Note the shadow to the right of the object.
The prominent dark stripe coming forward diagonally in front of the next man can't be a shadow, since a shadow coming forward would connect with the object at both of its bottom corners. To me, this almost looks like a scrap of carpet or matting. Or something attached to the object, perhaps
The top of the object looks to me to have very little depth, so another thought is that it's some kind of lightweight metal plate. (Would that fit with mazi's suggestion of a pigeons' landing board?) But why it would be thought important enough to (presumably) be removed from the loft and included in a photo is beyond me.
As I understand it the landing board is put in place only when birds are out of the loft, either racing or on their regular exercise flights, otherwise other birds would perch on it and harass the caged ones.
Pidgeons will sometimes circle the loft for a few minutes before landing. To get them to land, so you grab them and rush off to the timekeeper is vital, as a minute can easily decide a race, so the landing board is symbolic, really, it is the winning post.
I do wonder if it is a society meeting of some sort, and the men with badges hold some position within the society. I’ve got one, it says “judge” on it, I wear it at society meetings so I can be harassed by those that did not win
If it is a society meeting at that time it is not an elitist society.
Mike
