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."

Checking Out A New Breed

Hail and well met once more, I trust that you are all well and that your stomachs have recovered from the holiday feasting and indulgences.

Since my last update the only shooting that has taken place that I have attended is the Christmas fun shoot, which consisted of battleships, pontoon, and balloon bursting. With food generously provided by club members. On a whole I find that the night went well, though not sort of a few underhanded antics.

Though something of interest also occurred earlier in that week. There have been rumblings within the club about the introduction of crossbows, though there are those for and against. The idea was put on hold until tests could be made. So an old member was called upon who had a crossbow on the verge of the maximum poundage of the GNAS rules, surprisingly for all damage was comparatively no more than a compound or maybe even a recurve. Even I tested out the capabilities of the crossbow and was surprised at the ease of its use and abilities, though I'd be interested to see how it would work upon the field at greater range. If it was allowed I may invest in a more traditional style of bow than the modern and still without a sight.

Another bow brought on the night that sparked an interest was a Korean bow. Though a light bow it was fun to use and sent my ravens fluttering through the air in a way I wasn't used to. Though I have to admit I didn't shoot it properly as Korean bows should be shot with a thumb ring and on the thumb side of the bow, and drawn to the ear. I am tempted to invest just to have something different and more fun to shoot.

I hope those of you that read this were good and received a gifted visit by good old St. Nic, and perhaps aided your archery needs. I myself was gifted by some new points and tools for cutting feathers, and also my beloved gifted me with a copy of 'The Traditional Bowyer's Bible'. I would recommend it to any aspiring bowyer or even fletcher to aid their hobby/trade. It does focus on the American Flatbow but yet there is some good advice for the longbows too. I think its going to be well thumbed through and I will have to have a note book to hand when reading it. So hopefully with its advice and some of my new tools I can craft some more arrows, and possibly eventually my own arrow shafts, to a greater degree of quality.

I wish you all a 'Happy New Year!!', and I leave you with the words of Maurice Thompson written in 1878;

"For good shooting, everything depends upon the arrow. No matter how true your aim, how staunch your bow, or how steady your hand, you cannot hit regularly without perfect arrows."

Flying On The Icy Winds

Hail and well met, welcome to those who are new here, and a welcomed return for those who have come before to this high aviary.

Already December has come and Christmas looms a couple of weeks away, though this has not stopped the flights of my ravens, but their feathers are nestled in the warmer indoor range. Since the last post there has been some interesting shootings. In fact since the last post there I've set 3 new personal records.

Already we are well into the postal leagues, of Bray 1, Frostbite and for our recurves and compounds we have the standard Portsmouth postal, and for longbows we have entered the British Longbow Society Portsmouth, which have slightly different rules.

With the first Bray of the indoor season, the 2nd personal best was set since we moved in doors, with my ravens flying straight and true securing a score of no less of 195, though with the second to last arrow, filled with the drunkeness of success, lept a bit too hard from its perch and landed above the target face resulting in the only miss, though just shy of 200 I'm no less pleased with the result.

The next shoot was the first of the postal Portsmouth league and for me it wasn't my best shooting, not even breaking the 400 mark, which after the success in the Bray was left a little dissappointing. The following Frostbite also left much to be desired. The result of the monthly medal's Bray 1 was 154, though it wasn't good enough to win the medal, though it was still a reasonable score and highier than most of last years scores, so it still shows an improvement overall.

Since december started the Bray's I have been doing have been usually over the 160 mark while the Portsmouths have come above the 400 mark, though I have not yet got close to last years PB and atm is the only one set last year that has still illuded me.

But this update doesn't end on a downer, for upon the day of the last monthly medal shoot. a FITA 18m my personal best went from 278 to 344, with only two misses. But that was not the only reason to celebrate, for with the 2nd to last end of three my ravens decided to make this a shoot to remember for all three landed within the 10 ring, marking a three gold end, probably the first on this size target. It is just a shame I had no camera to hand.

Today though was another where I should have had a camera to hand to take the shot of the hardier member of the club braving the winter chill and standing upon the ice covered field, with 9 archers braving the cold, three of which were longbow archers. But just to show how icy it was, one of our younger archers with a relativly light longbow, despite shooting below the target, the arrow would bounce a slide so much, that despite the target being at 30 yards the arrows would travel over 60 yards. But again this shoot let to a new Personal best making it jump from 205 to 214, with only one miss. Though it may not make too much of a difference it is slightly off putting with the target face dlightly off centre to save the bosses from damage. But aside from chilled hands, the day was a reasonable success, the only real downer being the longbow of Shaun Allen is being laid down for retirement, due to cracks and not bending right.

I finish this with a quote from Tina Jeon:

"Archery is a personal challenge because the sport is focused on the individual"

Until next time my friends.

Flying In The Right Direction

Hail and well met Raven followers, with the close of the outdoor season the numbers have been tallied and new personal bests have been set.

This summer's personal bests stand as;



Round	Personal Best
York	120
Hereford	141
St. George	124
Albion	333
Windsor	468
Long western	249
Western	200
American	271
Long National	138
National	260
Warwick	142

		Distances
		100yds	80yds	60yds	50yds	40yds
Arrow Average		0.31	0.97	2.42	3.14	5.05

 

Accuracy Average

24.64%

Plus with the fact I went from 3rd Class to 1st Class, I'm quite pleased with my overall progress over the summer, though I still have room for improvement.

 With the indoor season starting already, my ravens have already started to fly in the inner range. First shoot being the first monthly medal being a FITA 18m. Already setting a new PB of 278, followed by our Worcester shoot, the Castlebank Cup. Here I set another PB of 166, though this could have been better if there weren't so many loud people distracting while trying to shoot, it also seemed I wasn't the only one suffering from this distraction. I'm aware that to get to a top level in sports you've got to block out everything else, but it can be hard esp when in a room that echos and amplifies the sounds. Plus as archers talking to each other while on the shooting line, or to archers on the shooting line is against etiquette rules you don't really expect it.

Though we don't shoot them often I quite like shooting the Worcester round, its different and relaxing.

So far I've been shooting my heavier bow indoors to keep my muscles up, I'm actually enjoying shooting the heavier bow more than the lighter one. Though I think I might make some more arrows as looking at the angle they are going in the current ones maybe a bit stiff. Though I might leave experiments of the shafts for later on in the season.

This is quite a concentrated update compared to previous updates, but unlike the last update I've got an archery saying, goodnight all, and keep shooting:

Death is like and arrow that is already in flight,

and your life lasts only until it reaches you.

Georg Hermes





Winter Is Looming

Hail and well met once more followers and casual readers. Well with the end of today's shoot comes the close of the outdoor season, and the beginning of the winter season. I have to say I have enjoyed it overall though this year the weather was not really perfect, but then when is it ever perfect so you just have to make the best of it, archers have done so for centuries, or well technically thousands of years. But before we go into the seasonal look back, lets look at whats happened since the last update.

Since we last met, I've shot:
- Wirral Friendly (Albion)
- New Century Novice Shoot (National)
- Long National
- Long Western

The friendly against the Wirral archers is an annual club event, and this time it was a home match. Three Wirral turned up to shoot, and eight of our own archers (including myself). The day was reasonably nice though the wind blew strongly in gusts, soon the arrows were loosed and targets peppered. Though Wirral had no longbow archers the NCB longbow archers brought the longbows to bear. After a long day and a good meal provided by NCB members, the scores were tallied and compared together, and picking those who shot the same rounds with the same bows as the Wirral archers, NCB came out on top. But that was not the only success of the day, I took the first step towards achieving my season goal of first class. For those interested the battle of longbows was close, I was leading at 80yds, but after very bad shooting at 60yds Doug Shaw had over taken me. So at 50yds its all what counted, and with a determined eye I shot quite keenly, and as the last arrow landed and the scores were tallied, the final result was Doug 334, and myself.......333, one point was in it. A more exciting match could not have been seen.

With the success of my first class pip I was aware that I needed two more before I had earned the classification, but I had signed up to attend the novice shoot at New Century. So I set off hitching a lift with two other NCB archers Hugh and Lizzie Foster. Admittedly the weather wasn't the best, at the start of the day the wind blew, and on and off the rain fell. Despite that it was a very relaxing day and though I didn't shoot my best I still shot reasonably well and ended up winning 2nd longbow. I also managed to shoot enough to earn a purple Cheshire cat Cheshire badge. Also interestingly enough one of the other longbow archers had an Adrian Hayes longbow, so it was interesting and also a conversation starter.

For those who have never been to archery shoots before, you see archers comparing bow styles and arrow makers and don't often do that with longbow archers, so kinda a nice experience.

With only two shoots left in the season neither more than 60yds, the first class classification was still sitting in the back of my mind. So I decided that I wasn't going to waste the first class score and intended to do the longer versions of what it said on the calender.



The Long National was first, and my raven's inspired by their previous success landed comfortably in the target over and over, though they tended to stay out of the centre as that was being peppered by the compound arrows of John Stubbs. By the end of the day I had achieved the second pip of my first class classification.

Today was the last chance until the season ended and I'd have to do the whole thing all over again. It was a cloudy day and with strong gusts coming from behind. With a threat of rain at lunchtime, only five archers turned up today. Interestingly Meg Shaw has decided to get a bit of practice with the longbow.....another to the true archers? Well we'll just have to wait and see. Anyway, today my ravens decided to brave the gold spot, and I almost managed to get a three gold end at 80yds, which for longbows is badge worthy, but my raven's rarely like to share their golden perch. esp as compound arrows were being pelted into it. One raven did stray too close and was dented by a compound arrow, but yet survived. But it was a success my ravens bagged enough point for my third 1st class score, and with that score, I'm now a first class archer and possibly knocked another point off my handicap score. So with the last shoots of the seasons I managed just to scrape in the outdoor goal I set out to achieve.

This is a big long so I won't do it now but my next post I'll post up my season stats, so you can compare to your own if you like, but for now thanks for reading and fly straight.