A Tale Of Rural Tranquility - Soon To Be Shattered

 'I counted them all out....... the calm before the storm'

My next post will be a battle report of an unexpected assault to capture a key bridge over the river in a border town in the Welsh Marches. The town is home to a small Royal Garrison based in the castle overlooking the town. Can the Socialist forces capture and hold the bridge until reinforcements reach them? I hope to play the game out in the next few days, subject to family and real life interruptions!

In the meantime, after I had constructed the scene in which the action is to take place, I thought I would post some photos of the towns people going about their daily lives, unaware of what is about to happen. Regular readers tell me they like to see such pictures, so without further ado.......

A view from the South West up the estuary with the key bridge in the middle left of the picture. 

A view from the South East showing the town centre overlooked by the Garrison Castle.

Shepherd and some of his flock......mutton tonight for the Garrison!

The Postmaster taking some air outside the Post Office and General Store.

The Milkman pauses to pass the time of day in the shadow of the Bards statue.

The orchard behind the Flying Swan pub....source of the notorious Scrumpy Cider!

An off duty member of the Garrison 'getting to know' the local townspeople

'Lovely day for a stroll Vicar!'

"Not so fast Parker"....." Yes your ladyship."

Worplesdon Manor, home of Lady Worplesdon.

A view down 'the lanes' to the Flying Swan public house.

The bridge that is soon to be the centre of attention.

A Blacksmiths work is never done!

The Castle and its medieval church, overlooking the town.

A short cut through the graveyard down to the town.

The main Castle Tower which overlooks the town and river below.

The view down to the town from the North East corner of the Castle hill.

So the scene is set, a picture of rural tranquility, but all that is about to change !

Prop Shop........Worplesdon Manor

As this is the first time the Manor has featured in my blog, it seemed appropriate to say a few words about its origin. The truth is I bought it pretty well as seen for £10 from a toy soldier dealer at Stafford Toy Fair. It was looking a little worse for wear, some chipping and paint loss but it was screaming at me to add it to the Apperley Towers property portfolio!

Almost as soon as I got it home, I set to touching up and repairing the minor damage and after about an hours work it was as you see it now.

As to its origin, I have no real idea. It is actually made of (fired?) clay of some description although the dimpled windows are I believe actually glass. On one hand it feels home made (as is evident from the inside structure), but the presence of the 6 dimpled glass windows suggest it may not have been a 'one off' but possibly an advertising piece or similar? It has some age and judging from the paintwork I would guess its certainly mid to late 20th century. There are some remnants of green baize cloth on the underneath but that may not be original.

So overall a bit of a mystery piece but I absolutely love it! Its the perfect size, ie under scale but right for toy soldiers! It is a timeless piece which could see service from the 16th century to the present day. If anyone has any ideas about its origin I would love to hear them. In any event, its life is about to enter a new stage!

A lick of paint.........to paint or not to paint......?

A dilemma faced by many of us who like to resurrect and play with old toy soldiers, is the question of whether we should repaint them or not? I did have a very fixed view on the subject but recent events have been gradually bringing me round to a more flexible approach. 

Whilst setting up the table for my next game, I was placing a figure in place which prompted me to write about this subject. The figure in question is the fairly desirable 'village idiot' made by Britains between 1927 and the outbreak of world war 2. 

I acquired this long desired figure from a very nice toy soldier dealer who always gives me a discount on my purchases. Even discounted he was not cheap, but this was a figure I had wanted to own for many years and occasionally my heart rules my wallet and I decided to buy him. The figure was complete and undamaged, apart from the paintwork which showed he had been bumbling around for in excess of 80 years! I was torn between leaving him as was (as I suspect most people would have done), or repainting him. In the end I decided to repaint him for a number of reasons.

First of all I unexpectedly acquired, a 2nd copy of the figure in a large job lot of lead garden models. This second figure was in better condition and this mentally freed me up to strip and repaint my 1st copy. 

Secondly, I like to see these old figures restored to their original shiny glory! These old hollow cast soldiers look best in a nice coat of glossy paint!

My third reason is one of practicality. I am a gamer first and foremost and I generally do not acquire figures to just display. (There are exceptions to this rule as you will find out over time) I want them to be robust, stable and capable of being handled frequently. They may even be required to stand up to a hostile speeding matchstick, or two, in the course of their military life!

So decision made, I now own a fellow who fears nothing on the wargames table and his (probably too) close cousin who lurks around my display cabinets! The best of both worlds. 

This was an unusual set of circumstances and the decision to strip and repaint figures is usually automatic. There are however more difficult decisions to make in this area which will be the subject of another article at a later date. 

So on that note I will leave you with my usual words of parting.......

Tara a bit!