Napoleonic, WSS & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Saturday, 8 February 2025

...and Just One More

 While I had my head in eBay I also spotted a Tey Potteries building from my old wish list, so I bought that as well - very cheap - these must not be trending now.

This one is Oliver Cromwell's house, which I believe is in Ely (is that Cambridgeshire?).


It amuses me to have my battlefields and siege towns sprinkled with National Trust properties from all parts of the UK. I don't know that much of the ECW took place in Oliver's actual garden, but the house will be useful for 17th and 18th Century scenarios in various parts of Northern Europe. MSFoy's Rent-a-Landmark Productions at work.  

20 comments:

  1. Yep old Warty's house is in Ely.
    My wife asked whether I would like to go in and was treated to a diatribe on similarities to the Taliban and why Charles II was right to treat him the way he did- the only pity being he wasn't still alive......☺

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  2. I like these! Pretty useful and certainly look interesting on the table.

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    1. They just need some matt varnish and anything is possible!

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  3. That's a particularly good one, although the modelling of the chimneys is pretty loose. You're going to have to refight the storming of Alton or something like that to get all these into action.

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    1. Once I've got the matt varnish on, I can touch up the chimneys a bit with acrylics. I've also been known to paint out inappropriate pub signs.

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  4. I like your new, “Rent-a-Landmark Productions” offerings. Nifty buildings to adorn your table.

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    1. Hi Jon - always pleased to get something to improve the view on the table!

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  5. Your return posts have been really interesting, never thought of using this type of ornament for the table but they look great an work really well with a bit of dulling down, super stuff!

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    1. Hi Donnie - I started off with a selection of secondhand Lilliput Lane buildings when I started the ECW, but the glazed pottery stuff from Tey, Sulley and (sometimes) Mudlen works better and looks more convincing. If you click on the label "Tey Pottery" at the end of the post text and have a skim through the photos you can get an idea of what sort of things I have picked up on my travels! You just have to check the scale is going to work for you.

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  6. What a nice shack! Ely is indeed in Cambridgeshire (not far from where I went to school) and rises rather spookily from the middle of the fens. A fine addition to your collection.

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    1. Thanks Ian - I understand that the Cromwell's moved around a bit, as they were occasionally strapped for cash!

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  7. Very nice Tony…
    I think my mother had some pottery buildings similar to yours…
    I must get my brother to have a dig around and see if they are still in the house…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Hi Aly - there could be all sorts! Any Sulley churches you don't want, give me a shout...

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  8. Excellent building, what scale figures do you think they'd work best with? 10mm?

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    1. Hi Ray - this particular range varies a bit, but they are usually between 10mm and 15mm scale, strictly speaking. I use them with 20mm figures, but then I am noted as a crackpot.

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  9. They do look nice....we used to have some Lilliput Lane models years ago (long gone I think) and I always used to think they might make good terrain pieces for 15mm games.....

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    1. There are some practical difficulties with Lilliput Lane and David Winter models - they are made of some kind of plaster (so they chip easily), they have a matt finish, which is not washable (so they are hard to keep clean if you keep them on a shelf), and they are mostly on some sort of plinth, which looks odd when they are grouped together. I still have a few "specials" - mostly Scottish subjects (for Montrose!).

      One LL example that I have kept is a nice model of the old Preston Mill, the real version being about 5 miles from where I'm sitting, at East Linton, in East Lothian, on the Scottish Tyne. This mill has appeared in various ECW and Spanish settings in my games!

      When I bought it on eBay, the lady who sold it (who was probably named Sue), said that she had always been fond of the model watermill for sentimental reasons, because it reminded her of her college days in Preston (Lancs). Since it must have just been 250 miles up the road from there, I'm not sure she saw much of it during her time in Preston; still, as long as she was happy with it. Nostalgia by proxy.

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  10. Another lovely piece Tony. I'd happily use it as generic farm house/complex.
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks James - hope things good with you. These ceramic buildings have a pleasing craftsmanlike roughness which seems to me to sit well with the world of toy soldiers!

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