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 Ditton Junction rail crash, 1912
On 17th September 1912, a late afternoon express train, packed with holidaymakers returning to Liverpool from Chester, left the rails just to the east of Ditton Junction railway station and crashed into the brickwork of the bridge that carried Hale Road over the railway. Thirteen passengers were killed, although a horse had a very lucky escape.
By John Welford3 years ago in FYI
Percussion Instruments
The word “percussion” comes from the Latin for “to strike hard”, so percussion instruments are generally those that make a noise when they are hit. The most common means of doing this is with a beater or stick of some kind, but there are several variations on the theme. Instruments that are shaken, such as maracas, also count as percussion instruments.
By John Welford3 years ago in Beat
A murder in Boston and Charles Dickens's final novel
Charles Dickens’s “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” has posed many mysteries of its own down the years, not least that of how Dickens intended to conclude the book. He died on 9th June 1870 from a stroke, having written his final words only a few hours before, with possibly half of the intended text still unwritten.
By John Welford3 years ago in Criminal
Some early London homes of Charles Dickens
Visitors to London who are lovers of the novels of Charles Dickens are doubtless familiar with the house in Doughty Street (not far from the British Museum) where Dickens lived as a young man and wrote some of his early novels, including Oliver Twist.
By John Welford3 years ago in Wander
The Dewey Decimal Classification System
The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is virtually universal in the UK public library system, as well as being used in most academic libraries. In the United States it is challenged by the Library of Congress system (LC), but is still very widely used. It is therefore a good idea to know how it works and therefore how best to find one’s way round a library that is classified accordingly.
By John Welford3 years ago in Education
Descartes' Bad Apples Analogy
The French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) set himself the task of determining how certainty could be established. How could a person be certain that their knowledge was set upon firm foundations? His method was to doubt everything that could be doubted, with the idea that anything that remained, and which could therefore not be doubted, must be certain.
By John Welford3 years ago in Psyche
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588
The defeat of the Spanish Armada was one of the great turning points of English history. Before, there was a real possibility that England could suffer another “1066” and be conquered by a foreign power. Afterwards, Queen Elizabeth I enjoyed security on her throne and England was set to become a major world power and the champion of Protestantism in Europe.
By John Welford3 years ago in FYI
The death of King William II of England
King William II of England was killed by an arrow while out hunting on Thursday 2nd August 1100. Most historians say that this was an accident, and that the stray arrow was fired by Walter Tyrel, one of William’s companions. However, there is the intriguing possibility that it was not an accident after all.
By John Welford3 years ago in FYI