Abbey Wand Shoot 2011
ABBEY WAND SHOOT 2011
Sunday, 13th November, it’s Remembrance Sunday and the third Abbey Wand Shoot.
We had done all the preparation, laid out the field, prepared 10 platters of cakes, pastries and biscuits, bribed family into cooking individual Wand Shoot cakes (complete with white chocolate wands), packed the medals, done shooting lists, flags and – well - everything else we might need for the day.
First task at the field was some emergency repairs to the brand new shutter on the changing rooms. We’d found it stuck halfway up the day before, worked out how to fix it and hoped it would work, not everyone would find it amusing if they had to crawl in and out to get to the toilets would they? Thankfully John (Barnwell) is immensely capable and made short work of the repair, the shutter was fully operational before we even got the tables set up.
All that was left to chance was the weather. Dull the first year, damp and cold the second but this year started temperate and dry. We all turned up in winter gear but by the time archers began to arrive it was a balmy day and pretty much perfect for November.
It was so nice we didn’t bother with the awnings, which left much more time to get the field set up with our trademark rows of flags on either side of the shooting area. We take it for granted that we have flags around, a number of us go Roving, a longbow only pursuit where one shoots at flags over unknown distances. Clearly this is not familiar territory to all archers, but flags fluttering in a field are part of our archery and it certainly does cheer up the field!
We welcomed our guests at assembly, explained the (very simple) rules and reminded everyone they were to help themselves to refreshments all day. Observed two minutes silence at eleven and commenced sighters, heralded by a rocket launched from the shooting line.
Sighters over and we settled down to the shoot proper, taking two details but allowing every one to choose to shoot in two three’s or all six at once. It sounds simple, shoot at the Wand? It is simple - but hitting it is not!
Shooting all six at once left more time for socialising and refreshments which frankly, is one of the most important elements of this shoot. It is the last open, official, outdoor GNAS shoot of the year and we were glad to have so many of the archers we meet at shoots around the country joining us, including -, no, best not, it wouldn’t do to miss anyone out. If you check the results you can see how far and wide the entries were.
We even had a non-shooting guest, Barbara William’s husband, Richard, who joined us for most of the day, camera in hand to (unobtrusively) capture the atmosphere.
Lots of arrows shot, but the single best end belonged to Wand 1
A leisurely morning, a relaxed lunch and an enjoyable afternoon in the late sun and everything had gone well – although we seemed to be short of score sheets? We’ve been there before; people were far too busy shooting afterwards to be bothering with small details like scores. We tracked down the missing sheets and had the results ready in record time - then had to wait until everyone had finished shooting.
All this went on after the shoot....
Maggie had agreed to present the awards, starting with applause and a Wand Shoot cake for everyone that had managed to hit the thing, then our unique Wand Shoot medals, with maximum awards for each class. After all, it’s the last shoot of the season, no time to be stingy.
After the usual melee of good byes and thank yous, many friendly hands made light work of clearing the field and before we knew it, it was getting gloomy, most everyone had gone home and it was all over for another year.
Thank you to everyone that contributed to another successful shoot, by helping out, setting up, helping to clear up or just by turning up and joining in.
We’d love to see even more of you next year, 11th November 2011. Entry form below.
Photo credits to Richard Williams, Mike McGovern and Maggie Johnston
By the way - Wand Shooting may be infectous. South Wilts Archery Club held their inaugural Wand Shoot on 6th Feubruary based on the Abbey Wand round. It went so well that they have already decided to do it again next year but are going for a triple (3 x 3 dozen) because most everyone would happily have shot for longer. Further information, shoot report, photos and date for next year on: http://www.southwiltsarcheryclub.co.uk/wand2011.htm
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