A Wee trip to the UK by a wargamer

[vtsaogames]

Various comments and pics are here.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood

[Andrew Beasley]

Looks like you had fun.

Culloden is an interesting place to visit – I was amazed by the distance between the two sides and thought the red flags were missing at first! Did you get to go around the visitors centre? Expensive entry but well worth it in my mind.

Hope you managed to try haggis – even the veggie version is great for breakfast 🙂

[vtsaogames]

Was on a tour and the visitor’s center was included.

I’m more used to ACW battlefields, where the sides start apart at rifled artillery range. The distance between the armies seemed short to me (3 pdr smoothbores), and the battlefield small. Of course, with each side only 5-6,000 strong, it was a small battle.

Had haggis, neeps and tatties in Edinburgh, along with a nice ale.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood

[Mike Headden]

An eclectic mix of places! As a resident, I suppose I have to say the Edinburgh was obviously the high point 🙂

Been many a year since I visited Conwy Castle or Chester and I’ve never made it to Orkney, so I may be somewhat biased!

Lots of interesting places to get a decent ale in Edinburgh, though I do feel haggis, bashed neeps and chappit tatties deserve a decent whisky instead. I prefer those from Islay but each to their own. 🙂

Did you come across the memorial to Wojtek the Soldier Bear in Princes Street Gardens? A fascinating story of one of the odder corners of WW2.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/soldier-bear-statue

Thanks for the post.

There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

[Albert of Winterpig]

A good taster but a little whistlestop for me.

[vtsaogames]

Mike Headden wrote:

An eclectic mix of places! As a resident, I suppose I have to say the Edinburgh was obviously the high point Been many a year since I visited Conwy Castle or Chester and I’ve never made it to Orkney, so I may be somewhat biased! Lots of interesting places to get a decent ale in Edinburgh, though I do feel haggis, bashed neeps and chappit tatties deserve a decent whisky instead. I prefer those from Islay but each to their own. Did you come across the memorial to Wojtek the Soldier Bear in Princes Street Gardens? A fascinating story of one of the odder corners of WW2. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/soldier-bear-statue Thanks for the post.

 

We fully intend to revisit Edinburgh some time. We did get a proper whisky tasting in Inverness and brought some home.

 

I walked past the Bear memorial and wondered what it was about. There were so many memorials in that park.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood

[vtsaogames]

Albert of Winterpig wrote:

A good taster but a little whistlestop for me.

 

Was afraid of boring folks with a lengthy post. Didn’t even mention the Lake District, as no military items revealed themselves. Plus that was where I got ill.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood

[McKinstry]

Sounds like a great trip. It has been a while but we loved Scotland and I envy you making it to Scapa Flow.

We share patient wives. In addition to Edinburgh she waited  while my kids and I explored all around Stirling and (I think) the Gordon’s museum in Stirling Castle including a soup tureen presented after an early 18th c. battle that I swear you could bathe in.

My main memory of Culloden was how on earth could anyone think charging over that gorse that seemed more tanglefoot barbed wire than plant was a good idea.

 

The tree of Life is self pruning.

[vtsaogames]

McKinstry wrote:

My main memory of Culloden was how on earth could anyone think charging over that gorse that seemed more tanglefoot barbed wire than plant was a good idea.

 

I thought the same, wondered about running through that in a kilt. But my wife spotted a website that said the field was a cattle grazing spot. The folks in charge are bringing some cattle back and hope they will graze it back to how it was. I noted some beasts in a pen nearby.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood

[Chris Pringle]

You need to come further south next time: Blenheim Palace, the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum and, oh yes, Oxford Wargames Society.  🙂

[vtsaogames]

Indeed. Sorry our last attempt at meeting in NYC was derailed by the pandemic.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

vtsaogames wrote:

McKinstry wrote:

My main memory of Culloden was how on earth could anyone think charging over that gorse that seemed more tanglefoot barbed wire than plant was a good idea.

I thought the same, wondered about running through that in a kilt. But my wife spotted a website that said the field was a cattle grazing spot. The folks in charge are bringing some cattle back and hope they will graze it back to how it was. I noted some beasts in a pen nearby.

 

For a lot of the poorer Scottish warriors, they may well have fought only in their shirts sans kilt.

Mick Hayman
Margate and New Orleans

[vtsaogames]

There’s talk of grazing goats there too. They will eat anything.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood

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