And so the long-anticipated trip to Bovington finally happened. Whilst Phil, Malcolm and Rob roared off in one car, I was left with Chris and Fred. Things got off to a shaky start with Fred being 4 minutes late. As we headed down the A1(M) the talk was becoming a nightmare. How does Corespace match to Stargrave, and what about Frostgrave? No mention of anything based in reality! The M25 was a breeze, and apart from a delay at the M25/M3 junction all seemed well. Then disaster. Our communications operator ( Chris ) reported a message from the advance party that there was a crash at Basingstoke, and Phil was detouring via Andover. I asked Chris to contact the others for advice plus requested a check of Google maps. The reaction was akin to asking your radio operator to call HQ 20 miles away and him breaking out the semaphore flags. Chris resolutely refused to phone and simply texted. Anglo-Saxon language was exchanged.
Eventually we reached Salisbury. 40 minutes later we left Salisbury. At 11.00 Chris joyfully advised that Phil and crew had reached the destination. We were still 40 minutes away. After 4 and a quarter hours we reached Bovington…
We quickly raced to the main hall, losing Fred en route as he searched for coffee. Had we taken Tony by mistake? Some excellent exhibits. I was particularly impressed by the pre-war Crossley-Chevrolet armoured car. The facility to electrocute ne’er-do-wells and other miscreants who climbed onboard planning mischief seemed an excellent idea and one I may recommend is resurrected in modern vehicle design ! Other highlights were the Tiger I and T34/76 in Finnish markings courtesy of the Finnish tank museum. I was also particularly impressed with the Char B, and marvelled at how British tank designers had managed to design such singularly ineffective tanks pre-war.
With our 13.00 lunch rendezvous approaching, Fred had to be peeled off the Jadgtiger as he licked the Zimmerit. Most unseemly! We also marvelled at Fred’s obsessive attention to detail and knowledge of German tank-barrel cleaning equipment. Post lunch we took in the “tank factory and witnessed Phil in an almost Fred-like love-affair with the Swedish Centurion. Quite disturbing. The final hall saw the “WW1 experience “ and a close-encounter with a Bavarian landser mannequin as he witnessed the approach of a British tank circa 1916. “No Hun, a bayonet won’t save you here”!
Then retail therapy. It is fair to say that the shop was rather better stocked than Saumur. I managed to escape with only a Tiger T-shirt, Panther mug, a book on “ancient linear defences” and some “Tiger Tank” chocolate. It could have been a lot, lot worse.
And so we prepared to leave. Unfortunately some were lured into filling out the “Customer Survey”. It will only take you 15 minutes. Chris dutifully started answering and I told Fred to not bother. Fred wandered off, not to be seen for another 15 minutes. As my blood pressure reached a worrying level Chris approached with a bemused Fred. To this day no-one knows where he was. Maybe snatched by Aliens?
The journey home was less eventful and even good natured, despite even more debate about the merits of the various figures ranges suitable for Stargrave.
Give me strength…
Simon
No comments:
Post a Comment