The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

A Sherlock Holmes story with a slightly different narrative.

The Rookeries of Victorian London

“Although the term “slum” was not widely recognized until 1890 a vague and familiar pattern was recognized as a contributing factor to the creation of these regions. A region of the city would be cut-off from circulation by a nearly constructed thoroughfare that bypassed it; businesses departed, disagreeable industries would move in creating local noise and air pollution and further reducing the attractiveness of the area; ultimately, no one with the means to live elsewhere would choose to live in such a place, and the region would become decrepit, badly maintained, and over populated by the lowest classes.

Prior to being referred to as slums these regions were known as to as rookeries and London had several notorious rookeries. There were the Seven dials, Rosemary Lane, Jacob’s Island, and Ratcliffe Highway, however none were more famous or should I say infamous than the six-acres in central London that comprised the rookery of St. Giles, otherwise known as ‘the Holy Land’. The Holy Land was located near the theatre district of Leicester Sq., the prostitution center of the Hay Market, and the fashionable shops of Regent Street. The St. Giles rookery was strategically located for any criminal who wanted to ‘go to around’.”

The Great Train Robbery, Michael Crichton

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"In such a neighborhood, beyond Dockhead in the Borough of Southwark, stands Jacob’s Island, surrounded by a muddy ditch, six or eight feet deep and fifteen or twenty wide when the tide is in, once called Mill Pond, but known in the days of this story as Folly Ditch. It is a creek or inlet from the Thames, and can always be filled at high water by opening the sluices at the Lead Mills from which it took its old name. At such times, a stranger, looking from one of the wooden bridges thrown across it at Mill Lane, will see the inhabitants of the houses on either side lowering from their back doors and windows, buckets, pails, domestic utensils of all kinds, in which to haul the water up; and when his eye is turned from these operations to the houses themselves, his utmost astonishment will be excited by the scene before him. Crazy wooden galleries common to the backs of half a dozen houses, with holes from which to look upon the slime beneath; windows, broken and patched, with poles thrust out, on which to dry the linen that is never there; rooms so small, so filthy, so confined, that the air would seem too tainted even for the dirt and squalor which they shelter; wooden chambers thrusting themselves out above the mud, and threatening to fall into it—as some have done; dirt-besmeared walls and decaying foundations; every repulsive lineament of poverty, every loathsome indication of filth, rot, and garbage; all these ornament the banks of Folly Ditch.

In Jacob’s Island, the warehouses are roofless and empty; the walls are crumbling down; the windows are windows no more; the doors are falling into the streets; the chimneys are blackened, but they yield no smoke. Thirty or forty years ago, before losses and chancery suits came upon it, it was a thriving place; but now it is a desolate island indeed. The houses have no owners; they are broken open, and entered upon by those who have the courage; and there they live, and there they die. They must have powerful motives for a secret residence, or be reduced to a destitute condition indeed, who seek a refuge in Jacob’s Island."

Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens

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What was it like to live in the London of Charles Dickens?

The London Of Charles Dickens: Mapped

Updated on 10.25.21 & 10.27.21

Last Stand at Surbiton

Last Stand at Surbiton is a sequel to 1871: The Battle of Dorking, formally from Draken Games. The situation is desperate for the demoralized British forces; however Surbiton, a nominally defend-able position, is their last attempt to check the Imperil German forces from sacking London.

To get you in the mood you might want to read The Invasion by William Le Queux which envisions Britain being invaded by Germany.

The Battle of Dorking

The Battle of Dorking is the first “print and play” game I purchased. The Battle of Dorking is a fictional battle between German imperial forces and a mostly vagabond lot of English citizens and soldiers in Victorian England in the year of 1871. The game features 38 pages of rules, counters, statistic tables, and a large map (two pages). There are 20 pages of rules and the remainder of the booklet includes back-end details.

The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes

"I had no idea that such individuals exist outside of stories."
―Dr Watson speaking about Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, Warner Brothers, 2009

I have read several of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories and more recently have watch two Sherlock movies. One the Warner Brothers, 2009 Sherlock Holmes takes place in Victorian England and the other Sherlock, a BBC TV series, is a more of a contemporary depiction of this classic.

Sherlock Holmes, Warner Brothers, 2009: London Bridge

Sherlock Holmes, Warner Brothers, 2009: traditional Holmes depiction

Sherlock Holmes, BBC TV Series, Season 5: opening scene

Sherlock Holmes, BBC TV Series, Season 5: depiction of Sherlock Holmes (a very intense fellow)

1/72 Scale Zulu War British Infantry Soldiers

“The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom.” Although the British would at first, suffer a major defeat, they would eventually triumph over the Zulu.

The front cover and a painting illustration on the back demonstrate how these miniatures should be painted.
   

There are fifty soldiers in several different poses on two half's of a sprue. The detail is good, but there is some flash and at this size will make preparation a bit of a challenge.

Cloudship Atlantis RPG

Cloudship Atlantis is a Steampunk Role Playing Game

Atlantis is Victorian city that floats above a barren wasteland called Terra Firma. There are two classes living on the Cloudship Atlantis, the Humbles and the Gentry. The Humbles are born into servitude. The Humbles are born and live below in the bow of the airship, and they work stoking the fire of the boiler and servicing the boiler, the Humbles mine coal, and make sure that they keep Atlantis’s air sacks inflated. The Gentry live in luxury above the bow where the air blows cool. “Gentry are tall, educated and haughty. Appearance, decorum and social status is all important.”

You and a fellow Humble escape from the bows of the cloud ship. Perhaps it was done on a whim, or because of a wager. Perhaps you just wanted to see and experience how the other half lives. At any rate you make it above the desks and now you need to ensure that you stay there.

The Cloudship Atlantis RPG was written by Dr. Robert Lang, back in 2009 for the RPG’s Blog 24 hour Competition.

A Comprehensive Cloudship Atlantis Review

A Fanciful Nautilus Design

When Jules Verne wrote his Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, he envisioned his nautilus in a rather conical design, it sort of resembled are large cigar. Not a very fanciful design at all. Disney came along and redesigned the Nautilus and gave it Victorian aspect. Although many have taken to envisioning what the Nautilus could have looked like. Some of the designs were rather fanciful like Disney’s, however the Disney design became one of the most popular. You might have seen miniatures, and scale models using this very design.

However, there is Nautilus design in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen that is even more fanciful than all others. It is big and ominous. It sports an orange livery and features several, what look like tentacles like a squid or octopus have. These tentacles do not seem to have any purpose except to give the vessel a frightful appearance. In addition, there is coat of arms of Captain Nemo, or should I say Prince Dakkar on the submarines conning tower and the vessel spouts water like a whale would from its blow hole.

A Brief Survey of Victorian Science Fiction

A Brief Survey of Victorian Science Fiction, a September 10th, 2009 post by the Wonder Mark blog featured a list of Victorian and Edwardian science-fiction stories. The list was compiled after a panel discussion on the said topic. Where the list deviated from the strict sense of the topic, the titles were added for the purpose of comparison.

Authors like Verne, Wells, and Burroughs were left out, not because their literature did not fall into this category, but because readers are usually aware of these authors and their work. The texts mentioned within the list are those that many readers may not have been aware of. Out of the list of four dozen or so I had only heard of or read ten of these texts.

Many of the texts can be read online or downloaded as epubs. Although I haven’t looked into their availability many of these titles, they may also be available as audio books.

The list will make for some enjoyable reading over the winter…

Ictíneo a Victorian Era Submarine

Ictíneo (derived from the Greek words for fish and for ship) was launched in 1859 in Barcelona harbor by Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol. The submarine, was made of olive wood supported with oak rings and was sheathed in two-millimeter thick copper. The submarine measured 23 feet (7 meters) in length, and had enough space for the captain and a four man crew. The sub was powered by cranking.