Stringing Session

The weather was awful but the atmosphere was full of warmth and laughter at the stringing session held by Keith Calder, after Pip Bickerstaffs visit to the club.

As you can see, once J.R. had preened Keith ready for his debut, the session got into full swing. With our new member Greg getting to grips straight away with the equipment and making his own string for his hungarian barebow.

There was plenty of participation by everyone and no excuses now for tatty strings on bows in the future

Tina :)

Bickerstaffe Seminar

On Sunday 18th October (apologies for wrong day / right date initially advertised) we were treated to a seminar by Pip Bickerstaffe.

Pip has been shooting since the 60's and has made over 1500 longbows, his interest and enthusiasm for wood is phenomenal.

The first part of his talk was about the history of archers, about the myths and what probably happened!

He showed us the different parts of trees, where they grow and how the wood is selected and how to decide where it is to be cut. Also how the bowyer gets the shape to get maximum energy out of the bow

Shooting techniques were then discussed and tried, again mainly to get the best performance out of the wood. A bit of a problem when on a close shooting line as needs more space* .
We finished with a lively question and answer session, although a bit disappointing some missed out on this informative ending part. Hope the coaches were able to take some positive tips away from the day, as longbows are making a comeback and we will certainly appreciate their help.

Thank you - Carole

*tried it outside the next day and with a bit of adapting certainly helps to get more power / distance

Lychett Clout 2009

The weather was damp, the wind cold. But this didn't deter a few hardy BAC archers from attacking the 140 and 180 yds that was the Lychett Clout shoot on Sunday 11th October.

Well done team bournemouth, the flags we were aiming for may have been a dot on the horizon but the determination was well rewarded, a great atmosphere, great company and lots of fun had by all.

2-way Longbow Western round Shoot 2009

The 2-way longbow western round was hosted by Bracken Company of Bowmen.
Shot at their Cranborne ground, lovely scenery, good weather and good company along with endless tea, cakes and bacon butties supplied - what more could we have ask for?

The Bournemouth archers where made up of :
Carole Tidd, Brian Kimber, John Honey, Martin Shaw and Tim Skidmore

Good results as well

Brian Kimber won the Gents with 89 hits and proving his stamina won the K.O. at the end, narrowly beating his fellow team mate Tim Skidmore.

Carole Tidd was 2nd Lady with a score of 209 and won the best gold of the day with a perfect arrow exactly in the middle.

Martin Shaw and John Honey also competed, ably supported by Tina

Full results on www.dorsetarchery.co.uk

Congratulations to all

Owl Trophy Shoot 2009

Sunday 28th June 2009 saw a warm cloudy day with little to no wind ( which I gather is a very rare event at Lytchett ) and a few spots of refreshing rain but nothing to worry the 14 Bournemouth archers that travelled to the annual Record Status Owl Trophy Shoot hosted at Lythchett.

The Bournemouth archers where made up of 7 Longbows - (Martin, Carole, Brian H, Brian K, Keith, John H and Tim), 6 Recurves - (Mike, Ursula, Victor, Max, Mark and Andy) and 1 Barebow - Tina H.


An enjoyable shoot was had by all with the following trophies being scooped up by Bournemouth archers :

Mike Pearse - 1st - Recurve Trophy

Tina Honey - 1st - Barebow Trophy

Brian K, Brian H, Keith - 1st - Longbow Team Trophy

Brian Kimber - Longbow Knockout Trophy

Carole Tidd - 3rd - Lady's Longbow

Ursula Hawke - 3rd - Lady's Recurve

Congratulations to all

The March of the Archers

Held on 12th October 2008 to commemorate 500 years of the Fraternity of St George.

Over 200 longbow archers gathered from all over Europe to celebrate this special anniversary, starting in St Lawrence Church, Guildhall in the City of London and, following the route archers took to battle, marched behind mounted police and a military band to Finsbury.






Carole Tidd and Brian Hills  (carrying our Bournemouth gonfalong) took part and the parade was challenged by musketeers on entering the Honourable Artillery Company. (HAC) The dignitaries from the Army charities benefiting from this day were clearly nervous and amused. - £3,800 was donated altogether

Shooting took place till we all partook of a traditional army curry lunch and then resumed as a speed shoot in the afternoon.

Space was limited so this is more of a clout then a rove. Heavy bows shoot first, then the lighter bows, then ultra-lights (children) and we claim our arrows from the scorers.





The HAC garden [1] is the last remnant of the Finsbury fields where archers gathered to practice and go off to battle. [2]The last remaining mark is called Scarlet [3] and we have been lucky enough to see it near the Long Room where the Queen still presents medals to the Artillery men and where we ate cake! [4]

1.

2.

4.

3.

A proud and exciting day, when we started archery at Bournemouth 26 years ago never imagined it could lead to this!

Thanks for reading this - hope you enjoyed it - Carole Tidd