KEIGHLEY people are being invited to cast their vote for or against notorious English monarch Richard III.

Local historian Graham Mitchell will explore the evidence about whether Richard was an out-and-out rogue or a ‘Good King’ wrongly accused.

The audience at Graham's free illustrated talk in Cliffe Castle Museum on Saturday February 29 will then be invited to decide the truth.

Cliffe Castle Support Group is hosting the event in the museum's Learning Room at 1.30pm.

A spokesman said former Keighley town mayor Graham was probably best known for his interest in historic transport and support for local events and charities.

He said: "Graham is also passionate in his belief that Richard III has suffered over 500 years of gross misrepresentation. He was the most Northern, the most Yorkshire, of all English monarchs. 

"Graham will demonstrate that Richard III was a man who governed the North of England justly, humanely and successfully for over a decade

"Richard’s alleged usurpation of the crown and alleged ‘murder’ of his nephews in the Tower are probably the most popular beliefs about the ‘hunchback rogue’ killed in the Battle of Bosworth on August 22, 1485, and whose skeleton was found under a Leicester car park in 2012."

Booking is essential for Graham Mitchell’s talk on Richard III – The Northern King because space is limited.

This year's series of free talks organised by Cliffe Castle Support Group will cover a wide range of topics including bees, Bangladesh, bug-eating plants, local geology and the 'Butterfield Ladies'.

Email cliffe.castle@bradford.gov.uk or call the museum on 01535 618231 to book a place for Graham's talk, or for information about future talks.

Graham Mitchell is currently coordinating planning for In Motion – Keighley’s Transport Festival 2020 – with 23 organisations collaborating in seven locations including Cliffe Castle, on May 24 and 25.