Annual (adj): Yearly, describing an event that is repeated at the same time each year.

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So, how was last year? 52 weeks ago I wrote a New Year’s Aspirations post setting out some things I would like to do in 2011. How did I get on?

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Albion (n): A traditional personification of England, also the oldest known name for the country, derived from the Greek language.

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Shape (n): A geometrical figure, its outlines and contours.

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Venus (proper noun): Roman goddess of romantic love and sexual attraction. Here, rather fetchingly, her statue graces the entrance to Hertfordshire's Register Office.

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Corsetry (n): The trade of corset-making or corset-fitting, a corset being a structural undergarment, largely for women, worn to achieve a desired body shape.

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Mirth (n): Humour, amusement, hilarity or high spirits.

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Cultivation (n): The practice of growing plants for a purpose, or to develop and improve them.

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Socialist realism: A style of art that realistically depicts workers and their lives while at the same time glorifying them.

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Lewis Silkin: A Labour planning minister responsible for New Towns, and particularly associated with the building of Stevenage, which was thus nicknamed 'Silkingrad' – not necessarily as a compliment.

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Woven (adj): A textile made by interweaving yarns or threads at right angles to each other.

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Modernism (proper noun): An important 20th-century cultural movement that sought to reject traditional forms of making art in favour of discovering the new and radical.

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Cyaneous (adj): A variety of the colour blue, usually vivid or intense.

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Smile (v): To produce a facial expression featuring an upturned mouth, thus indicating pleasure, amusement or satisfaction.

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Impression (n): A mark or representation on a surface, sometimes faint; a vaguely-defined thought or feeling.

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Refreshment (n): A light meal or drink designed to bolster the energy or restore the spirits of the person consuming it.

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Face (n): The expressive features that make up the front part of the human head; the area between forehead, ears and chin; a complex of sensory organs.

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Negative (n) A strip of film from a 35mm or other camera prepared for photographic processing.

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Illusion (n): A trick that is played on the senses to persuade the brain to perceive something that is not actually there.

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It’s a lovely thing about visiting Cambridge – the place is heaving with free museums. And queen among them must surely be The Fitzwilliam.

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