Hobby Gallery

H.G.Wells playing Little Wars

H.G.Wells playing Little Wars'. His book of the same name, published in 1913, described a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers, and formed the basis of hobby wargaming which is still popular today. The picture shows Wells on the left, taking a measurement with a piece of string to work out the distance his forces may move. His opponent on the right awaits his turn, while the umpire, seated, times the move with a stopwatch. Before play began, the curtains which can be seen, would have been drawn to divide the battlefield and allow each player to set out his forces in secrecy

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Winston Churchill by a lake at Chartwell

Winston Churchill by one of the lakes at his home, Chartwell Manor, Westerham, Kent in 1939. "Admiralty Billet for fish? First Lord of the Admiralty Mr Winston Churchill has offered to let Mr Stanley Plater, one of the biggest pet fish breeders in the country transport fish from the his North London home to Chartwell, Westerham, Kent, where Mr Churchill keeps thousands of live fish in lakes at his home, should it become necessary. Breeding fish is one of Mr Churchill's hobbies." Date: 1939

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Regency gentleman riding a horse with one hind leg tied

Regency gentleman riding a horse with one hind leg buckled into the surcingle. A man with tobacco pipe and ale jug shouts at him. Another rider falls from galloping horse. How to Ride a Horse Upon Three Legs. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Thomas Rowlandson after an illustration by Henry Bunbury from Geoffrey Gambado's An Academy for Grown Horsemen and Annals of Horsemanship, London, 1809

© Florilegius