May's Breeze

Well June is upon us so time for another update.

May has had its ups and downs...........and left to rights, and right to lefts. Yes its been a windy chilly month, and unfortunately the wind was the down fall of one of my long distance ravens, as it hit the edge of the boss side on and from a distance of 60yds was seen flying off in two separate pieces. So at some point it'll be stripped and at some point put upon a pyre.
The good news this month though occurred at the AGM, the meeting was generally good. New info passed around, sum up of funds which sounds like if we move sooner would be much better than later, so hopefully now everything will go through smoothly, and with enough time before winter. Angus is going to be the new club coach, Simon the field captain, Steve Dunn the new fixtures co-ordinator, and there are a couple of other new members to the committee. I was personally tempted to give it a go, might be a laugh but as I'm looking to move I don't know whether I'll be around the area as of yet.

But its what happened afterwards that shocked me, as well as the meeting it was awards for the indoor season, now I was already expecting the trophy for the Valentine's Cup and the Indoor Longbow Champion, because we have the results on the club website so kinda know its coming. They are very nice one looks like a crystal sherry glass, while the other is a small cup. What I wasn't expecting though was to win not only the best four Portsmouth rounds after handicap, which btw is a massive cup, but also the most promising new member, which is a shield with a carving of Horace A Ford. Who I discovered was an archer who picked up a bow at the age of 23 and four years later won the GNAM, winning 11 consecutive championships, and a twelfth come back after ill health and damaged muscles. He also set a high score in a double york shoot in 1857 (he was 35) which was unbroken for 72 years. Its a possible goal, not very likely but possible, yeah your right very very unlikely, but still nice to get the award.

Also on the roll of success I managed to win the Jubilee Handicap shoot despite the strong winds and the fact I shot badly. Though in all honesty I wasn't happy with my performance that day and was a bit grumpy about it, towards the end I was just loosing for the heck of it just wanting to get it over with, so kind of a hollow victory. That and the fact it was raining on and off whilst blowing strong gusts, and since I'm at the moment using my old bow I'm shooting at a high arch through crosswinds, which makes aiming more of a rough guess, despite the heavier piles.

The following week was the Phoenix Handicap and though I didn't win (came second) I enjoyed it much more as I hadn't looked up classification scores so I could relax, plus I already achieved 2nd class and that was the highest you could get for that shoot. On a related note, congratulations to Lizzie Foster who shot very well on that day, and achieved a 3rd class score. She seems to be settling into the longbow now.

You may be wondering about my heavy bow, well at the moment it is still with the bowyer under repair. I've been told that I should have it before the 19th which is the shoot at Kedlestone my first none team shoot. I'm hoping I get it some time this coming week so I can practice, esp now as the weather seems to have picked up. I need a rough guild of how it handles in the heat, and I need to get used to drawing the weight again. Its getting bad because my fingers are starting to lose their callouses, but hopefully I'll get them back before the shoot.

Well that's it for now, I leave you with a nice Archery quote:

Come archers, come, all ye who fought
At Cressy, Poictiers, Agincourt;
Pay the last honours due to one
Most worthy to be call’d your son.

Hughes.