Brigadier Young had always been particularly interested in the English Civil War and, in 1968, he founded The Sealed Knot, a society to re-enact battles of that conflict.

At first his friends were somewhat unwillingly pressed into service to dress up and charge with heavy pikes over ploughed fields from Edgehill to Landsdown; but soon recruits were pouring in and branches were being formed from Scotland to Cornwall.

There was no discrimination of sex or age.

The Sealed Knot, with its spectacular cavalry troops, stiffened by film stuntmen, was in great demand for pageants and shows, and frequently appeared on television. Young, as the ‘Captain-Generall’ (a genuine Civil War rank) presided as a dignified though portly figure, forcibly directing events from his horse; and managed to convince performers - often without previous military experience - and watchers alike that, as cannons roared and stage blood flowed, this was a genuine battle.