I have been presenting talks for more than 25 years, gradually buildingthe programme below. 

Each different subject has taken, on average, a year from first ideas to final presentation. 

Research continues with all the subjects to keep the talks up-to-date and topical.

I can offer any of these talks as a Zoom presentation.
 

1 RIVER LEA or LEE – FROM LUTON TO LEYTON

A journey from the source of the river in Luton to Old Ford Lock in London, with various digressions en route.   The talk covers the history and development of the Lee Navigation, with modern photographs and contrasting early 20th century postcards.

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

 

2 THE LEE FROM OLD FORD TO THE THAMES
 This continues the journey from Old Ford to the Thames with trips around Bow Back Rivers, Waterworks River, Bow Creek and Limehouse Cut. There's an excursion up Canary Wharf and an overview of the 2012 Olympic site.
 

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

The River Lea, Part 2

3 THE STORT STORY
The 13¾ winding miles of the Stort Navigation are generally acknowledged to be among the prettiest in England. This talk looks at the history of the river and follows its story from 1766 up to the modern day. We travel the whole waterway from the head of navigation at Bishops Stortford to the Lee Navigation at Hoddesdon.
 

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

The River Stort
   
4 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF....... A THAMES TUG
A close look at the work done by the Cory tug General VIII, which is one of a fleet of seven vessels engaged in the movement of refuse lighters for the Western Riverside Waste Authority. The talk features a voyage from Wandsworth to the aptly named Mucking in Essex. It gives an insight to one of the remaining commercial operations on the tidal Thames and how this has changed since the closure of the dumping ground at Mucking in 2010.
 

Available in three versions: 45 minutes, one hour or one and a half hours

 
A Day in the Life of a Thames Tug
   

5 THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL
This presentation examines the history, building, development and rise and fall of the largest man-made waterway in England.  We travel eastwards in Victorian times to follow the creation of the canal and then board a Mersey ferry to Liverpool for the return journey.

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

The Manchester Ship Canal
   

6 PRESIDENT N0 195
A detailed history of Fellows, Morton and Clayton's most famous steamer, from her building in 1909, through her life under steam, until in 1925 she was converted to diesel and continued as a working motor boat until 1973. She was on the scrapheap, when she was recognised as an ex-steamer and meticulously restored to her original configuration. She now lives at the Black Country Living Museum and tours the canal system as a living museum piece.
 

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

President #195
   

7 A WALK WITH THE ADMIRAL - The history of a suburban road.
A simple story of a street, from the first land records in 1527 up to aerial photographs of the 21st century. You see the plans of the Victorian developer, meet the first families and follow the growth of the community up to the present day.
 

Available in three versions: 45 minutes, one hour or one and a half hours

A Walk with the Admiral
   

8 INTRODUCTION TO WATERWAYS
This talk gives an insight to the world of British Inland Waterways. It is a general interest presentation for non-waterway audiences who may want to learn more of the relaxed and quiet life to be found by the towing-path.
 

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

   

9  THE FOSSE WAY  

This is a journey along the Fosse Way from Exeter and Axemouth to Lincoln, examining the history of this 214 mile Roman road, why it was built so straight and how the Romans surveyed and constructed it.  Including some digressions to look at Boudicca, Roman mileposts, the Lincoln Imp and Lancaster bombers.

 

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

   

10 WATERWAYS WONDERS
A tour of some of the engineering marvels around the waterways system. We visit Foxton Inclined Plane, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Harecastle Tunnel, Anderton Lift and Bingley Five Rise Locks among others perhaps not quite so well known.
 

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

   

11 THE ROYAL GUNPOWDER MILLS
This is a tour of the former Royal Gunpowder Factory at Waltham Abbey. We examine both the history of the site and the development of gunpowder and chemical explosives including nitro-glycerine, guncotton and cordite. We look at the canals and boats that formed the backbone of the transport system within the site.
 

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

The Royal Gunpowder Mills
   

12 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT
This is a look at the background of the "Powder Treason" and the involvement of Catesby, Percy and Guido Fawkes and the ten other conspirators who laid the Plot.  We examine closely the events of early November in 1605 and we follow the flight and fate of the conspirators and hear of the trial and executions of those who were captured.
 

Available in three versions: 45 minutes, one hour or one and a half hours

   
13 THE HIGHLAND CANALS
This comprises a passage along the Crinan and Caledonian Canals in Scotland. The Crinan is the 9 mile short-cut across Argyll and the Caledonian is the 60 mile journey through the Great Glen linking the North Sea with the Atlantic and including Loch Ness. Both canals are surrounded by stunning scenery.
 

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

The Highland Canals
   

14 THE LOWLAND CANALS
This journey is a celebration of the success of the Millennium Link, the £83 million restoration of the canals which join Edinburgh with Glasgow and the Forth with the Clyde, culminating in a journey on the Falkirk Wheel.
 

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

 

15 THE FORTH AND CLYDE CANAL
A detailed examination of this important restored Scottish canal, looking also at the remains of the Monkland and Forth & Cart canals in Glasgow. We visit the Dalmuir droplock and the Falkirk Wheel.
 

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

The Forth and Clyde Canal
   
16 THE UNION CANAL
A similar detailed look at the Union Canal, known as the Mathematical Canal, 32 level miles between Edinburgh and Falkirk until it reaches the Wheel and drops 112’ to the Forth & Clyde Canal.
 

Available in two versions: one hour or  one and a quarter hours
The Union Canal
17 THE STORY OF PANAMA
 The creation of transport links across the 50 mile isthmus at Panama cost more in human lives and money than any other comparable route in the world. We look at the four centuries of endeavour that started with Christopher Columbus in 1502 and culminated in the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. We also examine current developments and the building of the new locks.
 

 

Available in three versions: 45 minutes, one hour or one and a half hours

 
The Union Canal
18  FROM FLANDERS FIELDS TO THE TOWER 

The story behind the origin of the Remembrance Poppy and the creation of "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" at the Tower of   London in 2014, the commemoration of the centenary of the start of the Great War.

Available in a 45 minute version only
19   GUNPOWDER ON THE LEA

A study of the manufacture and conveyance of gunpowder and other military explosives in the Lea Valley, particularly examining the use of canals within the Waltham Abbey Gunpowder Mills and the craft which transported the explosives from the Mills, down the Lee Navigation and the Thames to the government magazines at Purfleet. This talk is dedicated to David Wood, author of Powderbarge WD, which tells the story of these gunpowder sailing barges.

Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

    20      THE NEW RIVER                                                                                                                                                                      

    Follow the building of this 400-year-old, 40-mile-long, wandering man-made waterway from Chadwell Spring in Hertfordshire to the Round Pond in Islington. It was created to supply Jacobean London with fresh drinking water when

   the majority of the population were having to consume untreated River Thames water.

    Available in two versions: one hour or one and a half hours

 

    21      THE HISTORY OF GUNPOWDER

    Gunpowder (or black powder) was developed in the 9th century, in China.  We learn how to make it by visiting the Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey in Essex, where military powder was made.

    Then we travel to the former works of the Plymouth and Dartmoor Gunpowder Company at Cherry Brook.  Here we tour the site, meet the men and share some experiences of those who made the black powder

    there for supply to the mines and quarries on Dartmoor.

    Available in a one hour version only

 

The time shown is for the actual presentation and does not include half-time breaks or question time, both of which are welcomed.

 

Fees

£60 for audiences up to fifty people.


For larger gatherings, add £5 per ten audience members up to a maximum of £125


 

Travelling Expenses


For venues over 20 miles return, a charge of 50p per excess mile is made at present to cover fuel costs. For venues within the M25, the full distance is charged.

 

Equipment


All necessary items including screen, projector, stand and extension lead are supplied.