I have been to... The Imperial War Museum

Time for another update..  and SteveTheWargamer has been travelling..

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Had an opportunity to pop up to the smoke this week with a couple of beer drinking mates - the plan was to visit the museum (as they also have an interest in military history) and then go search for some pubs with decent beer..

Didn't start too well with the news that one of the trio wasn't going to be able to make it as a result of a medical issue with one of his AP's, and then we found the day definitely wasn't getting any better for some unfortunate who had had an altercation with the train directly in front of us, just as we were about to get in to London Waterloo.. 😔 Sum it all up, the train reversed, and then took a circuititious route back in to Waterloo, but the 90 minute journey turned into a 3 hour one..

By that point we were definitely in need of a beer so a stop off at "The Hercules", a Fullers pub, for a pint of "Grand Slam" was very much needed...  what can I say - first beer of the day, it was OK...  was it worth the £7+ per pint (😱) not really, but those are the London prices..  

Pushed on past the old Kennington Miniatures shop, which (funnily enough) was in Kennington Road, and the Museum comes into view... what I didn't know until afterwards is that the building the Museum occupies is not purpose built - it was originally the central portion of the old Bethlem Royal Hospital, a psychiatric institution known locally as "Bedlam". Entry is free by the way (to the museum anyway, and I guess the hospital as well..😏)...

I reckon the Museum must have one of the more dramatic entries!

As you pass under the two 15" naval guns..  

..not my picture - it was piddling down with rain and I wanted to get out of it! This one is courtesy of the Museum..

you push through the front doors and are presented with this vista..

...quite astonishing - those are all originals by the way..  the white thing is a Japanese WW2 jet powered bomb, a Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka Model 11 [clicky]. That thing was carried slung under a bomber and released once they were within reach of the target where the kamikaze pilot would then glide to the target before engaging the rockets for the last dive. Above it is a Mk1A Spitfire [clicky], and above that a Harrier GR5A [clicky] - this particular Harrier flew over 40 missions in Afghanistan before being withdrawn from service...

...and then skulking in the background..

...in addition to the V2, note also the square of brown'ish metal bottom right - that's all that
remained of a car from the site of  9/11.. 

..an original V2 [clicky] that was gifted to the museum in 1946 - you forget how huge these things were, look at the guy standing next to the rocket exhaust for scale ... a 100 of those a week - each with a 1000Kg warhead - were landing on Antwerp in December '44 as part of Hitlers Ardennes/Bulge offensive. Which begs the question, they were frightening for sure, but a drop in the ocean next to a fully loaded Lancaster that carried 14 times that, and came back, and could be used again. In military terms it seems to me to be the same difference as between playing the Lottery, or buying Premium Bonds - one is a one shot could win, the other can be used over and over for the win...  why did the Germans spend so much of their scarce resources and time on these things?

The Museum is on multiple floors and most of the ground and first floor are WW1/2 themed, loads and loads of exhibits, but these are the one's that caught my eye..

On the ground floor a RHA WW1 13pdr and limber [clicky]..  when I was a boy I had a spring loaded model of this (it may have been the 18pdr 😏), so it caught my eye...

This one has an amazing back story (it's worth clicking on the link) but in summary served with the 1st Cavalry Division in 1914 and was present at Le Cateau where it received the damage that can be seen ..

Note the shell scrape on the (lower) barrel..

..and then see what the shell did when it came through the gap in the shield..  trunnion completely destroyed..   and I don't want to even think of the damage this would also have done to the crew sheltering behind the shield in this area.. 

Note also the damage to the end of the muzzle...

Elsewhere..  the remains of a Zero (an A6M3) found 50 years after the war in the jungle on the island of Toroa by an archaeologist - amazing how well the aluminium shell has lasted - apparently they found a British bullet lodged in the air frame of this one, and the remains of a dried Lotus flower in the cockpit, carried by Japanese pilots for luck. ..

I was quite surprised at how big it was, but I had a look on Google afterwards and it is shorter than the Spitfire, but had a wider wingspan and only weighed 60% of the (more heavily armoured) Spitfire..

The mighty German 8.8 cm Flak 36/37 anti-aircraft/anti-tank gun, bloody enormous!

...but such a high profile...  I had no idea by the way that the first iteration of this gun dated to WW1 (the Flak 16 version)

...and speaking of Lancaster's..  this is the nose section of "Old Fred" a Lancaster Mk. 1, which flew 49 sorties over enemy territory during 1943 - 1944 with 47 Squadron (RAAF)..  I was hugely taken by the sheer amount of Perspex, and the simplicity of the fittings..  make no mistake they were brave men...  but I wondered why they stopped at 49 and didn't do the 50?

....on the car restoration YouTube sites they call this (following) "patina" 😁This is a Chevrolet truck used by the LRDG [clicky] and only discovered in the Egyptian desert in 1980..

...it's a Chevrolet WB (Wide Body) 30cwt four by two, and the markings on it when it was found indicate it was operated by the New Zealand contingent of the LRDG, and was abandoned sometime mid-1941..  this one was named by Trooper Clarkie Waetford (who was in W Patrol) as "Waikaha"

..the remains of what I think is a circular Union Jack on the tail..

Next - one of my favourites in my WW2 miniatures collection are the Peter Pig German motorbikes so this was a draw.. a BMW R75 750cc with sidecar.. no known history but the Museum does known that the grey paint job is incorrect for the age of the motorbike, as it is a late war model..

....and last of all - how can you not love a Sherman? 😏When this one [clicky] was given the Museum they had no idea of the history, but when they stripped the paint back they found the markings for a tank that would have been in the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, Guards Armoured Division. It's the M4A4 variant (it had a longer engine) and dates to 1944/45 in Western Europe...  note the additional pieces of armour welded on the side (to protect the driver I think - there's the same on the other side to protect the bow machine gunner who was backup driver) and also in front of the their respective hatches on the front of the tank..

...and that was it with the pictures as from here we went to the Holocaust Gallery which describes the various pogroms and industrial killings of ethnic and political groups (but of course mostly the Jews) not only by the Nazi's, but also by the Russians - it's a sobering visit - hugely informative, and tries to explain the timeline of how the Nazi's escalated from political prisons like Sachsenhausen when they took power to the inception of the death camps exemplified by Auschwitz..  it describes the Nazi's preoccupation with eugenics, racial purity and all the rest of the shit show they used to justify the killing.. not a place for photo's but I found it hugely informative, sad, sobering as I said, but also depressing - we as human kind are still doing it...

Last stop was almost a palate cleanser in comparison, one of their special exhibits at the moment is to do with Britain's involvement in independence conflicts after WW2 - called "emergencies" by the British government (apparently for insurance reasons, as calling it a war would invalidate insurance of any British civilians in the area!) the exhibition covers the emergencies in Kenya, Malaya, and Cyprus...  very good I thought - I learnt a lot more than I knew about all of them - the Cyprus part of the exhibition was particularly good, of the three of them, the ramifications of that "emergency" are still felt to this day, and still not resolved.. 

Time for some more beer, and after an "OK" pint in the local Wetherspoons (mostly to get some food) the final stop of the day was a pub from my bucket list..

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is in Fleet Street. The current pub dates from 1667, when the original pub that was on the site from 1538 got burnt down in the Great Fire - it's an absolute belter and is one of the last of the old London Chop houses. It's owned by the Sam Smith's Brewery so we were drinking their Old Brewery Bitter, about as traditional a British bitter as it's possible to get these days! Very tasty, and the pub lived up to all the expectations - pubb'ier than a pub thing, a right rabbit warren of wood panelled rooms with squashy sofas, chairs, and comfortable benches, coal fires, and a ceiling that's been painted by 300 years of nicotine smoke..  lovely...

...we were in this bar, couldn't get my own picture as one, it was full of people, two it was too dark, and three I was busy slurping beer... 😏

😍

Brilliant day out, only improved by the fact that the train home was quick, and not delayed!

Further reading stuff if you're interested:

• https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/big-guns-londons-imperial-war-museum-195081 - some history on the two 15" guns at the entrance
• https://truck-encyclopedia.com/ww2/us/chevrolet-WB-30cwt.php - excellent review and descriptions of the Chevy trucks used by LRDG
• https://theliberatingkind.wordpress.com/2025/02/24/m4a4-willie-pusher-ii/ - more detail on the Sherman
• https://ye-olde-cheshire-cheese.co.uk/about/

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 Laters, as the young people are want to say...

"Firing into the Brown" #79 - Yapton, Royal Commissions and stuff...

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Yapton Beer Festival come and gone again - another year gone..! 😏🍻

Picture courtesy http://devoursussex.co.uk

The sun shone, the beer flowed again, and Yapton worked it's usual magic and we got mildly sun burnt and enjoyed some decent (but not outstanding) ales... another small turnout from the jolly boys (the bunch I go drinking with) this year, a feeling I think that beer festivals for them may have had their day?

Beers were still cheap - I think in 2019 we were paying £1.70/ £1.90 a half and this year it was £2/2.10, but still excellent value. Unfortunately I thought the choice of beer was down this year (again) so that may be the price for that cheapness.  

So why the apathy? I think the beer drinking culture in the UK has changed significantly since we first started going to festivals (and we've been going to this one for 20+ years) - put bluntly I think CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale pressure group) has achieved their aim, and there are now micro pubs (some brewing on premises) and real ale pubs in every town and city, and we are now spoilt for choice. 

An example, one of the pubs I go to in Portsmouth ("The Hole in the Wall" in Southsea) has just put on tap it's 170th different ale this year - their target for the end of the year is 500 different ales served. They charge the same price per pint as were paying at the festival. The rest of the guys I think look at that, then the fact it's local and easy to get to, that they can save the ticket price and then put it over the bar there instead.. 😏

Anyway - what did I drink?

• Roosters Brewing Company - "Pangea" - 5.2%
• "A fusion of three styles of IPA (Traditional English, West Coast & New England), brewed using British, Australian, NZ and US hops, as well as being co-fermented with West Coast & New England yeast strains. The beer pours with the clarity of a classic IPA, while displaying the juiciness associated with the New England style".
• Poor choice for a first beer - too strong - but in my defence I didn't have my glasses on and had just arrived hot and thirsty and this was a free half included in the ticket price.. 😁  It was OK but not outstanding
• Goldmark - "Citra Smash" - 4.3%
• "Single Hop and Single Malt pale ale classic, generously dry hopped with Yakima Valley Citra hops".
• Drinkable but again not outstanding
• Langham Brewery - "Victory Ale" – 4.5%
• "Offering floral notes intertwined with light fruity esters from the English yeast, this beauty has a pleasing amber colour and a slight citrus palate, overlaying a light biscuit-malt back bone, and a more-ish bittersweet finish".
• Now I'd had a couple of pints of this in the pub earlier in the week, and in the face of pages and pages of brewers in the programme I had not heard of (and if I don't know the beer I go with the brewer as that is usually the safe bet) I seized upon this as a life belt in a stormy sea..  and then proceeded to drink it for the rest of the festival..  an above average pint definitely

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 "[Item #]76. With a view to secure Portsmouth from capture by land, lines of defence have been constructed at different times during the last two centuries; those immediately covering the dockyard and town were commenced in the reign of James II., and were continued at intervals until near the end of the last century, when the works at Portsea were completed. The earthworks and wet ditch on the Gosport side, enclosing the victual- ling yard, were constructed about the year 1678, and were extended to Priddy's Hard [we've been there - clicky] about 1790.

These lines have long been considered a most inefficient protection, not only on account of the limited space enclosed by them, and the obstruction caused by the spread of buildings round them: but also on account of their having no influence whatever in protecting the naval establishments and harbour from bombardment.

We are nevertheless of opinion, that as these works exist, they ought to be maintained in a state of efficiency, to protect the naval establishment [so they were already thinking of maintaining the Dockyard defensive walls only, as there's no mention of 'town'] from capture in the event of an enemy forcing a landing in their immediate neighbourhood ; and we recommend that the right of the Portsea Lines, which is now open, should be closed by being joined to the left of the Town Mount Bastion of the Portsmouth Lines [in other words they were advising a continuation of the walls at Hilsea Lines all the way down the west side of the harbour to join up with those that already existed - suffice to say this was never done], and that when this is done, all the fortifications from that bastion round to King James's Gate should be removed [ and there's the confirmation - see map]. This would add considerably to the strength of the lines, and the expense would be insignificant as compared with the value of the land, above 37 acres, which would thus be enclosed by the fortifications and rendered available for the exten-sion of the Government establishments".

..from the Royal Commission Report of 1860..  my highlights..  interesting, eh?

More reading:

• Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia
• Palmerston Forts Society - a scanned copy of the actual report

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Laters, as the young people are want to say...

"Firing into the Brown" #49 - Gunboat sheds, Yapton, beer and stuff..

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Was out for a cycle the other day and thought it was way over time for me to see if I could get a better picture of the remains of the gun boat sheds that I touched on a few posts ago [clicky]

As a reminder, this was how it was pictured at the time

Patent Heaving-Up Slips' at Haslar Gunboat Yard (from Mechanics' Magazine, 3 January, 1857)

...and here is how it looks now from the closest I could get to them*..  the tower in background is part of the old Haslar Hospital (now "luxury retirement living" 😏)

..the engine room chimney is still intact, as are ten of the original canopied roofs..

*Still MOD property unfortunately, though now belonging to a Services sailing club for on shore boat storage.. either way access is monitored/policed, but the following is from English Heritage and shows their current condition..  amazing..

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 Yet again Yapton Beer Festival has come and gone in a delightful slightly hazy, bucolic, relaxing, errr..  blur...  😏

Not so good on the weather front this year, but good enough to sit outside once a brief shower passed though, and a prime position to watch the Goodwood Spitfire do a low roll over the village hall where the festival was being held..  magic.. 

Brewery (click for more info)	Beer	ABV	Notes (from brewery website)	What I can remember...
Darkland Indie Brew Co	Boardwalk Bliss	4.4%	Combines new hops with classic core varieties creating truly exceptional tropical flavour notes of passionfruit, mango, papaya, lemongrass and melon. Triple Dry Hopping with Citra, Mosaic and Galaxy to further enhance the aromas and flavours. Creating a well balanced ale akin to sliding into a hammock between two palm trees, whilst keeping things soft and light to the palate	👎👎Hideous..  either sour or off..  this one went to irrigate the grass outside..
Arundel	Smash	4.5%	Single hop (Mosaic) and single malt (Chevalier), lovely easy drinking pale ale	👍Had tried this a few weeks before at one of my local pubs so it was a known quantity (unlike most of the ales at the festival it has to be said) - this one has the unique privilege of being the only beer made by this brewery that I like..  and I've tried most of them!
Bristol Beer Factory	Powerslide	4.4%	Bringing the Aussie energy Vic Secret [a hop variety apparently 😏] kicks off with power levels of tropical and pineapple goodness, twisted to amplify the hop power with both T90 and Spectrum. Motueka follows up with fresh citrus depth	👍BBF are safe hands when it comes to breweries in my opinion, so I may not have heard or seen of the beer before but knew it was going to be OK, and so it was..
Goldmark	Citra Smash	4.4%	Single hop and single malt pale ale classic, generously dry hopped with Yakima Valley Citra hops	👍Another safe brewery - pleasant beer, not outstanding..
Kelburn	Jaguar	4.5%	A golden, full bodied ale with undertones of grapefruit and a long lasting citrus, hoppy aftertaste. This beer has bite!	👍Nice beer, one of the better one's, but no, no bite..😏
Magic Dragon	Green One	4.2%	A refreshing Citra hopped IPA with crisp, grapefruit, lemon notes and a slight citrus aroma	👍I drank it but can't remember anything standout or unusual about this brew, other than that like the others it was nice..  😀
Urban Island	Quiver	4.5%	Session cask brewed with Mosaic, Cashmere & Citra hops, pale ale malt & oats	👍One of my local breweries and I have actually been to it for a beer, but again not what I would call a standout brewery - they make OK beers though and despite the fact that this was a hazy style beer it was OK..
Kirkstall	Dissolution	5%	Brewed in memory of the dissolution of Kirkstall Abbey by Henry Vlll, in 1539 AD, and the disbanding of the Abbey’s Cistercian order. This is a classic India Pale Ale, with a resolute hoppy kick and lasting citrus finish	👍Going stronger by this stage of the festival as I was looking for distinct flavour and extra ABV usually helps..
Downlands	Endless Circles	5.5%	After many cycles of discussion we settled on Mosaic, Centennial and Citra for the hop build	👍👍All the thumbs up beers were above average but not outstanding, this was slightly more above average than them, so if there was one - this is my best beer of the festival

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 Laters, as the young people are want to say...

"Firing into the Brown" #34 - Christmas, last of the cowboys, and a public chortle..

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Here's the last of the cowboys, including the promised picture of Pancho - he's the one on the left in the following..

Pancho (front left) and the Moustache Brothers... 😀

"Drop them or I shoot!"

..I am very much looking forward to getting these on the table for a gunfight - perhaps between Christmas and New Year.. 

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Speaking of which, "A Merry Christmas!" to all my reader.. and by way of a festive snippet... 🎄 

This Christmas pudding is believed to be the last surviving from a batch of 1,000 sent to sailors and Royal Marines serving on the front during the Boer War at Christmas in 1900. 

The puddings were commissioned from London confectioner Peek, Frean and Co., by Dame Agnes Weston, known as Aggie, a philanthropist known for her kindness to sailors, and intended as a morale booster for for the sailors and marines on the front line. 

Aggie is best known for setting up rest homes (hostels) for sailors to stay in when in port – somewhere to help them avoid the temptations of drink and sex, in fact she campaigned actively against the evils of alcohol (they reckon one in six matelots abstained from the daily rum ration, and even beer, as a result of her campaign).

Any how, no one knows how this tin came to survive...  it either never made it to South Africa, or it was brought back by its recipient, but either way it was found at the back of a cupboard in a home in Poole in 2011 (I reckon I have a jar of Marmite at the back of mine of about the same age 😀)  and loaned to the Royal Navy Museum in Portsmouth’s historic dockyard; its curators believe it’s the oldest Christmas pudding in the world.

Not sure I'd want to eat it after 120 years – despite “high-class ingredients only” inside apparently – but the tin still features instructions for preparation, as well as a message which reads: “For the Naval Brigade, In the Front, With Miss Weston's Best Christmas & New Year, 1900, Wishes.”

 The charity she set up [clicky] in 1876 still helps sailors and their families today. 

The lady herself, bless her..  when she died, she was buried with full naval honours
(the first time that such an honour had been accorded to a woman) 👏

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Beer of the Week Year..

Bit of brewing history..  so years ago this stuff was brewed by a brewery called RCH (the beers name, by the way, commemorates the basic weaponry carried by rebels in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685). 

Unhappily RCH closed it's doors in 2017, but happily the beers were continued to be brewed by a new brewery also called Pitchfork after the flagship ale - unfortunately they then had to close their doors earlier this year. 

It's a tough old market for brewers... costs have sky rocketed..  to say I was gutted at the thought of no more Pitchfork ale is an understatement. When the receivers went in I almost drove the 300 odd miles to get a few boxes of the bankrupt stock to keep me going!

Then Nuttycombe Brewery enter the scene - they are a new brewery (2022) that started up in the premises of another brewery that had closed down (Cotleigh) purely to make sure the Cotleigh beers continued - when Pitchfork closed down they also picked up the RCH/Pitchfork portfolio of beers...   

...and so it was that as I walked slightly despondently to my favourite pub in Bath this week, where I'd sunk gallons of Pitchfork over the years, you can imagine how gob smacking surprised I was to see it advertised on the board outside...

The stuff is glorious, it is golden, hoppy, sweet'ish, but with an almost tangy aftertaste - it's not rocket fuel, and I could drink it all day and never get bored..  this one's an 11/10.. 🍻

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..finally, lest anyone believe that Dickens was not possessed of a cracking sense of humour, let me leave you with this nugget from the excellent "Dombey and Son" (this years Christmas Dickens).. 

Mrs MacStinger resorted to a great distance every Sunday morning, to attend the ministry of the Reverend Melchisedech Howler [now there's a quintessential Dickensian name..😂], who, having been one day discharged from the West India Docks on a false suspicion (got up expressly against him by the general enemy) of screwing gimlets into puncheons, and applying his lips to the orifice [😆], had announced the destruction of the world for that day two years, at ten in the morning, and opened a front parlour for the reception of ladies and gentlemen of the Ranting persuasion, upon whom, on the first occasion of their assemblage, the admonitions of the Reverend Melchisedech had produced so powerful an effect, that, in their rapturous performance of a sacred jig [😂], which closed the service, the whole flock broke through into a kitchen below, and disabled a mangle belonging to one of the fold.

Pure and utter comedy gold.. I'm not ashamed to say I chortled out loud.. unfortunately I was in the pub at the time, so probably not my best moment.. 

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 Laters, as the young people are want to say...  and enjoy the day between now, and then.. 🎅

"Firing into the Brown" #33 - Brown, Cowboys, and beer 'natch

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Not a one for putting a lot of fiction book reviews here in the main blog; they tend to live over their on the left in the Book Reviews page, but I thought this one was worth a bit of focus...

I must have first read this when I was a young teenager, probably because it was written by the "same bloke wot wrote Hornblower" (sic) but what I'd forgotten was how good it was...  so the premise is that a young sailor, the sole survivor of a British cruiser destroyed by a German surface raider in WW1, is rescued by his enemies, but then escapes from the ship while it is undergoing urgent repairs received in the battle, and then seeks to delay it's departure at whatever the cost to himself. 

But it is far more than that - it's also about his life and all the influences on it, how he came to be conceived, about his indomitable mother, about the vicissitudes of life, about a father he never knows, and most of all it is about Forester's love and admiration for the Royal Navy, all which helps to explain his actions and why he is doing it..  bit boys own now, old fashioned undoubtedly, but I thought it was a lovely read.. 

Giving this one a 9/10

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The cowboys are done...  first batch here..

Wagon...  a nice model this, and comes with four horses and the guy to lead them

Very pleasing..  can see this one featuring in any number of scenario's - rob the wagon, hide behind the wagon, supply wagon, hide in the wagon, destroy the wagon, etcetc

Now the first selection of hired guns, cow pokes, innocent townsmen, gun slingers, outlaws and lawmen

Love the dusters (long light coats worn to protect against sun and dust/sand) - guy on the right has a double barrel (he'll be 'Doc').. the one in the front middle is going to be 'Sneaky Pete' for the gun he's hiding.. 😏

"Standoff!"..

"Did you see which way they went?"

Uh oh.. 😀

More anon, including my favourite of the lot..  'Pancho'.. 😁

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Beer of the Week:

We've seen mention of this one before on the blog, but in a week of otherwise quietness (on the beer front anyway) this was my standout beer of the week (new rule - bottles don't count from here on in, got to be a beer drunk in a pub)..

Was out for a walk with the current Mrs Steve the Wargamer and the gang of reprobates known as the Jolly Boys* (and their current partners) this week, and we had cause to re-hydrate at the most excellent Hawkley Inn [clicky] when what should see upon the pumps, but this oft bottle drunk beer, that is rarely seen on draught..  we almost bit their arm off, except Rodders (the leader of the Jolly Boys) who decided on "Pressed Rat and Warthog" (and yes that is a beer [clicky] as well as a song by the excellent Cream)

While I can't for the life of me understand why the draught is a whole 1% weaker than the bottled version (it'll be to do with excise/duty and beer strength undoubtedly), in truth it loses little in the translation - ours were fresh as a daisy, golden, full of bitter/grapefruit flavour (Citra hops without a doubt), and dangerously drinkable..

..top left... this one dates back to 2019 so it's been a staple for a while..  😏

Cheers!

*the Jolly Boys are the bunch I sail with in the summer..

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Laters, as the young people are want to say...

"Firing into the Brown" #32 - Thomas Ballard's Regiment of Foote completed, Dickens, beer and stuff..

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Thomas Ballard's regiment have now been based and flagged..  job done..

Considering that they were the first little metal men to receive the tender ministrations of my paint brush since March the year before last, I'm reasonably happy with these..  the paint brushes hadn't fallen apart, and the paints were still vaguely liquid!

These were painted using my usual technique - black primer, damp brush all over with white, and then start blocking in colours...  rather than normal paint I use inks wherever possible (as they self shade when you have the   black primer/white dampbrush combo). I then apply washes over any normal paints to dirty them down - these guys are supposed to look like they are on campaign, not the parade ground. 

Washes, b.t.w, were venerable bottles of Games Workshop 'flesh wash', 'armour wash', and some newer ones from Vallejo in the form of Umber and Sepia 'Game Wash'.

So there you have them - Thomas Ballard's Regiment - as present at the Battle of Edgehill - painted December 2023 - 24 figures - mostly Peter Pig with a leavening of Steel Fist (officer/drummer/ensign and the kneeling musketeer)

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That time of the year again, my regular reader will know that as Christmas approaches it is my want to read a Charles Dickens book, so it's Dickens time again! 

Here's the 'Christmas Dickens' timeline to date...

• 2013 - "David Copperfield" (9/10)
• 2014 - "Nicholas Nickleby" (exceptional)
• 2015 - "Oliver Twist" (8/10)
• 2016 - "The Old Curiosity Shop" (7/10)
• 2017 - "A Tale of Two Cities" (7/10) and "A Christmas Carol" (9/10)
• 2018 - "Great Expectations" (10/10)
• 2019 - "Bleak House" (8/10)
• 2020 - "Little Dorrit" (retired hurt - no score 😏)
• 2021 - "Our Mutual Friend" (8/10)
• 2022 - "Pickwick Papers" - brilliant... (9/10)
• 2023 - "Dombey and Son" - stay tuned for a review...
  

My top four Dickens novels so far would be "David Copperfield", "Nicholas Nickleby", "Great Expectations" and last year's absolute joy, "Pickwick Papers" - "worst" (it's Dickens for goodness sake, how can there be a worse?), 'least enjoyed', was without a doubt "Little Dorrit" which was mawkish beyond extreme, but of which my opinion seems to be at odds with most other people - I may have to have another go at some point, as Dickens 'only' wrote 15 novels, and I've now read 11 (and a bit) of them...

This years Dickens, however, will be "Dombey and Son", of which I know nothing of the story, so a bit of a voyage of discovery...

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Beer of the week:

..not had the opportunity to try this before but a couple of pints yesterday confirmed my initial view that this is a  lovely pint..  clean tasting, very fresh golden ale brewed with green East Kent Goldings hops as soon as they are picked... kind of a Beaujolais nouveau of the beer world..  I'll give this one a 7/10.. 😀🍻

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Laters, as the young people are want to say...