Partizan Show, May 2024

 If it is a sunny Sunday in mid to late May, it must be Partizan.  Once again Steve and I were blessed with the weather as we made our way south to the Newark Showground for the Partizan show.  Partizan has an enviable reputation for hosting a diverse range of excellent demo and participation games along with a good range of trade stands.  This year proved to be as good as ever, as I hope the selection of photos below demonstrate.

As they say on the tv, "in no particular order"

Phil Olley with his Eastern Renaissance game

Nearby were the League of Extraordinary Kriegspeilers with their "Back of Beyond" game Down on the Adriatic Sea

Westbury Gamers had their Alexandrian Successors game "Battle of Gabene

Durham Wargames Club with the Battle of Fulford Gate

The South American Wars of Independence features in the Barely Legal Wargamers "Battle of Carabobo

On a similar theme Ist Corps had a game based on the Mexican- American War of the 1840's

The Battle of Freeman's Farm by Mr Steve Jones

Simon Miller's Relief of Norchester

Chesterfield Old Boys has a WWII game in 1/35 scale

While Kallistra offered a 10mm Siege of Buda

The Boondock Sayntes demonstrated an Indian Mutiny game

Yarkshire Gamer brought along his Mentana game which was also at Vapnertak

There were of course lots of other games, all well presented.  Without fail, the groups and individuals providing the games were keen to talk about them.  One of the bonuses of attending shows is the opportunity to meet up with old friends and indeed meet new ones.  Ray Rousell, who posts on his blog Don't throw a 1, often posts comments on this blog and I was pleased to meet him and thank him in person for taking the time to make comments.

Judging by the number of people in the venue the show was a success and thanks go to the organisers who put so much hard work into Partizan.  Well done to them all!! 

Sussex

 My wife and I have just returned from a very enjoyable coach tour to West Sussex.   There were several organised trips, but on one of our "leisure" days we decided to go to Chichester, which is well worth a visit if you haven't already been there.  Close to the glorious cathedral there are remains of the city walls, which date back to Roman times.   They fell into disrepair several times, but in time of need they were repaired and provided some security for the inhabitants up until the Civil Wars of the 17th century.  In December 1642 the city was besieged by William Waller and surrendered after six days. 

After a light lunch we went to the Novium Museum link .  There is a fascinating display called 'Mystery Warrior: North Bersted Man'.  Archaeologists discovered the grave of an Iron Age warrior and further research and analysis revealed that he probably came from Gaul c 50BC.  The most surprising element within the burial were the warrior's helmet and crest. 

One of the two crests found in the grave

The helmet and clasps

A reconstruction of the helmet with its crests

Artist impression of the warrior

There are a couple of videos produced by the Novium Museum about Bersted Man on you tube. 

On our final day we went to Portsmouth.  We had some free time in the morning, but not enough to do justice to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Museum of the Royal Navy, sadly that will need to wait for another trip.  However I did get a couple of photos of HMS Warrior.

After lunch it was off to Southsea and the D Day Story museum.  As with all modern museums it contains a mix of audio-visual presentations and large and small exhibits.

An armoured recovery vehicle

Outside the entrance to the museum was a LCT, complete with a couple of tanks.  I hadn't appreciated how large these vessels were until I stood on the ramp and saw how small the tanks looked.

That being said the space for the crews (tank and vessel) was pretty limited.  Moving around while the vessel crossed the channel must have been hazardous with plenty of rivet heads to trip over and hard edges to fall against.

Very close to the D Day Story is Southsea Castle, one of the chain of coastal castles built by Henry VIII.  Once again we were short of time, but I did manage to visit the central keep.

A very enjoyable trip and one that has suggested to me that a further visit to the area would be justified.