So as you may have guessed - NO toy soldiers in this post. The HaT saga has ended in me returning the unpainted figures to the guy I bought them from for a full refund - this was his suggestion He also said HaT never actually made the Napoleonic cavalry in 28mm - I am not sure if this is correct or is just an easier solution for him than trying to get them from HaT - so I think I will give up on that experiment and just stick with Perry or Black Powder plastic cavalry.
The net outcome of all this palaver is - I dont really have anything much to paint - nothing I feel like painting, anyway! The 20mm SCW from Minairons left Espagna on 22 March but have not arrived here as yet - sigh. I have a few 28mm bits and pieces on the painting desk and they may be ready for some photos in a few days.
In the meantime, we have been on a couple of walks recently so stand by for wall to wall images below!
Firstly, last weekend, we did a short walk at Alexandra Redoubt, Tuakau. I have blogged about this site previously almost exactly three years ago here Bydand: April 2019 (1808534.blogspot.com) but given there are only 8 comments (4 being my replies) I thought it could stand a second post!
The redoubt was built to secure the Waikato River as the British Army advanced into the heart of the Waikato in a showdown with one of the biggest, most powerful of the indigenous Maori tribes.
There are a number of memorials to the soldiers who served in the area
If interested, there are a couple of good TV shows on YouTube covering this - search for James Belich and you should fine a 5 part series from TVNZ - or for a more Maori view of the Invasion of the Waikato, try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgZT0_8Hpw0
Then yesterday, we went for a three hour bush walk at Aongatete just north of Tauranga. Nothing historical about this - just some nice bush views!
This is the type of terrain the Maori Wars were conducted in
Video of the bird song in the forest, which was pretty constant
The view as we emerged from the track at the end of the walk
It was a nice day out to start the four day Easter weekend. I hope wherever you are, you have an enjoyable Easter with your family and friends.
Oh and finally as a bonus, based on my comments on Iain's Caveadsum blog, here are a couple of images of "The oldest Inn in England" where I met my wife circa 1988 - Ye Olde Bell in Hurley, on the Thames between Maidenhead and Henley - jolly nice area, what!
Nice photos again Keith. I lived in England just down the road from another oldest pub in England, The Royal Standard. I think there may be a few of them.
ReplyDeleteFunny, Lawrence. I wonder how many English towns are home to “the oldest pub in England”?
DeleteI am not surprised Lawrence - I think there are several claimants to the title!
DeleteSeveral I should imagine Jon!
DeleteI think there’s two in Nottingham alone. 😀
DeleteHahaha - and I bet Robin Hood drank at both of them!
DeleteThere’s also an oldest pub in the world… in Norwich too. Wonder if mr hood frank there too?
DeleteKeith, I remember your earlier redoubt walk very well. Hard to believe that was three years ago. Thanks again for the tour around your beautiful country. I woke to two inches of fresh snow on the ground this morning.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon - I was surprised too! Its mid April for goodness sake - when does your snow stop?! We just had a young lady start at work as a Business Intelligence Analyst from your neck of the woods - cant remember the name of the town but around 8000 population and 50 km south of the Canadian border
DeleteWe can get the occasional snowfall in Spring but two inches in mid-April is unusual. Nearby mountain passes can get snow into May. A BI analyst transplant from the Pacific Northwest? Where is she from?
DeleteSorry I don't know which town she is from but she has very pale skin and dark red hair, I suspect a Gaelic ancestory. Her name is Alison Boehm...but that's her married name I think....do you know her 😝😂. Lol!
DeleteNice photos,the board should put you on retainer!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe - I wish they would - it could fund my gaming purchases!
DeleteThanks for the photos as always Keith. The oldest pub in England saga, will never be definitely proven I'm sure. The Blue Bowl pub a stone's throw from where I live is reputed to be on the site of a Roman Legionary stopping point on the via Julian, the Roman road linking Bristol and Bath. Cromwell used it as his HQ when laying siege to Bristol apparently.
ReplyDeleteNice to see the redoubt and where my Mum was born, there is still the remains of an ECW star fort just outside of the village. Sadly I never go near there any more otherwise it would make for an interesting visit.
Hi Steve - I am sure you are right about the oldest pub competition although Ye Olde Bell must be in with a shout - I short changed it in my post - the earliest part dates from 1135 apparently!
DeleteSome great looking photos and a shame about the HaT figures
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil and yes re the HaT figures - I would have been very happy to find some adequate 28mm cavalry at about 70p each!
DeleteThat’s a lush landscape you’ve got there Keith. I wouldn’t want to be fighting in that though. Must have been pretty scary if your column was attacked by Māori.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris (thanks to Mr Freitag, I now know your name!). I agree, and if you ever watch any of the stuff on YouTube, you will come away with the impression that the British lost most of the battles, but won the wars. I am not sure exactly how accurate this view is - but it certainly would have been a challenging environment to fight in - like Vietnam but without any helicopters or even lightweight, tropical uniforms!
DeleteBeautiful places sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal - I will try to have some miniatures painted next time!
DeleteNice and entertaining post,thanks for the shout out! I remember a diorama of a British assault on a fortified position during the Maori wars and thinking it looked like a tough proposition! I remember drinking in the Trip to Jerusalem pub in Nottingham as a student and they also reckon that as the start of the pub crawl to the Holy Land they were the oldest pub in Britain too! My nephew got the Hat cavalry figures as 28mm figures, so they do exist?!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain! As Jon, Chris and Lawrence have all mentioned, I am sure there are many claimants to the title! According to the historian James Belich, the earthworks built by Tainui in the Waikato were possibly the most extensive ever seen to that time (1864) including those if the Crimean and American Civil War. He claims that assaulting a "modern" Pah was akin to attempts to assault the trench systems of WWI, and the British commander General Cameron is reputed to have said he had learned it was quite pointless to attempt to take such a position by storm.
DeleteAs to the 28mm HaT figures, I figured they do exist but possibly not in NZ and I don't think they are worth the hassle of buying from overseas!
Thank you for posting your travels. I have enjoyed these very much.
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome Mark, I hope you are recovering from your recent concussion.
DeleteSplendid scenery as always Keith…
ReplyDeleteI think that there are probably many oldest pubs in England… we have Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem as well as The Bell Inn and Ye Olde Salutation all vying for that position where I am… The Trip is the nicest , it’s built into the caves at the foot of Nottingham Castle.
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly....yes, Iain mentioned above that there at at least two claimants in Nottingham! All I know is, the Ok'd Bell at Hurley is a genuinely old building and very picturesque...it was even in a travel advert fir the UK, shortly after we arrived in NZ back in 1988....plus it featured in the climax of a movie called "Collateral" that's still on Netflix here...about the murder of a pizza delivery guy by a female army officer....
DeleteLovely scenery Keith, as Aly has said lots of other pubs would no doubt try to claim the ‘oldest’ tag. Think I met my wife in a pub in Hull in 1987, but the pub wasn’t very memorable 😀
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt....you obviously don't have a local contender? Whatever the truth of the matter, Ye Olde Bell was a very cool building and the village of Hurley was very Midsommer like. We visited with our kids when we were back about six years ago and it was pretty much unchanged from thirty years ago!
DeleteI came here for miniatures and all I got were beautiful landscapes. And whaddaya mean you have nothing to paint?!! Isn’t there some lead mine of previous bought miniatures in your house? I thought we all had those. 😀
ReplyDeleteI did have a hectic Easter. Just now coming up for air.
Hey Stew....yes apologies for yet another travelogue....but I did imply a warning in the title of my post! I really don't have a huge lead pile....I have bits n pieces but nothing much I can be bothered painting, particularly when I know there are some exciting shines new toys on the way from sunny Spain!
DeleteI hope you enjoyed Easter and did not eat too much chocolate....
As always Keith, lovely pics of some beautiful parts of the world. Nice to learn a little more about the history of NZ too - I don’t know much at all
ReplyDeleteCheers Dai....glad you enjoy both aspects of my posts!
Delete