Greek Peltasts

15mm Greek Peltasts from the War and Empire range by Forged in Battle.

On a different topic, visited Porthmadog on the North Wales coast yesterday. There is an excellent model shop, crammed with all sorts of delights, and the owner is currently working on a display for the shop which will contain some 2000 Zulus from the Warlord Games and Wargames Factory sets, and as if that wasn't enough there will be many conversions for both the Zulus and British figures. I'm not sure when this display will be unveiled, but I will try and keep the blog informed once I know.

Other good reasons for visiting Porthmadog, absolutely excellent fish and chips and the Purple Moose Brewery. The brewery shop in the town centre is another little gem, so well fed on fish and chips and loaded up with a selection of fine ales and artisan gin (heads up for Gin lovers we were informed that the juniper crop this year was very poor) we left Porthmadog with a view to return sooner rather than later.

For those not familiar with Porthmadog, it is the place in folklore where prince Madog ab Owain Gwynedd set sail from on his voyage to discover America in 1170. There is also historical connections with T.E Lawarence (of Arabia) who was born in the nearby village of  Tremadog (part of the Porthmadog community) in 1888. Welsh slate was exported all over the world from this area, and the Ffestiniog narrow gauge railway which Porthmadog is part of is a major tourist attraction, as are the slate mines at Llechwedd. It might be of interest to American and German readers that if they see slate on buildings in their locality it is highly likely that it would have originated from these northern Welsh slate mines. In fact the industry suffered a major decline at the outbreak of WWI and the subsequent loss of the lucrative German market, maybe a point of interest for students of the social impact of war. There are many other historical sites, the Roman fort at Segontium, the castles that ring the north Wales coast, as well as modern outdoor pursuit attractions such as Zip World. 

Not wanting to sound like a tourist advertisement, and having strayed somewhat from Ancient Greek Peltasts, I hope I've sown the seeds in my readers minds for excuses to visit Porthmadog and it's wonderful model shop. Just ply the other half with a few local gins and launch down a zip wire, now if you can't sell that.....

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