By day he is a systems analyst stuck behind a desk doing a boring job.
But in his spare time Nathan Ball is transformed into a dashing soldier who spends hours recreating life in Wellington’s Army 1812- 1816 with the Havercake Lads.
This weekend Nathan, 36, donned his military uniform for a special exhibition by the 33rd Regiment of Foot re-enactment group at Colne Valley Museum.
It was a colourful show at the Golcar museum.
Nathan, whose wife Debbie and 11-year-old son Josh, were also taking part in the show, said: “We try to relive how ordinary soldiers would live and dress. Everything we wear down to the buttons on our uniforms are cast from originals.
“And the materials for the jackets are made by the same Yorkshire manufacturers, Hainsworth, 200 years ago.
“I have been doing this for six years but the group has being going since the 1980s.
“I had always been interested in military history but there is only so much you can get from reading books. I wanted to actually live the life!
“There are around 25 soldiers and we go as far away as Belgium.
“And there are ‘boys weekends’ away. I went to one in France a couple of years ago and it involved taking only what you can carry and not eating modern foods such as Mars bars and crisps.
“Six of us slept like sardines in a ‘blanket tent’. We eat like they would have done in the past. We were given a meat ration of 1lb a day and would march maybe up to 13 miles a day in our uniforms.
“Everything was heavy, uncomfortable, itchy and hot. But it was great fun and there was a lot of camaraderie.”
Debbie, a 42-year-old sales engineer, who was busy putting the finishing touches to a greatcoat for her son, said: “It’s been really good family fun and means Josh doesn’t spend all his time playing on xbox and watching TV.
“He gets to meet German, French and Dutch kids and we get to cook over open fires and make delicious stews. I think the biggest shock for me was with the needle. I hadn’t done much needlecraft before.”
Josh added: “All my friends find it all a bit strange. I sometimes do talks about it at my school, Reinwood, in Lindley.”
The opening of the exhibition which runs until February 23 also coincided with a Bread Bake weekend.
Ladies, including Jane Bickerton, dressed up in Victorian shawls and hats and showed how bread was made in the traditional way in the Victorian kitchen.
Anne Lord, who helped organise the event, said: “Saturday is normally a quiet day but we had a steady stream of visitors which was good considering how nice the weather was. It has all gone very well”.
