Last Tuesday saw me in the beautifully setting of Pontefract Town Hall's 'Nelson Room', actually the original Court Room and Council Chamber, 

talking to Pontefract Civic Society about almshouses in Pontefract and elsewhere, 'The Kingdom of Alms'.

It's always good to talk to local folk about their own town, and hopefully spread the word about the sterling work the Civic Society do in promoting Pontefract.

https://www.pontefractcivicsociety.org.uk/

Two groups I haven't spoken to before, both having been let down they needed a speaker, and both on the same day, Thursday 11 April!

In the morning Leeds Probus was treated to my very first presentation of 'The Gunpowder Plot', which was very well received with some interesting questions afterwards, and a chance for me to review how the presentation worked and make some minor changes before the seven bookings I have for for this talk in October/ November.

In the evening an old favourite, ' Barnbow' to the lovely Garforth Townwomens' Guild which provoked a great many memories of stories told to the ladies by their parents/grandparents of working there.

A rest now until next week when I have yet another new group to talk to, the Collingham Retired Men's Forum on one of my favourite subjects, 'The History of the English Canal System'.

My first booking to a Rotary club last Wednesday, Normanton Rotary who meet at the White Horse at Sharleston. 

I think my talk on After You're Dead was rather different to what they are used to, but it was well received all the same.

https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/page.php?PgID=750529&ClubID=224

The new projector proved it's worth as even in a large room with all the lights on the image was still bright and clear.

It's been a busy start to the year with lots of new bookings including Messingham WI, the Cookridge and Horseforth U3A and the York Coronary Support Group Trust amongst others. One of the best bits about being a travelling speaker is meeting lots of nice new people from all walks of life.

I've also invested in a new projector; so many places I visit have their own large screen and my old projector, whilst fine for my portable screen, didn't make the best of the larger ones.

The new one, an Epson EB-X41, is  much more powerful and now guarantees the very best presentation possible, on even the largest screens.

For some of my bookings I will now be asking, rather than a fee, for a donation to one of two charities.

Late in 2017 I was diagnosed with Cancer and thankfully made a full recovery. However, in gratitude for all the work they do I have chosen Bowel Cancer UK as one of my chosen charities. The other charity I support is the Pontefract Music Festival, which with the help of a dedicated band of volunteers, and on a shoestring budget, have for the last 114 years brought a three day festival of music speech and drama to Pontefract and in so doing have encouraged numerous children to showcase their abilities in a professional environment.

I hope you will agree these are both worthwhile organisations and support them where appropriate.

With Christmas and the New Year now behind us I have a very busy February, with no less than seven bookings, for topics such as Stay Safe On-Line; The Kingdom of Alms (twice); Barnbow, Tutakhamun and The English Canals.

I'm pleased to be able to say that my new talk on the Gunpowder Plot has met with some approval, I have seven bookings for it through October and November for both this year and next.

I've also got bookings from some new groups,  the Darrington Ladies Group; the Collingham Retired Men's Forum; Messingham WI and the Kirkstall 1152 Club and I'm looking forward to meeting these and my other new ones and making some new friends.

I'm also hoping for a booking from one of the many NHS Friendship Groups who I've recently been in touch with and if you think your group might be interested in one of the talks from what is now an extensive (16 different subjects) and interesting range then please get in touch either by 'phone or email, or via SpeakerNet, Public Speakers' Corner or the Yorkshire Speakers' Directory.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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.

The summer break that most societies and groups take is almost over so it;s time to look at what September holds.
It should be an interesting month as I've three talks booked to three new venues, the Family History Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological Soc., The Ladies Circle at Overton near Wakefield and the Boothferry Local & Family History Group at Goole.
The last two both want my 'Canals' talk whilst for the Family History Section it's the 1939 Register.

It being the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice at the end of WWI it's perhaps not surprising that October and November are dominated by my talks on both War Memorials and the Armistice itself.

My big news is my new talk, on the discovery in 1922, of the tomb of the 'boy king' Tutankhamun by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.

Provisionally entitled 'Wonderful Things'  it's a huge subject and the main problem, as with so many talks, is pruning it down to essential elements so as to fit  the one hour slot that most organisations look for in a talk.

More news as this project progresses.

If I've spoken to your group already then thank you for your past support, and if not why not browse my talks and see if there's something there to interest you.