A great weekend
It was my wife's birthday last week, and to celebrate we went on a short weekend cruise to Zeebrugge and back aboard P&O's Ventura. We left early on Saturday morning and got back home just before...
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In praise of Peter Laing Miniatures: Part 1
When I first started teaching in 1973, my pay was just over £1,300.00 per year. After I had paid my rent and bought food and the other essentials of life, I did not have a lot left to spend on hobbies....
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In praise of Peter Laing Miniatures: Part 2
In my recent blog entry about Peter Laing Miniatures I mentioned that he produced a very wide range of 15mm-scale figures. Ian Dury kindly sent me a scanned copy of one of the later catalogues, and I...
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I have been to ... Zeebrugge
To celebrate my wife's birthday, we decided to go on a two-night weekend cruise to Zeebrugge and back aboard P&O's MV Ventura.Saturday 29th June: SouthamptonWe set off from home at 8.30am, and...
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In praise of Peter Laing Miniatures: Part 3
The Continental Wars Society put on a display of Peter Laing Miniatures at SALUTE2013. They display took the form of a military parade located in Germany towards the end of the nineteenth century. The...
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In praise of Peter Laing Miniatures: Part 4
Ian Dury has sent me some photographs of his Peter Laing Crimean War figures ... fighting a battle on his PORTABLE WARGAME terrain board! He has kindly given me permission to share them with my regular...
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I have been to ... the National Archives, Kew
My wife is a genealogist, and is trying to trace here direct bloodline back as far as she can. This involves considerable research, and despite the impression given by certain TV programmes, it cannot...
View ArticleThe Way Ahead
The title of this particular blog entry arose from my recent visit to the National Archives (they had a DVD of the 1940s film with that title on sale in the bookshop) ... and it summed up some of the...
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1939: Battle of Westerplatte
I have mentioned before that one of the iconic images I have of the start of World War II is of the German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein firing at the Polish fortress of...
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In praise of Peter Laing Miniatures: Part 5
Here are some more of Ian Dury's collection of Peter Laing figures ... this time from the Colonial range.The first group of photographs show the figures on Ian's superb PORTABLE WARGAME terrain .........
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COW2013 ... today's the day!
I have just finished packing my bag (not a long task) and have checked (and re-checked several times) that I have everything that I need for the conference ... a somewhat longer task. I can now pack my...
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COW2013 is over! On to COW2014!
COW2013 is now behind us (and a great weekend was had by all), but planning has already begun for COW2014.Next year's conference will held over the weekend of 11th to 13th July 2014 at Knuston Hall,...
View ArticlePost Office parcel bonanza!
Whilst I was at COW2013 the good old British Post Office attempted to deliver some parcels to me. As I was away (and my wife was out when they tried to make the delivery) they posted a number of 'You...
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COW2013: A short photo-report
During COW2013 I ran/attended seven sessions ... and what follows is a photo-report of what I saw and did.Gumbinnen 1914This session was devoted to a recreation of the Battle of Gumbinnen in 1914. Ian...
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In praise of Peter Laing Miniatures: Part 6
One of the vignettes that Ian Dury produced for the Continental Wars Society display at SALUTE2013 was a coach carrying the Commander-in-Chief. Ian has also painted figures and equipment for periods...
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Post Office parcel bonanza: the inside story
Having spent most of the morning trying to fix a faulty ball valve of a toilet cistern ... and getting soaking wet in the process ... I finally managed to unpack everything that was in my recent...
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A talk about Kipling
This afternoon I am giving a talk about the works of Rudyard Kipling to a group of people who are members to the same international fraternal organisation that I belong to. The meeting is in St Albans,...
View ArticleA little bit of Kipling does you good.
The following poem was brought to my attention by that prolific wargamer and blogger Bluebear Jeff ... and I liked it so much that I thought that it deserved a somewhat larger audience."A Code of...
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In praise of Peter Laing Miniatures: Part 7
Barry Carter is also an avid collector and painter of Peter Laing's figures, and Ian Dury sent me the following photographs of some of Barry's figures.They include French troops from Napoleon's...
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COW acquisitions
Although there are no trade stands or an official 'bring and buy' at COW (the Conference of Wargamers) attendees do bring stuff to the conference to sell, give away, or swop. This year I did rather...
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