John Welford
Bio
I am a retired librarian, having spent most of my career in academic and industrial libraries.
I write on a number of subjects and also write stories as a member of the "Hinckley Scribblers".
Stories (501/0)
The Reeve's Tale, by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Reeve’s Tale follows immediately after the Miller’s Tale in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and is told as a rejoinder to it. A reeve, in medieval society, was in the pay of the lord of the manor, responsible for seeing that the lord’s crops and animals were looked after. Under the feudal system, the villagers were required to work partly on the lord’s land, or offer a portion of their professional services, for no return other than the lord’s protection and access to his court of justice. The reeve acted as the lord’s enforcer to make sure that this work was done properly, and he was therefore unlikely to be a popular character.
By John Welford3 years ago in Geeks
Rushton Triangular Lodge, Northamptonshire
If you think that the best things always come in threes, then a visit to Rushton Triangular Lodge is a must. Everything about this place is triangular. It has three walls and three storeys, with three windows in each. Each wall is topped by three triangular gables and in the centre is a three-sided chimney. On the exterior walls the decoration also revolves around the number three.
By John Welford3 years ago in FYI
The Adoration of the Shepherds
The subject of the Adoration of the Shepherds was extremely popular among painters during the Renaissance, and continued to be so in later centuries. During an age when very few ordinary people could read or write, and in Catholic Europe the services were conducted in Latin, there was a ready market for images that could involve lay people in their religion, and many Bible scenes were painted for display in churches.
By John Welford3 years ago in Geeks
Romantic and Classical Ballets
The ballet as known today was a development from the entertainments devised for the court of King Louis XIV of France in the 17th and 18th centuries. These involved a range of skills, including dance, mime and music, performed by heavily costumed dancers. Over time, the costumes became less cumbersome and the movements defined and codified, so that by the early 19th century ballets were being performed that would be recognised as such today.
By John Welford3 years ago in Beat
Rowing sprints
Sprint races, as in Olympic regattas, are the most straightforward form of racing between rowing crews. All the crews start together, race down a straight course, usually 2000 metres long, and the first to cross the finish line is the winner. The rules for such races are therefore not particularly complicated.
By John Welford3 years ago in Unbalanced
"Nude Descending a Staircase" by Marcel Duchamps
Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) was one of the 20th century’s most influential artists but also one of the most puzzling. He refused to be pigeon-holed into any artistic category and rejected every convention that was current at the time during his long life as an artist. He therefore experimented with Impressionism, post-Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism, before plunging into the anti-art world of Dada.
By John Welford3 years ago in Futurism