Have Bear Mat Will Travel(Again)

   Sat/Sun 20th and 21st May.

Two big schoolkids swapping from their tuck boxes.

                Four copains and myself headed south for the annual Partizan show intending to put on a game and paint the town of Newark red.Well we got it 50% right as I'm afraid Newark doesn't have much to offer on a Saturday evening Even my favourite solicitors Mssrs Weather and Spoon didn't have much life in it.Mind you it is named after a medieval surgeon who was famous for the treatment of haemorrhoids on medieval knights caused by a lot of horse time.

                                   The only upside was a visit to the best Indian restaurant that I have been to in ages.The Koinoinia restaurant specialises in food from the Kerala region in south east India with the emphasis on coconut and fish.An excellent combination.http://koinoniarestaurant.com/
                             

Fixed up in no time at all.

Not for much longer.

 On the Sunday morning we headed out to the Newark showground to take part in the Partizan show and also spend money that was burning holes in our pockets.Partizan is held in part of the showground called the George Stephenson hall and is a one floor event inhabited by games,both demonstration and participation,traders and exhibits from reenactor and historical societies.

Exhibits and a volunteer from one of the historical societes.

Back to our day job.

Samurai about to head around the side of the building.

                                Our game for today was the Boshin War game that we put on at Dumfries way back on March complete with the bear mat that has seen a few game days.The five of us had it set up quickly giving us plenty of time to peruse the traders.My eyes went starry-eyed at a couple of new buildings straight out of the Wild Geese film.Well that was some of my money taken care off and also ideas for the future.No disrespect to Scottish shows and that includes Claymore but the number of "big" traders has to be seen to be believed.

Readying for kick off.

                                          Kick off time arrived and we got cracking on playing our game with two of us playing the game and the others chit chatting with the curious onlookers.I must admit that our game was different to a lot of the usual fare that was on offer.Our games were lasting about an hour giving us a chance to sample other games which came to me in the form of a pirate game which was situated on a table right next to us.I'm always a sucker for a pirate game.
                                     

To err is human-to aargh is pirate.

Now that one at the front looks like Lady Watson

Great game

 It took the form of various gangs charging up the beach shooting and looting various pieces of treasure which had to be taken back to the big ship waiting offshore.A pleasant hour went by playing this game.

                                          The morning had went by very quickly and no sooner said than it was time for a healthy lunch of pasty and chips giving me energy for the afternoon's toil.

This game had Dave Patterson drooling but he only seen it at the end

                                     

The "peg" soldiers are back.

I umpired one of our games involving some innocent bystanders who were walking by at the wrong time before heading back to the traders in order to spend some more of my ill gotten gains on toys,mainly pirates which I need like a hole in the head.

The boys from the VBCW forum done well-again!

                                           The day was ticking along very nicely when we had our attentions diverted by the sound of overflying aircraft which I thought sounded very familiar and when I went out to take a look was greeted by the sight of a Spitfire and a Hurricaneding a few flypasts of the local air museum.

Honest there is a Spitfire and Hurricane in this photo

                           After they disappeared into the distance I returned to participate in our last game of the afternoon when for once the dice went my way and ended up giving Dave Patterson a pwoper thwashing.Doesn't happen very often.

One day I'm gonna play one of these games.

Big WW1 game

                                        Our train home was after four so we had dispensation to pack up a wee bit sharp after once again visiting the traders.
                                              A great day enjoyed by all with a lot of big games going on with the addition of smaller participation games making the day truly spectacular.I was annoyed that I had forgotten about the Terry Pratchett witch race  but I'm sure it will be there if and when we return in August.

I missed it!

                               We left the hall having had a productive day.Our taxi driver Harry who was also our host on the Saturday evening,came to pick us up and took us to the station in order for us to start our leisurely trip north.
                                             You can find out more on Bill's blog.
                                              http://blenheimtoberlin.blogspot.co.uk/