|
|
|
|
Click on any of these titles to take you to the relevant talk
More and more people are being forced to work long hours for oppressive managers. They may be well paid, but their money goes on take-away meals, child care, “retail therapy” and other treats just to keep them behind their desks.
Why have we got into this debt-ridden fix in this country? What damage is it doing to us and the environment? Based on my book of the same title, see the Books page. ********* Having failed in a number of other occupations, there was little choice for me but to follow in the footsteps of those drunkards, blackguards, vagabonds, villains and poseurs who push a pen around a piece of paper.
More relaxing than working, less remunerative than bank-robbery, it’s the life for me, despite the rejection letters …. ********* Stafford has been the scene of dozens of hangings over the years. Meet some of the people who walked to the scaffold (or avoided it), including William Palmer, the Rugeley Poisoner, the posh Staffordian who did the dirty on the maid and the British lawyer wrongly gaoled for horse-slashing. Based on the book “Foul Deeds and Suspicious deaths in Staffordshire and the Potteries”, check out the Books page for further details.
The Grave of Christina Collins ********* It’s the date we all know. 1066. Shenanigans at the French and English courts mean that William is set to conquer. The events surrounding the battle of Hastings are recorded on the Bayeux Tapestry. Strictly speaking, it is no tapestry, but an embroidery. It was also made in England. Still, it survives as a testament to the consummate needle-craft of its makers, an important historical document and as the first strip cartoon.
Illustrated with slides and even a song about the Norman Conquest. ********* Non-Conformists’ Normandy - a gimlet-eyed tour of our erstwhile invadersForget Monet’s garden at Giverny. Forget Rouen Cathedral, the Mont St Michel and, well … anything else that says TOURIST. In this illustrated talk we will sample some of Normandy’s finest. It is the land of cheese, cider and calvados. Find out about some of its more unusual sites and people, including the French flying aces of whom no-one has heard, because their plane crashed a fortnight before Lindbergh took off. We’ll pay a call on a variety of churches including one which has a parachutist hanging from a spire, one where you can have your car blessed to cut out the accidents and one where you can buy a little plastic model of a pious child.
Illustrated with slides. ********* Two Men in a BarrelWhat happens when a tee-total writer is sent to Scotland to research the Speyside Whisky Trail and then makes the mistake of taking his old mate Steve with him as the official taster? He drives them both to eight distilleries, a shortbread factory and a cooperage and as Steve whoops through the juice, the trip becomes less a fact-finding mission and more one of keeping Steve on the straight and narrow. When they end up in the bar of the Craigellachie Hotel, with its choice of over 300 single malt whiskies, well … anything can happen … This is a tale in the tradition of Jerome K Jerome – at least some of it is true! Illustrated with slides. ********* With Me Little Ukulele in Me Hand We all know George Formby (provided we’re old enough), but the ukulele is an instrument that’s more than just a frying-pan with strings. We’ll trace the development of the ukulele from its arrival in Hawaii in the hands of Portuguese sailors, through the years to the variations of ukulele available today. I’ll bring along at least four or five ukuleles including the latest electric incarnation and, as well as demonstrating a few techniques, we’ll have a sing-song. Now what could be better than that? Yes, fair enough, but Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix are unavailable. *********
Turned Out Nice Again — The George Formby Story He was our highest-paid star, the gap-toothed Wigan comedian with his saucy songs and easy style. However, his private life was miserable. His wife, who made him the star he was, was nearly psychotic and treated him as a money-making machine. This brief biography is accompanied by a liberal dose of Formby songs and you’ll have the chance to sing along to such favourites as Leaning on a Lamp-post, When I’m Cleaning Windows and Chinese Laundry Blues. As my book “Becoming George Formby” develops, there will be snippets added in. You’ll even get the chance to rate my impression of the great man on a sliding scale of 1 -10. Book early and you might even feature in the book. To see more about the book, click here
********* |
