It’s usually the dog walker that finds the body, bag of stolen goods or unexploded bomb but in true seasonal spirit, somewhere in the farthest reaches of the Division it was the turn of an Easter Egg Hunt participant to make a chilling discovery!
Many of us have, no doubt, been indulging in a little bit of foil-wrapped chocolate-based egg-stravagance (sorry) over the last few days. Some of us have just bought them and scoffed them but the more adventurous amongst us, especially those of us with children, have had to endure the annual trial of the Easter Egg Hunt.
Normally the only challenge is finding the eggs before it either rains or the local wildlife steals the prizes. It must, therefore, have been a shock to one member of the public when they found, not an egg, but a hand-grenade! Police were duly informed and due to its proximity to one of the major routes through the area, cordons were put in place and a section of A-road was closed for a while to avoid the embarrassment of people getting blown up on their way to the coast.
The chaos was immediate for the poor bank holiday motorists and local residents caught up in this most bizarre of scenarios. Thankfully, as it was lunchtime and not the middle of the night (or a Sunday), the diversions were quickly set up and the backlog started to ease as word got out about the situation and people started to re-route themselves around the problem areas. Calm was eventually restored.
I felt sorry for those on the closures. It would have been a familiar scenario for most of us, but with a surreal undertone. The usual questions would, no doubt, have been making a regular appearance:
- Is the road closed?
- What’s happening?
- I just want to get to xxx. Can I go through?
- How do I get to xxx? I don’t know the area.
I can only imagine the looks of disbelief that must have adorned the faces of those who insist on asking these questions when the person stood behind the closure told them why their route was blocked!
Anyway…within a few hours the professionals had arrived and with a bang and a puff of smoke the device was no more.
I am grateful that the person who found the device didn’t do what many have done in the past and brought it, grinning with a completely inappropriate sense of pride at having done their civic duty, to the front counter of the nearest Police station. It’s a lot easier to close a road than it is to evacuate a six-story building and the buildings within a hundred yards of it in every direction.
Why the grenade was there I don’t know. Who put it there and how long ago they did it is also a mystery. I heard a rumor that one of the EOD officers suggested painting it to make it fit in with the other eggs that were scattered around the vicinity, but I haven’t been able to find out who that might have been or whether, indeed, it was ever actually said.
I wondered whether or not I should write about this incident, but it made me smile. And after the slightly depressing nature of several recent posts I thought it was time to lighten the mood a little. And on that note it’s time I got to the gym and worked off a few of the calories I have consumed over the last few days.
Happy Bank Holiday to you all and, if you’re working, stay safe and enjoy the double time while you’re still able to earn it!
