The object had been concealed alongside the row of seats, resting on the floor.
It was, from the part that I could see, a wooden pole. It's owner apologised for the inconvenience and I accepted without a grumble. That took a double take as the voice had come from someone dressed in full English Civil War outfit.
He looked the part from buckle up shoes to leggings, moleskin plus fours, tunic and steel breastplate.A good beard growth added to the authenticity as did the grey metal bucket shaped helmet which, for now, I noticed was wedged into the overhead shelf alongside a well worn khaki coloured cloth kit bag.
The wooden obstruction was a 16 foot long sharpened Pike.
How he got it on the train in the first place was baffling in that it did not appear to be in sections or otherwise flexible. It must have been fed through one of the small opening windows of the carriage which would have required the co-operation and assistance of a few passengers to man-handle it to the central aisle resting place.
As for how the Pikeman smuggled the sapling sized object into the railway station and onto the platform I can only imagine the subterfuge that was required to elude staff and train crew.
There could of course be a Special Regulation for the transportation of weapons harking back to the days of military use of the railways in times of war but a Pike, well that would be a completely different category in that their use pre-dated rail travel by some 200 years.
That Roundhead infantryman is one of many Re-enacters that I have come across in recent years.
I admire all of them for their dedication to what must be quite an obsessive fascination that must take up a good proportion of their spare time notwithstanding the cost to achieve such realism and the travel to venues all over the country. At the same time the whole thing is a little bit weird.
At an Air Show a couple of years ago there was a large display by World War Two re-enacters. They occupied a large camping site just next to the runway and represented just about every nationality of fighting troops from drab clad British to the stylish American Forces and even, to my amazement, an enclave of Nazi's including a full rank Field Marshall who was driven around, standing up, in a large staff car.
The level of role playing is astounding and that is not just the uniforms and equipment but hairstyles and attitudes. A sepia tint effect photograph of the scene could easily be construed as having been taken in the black and white era of the Second World War had it not been for the backdrop of modern Jets, T shirt clad onlookers and the Funfair.
It can be a hazardous experience for the part timers in their chosen roles amongst all of the armaments and vehicles but perhaps contributing to the excitement of an event.
Just a couple of days ago I went to a local Air Museum as a day out with the twin boys aged 7 of some friends just to give them a bit of a break.
The visit coincided with an event to remember the fast approaching 75th Anniversary of D Day, the start of the Allied liberation of Europe. The day featured some of the exhibits of WW2 aircraft out on the tarmac with re-enacters in air crew uniform milling about or taking part in mission briefings in the well preserved and restored buildings including Nissen huts and the Control Tower.
Music was provided by a trio of singers in WRAF uniforms harmonising the hits of the ‘40’s.
Then around the corner of the NAAFI block came a Winston Churchill lookalike resplendent in a characteristic pincstripe suit, shiny shoes and bowler hat.
Just about to the very day of Churchill’s motivational speech to Parliament on the iconic “Blood,Toil, Tears and Sweat” theme the imitator paused in front of us and took off his tight fitting hat.
“Problem is”he said in a very un-Winston-like regional accent “that on these hot event days I get a good bit of sun on my face but a terrible tan line around the brim of the bowler.”
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