surprisingly, considering who they are, they would like my Canals talk.

The only snag is the talk as it stands never mentions the particular canal this boat club is situated on!

Cue a re-working to omit certain sections of the original talk and to add in some detail and photographs, from my own collection, of 'their' canal.

Coal barges on the Aire and Calder Navigation

This is in the same vein as the Remembrance talk about war memorials where I endeavour to research the war memorial in whichever town or village I am giving the talk in order that the presentation becomes personal to the group I'm speaking to.

Accordingly, I now have a whole collection of  Remembrance talks, most of which will never see the light of day again, but I don't mind. I enjoy the research that goes into making a successful talk and the whole idea is to please my audience, which I hope I  always do.

ANOTHER NEW TALK

I've been pondering for some time as to what my next talk should be about.

I considered doing Witches Wizards and Warlocks but don't seem to be able to decide on a format so instead I'm currently working on Four Famous Murders - and Murderers, Dr Crippen, Reginald Christie, John George Haigh and Ruth Ellis.

They all have one unique characteristic which sets them apart and I think will make an interesting subject, and as they are all 20th century crimes there is plenty of information available on them.

They all pre-date the abolition of capital punishment in the UK so all the murderers ended up on the gallows, which should make for some interesting questions and comments afterwards.

                                The gallows at HMP Wandsworth

PS - The above talk is finished and ready to go, all I need now is a brave speaker finder to give it a whirl so I can find out if it's any good. 

It is always difficult to judge one's own work and usually all my talks have been revised after a first outing, in fact some have been in an almost constant state of revision as I've ironed out any wrinkles in the story.

 A NEW TALK

I've mentioned before about a special mini talk I'm doing on Friday for one of my regular groups, but this talk, originally about Hardwick Hall, has developed into something more.

My good friend and fellow speaker Jackie Depelle, having been asked to give a talk to a group of American tourists, has recommended that the tour group approach me instead.

This particular group are visiting England specifically to visit various stately homes, including Hardwick.

Hardwick Hall - more glass than wall.

The Hardwick mini talk is not really enough to satisfy such a group so I have expanded the talk to include Chatsworth House, which has a good deal in common with Hardwick through their common owner, Bess of Hardwick.

So a new venture for me with a new audience, if it goes well I'm thinking of adding the talk to my repertoire as there may be interest in the subject from other groups.

 Model Villages continues to be a popular talk, I did three in February. It is a talk which always generates a good deal of questions and general discussion and I invariably learn something new, especially about villages which don't feature in the talk..

March is going to be a busy and varied month:

3 March (afternoon) - Wonderful Things

3 March (evening) - Monuments

4 March - The Pontefract Murder

5 March - Votes for Women

7 March - Highwaymen

11 March - Model Villages (again)

12 March - Stay Safe On-Line

13 March - Highwaymen

18 March - Crime and Punishment

19 March - Votes for Women

20 March- Monuments

Then on the 18th I've a special presentation for a regular client, outside of my normal talks program, on Hardwick Hall and 'Bess of Hardwick'.

Whew!

 

 Stay Safe On-Line

Well in my last post I was bewailing the lack of interest in 'Stay Safe On-Line', only to present it today to the Hessel U3A.

It was very well received with lots of note taking by some in the audience, and confirmation from others who recognised, and had been subjected to some of the scams I mentioned and cautioned against.

This led to some very useful and informative exchanges as people related their experiences so everyone could better understand the dangers present in the virtual world, and which made the whole presentation more personal, rather than just academic.

I understand that elements of the talk will be incorporated into the group's journal for the benefit of those not present.

I continue to hope that more groups will take this talk as it was upsetting to hear of one lady's experience, which could have been avoided had she only heard my presentation earlier.