Aidan Turnbull is the Siege Commander of a group called PELICAN-IN-HER-PIETY (about 35 iACn all) who are part of a larger group of 15th century re-enactors called THE MDEIVAL SIEGE SOCIETY (611 in total). They wear armor, camp in authentic medieval tents, use weapons and fight at castles at 21 different locations in the UK and Europe.
His ‘high status’ red coat denotes his lofty rank in society! He also co-ordinates the TURNBULL ARMY (about 18 of them) who fight at TEWKESBURY every year. Aidan says “You can't fight with us unless you have a Turnbull connection - hence my 3 cousins, my brother and a whole host of second cousins all join in a battle involving 2,000 people.”
Aidan didn't start swinging weapons until about 2000 - and says it came quite naturally. He believes he came by it honestly and that something of the Bedrule genes must have been passed down. Aidan takes his battles seriously. He tells a story about parking his car in Yeovil about 4 years ago, “some ‘comedian’ tried to rob me at knifepoint, whathe didn't know was that (a) God loves and watches over me and (b) I am a well-trained Class 1 Combat Certified Reenactor and teach knife & dagger fighting to my team. I had a lot of fun with him - and even have his knife mounted on my wall as a ‘trophy.’ Even now, whenever I drive through Yeovil I look for someone with a permanent limp at both knees and ask myself - is that him? Could that be him?”
