ECW - the first Royalist unit of Horse

Finally got my new ECW cavalry unit based and provided with a suitable flag. Lee did his customary super job with the painting, so I am very pleased with them. I have a further two regiments of foot which are almost finished, and hope to get more units fettled and ready for painting by next weekend.

The cavalry figures are by Kennington/SHQ - I really like their ECW cavalry.

This is getting dangerously close to progress. There is a minimum size of army - anything too small and it seems like one of those "abandoned projects" one sees for sale on eBay. I would like to move fairly quickly to about 6 units of foot and (say) two of horse on each side, plus a couple of artillery units and the odd general. At that point it becomes a work in progress rather than a geeky and uncertain prototype. I also have a small resin mountain of very nice (15mm) period buildings from Hovels to paint, so I must get on with that as well.

Here's the new guys, anyway. More soon.

Hooptedoodle #65b - Hadrian's Wall - Days 3 to 6

Day 3 – Saturday – Banks to Twice Brewed Inn – 14 miles

After the ritual Full English breakfast (death by Cumberland Sausage) we set off in a beautiful morning. Early morning ground frost disappeared quickly, and we had almost perfect walking weather, though we still had to watch out for mud patches.

The track passes through many fields, mostly with a stile in the corner. For some reason (perverse humour?) the cattle like to congregate in the corners, so that an attractive green field will have areas of deep gloop in front of the stile where it has been trampled.

After Greenhead, the track swings round towards the first of the crags – a jaw-dropping sight, with just a small thrill of trepidation about how near the edge the track goes. In fact it is strenuous – more so than I expected, though not as severe as some of the Austrian walks or the Pentlands Hills hike I did recently. The trail goes up and down a series of steep cliff-top paths, with stone steps inserted to protect the trail and make the climbing safer. Having said which, I would hate to attempt these steps in the wet.

One of my colleagues was having problems with blisters, and our speed of walking slowed right down. At one point I was concerned that at our current rate we would not get off the hills before it became too dark for safety. However, after a pretty hard day we reached the Twice Brewed Inn, which served up its very fine eponymous beer and magnificent slow-roast pork belly with mashed spuds and black pudding (apologies to any vegans, especially teetotal vegans).

Cumbrian countryside

Birdoswald

What became a familiar view - the path runs straight ahead

Yet another milecastle

The history walks along with you

Medieval rip-off - Thirlwall Castle - "Excuse me, sir, I don't suppose

you would know anything about the whereabouts of a large quantity of

very old masonry?"

First glimpse of the crags after Greenhead

Up and down...

...and up again

One of my colleagues, feet badly blistered, delighted to reach the Twice

Brewed Inn as the sun sets behind him

Day 4 – Sunday – Twice Brewed Inn to Greencarts Farm (Humshaugh) – 15 miles

Another fantastic day’s walking. The Twice Brewed is a little off the hill trail, so we had to climb back up to the top of the crags, and then once again we had the switchback path and amazing views, along past the lake of Craig Lough, Housesteads fort, and eventually the path dropped down to run alongside the road. This was a rather boring section after the wonders of the earlier part of the day, and the weather began to deteriorate – wet and increasingly cold.

We arrived, tired and a bit grumpy, at Greencarts, to learn that there was an amber weather warning for the next two days. I had no idea what an amber warning signified, but it didn’t sound like good news.

Due mention must be made here of Mrs Maughan at Greencarts, who, since it was Sunday, produced roast gammon, complete with Yorkshire pudding, stuffing and home grown root vegetables. Raspberry sponge to follow – what a good job we were on a walking trip!

Turret on the crags

Craig Lough far below - complete with swans

The remains of an arch at Housesteads

And if you thought you were getting to walk on the actual Wall, forget it.

COH.II.SAG.HAM. would have found this funny, I think

The north wall of Housesteads from the barbarian side

Near Greencarts

Day 5 – Monday – Greencarts to Heddon-on-the-Wall – 18 miles

It turns out that an amber warning is definitely not what you are looking for on a walk like this. The wind was now in our faces, the temperature dropped and the rain was horizontal. The last two days of this walk are not very interesting anyway – there is very little actual wall to see, so it is mostly an act of faith. After you leave Chesters fort behind you, for all the visual evidence you might as well be walking the Great Wall of China at this stage.

We did give serious thought to getting a bus into Hexham and abandoning the full walk, but – though we were wet and cold and thoroughly miserable – we stuck with it and got through a hard slog. I am delighted to say that my gear stood up well to the test – my old Brasher boots were terrific, and my cheapo Regatta waterproof over-trousers were a life-saver.

We stayed at a ranch-style hostel on a farm, dried our kit and listened to news of serious flooding in Morpeth, plus forecasts of more of the same for the next day. At night it was hard to sleep for the wind roaring. It occurred to me that if someone had been employing me to do this trip I would have resigned at that moment.

I’m sorry there are no pictures of the last two days – it was just too wet to get my camera out.

Day 6 – Tuesday – Heddon-on-the-Wall to Wallsend – 14 miles

We were now sufficiently cynical to make some policy decisions.

First point to note is that we were tired and cold and keen to complete our walk from coast to coast with or without reference to Roman walls or anything else. Second point to note – which may justify our attitude a little – is that the official Hadrian’s Wall Path walk is a thing of compromise anyway. The site of the wall is known, and the original scheme was for a walk to follow it, but concerns about erosion, disagreements with individual farmers about access to their land and – more significantly – involvement of the National Trails people have fudged the routing of the eastern-most section of the walk. The HWP through Newcastle is now a scenic trek along the northern bank of the Tyne, which has nothing to do with Hadrian except that it ends at the site of Segedunum, the coastal fort at the end of the wall.

We decided to cut out the detour and walk straight through central Newcastle to Wallsend, which was probably a smart move.

Done it. Tired and cold, but unbloodied and in good shape.

Afterthoughts

Am I glad I did it? Definitely. Was it as I expected? More or less – some of the climbing was harder work than I thought it would be, and on some of the sections – especially in the bad weather – the tedium is a killer, but overall it is not nearly so arduous as the West Highland Way in Scotland. In the direction we did the walk – apart from the separate objective of crossing England on foot – days 1, 5 and 6 were not very stimulating.

I think I might revisit Hadrian some time in the future (if I’m spared....), but I would approach it differently – I would book a few nights at the Twice Brewed and do day walks over defined stages of the crags in the central section. That really is the very best of the wall, and an unforgettable experience.

Last little moan – the signposting on the walk is generally good, but from time to time there are no clues which way to go, and some of the pointers are inaccurate, which is not helpful if the conditions are difficult. Compared with my recent experience of the excellent signposting of walkways in the Tyrol, I think the HWP could do rather better in this respect.

However – mustn’t grumble. I met a lot of interesting people and was grateful for a lot of hospitality and kindness, and I had an excellent time.

The museum at Segedunum, on a much sunnier day. We couldn't find the place at first, failing to realise that the large building that looks like a modern colliery was what we were looking for. I had hoped to see the big cranes at Swan Hunter's shipyard, but sadly they have been
sent to China.

Hooptedoodle #65a - Hadrian's Wall - Days 1 & 2

First glimpse of actual Roman wall, between Walton and Banks

Day 1 – Thursday – Bowness-on-Solway to Stanwick (Carlisle) – 12 miles

No pictures today. Incessant rain and deep mud (I sank almost to my knees in a harmless looking field – Cumbrian mud is special) made this day rather heavy going – not helped by the fact that we made an ill-judged detour of about 3 miles to get a distant view of a monument to Edward I on the marshes – he died there, of dysentery. No visible trace of Roman walls thus far – at one point we travelled along an interestingly straight road which we thought might well follow the line of the wall, but in fact it was built on an old railway! A few herons on the tidal flats of the Solway, but mostly the day was a bit grim.

Bright spots in the evening were an excellent Indian meal in a Tandoori restaurant in Carlisle, catching part of a rare Liverpool FC win on TV in the pub and – best of all – heroic efforts by our host at the B&B to help us clean and dry our boots and wash some very dirty clothes. Most kind and much appreciated.

Day 2 – Friday – Stanwick to Banks (near Walton) – 14 miles

Much better day – little or no rain, but still a lot of slow progress through muddy areas. We got our first sighting of a recognisable piece of wall near the end of the day. This is a very rural area – villages well spaced out, and most of the pubs have shut down, apparently. The recession is here.

Despite the lack of authentic wall thus far, there is an abundance of rectangular blocks of dressed stone in the dry-stone dykes and the barns, and it’s pretty obvious where it came from…

Because refreshment sites are thin on the ground, there are a number of honesty bars along the way offering cold drinks and snacks – something I’ve not seen on other walking trails. Tomorrow we should get into the sections where the wall is much more continuous – with luck the mud should be better, though there will be more climbing to do. Beautiful countryside - as we climbed up towards Banks, there were fine views to the South West to Skiddaw and the Lake District.

Main problem to date - the mud seems almost bottomless at times

Hadrian's personal honesty bar service - a classy touch - a

Coke or a Mars bar from the Emperor's personal stocks

Hooptedoodle #65 - Hadrian's Wall - Intro

On Wednesday I'm heading off to meet up with a couple of well-seasoned hikers, and we shall do the Hadrian's Wall Walk - the whole thing - West-to-East (i.e. in the "wrong" direction). Our starting point is Bowness-on-Solway, and we'll set off on Thursday morning. We have 6 days' walking, with overnight stops in the vicinity of Carlisle, Walton, Steel Rigg, Chollerford, Heddon-on-the-Wall and Wallsend. On paper it looks reasonable - but there again, on paper you don't have flies, mud and old legs to contend with!

The Wall ends at Wallsend (the Romans probably felt that the name made it an obvious place to stop), and then we'll head into Newcastle to get our various transports home. I am comparatively local, being based in South East Scotland, but my colleagues will be coming up from London and Dorset respectively. I have explained to them that they will not find ATM's or Starbuck's or branches of Waitrose on the Wall, and I think they understand.

The pictures here are not mine - just stuff I liked and borrowed to get myself in the mood. These are all views of the more remote part, between Greenhead and Chollerford. I intend to record some thoughts and some pictures on the way - how closely this will correspond to live reporting will depend on a few things - weather, fatigue, wi-fi availability in the overnight stops and (possibly) beer. However it works out, you should hear more of this trip. If my netbook or my brain should malfunction, I may write up the whole thing when I get back.

Or perhaps we might just spend the whole week in the Twice-Brewed Inn, and I'll make up some kind of a cover story.

Boye

Here's a very dramatic and convincing contemporary ECW illustration of Prince Rupert's poodle, "Boye", who, sadly, was killed at the battle of Marston Moor. You will see some dastardly (left handed?) Parliamentarian musketeer shooting him at very close range. The bullets are thick and fast. Don't know who the odd-bod is on the left - maybe a witch, obviously a dog lover. There were dark Puritan tales of Boye being protected by evil magic - I hope he had some form of money-back guarantee clause in there.

Like every ECW newbie ever, I have been pondering the idea of adding a suitably sized Boye lookalike to my Prince Rupert figure (one of the few celebs who made it to Lancashire), but am now thinking that the idea, while cute, is likely to pall after about two weeks. I think Lord Byron made it to Lancs as well, so I could give him a parrot - no, on balance that might be a tad controversial. Most of the high-profile Royalist generals gave Lancashire a miss, apparently, because they didn't care for black pudding and couldn't play the ukulele.

My second picture, below, suggests that it is likely that Boye met his end through being trampled on, which is less glorious than stopping a bullet but still unforgivingly terminal.

My few days in Liverpool went well - a good balance of the familiar and the new, with some good food and beer. By a complete coincidence, my visit coincided with the announcement of the Hillsborough findings. I refuse to say anything at all about Hillsborough, apart from the fact that the findings - while still deeply upsetting - are exactly in line with what has been common knowledge on Merseyside for 23 years.

Now I am getting my kit and my knees ready for the assault on Hadrian's Wall - we assemble at base camp on Wednesday. Because this is only incidentally a sightseeing tour, it seems likely at the moment that we won't have the time or energy to get to Vindolanda, which is a bit out of our way (off the wall?...), which would be a shame - I'm working on it. This is the time at which I suddenly realise that my back-pack is in a very bad state and may need to be replaced. And then there's my socks...

Hooptedoodle #64 - A Little Holiday

On the whole, I much prefer the conflict in my life to be restricted to the wargames table.

Although I enjoy my occasional Hooptedoodle rants on this humble blog, they are normally intended to deflate through humour, and as often as not – when it comes down to it – it is me or my own inability to cope with the changing times that is the real butt of that humour.

Outside of the blog, my recent saga of attempting to do business with Falcata Miniatures has been a disappointment. Not a big deal – really not a matter of any importance at all, in the overall scheme of things, but it has made me more fed up than I would have expected. I like my toy soldiers and my little wars to be a happy place, not another source of stress, and not a reason to fall out with anyone. The episode is closed now, but it will take a little while to get the sunshine back up to full brightness – wargaming and soldier collecting are rather touchy areas for me, it seems.

I’ve also been getting a few strange, hostile emails again and the odd torpedo in my blog comments. I would rather not think of myself as thin-skinned – my self-indulgent way of expressing myself probably means that I deserve to have people shoot back occasionally, and normally I would enjoy the exchange. Some of this stuff is disturbing, though. Since my blog writings are not fired by any dark intent, and (especially) since they are of no real consequence at all, I would have hoped that anyone who came across them and was irritated would simply move on and read something else. It comes as a surprise when someone takes the trouble to explain to me, in detail, what an asshole I am.

Must keep the thing in proportion. I have made some very good friends through blogging, and I’ve learned a great deal and received a lot of real help. It has all been overwhelmingly positive, but I think I – and the world at large – could maybe do with a bit of a holiday from Prometheus. Next week I shall be away on a short trip to visit the city of my childhood, and the week after that will be my walk along Hadrian’s Wall. I expect I’ll put something here about The Wall, but in the meantime this station will close down to give the transmitter a rest. I’ll still check incoming comments, and if anyone else wants copies of the pdf files for the C&C-style ECW game please do get in touch – it might take me a few days to get back to you, but I will.

On a completely different theme, I’ve been asked a couple of times why Prometheus in Aspic anyway? – does it mean something? Is it simply the most pretentious name I could come up with?

Not sure, to be honest. I’ve always had a very soft spot for the Promethean legend – the idea of someone who did his best and was tortured for it is an easy one to be moved by. The portrayal of Napoleon as Prometheus is something of a cliché, but there may be a trace of that association in there. It is also possible – though I would rather not think about it too much – to identify with Prometheus at a personal level. The truth of the matter, as I remember it, comes from when I was trying to set the blog up in the first place. I had so little success finding available names that were anything like what I had in mind that in the end I went for something that was so unlikely and so stupid that it hadn’t been used before!

Spanish Uniforms on Alfons Canovas' Blog

Cazadores of the 1st Bn Voluntarios de Valencia, Oct 1811

It's a bit feeble to produce a blog post which merely points to someone else's blog, but Alfons Canovas, on what must be the finest military uniform blog in the entire cosmos, has produced more marvels for us. For fans of the Peninsular War, like me, there are some wonderful plates of Spanish troops in his last 3 posts, and the series appears to be continuing. If you are not a regular visitor to Alfons' blog, then do yourself a favour and go and have a look at this latest post and start working backwards - make sure you have a comfortable chair, some coffee and plenty of time...

Without any apology, I reproduce the illustration of Valencian light troops - a rare enough sight - as a taster, if only to share with Mr Kinch one authoritative solution for how to dress their officers!