Fluffed Up For Winter

Good grief November already, where did October go? Well I hope you all enjoyed your Halloween and bonfire night. if you had any special shoots I'd like to see the pictures.

Well with winter setting in, archery practise is beginning to dwindle. This isn't down to any lack of enthusiasm but mostly the fact that my club's indoor range is still being built, so though it is the indoor season, we are still shooting outside. It puts us as some disadvantages for the winter leagues, but its that or nothing. But as I said to another club member, shooting outside builds character, true if its absolutely pouring it down I'll stay home and dry but bit of drizzle won't put me off too much. I still need to find some waterproof top though, trousers are easy, but finding a coat or waterproof top that's comfortable to shoot in can be difficult.

I've also been recently looking for a suitable hat I can shoot in. Usually on sunny/wet days I will wear a baseball cap, now it works well whilst I'm not shooting, but when I go up to the line, I have to take it off as when I draw back the brim gets in the way of the string. So half the point of having the thing in the first place is wasted. So as I say I've been looking around and may have found a solution;
http://www.talltoad.net/Robin-Hood-Hats.php

Whilst not the height of modern fashion and if I do get one no doubt there will be some playful ribbing on the shooting line, but it might just do that job by allowing me to shoot without removing it, and providing some cover against rain and sun.

On the actual shooting front though, since my last update I went to two shoots, on was White Rose Archers Sherry Shoot, which I'm quite happy to add that not only did I beat my personal best by about 70 points, I won the "best gold award" at 60yds. Which meant not only did I get a lovely trophy (though it is staying in the box), a teaspoon with the white rose symbol, but as it was the sherry shoot I got a bottle of wine as well, plus a share of the gold sweep.

Photos to be added shortly

Plus the fact I managed to win a very nice box of biscuits in the raffle, so my other half was delighted when I returned and presented her with the wine and munched on the biscuits. The unusual thing about the shoot was that it was shot on a cricket ground so every time we shot we had to walk around the cricket strip rather than straight ahead. Another quirk that I quite liked was that every so often  a best colour award was presented, so the field captain would call out leave your best e.g. red and that person would win a box of sweets. Unfortunately the colours called out was the end I hadn't got any that end, the most original call was "closest arrow to the shooting line", this was a shock to nearly all the archers but a delight to the person who won it.

There was some interest with the junior award though being a longbow shoot awards generally go to "most hits" rather than score, but despite advertising this both junior and senior archers were awarded by score. So our young Miss Foster despite having the most number of hits, lost out on the trophy for having a lower score, as they didn't have the trophy on the day this was a small loss, but it caused a stir.

On a lighter note though, the following week was the Derbyshire & district target shoot which was a two way western. Unfortunately it was the last one too, because due to lack of interest D&D is disbanding, though the shoots will be kept going by the hosting clubs. Despite arriving a little late, Hugh and myself were allowed to catch up in the first sherry break. Despite not winning anything , though I might add I wasn't far off but because for some reason bringing the target closer made it harder for me to hit *shrugs*, I did manage to beat the PB I'd set at white rose. I could hardly believe it, it was only a few more points but it was the fact that I'd managed to do it again and on a two way shoot as well. By the way I don't really expect to win anything when I go to competitions, but its a nice surprise if I do.

At the moment I'm pondering whether to increase my bow weight or not. Its not really essential, it would make the longer distances easier but the main reason as to why I'm thinking of getting one is because I still want to build myself up to a warbow. Knowing me I probably will get a new bow, but first comes the research of bowyers.

So I'm going to finish this with a quote from,'Zen in the Art of Archery' so until next time, keep shooting:

In the case of archery, the hitter and the hit are no longer two opposing objects, but are one reality.

End of the Summer

Hmm, it seems I'm getting later and later with my post updates, its hard to believe that finding a little time to get this done would take so long, but the little one is asleep so I have a few moments to get on with things hopefully before she wakes up.

Firstly I would like to extend my apologies to Bruce Foster, father (and grandfather) to a couple of our members. The reason for this is that I forgot to mention his efforts at bringing back to life one of my fallen ravens. Bruce after seeing a picture of a very stylish footed arrow decided to try his hand, and with the falling of a raven an opportunity was opened. What a nice job he has done, though I am loath to try and shoot it, no offence to your skills Bruce but I will keep it for display purposes.

 

 

 

 

Since the last update, had two shoots worth mentioning. The first was on the 1^st of September was another longbow shoot. This one was at Pontefract Castle this time. Its purely a fun shoot so to make sure of that, they have their own round that isn't either a GNAS or a BLBS recognised round. In the morning was 6 dozen arrows at 50yds, followed by a wand shoot. Then after lunch it was a 3D bear hunt, a speed shoot and then another 6 dozen arrows at 50yds.

 

In all honesty it was the most fun and relaxed shoot I've been to, with no pressure of trying to earn a certain level at a GNAS round. Though I did manage to get through to the second round of the wand shoot and the bear hunt, unfortunately I couldn't get any further, but it was still a new experience. Plus the speed shooting was great, I managed to get 6 arrows shot, almost got a 7^th, though the winner got nine off, so still a little way to go. One very unusual thing was at the end of each round a medal was handed out for the best gold of the end, and at the end of the next end you'd hand it back and it would rewarded to someone else. I am very proud to say that I won it twice, and not only that one shot was so good it won best gold of the day. So along with Hugh and Lizzie Foster, the other representatives of my club we each walked away with a prize, and in Hugh's case a little extra to line his pocket from the petite-coat sweep. Beautiful day, wonderful place to shoot (inside Pontefract castle).

Centre Shot

Best Gold For The End

 

 

Best Gold Trophy

 

Best Gold Overall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other main event that happened on our calender was the friendly shoot we had with another nearby club, Wirral. This time it was our turn to visit them which was a chance for us to check out their new venue, for like us they had trouble with the local rugby club pushing them out, so they moved to another club down the road. It was a lovely day and despite an odd wind that seemed to only blow diagonally across one side of the field, there was no real bad weather. There was a slight issue with the food being a little over done, or at least if your a meat eater, but otherwise it was lovely. Though we did lose the match, they were still a very friendly group to shoot with, and one boy to my interest was shooting a Mongolian bow. To be honest I was tempted to ask if I could try it out, but decided against it. Would seem a little odd a stranger coming up and asking to have a go with your bow.

The downside at the moment is that my club is still waiting for its new indoors range to be built, and until it is we are lacking an indoor range to shoot in at all, and with winter closing in tension is running high, and a chance to practise outside is slowly ebbing away as the nights draw in. Though saying that, the other day when we were shooting our club handicap shoot, it was a lovely day, not too warm, not wet, and little wind. Did pick up towards the end though, and I almost managed to reach my personal best, just missed out equalling it by two points.

So I close this update with a quote from an unknown archer:

So long as the new moon returns to the heavens a bent beautiful bow
So long will archery hold the hearts of men. (unknown)

The Wngs Of The New Breed

July has come and gone, and with it brings another year to my age, and experience. As my birthday was in the same week as my daughter and Alisa's we decided a family holiday would be nice to have so it was off to Wales, calling at Rhyl, Llandudno, Beamouris and Almwch. Which was a great holiday with wonderful sunshine. But archery cannot be forgotten and during the fun at Almwch viking festival both Alisa and I partook in the archery stall, of which we both did very well, Alisa getting 45 with five arrows, whilst I got 48. Though seeing as I've had just over 3 years practice, it should be expected. Also my armoury was expanded, and I'm now in posession of a Agincourt style helm.

Though what also comes with it, are the first seven of a new set of ravens dubbed "Sons of Carc". So named due to the grey fletchings as a cock feather, making it seem it was from an old bird, hence Carc from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

As you can see from the picture on the right, I've incorporated my initials into the design and numbered them all. If you are wondering, the binding and the ravens are all done by free hand so they are all slightly different, but just gives each a personality.



Their first real flight was at the Yorkshire Championship open longbow shoot, where despite shooting well at 100yds my shooting seemed to suffer at 80yds, and was not my best at 60yds either. Just to prove it, the only two golds I got through out the day were at 100yds. Something in my loosing has gone wrong, and without much time to practice its hard to discover what it is that is happening. But the arrows flew very well. Also a congratulations to both Hugh and Lizzie foster, who got best scores for visiting archers doing the Double National. What was nice though was the fact I got both my arrows and my quiver (again home made) admired by other archers, and it was a new PB for a York round, and as it was shot in a 2-way shoot, shows something. But still wasn't enough for a 1st class score, though just means more practice is needed.

I am trying out a new shooting glove recently, and I'm not sure what I think of it. Its the bearpaw deerskin glove, and though the extra padding on the finger tips is good and does stop my fingers burning after a few dozen arrows, but with the finger sticking on the sides of the finger rather than on the back , it does mean that sometimes I'm gripping the arrow and not realising because its wider than my previous glove, so I'm not sure what I think of it yet. Its really still molding to my fingers.

What I have found recently that after a few dozen I'm really struggling to draw the bow back to my anchor point properly, which does effect the flight of the arrow alot so I'm going to have to work on drawing properly, which I think I will really concentrate on when we eventually move inside.

Honestly though my interest in target archery is starting to waver, as aside from the different ranges its all the same, so I might look into trying out some field archery. I'm tempted to get some 2D targets and see if I'm allowed to shoot them at the club. I don't see a problem with it, but you never know rules and politics.

I will end there with a quote from "Winning Words":

Long as I have been alive

Archers bold and archers fair

Have been ruthless with the drive

Of their arrows everywhere.

Steaming Wings

Well June went past quickly didn't it. Don't know what happened there. Well where to start, on the shooting front June hasn't really been a good month for me. I've kept up shooting but I'm still shooting a couple of points below my handicap. I'm not sure why, perhaps its because I'm not getting as much practice as I used to, or I'm expecting too much from myself and bending under pressure rather than shooting for the fun of it. I know I blame my arrows alot (and 4" fletchings are not the best for 60yds plus) but they serve me well and trying to make new ones at the moment is slow as I have lots of other things to do.  So I really need to try and relax more when shooting and remember it snot about the score but about the fun of it.

One thing I would like to say is a thankyou to Rochdale archers for coming to our club and shooting in a friendly against us, esp since both teams managed to have four longbow archers, which allowed us to have a small petticoat pot. for those not in the know a petticoat in archery is an arrow that hits the target paper but isn't scoring. So every longbow archer put in a £1 and the person with the most petitcoats wins the money, so just a bit of extra fun. Unfortunatly we didn't win the friendly shoot, our longbow team did beat theirs. Annoyingly though up until the last dozen I was top of the longbow archers, then my arrows decided to see if they could catch up on petitcoats and I went from 1st to 3rd. Ah well, it was still a good day.

We've also had a few of our club competitions, but despite not winning anything I did manage to secure my 1st class classification for this year. Though my target is Bowman, I don't think I'll be able to do it this year my arrows aren't accurate enough due to having to arc quite high at the longer ranges and catching the crosswinds, so maybe next year.

As you may or maynot have guessed from the title the weather of late has been ever changing one minute brilliant sunshine then all of a sudden downpour. So my fletchings have been taking a beating and have been steamed back to life over again. I'm also in the process of making new arrows, but alost of the shafts I got from archery world were banana shapped so I've been in the kitchen trying to steam them back into some sort of straight shape, before I varnish, fletch etc. Plus after visiting The Longbow Shop I picked up some nice supplies. I'm not sure what I think of the deerskin shooting glove, but since I've only shot with it once its not really broken in yet. I'm not too keen on the stitching on the side of teh fingers, compared to the one i've been using since I started with the stiching on the back, as it makes it harder to feel whether your gripping the arrow or not. But I did treat myself to some special arrowheads; Swallow tail, Firebasket, and Whistling. Ok I don't expect to shoot these or at least often, but they look nice and never know I might try at one point, get an old boss to be thrown away. Plus I got a low profile fletching cutter, so hopefully I'll have some long distance ravens probably by next year.

Yesterday though was one highlight of the year, the Derby Longbow shoot, held at Kedleston Hall on the grand lawn. Personally I always like going to longbow shoots, the people there seem more friendly and less serious than at other shoots, and being on time I managed to shoot all the arrows this year, and improved my score. Not sure I improved my score on hits, I forgot to check that. Unfortunatly one of my ravens returned home never to fly again. After striking the boss from the shooting line I could see it fall, thinking it had bounced out, but when I went to collect the point was still lodged within the boss. So at least the last thing it did was provide a score rather than break on a leg like other arrows did that day. But after it broke, my other ravens did it proud and my score increased rather alot, and it was brought home beside the rest of the flock.

I think I will leave this update here, but I will leave you with the last verse of "The Marching Song"

"What of the men?
The men were bred in England
The bowmen - The yeomen
The lads of dale and fell.
Here's to you - and to you!
To the hearts that are true
And the land where the true hearts dwell."

Flying On May's Crosswinds

Hello one and all, hope you've been enjoying the sun. Unfortunately the other week I was enjoying the sun too much whilst shooting and got rather burnt, so now I have tiger stripes down one arm where my bracer laces was.

But let’s go back a bit. The outdoor season is well underway, and I’ve been touring Yorkshire attending longbow shoots, which I have to admit are a lot of fun. As well as the social aspect of the archers, the atmosphere seemed more relaxed. Also what I like is that even if your new the older archers will give you tips to improve, and going to a few of these shoots you start recognising other archers. Its a shame that there aren't (m)any longbow shoots in Cheshire, not that I'm anti other bow types but its nice to see the basics of archery en masse. Plus the sherry and cake is always a nicety that I've not had at open shoots. Admittedly though I've not been to many open shoots.

What was a new experience this year was shooting two way rounds. For those unaware, a normal round is you shoot six arrows at the target, go and collect them come back and shoot them again. A two way round is you shoot three arrows, go and collect them and turn around and shoot them back again, which though fun does have the downside of having to remember that wind is blowing from a different direction and your standing in a different place. So it’s a tad more difficult, plus the urge to turn around and walk back after you've collected your arrows is a difficult one to overcome. Another interesting point is that shooting at another field is always an experience as unlike indoors the shooting fields are always different, having rises and dips, or slants, and that can draw your eye and lead you to shoot in completely different places to normal. But it’s a traditional way to shoot, and it’s nice to see that longbow archers tend to abandon uniform and stick to the traditional white and green for these shoots, when not in period costume.

Though saying that with the club now moved to Knutsford its surprising what similarities there are, for example when shooting at a long range, I have to arc quite high as realistically I’m shooting with fletchings that are far to big for the range, so I can see that like at the old club there is a crosswind or two. Though it does show me that I need to find some time to sit down and make some more arrows for different ranges, esp. for those very windy days.

Though last Sunday, despite my large fletchings, I managed to secure my 2^nd pip towards my 1^st class score. So, just one more to go to retain my 1^st class ranking for next year. Though hopefully, when I’ve made the new arrows I’ll be able to push for a bowman classification this year, with a bit of luck of course. What I need to do is work on keeping my draw consistent, if I can do that I can cut down the mistakes I’m making. *Sigh* it’s a learning curve isn’t it. I have improved on at least two scores from last year, my excel program needs some tweaking so I can keep a better record of my outdoor PB scores.

 Oh, before I forget I did write another archery song. It’s to the tune of “The Sword of Bunker Hill” if you don’t know it a quick search in Google will bring it up for you. Anyway here it is:

The Broken Arrow

He stood astride the shooting line,

The light was growing dim,

When with a slow steady breath,

He drew up to his chin,

His fingers loosed, the arrow flew,

And arced, high in the sky,

Aimed with nothing more than his,

Trained archer’s eye.

Aimed with nothing more than his,

Trained archer’s eye.

As he watched his arrow fly,

Far off, down the range.

The archer felt upon his cheek,

The cool wind change,

And with a sigh, he watched it land,

Low and to the right.

He dropped his head, hoping that,

His arrow was alright.

He dropped his head, hoping that,

His arrow was alright.

The end was over, his shoulders ached,

He put down his bow.

Before starting, to walk off to,

Collect his shot arrows.

The closer he got to the boss,

His mood dropped ever low.

For upon, the ground near the stand,

Lay his shattered arrow.

For upon, the ground near the stand,

Lay his shattered arrow.

The archer unstrung his bow,

Packed his kit away.

For with the setting of the sun,

He was finished for today.

And with his hand, closed firmly around,

The arrows broken wood,

The weary archer set off home,

Hidden within a hood.

The weary archer set off home,

Hidden within a hood.

Raven's Song

Hello once more fellow archers and followers. As you know usually I post on here about what has occured since I last posted, but this one will be slightly different. A few days ago I was looking for archery related songs and few were to be had. There are plenty of robin hood ones, but without a tune to work out how the words fit they were difficult to get into. So borrowing tunes from other songs and adjusting some lyrics I have come up with three songs for you all to try out. If they inspire you then by all means post up some of your own.

Lets Go shoot A Knight

Ment to be sung to the tune of "Lets go fly a kite"

Well in tourneys I constantly fall
To the skilled men and women one and all,
But in melees and wars I have dropped them in scores
'Cause in battles I go with a six-foot-long bow!

Oh oh oh, let's go shoot a knight.
Why die in some fair fight?
Let's go shoot a knight, and watch him crumble.
Wait 'til his visors high, then shoot him in his eye.
Oh let's go, shoot a knight.

The bow is the weapon for me
For I’m not very good in melee,
But from a hundred yards away, I will make the French pay
For their blood with flow, thanks to my long bow.

Oh oh oh, let's go shoot a knight.
Why die in some fair fight?
Let's go shoot a knight, and watch him crumble.
Wait 'til his visors high, then shoot him in his eye.
Oh let's go, shoot a knight.

Oh, the men at arms are lovely to see,
Those armoured men protecting me.
While they fight in their ranks, I harass the foes flanks.
With the arrows I throw, from my six-foot-long bow.

Oh oh oh, let's go shoot a knight.
Why die in some fair fight?
Let's go shoot a knight, and watch him crumble.
Wait 'til his visors high, then shoot him in his eye.
Oh let's go, shoot a knight.

 

My Favourite Things
Bodkins and broadheads and swallow tails,
Hearing the arrows hit straw bales.
Fletchings made from a goose’s wings,
These are a few of my favourite things.

Shooting in wars, avoiding the crossbows,
Having the smell of battle in my nose.
Shooting down nobles and princes and kings,
These are a few of my favourite things.

Watching the foemen as they tumble down,
Shooting for England and supporting the crown.
Making legends for the bards to sing,
These are a few of my favourite things.

Loosing an arrow and watching it fly,
Seeing it arc and land in an eye.
Penetrating the closed metal rings,
These are a few of my favourite things.

When the bow breaks,
When the string stings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favourite things
And then I don't feel so bad...

 

The Sound of Violence (Agincourt based)
Hello longbow my old friend
I've come to pluck your cord again.
Because the sounds of battle ringing
In my ears has me singing
I’ve spent practicing in the sun, wind and rain
To help me train,
I love the sounds of violence

In tournaments I shoot alone
I leave my melee gear at home
But when I go down to play at war
I shoot in groups of a hundred or more
Good archers can harry the enemies flank
They've got rank
Touched by the sounds of violence

Five hundred footmen waging war
A thousand archers maybe more
From a distance we deal a heavy blow
Men at arms, they're the first to go
And our arrows like violent hailstones fell
And struck well
Causing the sounds of violence

With arrows spent we dropped our bows
We went into melee with our foes
An armoured knight tried to make me bleed
But due to the mud his feet could not be freed
When my falchion struck him in the head
He was dead
Causing the sounds of violence

As the fighters fell and died
Before the English warrior tide
We shouted out our battle cry
We would conquer or we would die
Upon that day the French nobility fell
All was well
Touched by the sounds of violence.

Back To The Roost

Wow, its March already and this is the first update of the new year. Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long but time recently has been short.

Well alot has happened since my last posting, most isn't very exciting just shooting lots more indoor rounds. But this year there was a bit of a play on with the fixtures list and to break away from the standard Portsmouth and Bray I shoots, a Bray II and a FITA 25m were shot. Despite a bit of grumbling from a few archers it was something different and people seemed to have enjoyed it overall.
I have managed to beat all my PB's from last year, though getting decent scores on Portsmouth rounds are still starting to test me. One of my ravens did have its tail shot off and its wing clipped by another longbow archer, but night in the surgery and its flying once more.

The Chester Indoor was the big event so far this year in which NCB walked away with a nice lot of awards:

Now if I've got this right, the awards were:

-Highest unrewarded recurve team,
-Most golds for Leigh Walmsley
-2nd Junior recurve girl for Meg Shaw
-2nd compound gent for John Stubbs
-2nd compound junior boy for Joe Shaw
-1st longbow gents for Shaun Allan
-2nd longbow ladies for Elsie Smith
-1st longbow team
-Plus a raffle prize

I think that's everything.

The Valentine's Cup was the other big club event and despite putting in a decent score, it wasn't enough to secure the longbow trophy for this year. The club champs are looming so it'll be fun, another Portsmouth though and atm my shooting is not overly reliable and in a state of dramatic fluctuation. I'm not able to practise as often as I used to, only twice a week for a couple of hours and tbh its not enough to keep up a consistent level and improve, or at least for me. But its almost the outdoor season soon (yay) where the shoots are longer and more fun.

This year I've picked up a number of longbow shoots and in the process of picking which ones I am planning on attending, which unfortunately means I have another set of projects to be getting on with, as in making a longbow stand for outdoors, and making some longer distance arrows. Though my current ravens will reach 100yds. they have to be arced quite high and with their long tail feathers if a windy day it can prove hard for them to remain on course, esp with the varying winds on our range.

I'm also going to be experimenting with trying to straighten my arrows using a home made straightening tool, otherwise known as a block of wood with a hole cut to size. I'm not sure how well it'll work but no harm in trying.

Today's quote is from Confucius. Until next time, good shooting:

"In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the centre of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself."