Track 39

Track 39.

So, what are we going to focus on for our Tower of London presentation?

There are lots of aspects we could talk about, but we’ve only got eight minutes, remember.

Our topic needs to be simple and attention-grabbing.

What about a time line?

I mean a brief history of the Tower, you know, covering all the major events.

Do you think we can really cover nearly a thousand years of history in eight minutes?

I don’t.

No, I suppose not.

You’re right.

We need to be specific and focus on one aspect of the Tower only.

We could, say, talk about the history of the Beefeaters and the ravens.

For example, I don’t think many people realize that it’s actually the ravens who are the ones that eat the beef, not the guards.

That’s worth considering, though I’m not sure there’s enough for an eight-minute talk.

Surely there isn’t that much to say about them?

OK, I take your point.

I’m also interested in military history, so the Fusilier Museum fascinated me.

We could actually do a whole presentation on the weapons in there.

Not everyone’s interested in weapons and war.We need to think of a topic with broader appeal.

All right,um.

Well, don’t they conduct special ceremonies in the Tower, like the Ceremony of the Keys, every evening, when they close up the Tower for the night?

It’s a bit like the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, only better.

That should have more general appeal.

But it doesn’t have that wow factor, does it?

Oh wait.

Speaking of wow factor, we haven’t mentioned the Crown Jewels.

Yes!

There’s so much history associated with them and they still get used for state occasions like coronations and royal weddings.

I can’t see anyone being bored by that topic.

Hey!

We could ask the other students to guess the value of some of the jewels as part of the presentation?

We could give a prize for the closest guess!

But the jewels are priceless really, so it would be impossible to put an accurate value on them.

Not one of your best ideas!

OK, so summing up based on what we’ve talked about then, it should be either the Beefeaters, the Ceremony of the Keys or the Crown Jewels.

I would go for the last one myself.

I’d still like to do the Fusilier Museum personally speaking, but OK, let’s settle on the Crown Jewels.

It would probably have the most universal appeal.

Shall we meet after lunch and start planning the presentation?