Abbey Wand Shoot 2012
Archers getting set up in the autumn sunshine
Sunday, 11th November, it’s Remembrance Sunday and the forth Abbey Wand Shoot.
Theoretically its just the two of us organising the shoot but as archers arrive, they join in and the field is all set up in record time – thanks to all that helped, especially the first four to arrive, in order – John Bosworth, he of Kettering Archers, Lionel Rodrigues, Brian Boon and our own Jack Hopgood who set the flags out. Pity none of us realized the boiler was failing because of an underrated extension lead – took a while to sort that out. Sorry ….
The weather was superb and the venue really came into its own. The field itself shimmered throughout the day as the sun caught the layers of threads on the grass; there was barely a breeze, repeated fly-overs by a pair of Red Kites and incredibly, a huge plume of smoke off to the SE that looked amazing. We were blissfully unaware that there were two major fires within a couple of miles, causing traffic chaos as Glinwell Nurseries burned merrily – archers on wands 5 and 6 could see the flames – and the Recycling Center at Potters Crouch which caused road closures for days later.
It was so nice we didn’t bother with awnings over the refreshments - which proved as popular as ever, donuts, cakes and biscuits, what’s not to like?
The official bit of the shoot kicked off at 10:40 with a Bare Bow inspection (thanks James Rose) – there were a few queries about that, mostly that it wasn’t exactly a Record Status shoot was it? Far from it, but we had warned archers that bows may be inspected as we know from experience it causes a wealth of bad feeling and resentment if bows are not within the rules. Interestingly, a number of archers had omitted to remove their sight blocks – so sorry guys, it was justified!
We welcomed our guests at assembly, Mike 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.
The shooting line – full of hope and good humour.
Sometimes it works! Dave with his Wand, its taken four years of trying but he’s made it.............
(Far right) But how's this? Impressive stuff!
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, allowing plenty of 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 more entries than ever before as so many of the archers we meet at shoots around the country joined us, including -, no, best not, it wouldn’t do to miss anyone out. If you check the results (below this report) you can see from how far and wide the entries were. And that wasn't all, we had some great visuals laid on:
But enough of that, it was the chat, great atmosphere and bursts of laughter, the camaraderie and cheerful rivalry through out the shoot that made the day. Thanks everyone!
Peter Durtnall and Alan Biles from South Wilts bought along Dave Malson - who scored an extraordinary 58 to win his class convincingly:
We delayed the results until everyone had finished putting their gear away (and shooting an extra end or two) and it was all over too soon – with goodbyes, thanks and ‘see you again’s as lots of people helped us to clear up. So - 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 (and we’re sorry it took so long to get the boiler up to heat).
We’d love to see even more of you next year, 10th November 2013 - so we've attached the 2013 entry form and this year's results, below. Hope you will join us!
Photo credits to Mike McGovern and South Wilts.
Wand results 2012 Wand Shoot Entry form 2013
Abbey Wand Shoot 2009 Abbey Wand Shoot Nov.2010 Abbey Wand Shoot 2011 Abbey Wand Shoot 2012 Abbey Wand Shoot 2013
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