The World Turned Upside Down

I learned of the death of my great and very dear friend, Howard Talbot, just over two weeks ago. We said goodbye to him last Friday.

It has been very hard to take. Many tears have been shed and there is hole in world that should be filled by my friend.

Howard was a direct decendant of Sir Thomas Aston, the Colonel of a Regiment of Horse and a troop of Dragoons in the service of the King during the Civil War. Howard had accesss to all the Aston papers and the wealth of information contained therein regarding Aston's Horse beggars belief. Sadly, Howard never got to publish "the book". I miss my friend in ways that words cannot express.

Sir Thomas Aston

I've not had the stomach to paint since I received this dreadful news and my world has been turned upside down. I knew Howard for twenty-seven years. I was introduced to his granddaughter, Megan, as "one of your grandad's oldest and closest friends." I was not ready to be refered to in a sentence containing the words "grandad" and "oldest".

We met when when we both joined the ECW reenactment scene in the mid 1980s. Although I dropped away some years ago the period has been foremost in my interest. I have not painted many ECW figures before, frankly, of all the ranges available I have never been entirely satisfied with any of them.

But I will bite the bullet. Once some commission work is out of the way Aston's Horse WILL ride accross the pages of this blog as a tribute to my friend.

 Howard enjoying a crepe from the van on site. A regular sight.

And talking of turning the world upside down, my entire understanding of Edgehill has just been turned on its head by this website. Now it all makes sense!

www.battleofedgehill.org.uk