In 1968 a group of wargame enthusiasts began meeting to discuss establishing a club in Durham. The initial meeting was in Alington House Community Association.

Derek Sharman MBE was central to the development of wargaming in Durham. The name Durham Wargames Group was adopted early on, and the group met initially in Derek’s house. Derek established his own wargame and model shop, ‘The Wargamers’ Den’, in Durham located in various buildings along Claypath over the years. It was remarkable that a place as small as Durham had its own wargame shop in the 1970s which stocked Garrison and Minifigs, amongst other items. The shop inspired many a young wargamer. The group played its games upstairs. All this was before the establishment of Games Workshop in 1975, with a similar purchase and play concept, although Derek had no restrictions on only using figures bought from his shop.

Some useful information on Derek and the early days is available from The Independent Wargames Group website at https://independentwargamesgroup.blogspot.com/2013/03/derek-sharman-forgotten-wargame-inovator.html
By the early 1970s the group moved to Vane Tempest Hall where it is still housed. Initially it was downstairs before gaining access to the upstairs area from which it is expanded over the years to take over all of the first floor of the main building. Thursday 7pm seemed set as the weekly meeting time right from the earliest days.

Derek was ambitious and put on wargame shows in various locations including Lumley Castle. This report appeared in Wargamers’ Newsletter September 1973 page 28.
On Saturday, September 29th, the Durham Wargames Group, assisted by other local clubs, will stage its 4th Annual Wargames Tournament and Military Modelling Exhibition in the Town Hall, Durham City.
About a dozen wargames will be fought including several ancient games of various periods, a recreation of the English Civil War Battle of Marston Moor, 18th Century, Napoleonics, American Civil War, Franco-Prussian and World War II. Naval warfare of various periods will be represented, and three 15mm wargames in various periods will also be on show in static displays, and a collection of Britons lead soldiers will be used to recreate H.G. Wells’ “Battle of Hook’s Farm. There will be several painting and modelling competitions for 25mm and 54mm figures and vehicles – entries can be made on the spot. Everyone is cordially invited to participate in any of the wargames. There will be trade stands and a mini-Mediaeval Tournament for public participation. Refreshments will be available and the event opens to the public from 12.00 p.m. (games start at 11:00 a.m. for participants).
In 1974 the Sword and Lance magazine reported on the Durham mini Convention held on 6 July in conjunction with other northern groups. Again, it was held in the Town Hall and, according to the reporter, “As usual the show was a huge success, promoting the image of wargaming in its very best sense. Pity more conventions don’t try to make the competitive urge less important than the enjoyment.” (issue 4, p.12).
The highlight of the early years seems to have been the show ‘Warfare Through the Ages’ – a two-day extravaganza held in Durham Castle in April 1975 and organised by Derek Sharman. This was described as “the first major military modelling convention to be held in the North East.” It offered a range of wargames, including public participation games, a modelling show and competition, trade stands from more than a dozen major firms, lots of reenactors, together with expert talks. Sword and Lance reported favourably on the off-beat skirmish games including a pirate landing starring a 25mm Errol Flynn as the captain of The Black Dogge. The larger battles included Greenwood and Ball’s Battle of Minden, the Battle of Hastings and the Battle of Antietam using DWG’s new ACW rules. There were competition games too (issue 6, p.21). Attendance was estimated at around 3,000 (Military Modelling, September 1976, p.532). Perhaps the two Pipe Bands on Palace Green had the biggest impact. Sword and Lance carried a two-page spread (issue 8, pp.12-13):
There seems to have been a strong element of competition gaming in the early days – with ancients especially popular. In 1975 the group produced its own Ancient Wargame Rules published by Wargamers’ Den. The review in Slingshot was cautious describing them as complicated as Wargames Research Group (WRG) rules but with an emphasis on equipment of the soldier and combat with morale being secondary. The rules used a spinner rather than dice for some reason (Slingshot March 1975 p.16). Phil Barker, the leading light of WRG, was a guest at the 1975 Warfare through the Ages weekend. The ancient competitions all used DWG’s own rules – he was not flattering in his own write up of them. There was a defence of the rules offered by Derek Sharman which explained that the rules were being amended and had emerged from the combined thought of a dozen Durham members over six years (Slingshot July 1975, pp.28-29).


The group ran its own show, or to use its full title, The Durham Wargames Group Open Day, from the late 1970s until 2019 held in Vane Tempest Hall. The show in 2020 could not take place because of Covid and has not been restarted. Most wargame shows are now held in larger venues. It also produced its own newssheet Sabretache.
In the early days, Colin Ashton was the youngest member aged 13 and there was a general rule that no one younger than Colin could join. While Colin’s wargaming has flourished (see https://www.carryingsonupthedale.com/ ) it is fortunate for the rejuvenation of the group that this rule was eventually rescinded. The idea of calling DWG a ‘Group’ rather than wargame club was to signify that this was a group of friends meeting to use military models to fight tabletop battles. This broad concept lingered even as the group expanded and developed a formal constitution and committee structure. Even into the 1990s, the idea continued that new members had to be admitted on the collective agreement of the existing group members. Despite this, and perhaps inevitably, there were some personality tensions, as is often the case with small clubs or groups. This led to a split with two wargame groups meeting in Vane Tempest Hall for many years. Such rifts are things of the past (we hope). Durham now has a large and successful group with four dedicated rooms and the capacity both for large multi-player games and smaller battles taking place on the same evenings.
Although wargaming has come a long way with a huge expansion and improvement of figures, paints, modelling, and rules, it is worth noting the efforts of the early pioneers that did much of the groundwork for the success of the group.
John Hogan
8 July 2024