Saturday 3 April 2010

WHEN I WERE A LAD......

Actually, I am wrong when I say that my first wargames club was Durham. Before moving there in 1971 I had been part of a small group of lads who met in the rooms above a wargames shop in Lytham St Annes - yes a real shop selling proper wargames figures! Can't remember exactly where it was but it was on a road with lots of shops on it running parallel to the sea front between the prom and Clifton Drive. The guy who owned the shop had hundreds of Hinton Hunt Napoleonics all beautifully painted that he let us use, and I remember enjoying some enormous day-long games. I also remember that his wife was a bit of a stunner, oh yes! Hinton Hunts were way out of my budget but the memory of playing with them is still with me after all these years. If my memory is correct we used quite an unsophisticated set of rules that wouldn't look out of place today. I wonder where everyone who took part in those games is now?

1 comment:

  1. Just came across your post as I was thinking about that very shop and just did some random Googling which pulled up your post. The shop was on Alexandria Drive and I used to go there pretty regularly and spend my pocket money, I couldn't afford much and usually just bought the odd figure or a copy of Miniature Wargaming, although I remember buying a gorgeously painted Hinton Hunt French artillery piece with some birthday money once. Sadly, I never got asked to play in any wargames, I suspect that i wasn't old or serious enough. I seem to recall that they opened up another shop in Blackpool up near Talbot Road bus station that he ran and his wife ran the St Anne's shop. Looking back I suspect that she was bored out of her mind as while she was friendly enough she never seemed all that interested in the doings of geeky wargames obsessed kids. God knows how they made it pay as the St Anne's shop was well off the beaten track and there never seemed to be anyone in there. About 50 years ago now, but still have happy memories of going there.

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