In late August, Sharon asked me unexpectedly whether I had any thoughts of visiting England in November. I said that, at the time, I had none whatsoever. We discussed the idea, and I must say that she made a good case for me to go over: the calendar was clear, we would be finished almost all of the yard work, and we are all “getting on in years,” and so forth. All to say that an e-mail to Les and Jan elicited an almost immediate “Come on over!” Accordingly, plans were made, tickets purchased, and off I went in early November.

It was a short trip, as the UK Nationals in Telford were held on the weekend just before the Farnborough club night. As a result, I arrived on a Wednesday and departed on the following Wednesday. But we fitted in quite a lot of visiting during that time!

First up was Fort Nelson, a museum that is housed in one of the large forts that protected Portsmouth harbour in the 19^th century. It is primarily an artillery museum, housing guns, howitzers, antiaircraft weapons and all sorts of ancillary equipment. There is a distinctly Canadian touch as well: one of the sections of Gerald Bull’s Supergun is on display with a full description of the weapon.

The next day we visited a combination Mercedes-Benz dealership and museum. Three levels of cars cover the MB story and show examples of the automotive technology in detail: Formula 1 cars, concept cars, vintage cars…you get the idea. I was particularly interested in a 1999 concept car that has no steering wheel: you steer it with a joystick! MB built two of these, each one costing the equivalent of over $19,500,000.00. For some reason they would not sell theirs to me…

Early morning Saturday, and off we went to Telford! Arriving just after 9:00 AM, we immediately went to the halls and started our shopping requirements. Tony Horton asked me to judge the IPMS Canada Theme Award (as was asked last year), and I came up with an outstanding Churchill tank at Dieppe. This model also won First Place in its class. I spent the rest of the day tracking down various items of interest and meeting modellers with whom I correspond on the ‘net. That night we had the annual IPMS UK banquet, followed the next day by further shopping, the awards ceremony and the opportunity to speak with members of the IPMS UK Executive. I was particularly pleased to meet members of IPMS Winnipeg. They had taken a battlefield tour just prior to Telford and were awarding club medallions (1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd prizes) to Canadian-oriented models on display in the various Special Interest Group (SIG) displays.

The next night was the monthly club night at Farnborough. An excellent turnout of members and models again, and again I did not forget to pay up my GBP2.00 for membership dues! I had occasion to speak of the twinning of our three clubs (Ottawa, Farnborough and Canberra), and of the excellent display at Telford. Chris McKee, the Farnborough President, had asked me to judge the Wattisham Trophy entrants, and I decided on an excellent A-10 with the Gatling Gun dismounted and on display.

The next day was my last full day in England, so Les and I drove to Bovington Camp, the Home of the Royal Armoured Corps. There is an excellent museum there, and we spent most of the day going through it. Displays range from World War One to the present. I even found my Centurion (well, my version) on display: many memories looking at that old tank!

Next day it was up and away to Heathrow and home. Another super visit, made all the more enjoyable by the people and the places. My thanks to Les and Jan, all members of IPMS Farnborough and the many new friends made at Telford!

Fort Nelson with a fairly good-sized gun!

The $19.5 million dollar Mercedes.

Farnborough display, with Les on the right

Detail of the title board

Class Winner and the IPMS Canada Award Winner: “Up the Beach”

Club night Arrow

Bovington: Little Willie, the start of it all

Churchill marked as “BOB,” Dieppe