More wooden buildings and some linguistical drivel

Following on from yesterday's post, here are a few more shots of buildings transported to Seurassaari from different parts of Finland. Some I have descriptions of, others unfortunately I didn't note at the time. Not all would necessarily be found in the areas contested with Russia/the Soviet Union in the East, but large parts of the country were overrun anyway in the GNW, so I'm sure models of all the following types could be fitted into tabletop action under some guise or other.

Mylly/kvarn/mill. A linguistically odd case (case as in 'example' not grammatical). For once the Finnish word seems closer to English (and especially German 'mühle') than the Swedish does. Obviously this is a tuulimylly (which sounds even more delightful than it looks - check it out on Google Translate's audio button). They had a couple of examples of vesimyllyt/vesimyllyjä* one of which has the water wheel laying flat (i.e. 90 degrees to what we normally expect) - maybe because it's simpler to construct that way?  * There are confusingly different ways of expressing the plural in Finnish and I have never got to grips with which one to use when, but the gambler's choice is the second one (the 'partitive case')

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly I've no idea about this one.

Or this.

Explanation for the picture below (Pertinotsa)

Pertinotsa house

Unfortunately I messed up with this and the next two as to recording where they were from. They are basically for grain storage, built off the ground to avoid mice. In the Summer, farm workers would sleep on the upper deck.

This sign relaes to the following two pics. Torppa/Torp is clearly one of those words common to both languages and translated here as 'tenant farm', and seemingly cognate with English 'thorpe' (Cleethorpes), Dutch 'dorp' and German 'dorf'.

The fencing here is similar to zig-zap split rail fences in the US.

Finally to matters spiritual...

....both Christian...

...and pagan? This pole is used in a similar way to English Maypoles with coloured ribbons and dancing, only at Midsummer's Festival ('Juhannes')

The church tower is a separate building from the main 'chapel', being some 30 yards away. There are other similar examples of this style in Ilomantsi and Taipalsaari in Finnish Karelia.  There are some much better pictures of Seurassari and Tamminiemi (see previous post) on the official website of the National Museum of Finland

And that I'm afraid, is it. I'll be back soon with another thrilling episode of the 1643 campaign in northeastern Lincolnshire. Will it be another Grim day for Lord Beddington Lane and his Royalists?

Autumn in the Baltic

We arrived back in the UK this evening to a balmy 12 degrees Celsius after an Autumn break visiting my in-laws. The temperature when we set off from eastern Helsinki was zero, but it felt like minus 10 with a northerly wind. Up in Lapland it has been as low as minus 26. Ouch!

Whilst there, as well as visiting the new library 'Oodi' (see last post), my other half and I had a couple of very enjoyable walks. Obviously chilly weather doesn't encourage people to go outside (especially during the working week) but I am still surprised by how quiet the city can be both on the roads and on the pavements. It's very pleasant to be in a city without crowds. Especially in a city where public transport is punctual, clean and very reasonably priced.

We saw a few things that might be of interest to wargamers and military history buffs (despite not going to Suomenlinna this time).  On Friday we took a stroll from the university district, through the 'Kauppatori', which in Summer is a bustling market place next to one of the harbours*, then past the swanky area around Esplanadi and up to Observatory Park. * In the Autumn it's, surprise surprise, still by the harbour, but not bustling. On the way to the park I spotted this memorial to German soldiers who helped fight for Finnish independence in 1917-18:

The memorial has a tribute in German, Swedish and Finnish. I can't remember what was on the forth side. The shadow on the left is of me taking a photograph, not saluting by the way.

The Imperial German Army had a significant influence on Finnish independence. They recruited a battalion of Finnish jägers to fight the Russians - technically they were traitors to the Russian Empire, which Finland was then a part of. The Jägers became the cadre of the militant Finnish nationalist movement - armed, trained and organised along German lines (ranks are still known by German style titles - and the Jäger Movement went on to form the backbone of the Whites during the Finnish Civil War. Since then the Jägers built up a reputation as the elite troops during the struggle with the Soviet Union.

Once past the observatory we walked down through the Kaivopuisto district to the water's edge where you can see the western end of the Suomenlinna complex.

Heading back into the city centre I noticed we were on Kasarmikatu (Swedish:Kasernen Gatan) which rang a bell and I found myself humming 'Liisa Pien' a.k.a Lili Marleen (Finnish version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq6ostfO6MI and lyrics in many languages here so you can sing along :-)  http://ingeb.org/Lieder/lilimarl.html#dutch ). A hospital building further along the street looked distinctly like a neo-classical style barracks to me. There were no lasses standing underneath the street lamps though.

A bit further along the road opens up into a square (Kasarmitori) where the ministry of defence is located and where a new monument to the Winter War stands.

Winter War monument with MOD building n the background

I'm not sure I like this monument. In fact I probably don't. The best bit for me is the collection of photos which you can see inside the sphere through the windows. My wife reminded me that her father was born into a family of refugees from the part of Karelia that was taken by the Soviet Union after the Winter War.

We warmed ourselves up with an excellent, good value meal in a small, friendly veggie restautrant in Fabiankatu (Zucchini, if you're ever in that part of 'Stadi') - the style of the place is more works canteen than anything the name, or indeed location, might suggest. Choice is pretty well non-existent, but that means the quality is high and price is low for Helsinki.

On Sunday (when the Sun never really pierced the mist) we caught the bus over to the west side of town where one of the presidential residences is located. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamminiemi The place now is mostly associated with Urho Kekkonen ('UKK") who was president for from 1956-1981 and continued to live there until his death in 1986. Whilst the house was built around the turn of the twentieth century, the style internally is mostly late 20th century, UKK being found of modern art and design. Finland occupied a unique position during the Cold War and the house at Tamminiemi was where he often entertained visiting dignatories from East and West, including (famously) Krushchev in the sauna. I like to think the temperature was turned up very high, and Nikita could not lose face by being the first to leave, so was grateful and ready to make concessions when led out and offered a drink ;-)

What becomes clear is that UKK was an 'action man' and with an acute eye for a media opportunity. He was frequently photographed out on hunting, skiing and fishing trips, and regularly took runs well into his 70s. It struck me he could have been Putin's role model (perhaps he impressed the young KGB officer?) - though only in respect of Putin's style and not his nationalist, anti-liberal policies!

Here is the man himself on his daily constitutional.

A short walk from the house is a bridge across to Seurassari, one of the many islands off Helsinki. What we didn't know before, was that Seurassari is a gold mine of old wooden buildings. We were just out there for a stroll round the woods. We found that the island has become an open air museum with old wooden buildings brought from across the country. Here are a few examples.

This had me intrigued

It housed this verrry long rowing boat

Which turned out to be a 'Church Boat'. With the population being thinly spread, going to church often involved a trip accross a lake. These boats were the transport used on these occasions.

I think this one could hold 90 people!

After the service, parishoners would race each other back across the lake. You can imagine the excitement this could cause on otherwise austere, Lutheran Sundays. I wonder whether these boats have been used in the black powder era wars between Sweden and Russia.

External view of the construction for keen modellers out there.

Not a church boat this time, but a tar boat as the sign below explains.

Miko over at On Wargames and Such told an interesting story about the Royal Navy's blockade of Russia in the Baltic in the Crimean War whereby the Brits burnt supplies of tar, despite locals explaining that the British government had already paid for it and was theirs to take!

When I get a little more time, I have some more pictures of rural buildings to post. These may be of interest to anyone who wargames any of the Finnish wars of the last couple of centuries.

Before I sign off I'll leave you with one more picture. But first a little background. Finland is famously a bilingual country. Equal status is given in law to Finnish (the majority language) and Swedish (at risk of losing its status as the second most widely spoken language in the country). Street signs, public buildings, instructions etc are all printed with both languages on them. Usually Finnish is first, but driving through the country you might notice the order changes to Swedish first where native Swedish speakers are in the majority. All seems right and proper. Place names often look different - they might be translated from one to another literally with the words being very different in each language (karhu and bjørn for 'bear' for example). Even when one language uses the 'same' word they look different because of the way they are said by native speakers and are then written down (e.g. Swedish 'gate', street, becomes Finnish 'katu'). Instructions can be even more different - the grammar is TOTALLY different. So it makes sense to have things in both languages. In those cases. Since I first started going, English has become much more visible, and signs can often be in all 3 languages. The Finnish civil service is to be greatly admired for its dedication, efficiency and even-handedness, and it will not be diverted from its mission. It is therefore capable of producing masterpieces like this:

The perfect wargamer’s resource resource?

Laser cutters, large printers, reference library, study space, board games, 3D printers. Even a place to cut and sew your battle mats.

https://www.oodihelsinki.fi/en/services-and-facilities/facilities/

All within a superb example of contemporary architecture. Inside and out.

 That’s how to do public services.

Oxford in the Civil War - on the telly

Not sure when this was originally broadcast (as I type it's on channel 4Seven). It's available on demand (4 On Demand https://www.channel4.com/programmes/britains-most-historic-towns/on-demand/68435-004).

Worth a look.

Lincolnshire Campaign II - the Battle of Clee Fields

The Eastern Association men led by Colonel Sydenham Hill, temporarily elevated to Major General, took the direct route from Boston via Spilsby, then on to Grimsby via Louth. One of the regiments of horse scouted ahead of the main body whilst the other (Hill’s) took the coastal road, along the edge of the marshes to procure mutton and salt. Crofton Park, Lt Col of Hill’s regiment of horse, found the locals a peculiar bunch and difficult to understand. ‘The spietch of the marsh fowk is base and nigh impossible to understand containing as it does many words of the old Norse tonge. They appear shy of strangers, superstitious and at first as children in matters of trade yet my quartermaster discovered the bargain he had made was not as good as he first thought.’

The Royalists, under command of Lord Beddington Lane (husband of the fabulously wealthy Lady Therapia Lane) marched from their assembly point near Gainsborough. Once across the Trent, they followed the old Roman road north to Scawby near Brigg, then headed east sending two troops of horse to keep an eye on Barton whilst the main force proceeded to secure the mouth of the Humber at Grimsby.

Hill, fearing that the Royalists had already got ahead of him veered off the Louth Road before Scartho and followed tracks heading towards the coast where he could camp on the higher ground above Grimsby. Hill’s regiment under Lt Col Park were dispatched on a circuitous route towards Itterby and Oole in the east in a kind of reconnaissance in force cum foraging expedition, whilst the infantry and small artillery train, trailed behind the other horse regiment via Humberston towards Weelsby and Clee. Unbeknownst to Hill, Lane had also decided to perform a wider sweep, south of Grimsby to head off the Rebels before they could approach the town. His main force was in the Weelsby area heading towards Clee whilst one regiment of horse scouting ahead had taken a wrong turning through the marshes to the east of the town (possibly misdirected by a local malcontent) whereupon they then turned south heading towards Oole on the track by the coastal marsh or Fitties. Ahead of the main column, the dragoon regiment had already secured the village of Clee where they were making themselves comfortable when Rebel flags were spotted on Beacon Hill above Clee. Almost simultaneously (according to letters written later by a captain of horse on the Weelsby road and the colonel of dragoons, who both heard the church bells of Saint Trinity and St. Mary the Virgin church in Clee) Rebel horse cornets were spotted on the road from Humberston.

Area of the battlefield

By the seventeenth century the village of Clee had a population of over 300, including Clee's nearby 'thorpes' of Oole, Itterby and Thrunscoe on the higher ground above the marshes which surrounded the old port of Grimsby. Since the silting up of the old haven around the turn of the 16th century, Grimsby's population by contrast had declined from its late medieval height of 2000 to around 650. Nevertheless, the port still provided a haven from the North Sea and was within canon shot of the roads which carried shipping up the estuary to Barton and Hull. Control of the area thus gave command of the southern and eastern approaches to the port and eventually to the seward route to Hull.

At the time of the Civil War enclosure was still 200 years in Clee's future, so apart from the immediate small plots surrounding the village, the area was dominated by the open field system. This meant plenty of room for manoeuvre for both sides in the coming battle.

Map from Alan Dowling's excellent local history book, Cleethorpes, Chichester 2005

The Battle of Clee Fields.

Orders of Battle

Royalist (Lord Beddington Lane)

Blue Regiment of Horse:  8 troops.
Red Regiment of Horse: 6 troops.
Dragoons: 6 companies.
Blue Regiment of Foot
Grey Regiment of Foot
White Regiment of Foot
Red Regiment of Foot
Artillery: 4 guns.

Parliamentarian (Sergeant-Major General Sydenham Hill)

Grey Regiment of Horse: 8 troops.
Buff Regiment of Horse: 8 troops.
Yellow Regiment of Foot
Orange Regiment of Foot
Brick Red Regiment of Foot
Tawny Regiment of Foot
Artillery: 4 guns.

Operational context. Map from early 19th century in Dowling. Local legend fails to tell of the despoiling of local sheep by dragoons following the battle, in an enclosure subsequently named 'Cruel Close' to the north of Clee village.

View west to east of the ridge south of Clee (centre left) Royalists advancing from Weelsby heading east, Parliamentarians on the road north from Humberston (right).

Hamlets of Oole (left) and Itterby (right) with the coastal marshes left. Hill's regiment of (Parliamentarian) horse led by Lt Colonel Crofton Park heading towards Itterby. Windmill by Mill Lane (later Mill Road), which runs towards where the modern cemetary is located. General Hill (bottom right of picture) is stood atop the Bronze Age tumulus - the locals have been burying their dead here at the highest point of the area for over 3000 years. No known resting place for victims of the battle have yet been identified.

Royalist dragoons occupy Clee

Parliamentarian cavalry heading towards the road junction fail to spot the deployed Royalist horse deployed ahaed and do not themselves deploy in time.

Parliamentarian foot and guns appear on Beacon Hill close to the ancient burial mound

Spying Royalist horse advance up the coastal route fom Grimsby, the Park's horse near Itterby deploy. The Cavaliers who had marched up the Grimsby Road are still riding up Old Isaacs Hill past Oole oblivious of the threat ahead.

Back at the junction of the Clee, Humbertsone and Weelsby roads, the Parliamentarian  horse charge the Royalist blue horse regiment. The Royalists seem to have more luck getting their orders through to their units (or are their officers just more obedient?), and they have the advantage of the commander being nearer the bulk of the army. However, in doing so Lord Lane has to abandon his left wing cavalry to its fate. The Roundhead general has chosen to position himself on the old burial mound so he can see the whole field and be fairly central between his two wings.

The Roundhead horse have been repulsed, unsurprisingly, but they rally in good order up the slope. Mindful of the danger, the newly arrived White Regiment of Royalist foot form a pike block. Three more regiments march east along the Weelsby Road. The Roundhead foot is still some way off, two regiments marching to join their horse, with two more being put into order to march from Beacon Hill in the distance.

Finally the descent from the hill commences

The left wing Parliamentarian horse has managed to best the Royalist blue regiment, which has split into two wings, one anchored on the pike block. The foot begin to advance to head off the approaching rebels.

View from behind the Roundhead foot towards the road junction. Roundhead cavalry top right.

The second Roundhead foot unit begins to march off the hill. Meanwhile messengers from Hill try to get all the guns to follow with mixed success.

Initial success for the Royalist horse by Itterby. The Roundheads led by Park, despite inflicting more losses, are repulsed. A Pyrrhic victory for the King's men. [I'm actually using mounted dragoons here for the Roundhead horse as I was short of cavalry].

Back in the west (Royalist left) 4 troops of Roundhead cavalry caught the Blue Foot in flank and rear and decimated them. Top left: the Royalist horse have engaged the other wing of the Roundhead cavalry regiment.

Another view of the same area, only slightly further north. Parliamentarian foot is engaging Royalist foot, foreground, whilst in the centre more foot and guns descend the ridge to attack Clee. Opposing horse (Blue Royalist) battle it out next to the road.

The first Roundhead foot attack Clee where the Royalist dragoons are ensconced behind hedges. The earthworks around Mordaunt Hall which can still be seen from Clee Road, date from after this battle and are believed to have been made a by the Roundheads during their leaguer of Grimsby.

Almost a battle on its own, the horse combat by Itterby has been renewed. The Parliamentarian's edge in numbers begins to tell and they flow round the flanks.

Evenly matched action in the west. Two foot regiments apiece.

Having finally seen off the half regiment of Roundhead horse west of Clee, the Royalist Blues rally and the nearby Parliamentarian foot form a pike stand as a precaution. Better to try to form up now than wait and risk being caught! Park's victorious Roundhead horse, top of the picture, pound down Clee road to give succour to the foot.

Alas! Both the remaining Royalist foot have been seen off following a brisk fire fight. The Royalist horse behind them have enemy foot and horse behind them and are in two minds what to do next. Lord Lane decides caution is the better option and orders an orderly withdrawal, managing to face off both horse and foot.

Reforming into line, the Parliamentarian foot face towards Weelsby, whilst the Royalist dragoons have decided to withdraw from the village and head across the carr towards Grimsby. Sydenham Hill has won a hard fought victory!

After their victory the exhausted Parliamentarians lay down where they stood. The Royalists fled north towards Grimsby via little tracks across the carr. Over the following days the Roundheads began to fortify Mordaunt Hall in Clee where Sydenham Hill set up his headquarters. Traces of the earthworks can still be seen to this day in the old 'donkey field.'

Gradually they regained their strength, strays and not a few turncoat royalist soldiers, returned to the colours no doubt in search of a good meal in this chilly coastal district. Lord Lane's bedraggled army coalesced around Grimsby, mainly on the site of the old Wellow Abbey, once they realised there was no pursuit. His Lordship negotiated with the Freemen of the Borough for entry to the town and for supplies (even a beaten army can be very persuasive). The Royalists' demands were moderated somewhat by Holles who had some interest in the on-going prosperity of his seat.

Over the succeeding two weeks both sides strengthened their respective positions, and earthworks appeared around the perimeter of Grimsby. A redoubt was built on the low rise of Holme Hill (really just an island as its name suggests) where two of six ships guns, recovered from a stranded Dutch vessel, were placed by the Royalists. Two more were placed at each of the main roads into town. Lord Lane hoped the effluxion of time and the approach of colder weather would force Hill to retire to the south. Urged on by entreaties from Sir Thomas Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester, concerned over the threat to Hull, Hill had other ideas. He energetically made sure the area was scoured for supplies and that his powder, shot and match were all replenished. Confidence began to rise in the Parliamentarian camp. They had seen off those idolators and the benders of the King's ear once already. They were sure they could do it again.

Could they indeed?