Royalist Navy reinforcements... (My VBCW) 18/02

[Mason]

I have decided that it is about time that I put together a VBCW force or two using the figures that I already have and building from there.
Seeing as how I have sculpted a few miniatures for the period and already have a fair sized collection of suitable figures for the genre it seems a bit of a no-brainer.
Also, my scenery collection is pretty much geared towards the time and setting, so why not?
The fact that the setting is very tongue in cheek also appeals to my sense of humour.

I shall be doing two forces, initially.
The first will be a Local Defence Volunteer force set in my local area, Penge and its environs, utilising local history and landmarks to add flavour.
The second will be a BUF force centred around Dulwich Village and its own particular flavour.




The first squad for my impending LDV (Penge).

The Watermen Section.




Formed around a core of volunteers from the local Royal Watermens Almshouses, built for retired freemen of the Watermen and Lighter-men's company of the City of London.

The bespectacled chap in the back row is local quack, Dr Lance deBoyle, who often accompanies them in action as he is a regular visitor to the Almshouses and has formed a solid friendship with the local veterans.


More info to follow.....

[marianas_gamer]

They look great!!
Lon

[Elk101]

Will they have a boat?  Good start!

[Mason]

Thanks, chaps.
These fellas were painted by Jeff965, and I think he has done a great job on them.
 

Will they have a boat?  Good start!

No, they wont have a boat as there is no significant waterway in the immediate enviroment.
The Almshouses are local and it may seem a strange place, with no nearby water, for a location for the Watermen to be situated, but I believe that it was selected more due to local affiliations with Queen Alexandra than anything else.

A little more on the Almshouses:

The almshouses were built in 1840 - 1841 for retired freemen of the Watermen and Lighter-men's company of the City of London.

Watermen had the job of ferrying people across the Thames in the days when there was only a single bridge, while lightermen were pilots taking goods from large ocean going ships into port, using small boats or lighters.

As the number of bridges across the Thames increased, the prospects of the watermen grew worse and the demand for accommodation for those who had fallen on hard times grew.

Built in a Tudor style, popular at the time, on land donated by local landowner, James Dudin Brown, there was then accommodation for 60 residents in what would then have been a delightful rural location.




There will be a little more on this theme in a future post.



In the meantime here is a picture of the section on patrol on the edges of Penge where it borders Crystal Palace, a known target for the attentions of the local BUF contingent.

[Mason]

More detailed historical information on the Almshouses:

The land here, once part of Penge Common and known as Billet Field, adjacent to the Old Crooked Billet Inn, was given for the Royal Free Watermen and Lightermen’s Almshouses by local landowner John Dudin Brown of Sydenham, a freeman of the Company of Watermen, who was to become president of the Almshouses. His donation of 2 acres and 50 guineas is recorded on 24 January 1839, with a further £2000 raised within a month of this. Queen Adelaide, wife of William IV, agreed to become patroness on 26 June 1839 and donated 100 guineas; other donations were collected through the Royal Free Watermen and Lightermen’s Committee that was set up and eventually, by 29 June 1841, £10,500 had been collected of the estimated £13,000 needed. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert later become patrons following the death of Queen Adelaide, and made a donation of £100 on 4 August 1847. In 1839 fourteen plans by different architects had been exhibited to the Committee by the surveyor, and of the four that went forward, those of architect George Porter from Bermondsey were finally selected on 16 May. Porter's almshouses, described as ‘the most prominent building in Penge’ appear to be his most prestigious commission. His assistant was SS Teulon who built for the Dyers' Company in King Henry's Walk, Islington (since demolished). The foundation stone was laid by Sir Chapman Marshall, Lord Mayor of London. In June, Mr Hill of Lewisham paid for the brickwork and oak fencing to enclose the land, to be completed by 12 August. There were initially 30 houses, with 11 additional ones built with money donated by Dudin Brown, whose daughter was responsible for a small philanthropic development nearby, St John's Cottages (q.v.). Twenty-four tenders were received to build the first 30 almshouses and the contract for £7310 was given to Mr Harrison & Son of Bermondsey.

In June 1840 the committee resolved to build an additional 7 houses to front onto Penge Lane, which would hide the backs of the original almshouses from the street. These additional almshouses and lodge, and an extra 2 houses, were eventually built by Mr Harding in 1841, after two earlier contractors had gone bankrupt. In July 1840 a Mr Robins was contracted to supply and fix railings, gates and lamps for £470, and Mr Harrison submitted an estimate for £594 10s for a dwarf boundary wall. The Almshouses were built for 'Poor, Aged, Decayed, and Maimed Free Watermen and Lightermen of the river Thames, and their Wives and Widows'; they opened in 1841 with 76 candidates, 34 of whom were married couples, 10 single men and 32 widows. The buildings, in white Suffolk brick, are on three sides of a courtyard, originally with colonnades and glass roofs. Water was supplied from wells in the yards, with two pumps and three spouts; the pumps remain in the northeast and northwest corners. Each house had three rooms and there were paved walks with ornamental dwarf walling along the open end of the quadrangle, with three openings and heraldic beasts. In October 1841 there were plans for the space between the backs of the two rows of houses 'to be paved in Yorkshire stone with proper channel stones in the centre and the Terrace walk in front be in like manner, with squared edges laid in cement. The gravel would be continued underneath the committee Hall with Yorkshire paving on either side close to the Building and a curb of granite'. The contract for the two pumps and their alteration was £102 in 1841; ironwork was ordered from Messrs Kennard & Co, which was erected in December 1841, at which time 28 of the houses were occupied.

According to the Almshouse Minute Books 1838-58, in March 1841 a Mr Buchanan, landscape and garden decorator, was paid £310 with upkeep for the first year and a promise of replacement shrubs and plants for two years, the total being £384 including extra work. Subsequently, from January 1851, Mr Wood, one of the residents, was paid as the gardener at £21 a year, raised to £30 in July 1856. The wall at the back of the housing was built in 1855 to replace a fence in poor condition and at the same time the gravel paths were cleaned at an extra cost of £12. All the paths were re-gravelled, the level raised and returfed, flowerbeds dug and replanted at a cost of £60 around the monument to John Dudin Brown. This grey granite obelisk was in the centre of the quadrangle, erected in 1855 by the Watermen and Lightermen’s Company in his memory, Committee-member Mr Young was reported as saying that in future 'the grounds should not get in their late condition and that it was desirable that the Gardener who had charge of the grounds should take them in keeping'. By November 1870 Mr Haynes had become the gardener and paid £30 a year, increasing to £40 in 1889; the accounts list 50 loads of manure, 200 shrubs, gravel removed and a 2nd layer of new at a cost of £36, with '200 plants 50/- from Mr Haynes' in 1890. By 1892 the gardener was N. Lucy.

A memorial to World War I was erected on the wall of the lodge.
The 1935 aerial photograph shows minimal tree cover but pollarded sycamores along the south and east boundaries, also the original houses on the north side.

[Mason]

Righto then....enough waffle and back onto the pictures.

he next unit to be added to the Local Defence Force is the Penge and District Womens Institute.
It is time for the Ladies to make an appearance.....




The Penge and District Womens Institute:





Some close-ups....








Again painted by Jeff965 and based by myself.

[PanzerKaput]

I am loving these Mason and it is good to see more WI about

[Dr DeAth]

Great looking WI you've got there, unlike those that can be found in the Ugley Women's Institute



It's true, I drove through there myself and saw the sign.

http://www.thewi.org.uk/become-a-member/structure-of-the-wi/england/essex/find-a-wi/ugley

[Mason]

Great looking WI you've got there, unlike those that can be found in the Ugley Women's Institute

 
Ya mad bugger!

That did give me a chuckle, you naughty boy, you.
 

I am loving these Mason and it is good to see more WI about

Cheers, mate.
The Penge LDV are pretty much finished now, with the Platoon HQ and vehicles completed.
I shall see about some pictures when I get a chance.

I have also started on the BUF, based in nearby Dulwich Village.

Then there is the CPGB and Royal Navy factions that are chugging along nicely.....


To where does this road lead?
Madness, all of it....

[Mason]

I have pretty much finished sorting out the Penge Local Defence Volunteer force now....



They will have a support element, a mortar, added very soon however.

A round up of this faction, along with closer shots of all the elements will be posted tomorrow.

.

[Elk101]

They're a motley bunch! That's a nice collection of figures mate.

[Mason]

They're a motley bunch! That's a nice collection of figures mate.

Cheers, mate.

Yep, they are a rather motley crew, as befits a bunch of local volunteers.
Or so I reckon, anyway.

Here are some close-ups of the various sections.

Starting with the first infantry squad, The Watermen...



(Not the best of pictures, but they are seen earlier at the beginning of the thread).







Followed on by the Ladies of the Womens Institute...









And the last of the infantry sections, the High Street Militia...










They are joined by Dr deBoyle and his team from the local Beckenham Cottage Hospital....



They have commandeered a Salvation Army mobile canteen into service as an ambulance.










The Platoon is led by Lord and Lady Baxterville and driven by their daughter, Betty.
They are always accompanied by their manservant and bodyguard, Finners, and their two Afghans, Archie and Oscar.......








The LDV of Penge, so far....

Trench mortar to be added soon.

[Mason]

And some opposition for the LDV force....

Royalist Naval Division troops....





I already had the sailors, I just needed to add a few to the Command Section and rebase the lot for cohesion with the rest of the collection.

A close up of the Command Section....



The chap on the left will have his pistol replaced with a standard at some point and the fella on the right will become a doctor with the addition of a medical bag when I either find one or make it.

They may be amalgamated into my BUF force as 'Trafalgar Legion' troops but I am keeping my options open at the moment as I an undecided, hence the delay on the banner.
 


EDIT: These have since had their allegiance changed to the Anglican League.
Communication during this period of civil strife can sometimes be misleading.....

[Mason]

Ok, even if no-one is interested in VBCW over here, I shall persevere with posting my stuff if only as a project log.

Next up some transports for my BUF squads...



Their 'contents' shall be joining them shortly....

[Kommando_J]

I'm loving it, keep going, it's giving me something to ogle while I sit a out today painting up my own recent vbcw acquisitions.