Category Archives: Castles and Museums

Winter is coming, of that there is no doubt but first we have Autumn and happily, a few more days of sunshine.  Together with a group of War gaming buddies, Pete, Jaz, John and Josie, Julie and I  were lucky enough to enjoy some superb weather as we took a short holiday break and ventured North above the wall (Hadrian’s, of course) to the Coast of Northumberland. The Wildlings proved to be very friendly but have been keeping a secret from the rest of the country. Far from being a bleak, barren place, this part of the country is simply beautiful. Of course, if you enjoy visiting historical sites and looking at castles, you are spoilt for choice. As an added bonus, the food and beer is pretty good as well.

Amble Harbour

We stayed at Amble, a small fishing village just south of Alnwick. The picture doesn’t do it justice but it does show how lucky we were with the weather! On the way up to our accommodation, we stopped of at the appropriately named Wallsend,  and called into Segedunum, the small Roman fort that was built to guard the eastern end of Hadrians Wall. The fort is well excavated and thanks to the viewing tower, you can have a birds eye view of the layout. As well as the fort, there is a recreation of a Roman bath house and of course a small museum that explains the history of the fort. If you would like to know more here is the link to the official site:

Segedunum

Segedunum Roman Fort

The museum and fort are well worth a visit and were a great introduction to Hadrians Wall. Once we had passed Segedunum we were in the county of Northumberland and if the Romans found it a struggle to survive North of the wall, there were plenty that came after that were up for the challenge! All you needed to stay safe was a great big castle – and there are plenty to be found! Warkworth Castle, Alnwick Castle and Bamburg were just three that we visited and all close to where we were staying. To be fair, we didn’t go into all of them, there just wasn’t time but it was great fun touring around and visiting. My photos just don’t do these places justice, so here are some from the web!

Warkworth Castle

Alnwick Castle

Bamburgh Castle

As you can see, all very impressive and inspiring! My favourite was of course Bamburgh Castle, home in fiction to Uthred of Bebbanburg and a most imposing structure built right on the coast. It doesn’t take much imagination to visualise this Castle in ancient times, dominating the landscape and the people around it, keeping them safe from the various marauders from the Vikings through to the Border Reivers. Alnwick Castle may be more familiar to people as Hogwarts from the Harry Potter novels. Not my cup of tea but more evidence of just how cinematic these places are. In fact whilst we were in the area, there was a team filming the new Transformers movie. Goodness knows what Transformers are doing up in Newcastle and on Bamburgh Castle but I’m sure that it will all be done in the best possible taste!

The other ‘must visit’ area is of course that well known holiday destination for the Vikings,  Lindisfarne or as it is sometimes known as, Holy Isle. The day that we visited, we were fortunate to have a full day of sunshine and so the views of the coastline and landscape were spectacular. Here are just a couple of pictures of the coastline and castle at Lindisfarne.

The view from Lindisfarne across the bay to Bamburgh Castle

The Castle, Lindisfarne

As well as the landscape, there is plenty of wild life to see. We met these two on the causeway as we made our way back to Amble after a lovely day.

Grey Seals at Lindisfarne Causeway

We also visited Cragside, a more recently constructed house of the Victorian times and built by the famous Victorian Industrialist, Lord Armstrong. He is credited with inventing modern artillery and he founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing company and specialised in the development of hydraulic power. His house, Cragside, is set in beautifully landscaped gardens and one of the largest rock gardens in Europe. The place is stunning.

Cragside

The formal gardens are pretty good, once again, teeming with wild life as of course, is the rest of the estate. Although Cragside isn’t as steeped in history as some of the other sites that we visited, it certainly was one of the most beautiful.

Cragside formal gardens

Before we knew it, our break was over and it was time to return home. However, as we crossed back over the Wall, we stopped off at perhaps the best place that a wargamer could visit up here, the Roman Army museum and the Roman fort and museum at Vindolanda. I’ll just put a teaser of a photograph up for now and in my next blog post I’ll add some more detail and pictures.

The Roman Army Museum

All in all, a lovely holiday break, as usual, too short at just five days but we packed a lot into those five days and I intend to return and spend a bit more time at some of those castles! As well as discovering the delights of Northumberland I also found a new way to enjoy my hobby, for now I’ll call it social model making but more of that in a later blog. Back to work now!

We attended the our second show of the year. Partizan, at the George Stephenson Hall at the Newark show ground. Although some customers remarked that they missed the lovely architecture of the old venue at Kelham Hall, I think that on balance the new venue has much to commend it. For a start, it is easy to get to, the parking is free and the Venue itself is spacious and well lit. Even better, there is a good café on site where you can sit and have a coffee and a bite to eat whilst chatting to your mates. Architecture aside, I thought that the new venue wins hands down compared to the cramped and badly lit Kelham Hall.

Arcane scenery at Partizan

The new date was also well chosen. In the past Partizan has fallen on a Bank Holiday meaning that it tended to clash with other family activities and the rest of the country being on the road! So from my point of view, Partizan was a great success and I am already looking forward to the ‘Other Partizan’ to be held on 21st August. The organisers, Richard and Laurence, have had to move the date because of other commitments at the Venue but I feel that this will be to the shows advantage, as it will avoid the late bank holiday and the ‘Back to School’ season.

The really good news for Partizan (and of course Richard and Laurence) was that the show had increased numbers visiting. With nearly a 50% increase on numbers, the only downside on the day was the queue time to get in. That will be sorted for the next show, so if you are free I recommend that you put the date in your diary now.

The Grand Melee starts!

When it came to the Bank Holiday itself, I was back in Newark, this time at the Castle, watching another re-enactment event. This time it was commemorating King John and his last visit to Newark. Of course this was just an excuse for the Medieval Re-enactors to camp out at the Castle and do their stuff! I enjoy attending these sort of events and the guys doing the re-enacting usually know their subject and your can learn a lot from watching & talking to them. The ‘Grand Melee’ held at the end of the afternoon wasn’t exactly up to Game of Thrones standards. For a start, every one kept their clothes on! However, it was all good fun and free, so no complaints from me!

If you are wondering what I have been up to with regards to painting model soldiers, then I am happy to report that I have been quite busy. I have been painting Napoleonic Portuguese Line Infantry and I have almost finished 2 complete regiments, some 48 figures! However, I hope that the step by step painting instructions along with the research that I completed will form the basis for an article in Wargames Illustrated so I cannot yet publish this on my blog. However, here is a picture of the Grenadiers…

Portuguese Grenadiers

To see more, you will have to wait for the magazine! I’m sure that Dan’s photography will be better than mine!

The forecast for a rainy Bank Holiday should have been my cue to spend a day or two painting and modelling but you can get a bit stale cooped up inside. Instead, I decided that we would have a day out visiting a nearby castle over at Bolsover. I have driven past it many a time but had never actually visited the place. It is situated ‘over the border’ in Derbyshire and is about an hours run from our home in Bingham. If the weather wasn’t too encouraging, the fact that there was an English Civil War re enactment taking place over the bank holiday was incentive enough to overcome any inertia and so off we went.

Bolsover Castle

Bolsover Castle is now run by the English Heritage and perhaps this is reason I haven’t visited before. I have usually had National Trust membership and so have avoided paying entry to ‘the other sides’ locations. The Castle itself was originally built in the 12th Century but fell into disuse and disrepair until it was rebuilt by William Cavendish between 1612 and 1617. The  Cavendish family extended the house over the next few decades and in 1660 added a riding range to the building. William Cavendish was an enthusiastic horseman and a very early practitioner and expert in Manége, or as we now know it, Dressage. He was a supporter of the Royalist cause during the Civil war and as the Marquis of Newcastle, commanded the Newcastle White Coats.

The White Coats of Newcastles Regiment take up position.

Following the defeat of the Royalists at Marston Moor, the North was lost as the Parliamentarians capitalised on their victory. Bolsover Castle was taken without resistance. Cavendish, despondent at the defeat, went into exile on the Continent. Despite the lack of a real siege taking place at Bolsover, the Castle formed a superb back drop to the re-enactment that was to take place on the day of our visit. I always thoroughly enjoy such events. The enthusiasm of the participants makes up for any lack of acting ability! Of course, the costumes and expertise of the re-enactors are a very valuable source for wargamers. So, as you can imagine, I spent much of the day watching the various events and wandering around the reenactors encampments! I will really have to go back to the Castle to have another good look around. The time that I did spend exploring the various buildings was very well spent and there is plenty to see.

View from the Castle terrace

The ‘Little Castle, Bolsover

However, the highlights for me were the extra events taking place. The appearance of a very well drilled ‘squadron’ of Hasslerigges Lobsters, certainly being very impressive.

Hasselrigges Lobsters!

Cornet stands for inspection

As well as the battle re-enactments there was an informative lecture on the Cavendish Family by Historian John Taylor and a very enjoyable ‘music of the Stuarts’ performed by Hautbois.

Hautbois

Back to the main event, the siege itself. Although fictional , it was well done, with a humerous but informative commentary. The real joy for me is to see how the various parts of the army functioned and of course to fire up my imagination! The next sequence of pictures tells the story better than I can.

The New Model Army arrives to lay siege!

The Defenders sally forth!

Get Stuck In!

Muskateers open fire.

The cavalry attack!

All in all, a most enjoyable day. Although the weather wasn’t at it’s best, there was little of the rain that was forecast. That may have accounted for the lack of crowds, which of course meant that it was very easy to see everything that I wanted to. I would very much recommend Bolsover Castle as a place to visit, if you can choose a day when there is an event running, even better! The link to the official web page is here:

www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/bolsover-castle/events

Beth Shalom Holocaust Museum

I’ve often said that history surrounds us in England, and in the part of the country that I live in, Nottinghamshire, we have more than our fair share. The third ‘arm’ of my hobby is the study of history and if I’m not modelling, painting or wargaming, then a visit to an historic site can be a very pleasant way of spending a day. I was vaguely aware that there was a museum devoted to the Holocaust in Newark but had never actually seen a sign post and it wasn’t really on my on my radar as a place to visit.

However, with Holocaust Memorial Day being held on 27th January, I thought it would be an appropriate time to visit. The museum is actually situated outside of Newark, near the Village of Laxton, a beautiful setting for the memorial gardens and the museum itself. The museum was founded by two brothers, James and Stephen Smith, following a 1991 visit to Israel. They felt that such a momentous event, the Holocaust, should be marked and remembered in Europe as well as in Israel, and so, with their Mothers help, built the museum. The story of the museum is far better told and understood by visiting the museum web site here:

THE NATIONAL HOLOCAUST CENTRE

The museum focuses on educating young people on the causes and history of the Holocaust and does so very effectively by following the journey of one young refugee, Leo, as he is forced to leave his home in Germany. His story is supported by the testimony of survivors of the Holocaust, each person, contributing their memories of their experiences. A truly powerful and thought provoking process, as you see how Leo is ostracised from his friends at school and his parents frightened and intimidated to the point where they have no choice but to try and save one of their children by sending him to England.

Memorial to the lost children of the Holocaust

There is a second Gallery in the Museum which then takes you through the grim reality of the rise of the Nazis’s in Germany and the creation of the death camps. This gallery is perhaps not so child friendly but a powerful reminder of the horror that unfolded in a Europe at war.

I cannot say that the visit was an uplifting experience for me, although I have nothing but admiration for the survivors and their courage. That said, I have never left a Museum in such a pensive mood. It is a powerful place to make you consider your own attitudes to both history and the current issues that face us. If you are able to, I would thoroughly recommend that you visit.

A rainy bank holiday Monday should have been an excuse to get on with some painting and modelling but it seemed a shame to stay at home. So I persuaded Julie, my wife, that a trip down the road to Newark to do some shopping and call into the new National Civil War Museum would be a good idea.

The museum was a bit of a disapointment – perhaps I was expecting too much. First of all though, it’s a great idea that such a place should be built and perhaps overtime it really will grow into a tourist attraction that Newark can be proud of. The building has been beautifully refitted – it’s a bit telling that having visited, I have no idea what it was before it became a museum other than at some point in the long distant past it was a school.

Costumes from the civil war

The staff get 10 out of 10 for enthusiasm and courtesy, they certainly were doing their best to ensure that visitors made the most of the visit. The final highlight was the presentation given by a Civil War re-enactor who gave a very entertaining and enlightening lecture on the roles of the Infantryman & Cavalryman during the civil war. The talk was illustrated with replica weapons, armour and clothing and delivered with knowledge, enthusiasm and humour.

Weapons Display

The museum itself was disappointing. There was one room devoted to the Civil War with the main focus being the seige of Newark. Attached to this room is a small cinema with a rolling presentation. There were two other rooms with exhibits related to the town of Newark. Upstairs, there were three or so rooms with a temporary display of photographs of recent civil wars around the world. Some of the photographs were quite graphic and at odds with the ‘child friendly’ ethos of the rest of the museum. The final room that we discovered (I use that word deliberately – the directional signage is not great) was an empty room that was once a dormitory for a school and the sole exhibits were the ancient graffiti left by the students.

The Museum has been lottery funded and most of that money seems to have been spent on the building and the technical gadgets that modern museums love these days. I’ve hinted that the museum was child friendly and there is a good ‘dressing up’ box so the kids can pretend to be soldiers of the time and there is a selection of interactive video displays. As to the displays themselves, it’s a bit like trying to solve a mystery by looking for the clues. The labeling is all over the place and difficult to follow, the logical sequence of the displays escaped me and the general layout seemed counter intuitive with no narrative. I think that it would be quite possible to visit the museum with no knowledge of the Civil war and come away with no knowledge of the Civil war other than it happened…

The cinema presentation was just as confusing. The films were of high quality and well acted but without context. One concerned the execution of Francis Hacker, the other the relationship between Charles 1 and Prince Rupert. If you didn’t know who they were before the films, I’m not sure if you would afterwards.

The final attraction is the augmented reality phone app that lets you follow the civil war trail around Newark. I didn’t try it as it was a rainy day, so I cant really comment as to how good this is. Newark Town and it’s surroundings has a fantastic history and heritage. I feel that the museum itself has missed the opportunity to tell the story and explain it all.

I guess my view is coloured by my hobby and as a war gamer with a keen interest in history, I found the museum disapointing and for it to claim to be the National Civil War museum is a bit of a stretch. My advice would be to save yourself the £7.00 entrance fee and go to the tourist information office and pick up a town trail leaflet and visit Newark Castle ( entrance free), go to the Queens Sconce (entrance free), go to the Polish Cemetery (entrance free) and spend your £7.00 in one of the historic coffee shops!

On Sunday 15th, I was up in Manchester (Old Trafford, to be precise) to watch Tottenham play Man Utd and rather than just visit the Theatre of Dreams, ( or on this particular day, Theatre of  nightmares – Tottenham lost 3-0!), I made a day of it and visited the Imperial War Museum North.

The good news is that admission to the museum is free, although you are encouraged to buy a souvenir guide book for £5.00. To be fair, it is well worth doing, as the guide is beautifully produced. The building itself is spectacular and the setting in Salford Keys is also superb. There are plenty of iconic buildings around and for those interested, the museum is right next to the Coronation Street Studios. For an even better view of the area , you can ride in a lift to a viewing platform at the top of the museum, a trip worth taking.

The museum itself is thoughtfully designed with plenty of space. The restaurant/cafeteria is well placed with lovely views over Salford Keys. There is a high Graphic/pictorial content to most of the exhibits and whilst this is very well done, I felt that it was too much so in places. The Museum tells the story of War in the Twentieth Century and in this respect does a good job for the casual historian, particularly for children. The exhibits are quite First World War ‘heavy’ – understandable, given it is the Centenary of this conflict. However, this means that other conflicts are very much overlooked. For example, I could only see one small reference to the Falklands War, in an Argentinian News paper that was on display.

Where the Museum disappoints is the lack of hard exhibits given the space available. From memory, there were just five ‘show piece’ exhibits. A T55 outside the museum, and inside a T34/85, A U.S. Marine version of the Harrier, the AV-88B (a strange choice, given that the Harrier is a British invention and it’s role in the Cold War and the Falklands), a Sopwith Camel ( I think – it was suspended from the ceiling in the darkness!) and an unusual mine resistant vehicle from the Rhodesian conflict.

There were plenty of smaller exhibits, such as handguns, rifles etc but even here they seemed sparse. I don’t actually remember seeing an AK-47, a poor state of affairs given it’s role in every modern conflict since WW2. I was intrigued by the nuclear bomb on display! It is frightening to see just how small they are now. The small section on the Cold war and the nuclear threat was quite chilling. It is scary to think that in 1976, the government was still sending out protect and survive leaflets  – in fact if memory serves me correctly, this happened again in the 80’s with the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Building a nuclear fall out shelter in your house using a couple of doors & some pillows seems to be a bit desperate now.

The final nod to modern conflicts is a piece of the wreckage from the twin towers World trade Centre 9/11 attack. A sobering reminder of many of ongoing conflicts in the news today.

So to sum up, if you are in the area, the Museum is well worth a visit as a general overview to warfare and history in the twentieth Century. It’s certainly a good introduction for children, with plenty for them to look at. However,  I would have been disappointed if I had driven up to Manchester just to visit this museum. There are plenty that are better and the lack of military hardware on display and the lack of detail and depth to the exhibits is a let down to what could be a much better facility.