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 MasterChef witches
Heaven alone knows what possessed the BBC to allow Mabel, Doris and Alice – the exceptionally ugly weird sisters who were the residents of Blasted Heath Cottage – to take part in their MasterChef cookery show. Perhaps it was a misguided belief that any reference to the works of William Shakespeare would be good for the ratings, or maybe some magical and other-worldly influences had been brought to bear on the officials who decide these things.
By John Welford3 years ago in Fiction
"Relatively Speaking", a play by Alan Ayckbourn
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” So wrote Sir Walter Scott in his poem “Marmion”. However, this line could be the motto for many plays that have graced the British stage in the 20th and 21st centuries, with Alan Ayckbourn’s “Relatively Speaking” definitely being among their number. It is a typical example of the English “comedy of confusion” that has proved popular with audiences for many years. Indeed, the genre has its roots as far back as the comedies of Shakespeare and Sheridan, with many more since then.
By John Welford3 years ago in Geeks
"Emma", by Jane Austen
Emma, by Jane Austen (1775-1817), was published in December 1815 although the date on the original title page is 1816. It was therefore the last novel to be published in Austen’s lifetime, although Persuasion was written after she had completed the writing of Emma but was published after her death.
By John Welford3 years ago in Geeks
Pocket boroughs
The term “pocket borough” was used by 19th-century reformers in Great Britain to describe the situation whereby democracy was held to ransom by the rich and powerful, such that the election of some Members of Parliament was “in the pocket” of certain people. Perhaps the concept still applies today.
By John Welford3 years ago in The Swamp
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens’ College is so named, with the apostrophe after the “s” rather than before it, because two queens were involved in its foundation. These were Margaret of Anjou, the wife of King Henry VI, and Elizabeth Woodville, who was married to King Edward IV. The two queens, being married to the main protagonists of the Wars of the Roses, played entirely separate roles in the College’s foundation (in 1448 and 1475 respectively) but both are commemorated in its name. The full name is The Queens’ College of St Margaret and St Bernard.
By John Welford3 years ago in Wander
Donatello's statue of David
Donatello (full name Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi) was probably born in 1386 (in Florence) and was apprenticed to the sculptor and goldsmith Lorenzo Ghiberti, with whom he worked on a number of commissions for statues to adorn churches and other buildings in Florence. He also spent three years in Rome working for the architect Filippo Brunelleschi.
By John Welford3 years ago in Geeks