The China Mail - Sherlock Holmes fans recreate fateful duel at Swiss falls

Captivated by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle's evocative world of villains, sleuths, fog, gas lamps and tweed, around 60 members of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London made the pilgrimage to the hallowed destination.

The spectacular scene is where Holmes and Moriarty clashed on a precarious high ledge, apparently falling to their deaths on May 4, 1891.

The group's three-day journey through Holmes-related sites in Switzerland wound up at Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland, for a funicular ride on Sunday up to the thundering Reichenbach Falls, which tumble 120 metres (400 feet) into a pool below.

Hats of all varieties, twirled moustaches, lavish dresses and walking canes abounded, as each came dressed as an individual character from the stories, including the missing rugby player, the king of Bohemia, and Mrs Hudson, Holmes's landlady at 221B Baker Street, London.

"It does transform you, just wearing the clothes, and hunching a bit," said British lawyer Peter Horrocks, top-hatted and clad in black as the sinister crime lord Moriarty.

"This is so atmospheric," he said amid the roar and spray, insisting it "absolutely" brings Sherlockians closer to the story.

Doyle killed off his beloved detective at this spot in his 1893 short story "The Adventure of the Final Problem".

But such was the public outcry, Doyle was forced to resurrect him -- and the affection for Holmes endures to this day.

- 'Tears in my eyes' -

With a magnifying glass in one hand and a pipe in the other, motoring author Philip Porter played Holmes.

He hailed the "unique appeal" of Doyle's stories, "full of Victorian atmosphere, the triumph of good over evil, and some wonderful characters" to draw in devotees.

"We have very little in common in real life, but we are brought together by the Sherlock Holmes canon," he told AFP.

Recreating the duel, Holmes and Moriarty grappled, finally holding the stance depicted in Sidney Paget's 1893 illustration as the pair seemingly tumbled.

Doctor Watson then walked by, his shouts of "Holmes!" echoing off the rocks, before discovering the letter the detective left for him to find -- and realising his dear friend had plummeted to his doom.

"When Watson found the note, frankly I had tears in my eyes. I found that really moving," said Helene Vrot, from near Paris, who dressed in the 1895 "very short-lived fashion for huge sleeves".

"It's an opportunity to make memories with people who have the same kind of mind," she told AFP of the trip.

For JeanMarie Zubia, from the US state of Washington, "it's a total immersion" into the Victorian era.

Her character was Laura Lyons from "The Hound of the Baskervilles", and she revelled in the collective for the detective.

"It's amazing to be surrounded by all the other Sherlockians here, because they get to talk non-stop about what I'm so passionate about... the minutiae that goes into every single story," she said.

- 'My dream place' -

One sweat-soaked trail runner did a double-take as he dashed straight into the costumed throng, while Chinese first-time visitor Kitty -- making her own solo anniversary pilgrimage -- could not believe her eyes.

Wearing a Holmes-style deerstalker hat, the 24-year-old Sherlock fanatic suddenly walked right into beloved characters come to life.

"Wow! It's very lucky of me to meet Mr Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson and Professor Moriarty and Colonel Moran!" the enthralled Manchester University robotics student said.

"This is my dream place. It's beautiful -- just like Watson wrote in his diary."

The organised visit was celebrating the more than 1,000-strong London society's 75th anniversary.

The trip's coordinator Markus Geisser told AFP nearly half the visitors were on their first Holmes trip, showing "travelling to Switzerland in a Victorian costume is still something that people actually like to do".

Dressed as the devil-may-care German spy Von Bork, he said the multinational society and its events were a chance to meet likeminded people, adding: "in my case, I met my wife."

C.Smith--ThChM