Hello,
i am hoping someone can suggest a good, solid, well coded image slideshow
yes i can try google or codepen
hoping to save some time and trouble here 
MOST APPRECIATED!
It all depends on what functions you require but I have played around with the slick slider and that seems ok.
I don’t think its been updated for a few years though so there may be no support.
Or for something simpler you can code it yourself. I did the one below for fund but it has no frills, no support and I’m not going to update it
The best thing for you to do is to Google some modern free slider / carousels and then choose one that fits the bill. It is unlikely that at your level you will be able to modify them much or create your own so try and find one out of the box that does what you want.
They are still usually quite tricky to install and you want to look for responsive ones that handle touch devices and phones also.