Allington Castle Archers Nocking Point September 2012 Dates for your diary Saturday 1st Beginners course Sunday 2ndCaptains Challenge Single & Double Nationals Saturday 10th Beginners course Sunday 16th Mid Kent League Home 10:30 for 11:00 All welcome
Secretary s Sidelines My thanks to everyone who sent their Affiliation fees by 24 th August. I sent off the names with the money last weekend. Those of you who missed the deadline may find that their new cards do not arrive on the 1 st of October. You will however still be covered if you have paid. Beginners Course This will take place on Saturdays 1 st and 8 th September There are 24 yes, twenty-four of them so things will be a bit busy. Make sure you keep to the SAFETY RULES and keep clear of the area behind the targets. Thanks! Welcome to Jean Wilkinson who has rejoined after a few years absence and to Nick Jaggers who has yet to put in an appearance Coaching tips 1. Arrows not grouping 2. (a) You are moving the bow on release (b) You are not in line at full draw so that your hand does not move straight back when you release the string The arrows are not the correct spine rating. (d) Button pressure is not correct (e) Fletchings or string touching bracer or sleeve. Fletchings may be touching your sleeve and sending arrows every where without you being aware of it.check this as it may produce an amazing improvement. Baggy sleeves!!!! 2 Arrows grouping but in the wrong place (continued next month) Colin ********************************* Captains Corner Hi all, summer has arrived at last!!! Olympic Shoot The results are up on the website, but there is one correction. Clive did not get a world record for the Ladies Half FITA with a score of 722, as you will realise the max score can only be 720 a perfect. Sorry Clive you will have to deal with the disappointment of only scoring 622. Score sheets are on the shed door if you want them, please help yourselves. Kent County Champs The hottest day of the year by some. We cooked, got steamed, then grilled. A collection of ACA archers shot, including Cecile, Clive, Darren, Jack, Barry, Steve Mills, Alf and me, most got medals. No Clinton this year, so I was hoping to win but that was not counting the weather. I was OK up to the 60yds, then I crashed and burnt, losing to a Swan archer by 2 points. Hopefully the full results will be on our website soon. MKL v Swan This was a very good day for ACA and me. Although ACA did not win Pure or Handicap we did put in some good scores, just that Swan did better. The full results are with Warwick to add to the website. As to our scores they have raised us from 4 th and 5 th in the league to 3 rd and 4 th, so well done everyone who shot. Even I shot well and managed to get into the handicap team. In the process I reclaimed my club record for the Albion that Ken Bearman stole from me some weeks ago. The score was 558-22-96 take that my buck. New Field Some developments, a land owner mentioned to Deryck Leach s sister that he would like to use his field for archery. She obviously passed it on to Deryck who passed it on to me. I have contacted him (Ian Lodgers) and hopefully we will meet up to discus things further. Watch this space!
Postscript:- Ian Lodgers made it to the Whitefriars Open. He was very impressed with the whole thing, not having been involved with archery before. Further investigations are in hand to see if the field is suitable, currently it seems small unfortunately. Work As you may know I have been happily semiretired for the last year. Unfortunately some one came along and offered me money. So for the next month or so I am back in harness, it was nice while it lasted. Captains Challenge Sunday 2 nd This is an internal shoot, the last of the outdoor season. It consists of the Nationals. The New, Long, National, short National, Junior National rounds, and if you can stay all day it is a double. At 10:00 for 10:30 the first starts, you choose your max distance. Then in the afternoon we do it again. The second one will start approx 1:30, so if you cannot make the morning start, come along for the afternoon shoot. There are trophies for the Double Compound, Recurve, longbow and junior. Also the Single Compound, Recurve, longbow and junior. You can shoot either morning or afternoon or both its up to you. MKL Home v HVB On the 16 th starts 10:30 for 11:00 sighters. As this is the last one of the year, please come along and enjoy a small tournament, as there will be some archers from Swan also shooting. They cannot be accommodated by their away opposition s field, so their captain asked if they could shoot with us, I said yes of course. Seeing Alf s bit in the Twig and Stick about the Wand shooting, reminds me that we shoot the Wand at the Longbow champs. Our system is to start at 10yds, shoot 6 arrows, those that hit stop shooting and go on to the next distance, 20yds and so on till all but one is eliminated, he/she is the winner. Also next year we will be shooting a two-way Western, something different so come along and see. Geoff B White Friars open tournament Many thanks to all the ACA Members who came along to help out at the White Friars on the 26th August it was most appreciated. The day went well without any incidents and there were 4 rose awards claimed and 1 six gold end claimed. Many congratulations to Clive who won the Gents Compound discipline with a score of 1164. Many Thanks Regards Warwick Twig and Stick Longbow History Traditionally archers began training at the age of seven. The training was mandatory from that age onwards and was backed up by a system of fines for violations. Sports such as football were banned to prevent people being injured and hence not able practice the longbow. Local tournaments were organized to choose the best archers for military duty. Archers were considered as craftsmen and were well paid. In 1569 the Government forbade trained archers to learn the use of firearms. Originally the longbow was made entirely of Yew, mainly from Spain and Italy. Because of the wetter climate English yew was coarsergrained and therefore generally less suitable. To obtain yew for longbows staves, duties for wine were set as a given ratio of number of staves of yew for each barrel of wine imported. (The best source of yew is now from Oregon in the United States.) As I understand it, archers would make their own arrows for more accurate short distance (100yds) shooting, with their own emblems
they were able to claim treasure from the knights they shot. The longer distance arrows, up to 300-400yds, would have been shot less accurately as clouds of arrows. These would have been stuck into the ground beside the archer for two reasons, quicker to shoot and the point of the arrow would have been dirty, helping to infect any wounds made in enemy soldiers. These common arrows would have been collected around the country from villages in England as a, sort of, tax. These would have been stored ready to use in some war or other. go, the rest would watch. The last person still shooting was the winner. The wand shoot is, in some respects, similar to the traditional Cherokee game of cornstalk shooting. (Cherokee hunters and warriors would compete for accuracy with their bow and arrows. To keep the tips of the arrows from breaking, participants shot through a large bank of dried cornstalks. It is still done today) A couple of well known signs may well have started from occasions that happened during the 100 year war. (By the way, the 100 years war actually lasted 116 years) It was believed among the English archers that the French intended to cut off the first and second right hand fingers of every captured archer to prevent him from again using a bow. The archers raised those two fingers to the advancing French as a gesture of defiance. (It s still used now days, generally for the same reason...j) Also before the battle at Crecy, 100 s of Normans exposed their backsides (we now know it as mooning ) to the English archers, unfortunately they paid for that mistake dearly during the battle. WAND A traditional English archery contest involves shooting at a tall narrow target from up to 90 metres away. The wands are six feet tall and 3 to 6 inches wide positioned in a 3 foot diameter ring. As the target is a long vertical strip this competition allows for more errors in elevation, however since only 1 point is awarded for near misses the archer's windage accuracy becomes more important. You score 6 for hitting the wand and 1 for a ring. A single wand shoot consists of 6 ends of 6 arrows each (36 arrows in total). We had a go once at the Club as a knockout type of competition. Starting five yards from the Wand which was 4 inches wide, everybody would shoot 3 arrows and those that hit the Wand would go back another, say, 5 yards and have another Wand shooting: Myth or. Historical references to wand shooting are not uncommon. A famous literary example is the Ballad of Robin Hood and Queen Katherine, probably committed to paper in the reign of Henry VIII. However, dating the actual story is difficult as many of these gests often existed as oral traditions long before being written down. Queen Katherine is allowed to choose an archer to represent her against the King s champion. Naturally her man is Robin! Robbin Hood hee led about Hee shot it underhand: (meaning his bow arm was elevated, necessary for distance shooting) And Clifton (the King s champion) with a bearing arrow (one specially designed to fly a long way) He cleave the willow wand. In another verse there is a more direct reference to the wand being a distant target. Ful fifteen score your mark shall be, (300 yards or paces)
Ful fifteen score shall stand; I le lay my bow, said Clifton then, I le cleave the willow wand (Hits were recorded but a split wand was the objective) According to renowned longbow expert, Hugh Soar, the wand was likely to have been a substantial stave of some 4 in width. However good the archer, at the extreme range, the guest suggests it is an exaggeration because hitting a 30 modern clout target at 120 yards, less than Robin s shot, is not a common feat. Many clubs hold different Wand shoots, not in the target, the Wand (being the stave) is always present, one Welsh club states, the archers shall shoot at 70 paces with ends of six arrows. The archers shall shoot in pairs and the resting archer will record the hits and cleaves of the shooter. A cleave shall be deemed as the arrow head protruding though the wand of a split completely through the wand. Only strong shooting will cleave a stave and shall be worth 10 points with a hit giving 1 point. Like all Longbow shoots, especially the historical type rounds, normally it s the clubs own view of what happened in the past, so those type of shots can vary in scoring, rules and traditions. (Note GNAS rules include target, field, flight, clout and even popinjay also a mention of archery golf & darts but Wand, I couldn t find it ) The Windsor Round (3 doz at 60, 3 doz at 50 and 3 doz at 40 yards) replaced the American Round when the Junior Championships for boys and girls over 14 but under 18 years of age were shot in 1949 stated in the British Archer, Vol 1. Dr RP Elmer claimed on page 21 of this issue that he had suggested such a round as early as 1932. The British Longbow Society is having their South Eastern Target meeting which is hosted again by the Newhaven Archery Club on their shooting ground at Firle, Sussex on Sat 6 th Oct. Assembly is at 10-00am and the entry fee is 5 which includes a morning sherry. Ladies will shoot a double National and Gents will shoot a York round. I can scan the entry form if anybody is interested and send it. Here is a few more sayings that, hopefully comes from archery and has inserted themselves into the English language over a few hundred years. 1. Spineless The spine of an arrow is important, so not having one would be pointless or no use J Oops, there goes another one. 2. Keep your tabs on seems obvious if you are familiar with archery. 3. Brace yourself another reasonably obvious one. 4. Pain in the butt not the rear end as we always seem to think, the Butts were where archers would have to practise by law. Something you may not necessarily want to do. 5. Point blank, 6. Snap shot, 7. Make your mark three more that possibly come from archery but I m sure there are many more J Medieval Society is holding a Roving Mark shoot at Charlton Park, Canterbury on the 14 th Oct. If you require any more details, please get in touch with me. On the Same day the Swan Archers are having their Soup Shoot at Swanley village, a Western I believe starting at assembly, 10-00am cost 6. Once again if you need more details get in touch. The Fraternity of St George is holding a Championship at the Marks tournament at Hall Place, nr Tonbridge, Kent, TN11 8HH on 8-9 Sept. Participants come from Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Norway and the USA as well as the UK. Also a Two Way York & a Clout Championships on the 15 16 th Sept at the lovely Cobham Hall, Nr Gravesend, Kent,
DA12 3BL. Registration 9-30 to 10-30, sighters 10-50, first arrows 11-00, 8 per day pre-booked. Allington Castle Archers got another mention during the Surrey County Champs in early July, with a first place medal & trophy for visitors using Longbow. We also featured in the KAA Target Championships recently with a second & third place in Longbow. (Clive Jeffery, compound shooting York, 3 rd place. But Jack Beeney did exceptionally well using Recurve shooting a Bristol 3 and won everything, more medals & cups than he knew what to do with J) WELL DONE. There was this Longbow archer at a bar, just looking at his drink. He stays like that for half of an hour. (A little unusual for any person let alone an archer) Then, this big trouble-making Recurve archer steps next to him, takes his drink and empties the glass. The poor man starts crying. The Recurve archer says, "Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I'll buy you another drink. I just can't stand to see a fellow archer cry." "No, it's not that. This day is the worst of my life. First, I fall asleep, and get to my office late. My boss, outrageous, fires me. When I leave the building, I find my car has been stolen. The police said that they can do nothing. I get a cab to return home, and on leaving the cab, I left my wallet and credit cards there. The cab driver just drives away." "I go home, and when I get there, I find my wife in bed with the gardener. I leave home, and come to this bar. And just when I was thinking about putting an end to my life, you show up and drink my poison." With this in mind, do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience. We are getting towards the end of our summer season; I hope you all managed to reach any targets you set, for yourselves, at the beginning of the season, if you did, of course. There is still time but, as I m always saying, enjoy yourselves and have fun. J Alf Kill Joy ******************************** Well sorry! but autumn is coming on fast, the evenings are getting shorter and the dews are getting wetter. Which means only one thing, we will soon be indoors on Friday nights, and the Frostbite clothes will be coming out of the closet. As some of you will know by now I have volunteered (for my sins) to organise the November 2012 Worcester & Portsmouth indoor tournament at the Lockmeadow Hall November 18 th. This is going to be a big learning curve so should you see me falling flat on my face, please pick me up and point me in the right direction. I will not be offended but would welcome the support. If you can offer any assistance over the weekend of the 17/18 November or on the day, by way of setting up, scoring, running etc please let me know. Your help would be most welcome Lastly we also need entries, if you would like to shoot let me know (At the moment you could even have a choice of target). In anticipation, thanks for all your help. Good shooting Ron K ******************************** Social Secretary Roger s Birthday Bash Heather arranged to bring food to the field on the 19 th so that we could help Roger to celebrate his big birthday. We were very fortunate with the weather and we sat/stood around eating food, drinking (non-alcoholic) and chatting. It was a lovely sociable occasion. There was a special birthday cake made by Chris Punton and Sam Barber which looked as good as it was delicious. Roger blew out the candles and then was urged to make a speech.
For those of you who haven t often seen Roger emotional or lost for words you should have been there! Whitefriars As usual I provided the lunches for the two judges, T.O. Warwick and Lord Paramount Lawrence. Again the weather was good to us and the sun shone brightly for most of the day. Captain s Challenge please remember that there will be a barbecue after. You bring the meat and I provide rolls and buns, salad items and sauces. Let s hope the weather is better this year. Jean