Sunday 10 November 2013

Normal service will be resumed soon

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, hobby time has taken a back seat with my recent move, with plenty of unpacking and DIY to be done. A few weeks with no painting at all and I'm only just getting a little time for it. The endless trips to B&Q, Ikea and many others will be with me for months, as will the DIY as my wife and I work our way around the house. As if I needed a new project! 

On a slightly more hobby-related note, I recently caught a fascinating exhibition: 'Newseum' by the Times. It was a fairly small but interesting look at (UK-centric) journalism throughout the ages, touching on the Crimea, colonial conflicts, the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, conquering of Everest and onwards. 

The highlight for me being two of the telegraphs sent by Frank Powers during the siege of Khartoum. Including this one, to be hand delivered after the telegraph line was cut. If you look carefully, you can see it was annotated with 'send this' and signed by General Gordon. Apparently, it didn't make it though the Mahdist blockade and was found years later, stuffed in the walls of a hut. It's significance was realised and it was eventually received by The Times in London in the 1890s. The Times archive must be full of such fascinating snippets from history. 


Unaware of the no photography policy, I caught just the one snap before I was politely but firmly told to stop. 

Frank Powers himself was killed in September 1884 alongside Gordon's assistant Colonel Stewart when a group tried to break the blockade around Khartoum aboard the Steamer Abbas. The attempt failed when the Abbas ran aground and all passengers and crew were killed in an ambush. 

Finally, I had the good fortune to visit Wyvern Wargamers the other week and managed to get a game of Chain of Command in 15mm. Stu, Paul and the rest made me feel very welcome and I definitely intend to visit as often as I am able. 



6 comments:

  1. That was my phrase, Fran!
    Really fascinating; a luck that there was not another mission for that piece of papel in that moment...

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  2. Nice to see you back. That exhibit sounds very interesting. Where is it and how long is it scheduled to last?

    It's also great to hear that you've found a local gaming group - not that you have too much time for diversions from the sounds of it!

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    1. Curt,

      You can find a bit more info here including some pictures of the artefacts.
      http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/newseum/article3898105.ece

      I'd say Wyvern Wargamers are pushing the definition of 'local' for me - about a 90 minute round trip. But worth it, hopefully!

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  3. Fascinating - thanks for the background and pictures. Site is tremendous BTW and an inspiration for all gamers of the Sudan.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your kind words Carlo - next batch to be posted soon!

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