Every wargamer who was, as a child, dragged around a Christmas Grotto, will appreciate the exciting mood of our visit to 60 Sloane Street. It was a journey back into those distant days when everything was a mysterious adventure. Don Featherstone and I were en route for the National Army Museum from Sloane Square, when we saw a window of Willie figures with a fascinating diorama of a British Colonial mountain battery moving up a Punjabi-infested pass in true punitive style; skirmishers were wresting the heights from dissident tribesmen while the mule train picked its way steadily up the rising broken ground towards the inevitable ambush. Well, that was the lure and we rose to it! By the time we opened the door, we were hooked! The interior of the shop shone like Alladin's Cave with the splendour of freshly painted figures. Decorative Landsknechts vied for attention with the glittering elegance of Napoleonic soldiery. A beautiful Renaissance chess set, so classically arranged, echoed the ranks of the wargames/diorama figures that festooned the walls. But the 'golden lamp' was a company of 30mm Cacadores; produced by request for a Portuguese collector then put into general production, each piece was of exhibition standard and so finely detailed in sculpture that the intricate painting served to enhance the modelst aura rather than create it. These Cacadores epitomise the work of Ted Suren who manages to combine the detailed knowledge of Simpkin, the sculptural technique of Stadden and the animated character of Courtenay. These figures alone would have made the visit worthwhil but more was yet to come! Descending a Victorian spiral staircase we arrived, by special invitation, in the magic grotto? where all these marvellous creations originated. Amidst piles of uniform tomes we met the craftsman himself whose generous hospitality made us feel so welcome. Ted Suren was busy on new masters and if one knew the patient skill that the figures receive, both in the master, and the 'cleaning up' stage, their price would appear realistic even in these days of inflation. From the creative centre we were led into the workshop; past silver pikemen and golden swordsmen; past musketeers and riflemen; past a superb hunting scene which, although only half finished, captured the thrill of the exhilarating chase as men and horses galloped and leapt across a woodland glade; past dioramas in various stages of production each displaying the romantic imaginative skill of this organisation. This evoked those childhood memories, as we were caught between fascination with one tableau and impatient curiosity to see the next. For those who do not recall Suren's work, suffice it to say that the model of the he made defence of Rorke's Drift in the National Army Museum is a typical example. After seeing the whole operation from 'creation of master' to 'finished diorama' our visit came to an end, when Ted Suren completed the Fairy Grotto metaphor by playing Father Christmas and inviting us to his flat to see his own collection. This article appears to be full of praise, the ecstatic outpourings of a child deprived of toys let loose in Hamleys, but we were by no means so unsophisticated. Our remarks become even more telling when one realises that we had come from an hour's browsing round Tradition in Picadilly, and Hummel in the Burlington Arcade, and also that we had high expectations from this well known firm. Although the excursion behind the scenes was an unexpected privilege, the shop itself is a must to visit, to browse and to buy; but beware, the temptation to overspend is difficult to resist! Finally, I am a bit worried about the degree of superlatives I have used and their number, but I was so impressed that really in these days of competent mediocrity, excellence is a thing worth praising. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 155 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1975 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com