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 coup d'etat of Claude-Francois Malet
These days we take instant communications for granted, but in the days before the telephone and the telegraph a well-placed, but false, piece of news could bring down an Empire. At least, that is what Claude-Francois Malet reckoned, and he very nearly succeeded.
By John Welford3 years ago in FYI
Septimius Severus, Emperor of Rome
Lucius Septimius Severus became Emperor of Rome in 193 and reigned until 211, but he spent most of those years on campaign, either in fighting off other claimants to the imperial throne, of whom there were many, or defending the Empire from attack by enemies to the east and the north.
By John Welford3 years ago in FYI
Corncrake
During a camping holiday in the Yorkshire Dales of Northern England, we heard a strange noise as twilight was starting to fall late most evenings (this was in mid-June). At first, we simply imagined that a fellow camper was blowing up an airbed using a pump of some kind, as there was a repeated sound that could have been somebody giving three quick pumps. But why only three, never more and never fewer?
By John Welford3 years ago in Petlife
Send in the Clones
Once Upon a Time, in a city in the English Midlands, there lived a man named Philip Blue who was very rich and who owned a factory. Some years before he had invented a new kind of widget, and he built his factory so that he could make lots of his widgets and sell them at a very good profit.
By John Welford3 years ago in Fiction
18th century English wineglasses
Whereas earlier English wineglasses had paid great attention to the engraving of the bowls of the glasses, those of the third quarter of the 18th century saw a marked changed as makers lavished much more attention on the stems, developing new techniques and a wide range of designs that led to work of great beauty and delicacy.
By John Welford3 years ago in Geeks
Movements in music
Movements are divisions of larger pieces of music into sections, usually (but not always) marked by a pause in the performance. Works are that most often described as having movements are symphonies, concerti, sonatas and chamber pieces such as trios and quartets. However, it is also possible to use the term for the separate elements of suites, masses, sets of variations, and various kinds of program music. The divisions of operas and ballets are normally described as acts and scenes, thus reflecting their relationship with the theatre rather than the concert hall.
By John Welford3 years ago in Beat
The Oort Cloud
Just how big is the Solar System? Extremely big, if you count the Oort Cloud as being part of it! The Oort Cloud takes its name from Dutch astronomer Jan Oort (1900-92) who in 1932 postulated the idea that a vast array of small objects must lie right on the edge of the Solar System, and that this was where the long-period comets originated that visited the inner Solar System so infrequently that they were recorded once in human history and never again. (Many short-period comets may also have started in the Oort Cloud but were captured by the gravitational influence of the outer giant planets and now have smaller orbits).
By John Welford3 years ago in Futurism
The Nun's Priest's Tale, by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Nun’s Priest is one of the pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales of whom we know virtually nothing before he tells his tale. In the General Prologue we are told that the Prioress has “another nun” with her and “three priests”. When we reach the point at which the Nun’s Priest is introduced, there is no mention of the other two.
By John Welford3 years ago in Geeks