Pick up a copy of the winter 2016 edition of This England quarterly magazine and you’ll see featured an article on Soldiers of Rye, 110 High Street. Proprietor Chris Vine tells me he is not quite sure why he has been honoured with the Silver Cross of St George. If it is for patriotism, his shop demonstrates this amply, judging by the Union Jacks hanging over the counter in the window.
Chris has been making and painting model soldiers for the past 30 years and he is keen to share his delight and knowledge with his younger customers. He is a member of the International Napoleonic Society and an authority on the Battle of Waterloo, claiming that the Iron Duke had a very selective memory when it came to sharing the honours with his supporting officers.
He stocks models from many periods and Winston Churchill and Lawrence of Arabia are both in popular demand.
But his heart is with Napoleon, not so much a hero as a friend, whom he first came across, aged 11.
His business is truly worldwide. He has sent soldiers to every single one of the United States, bar Alaska and Hawaii, “and none of them has fired a shot”, he said, “they just live in people’s houses and give pleasure”. Besides soldiery, he makes other models, such as of Ned Kelly and Wyatt Earp. “I even made a chess set of OK Corral,” he told me, “but this was difficult as there were only six men on one side and four on the other… so I roped in some of the townspeople, saddlers and saloon-bar keepers to make the numbers up.”
Apart from his creative hobby-cum-business of model making, Chris finds time to give talks on history, military campaigns and battle plans. Besides being a craftsman, he has a talent for entertainment, springing naturally from his own enthusiasm. A visit to his shop is quite an experience.
This England unashamedly supports an idyll of rural England “and all that is best about the English way of life”. With each issue it awards a Silver Cross of St George, not to be confused with the Russian military reward for “undaunted courage by the lower ranks” established by decree of Tsar Alexander I in 1807 and reinstated in the awards system of the Russian Federation in 1992.
photo: Kenneth Bird