WRITE ON TARGET

Stourbridge Company of Archers' Newsletter - July 2006

Only a month ago we were all saying 'It's too cold to shoot' - how things have changed - there are probably only a few days that are ideal for us, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they fall on non-club days.

May we take this opportunity to welcome our new members; for their benefit it should be said that this communication is infrequent, spartan at times, and quite often we get the information nearly correct.


Record reports

B. A. Winter Postals

I have now received the final results for this competition which are:
Compound Frostbite: we were second in Division 14.
Compound Portsmouth: we were fourth in Division 19.

New Records

Compound
Margaret Hanson Albion 795 Club Record

This round was shot in open competition at Droitwich.

West Midlands Summer Postal League

We are in ninth place out of nine in Division 1 of this competition after the June results. We are 2,543 points behind the leaders, and this is after just two matches. Goodness knows what it will be like at the end of the year.

Worcester County Summer League

This is much better - we are fifth in this competition; pity there are only five clubs participating! These results are largely caused by not enough of our members taking part in these competitions. We need all our members to shoot these matches.

On a brighter note, Jo Horner had the highest lady recurve score for June; Roger Hanson had the second highest gents recurve score; Margaret Hanson had the third highest lady compound score.

Our problem, as ever, is largely in the handicap adjusted section - where we are submitting scores of 1,359, other clubs are submitting scores in excess of 1,600. Perhaps our new members may shift the balance - unfortunately there is only one match left.

Handicaps

Steve Knight has achieved a handicap of 65, Gents Unclassified. David Duckhouse has also achieved a handicap of 60, Gents Unclassified. Congratulations to these new members at such an early stage of their shooting!

Many of our new members are also very busy putting in rounds. Simon Lisseter has reduced his handicap to 63, third class, with his longbow.


Shoot reports

Rats Ashes American, Sunday 9th July

It is Stourbridge Company of Archers' 50th birthday and we planned to celebrate at this event, so it had to be a good one.

We started to format ideas in January, and put feelers out for sponsorship. Martin Woodhouse came up trumps, and with this windfall we had special medals and commemorative pin badges struck. Designer entry forms were produced, adverts placed in the archery mags, old members contacted, local papers notified, a large gazebo organised, and a buffet complete with birthday cake arranged (thank you Janice for a magnificent cake).

Would the plan work? Hold your breath - YES IT WOULD.

The day breaks, the vanguard of the work party arrive at 9.30, and soon after, with a full crew, the field was assembled, the pavilion decked with tinsel, gold balloons, and hand made bunting.

The weather was sunny and dry but with a strong gusty wind. However, that did not deter the golden clad sixty three who turned up to shoot, or our old friends who came to visit. The proceedings commenced with a toast to S.C.O.A., and a pin badge was given to all the competitors. Refreshments were available throughout the shoot, and at the conclusion while the scores were being calculated Clive kept the punters happy by running a 'Split the Wand' competition. Then the unique medals were presented to the winners, prizes for the best gold (sighter end) and worst white (last end) and hidden score awards, were also distributed.

The raffle was spectacular; an excellent raffle of gold-themed prizes started the proceedings, followed by an additional draw for an exceedingly well provisioned hamper, also having the Midas touch, thanks to Martin Woodhouse's generosity.

At the end of all this excitement a sumptuous buffet, complete with birthday cake, was presented in the gazebo (which now resembled a hang glider) for all on the field.

I, and I know the Committee, would like to thank all the folks who put so much work into making this a prestige event. To the people who donated food, acquired essential items, organised raffles, arranged sponsorship, and in particular the catering staff and work party, which included a number of our newest members, grateful thanks.

A special mention must be given of the effort made by Val Brown, who hand made the bunting, provided the decorations, and co-ordinated all the catering.

A very successful day. I am proud to belong to S.C.O.A. as we can still put events on with panache.

Bob Hanson

Stourbridge Company of Archers would like, formally, to thank Venture, New Generation Portraits, of Worcester, for their sponsorship, which enabled us to purchase commemorative pin badges and medals.

Redhill American, 1st May

This was the first outdoor open shoot of the 2006 GNAS Worcestershire season.

Once again it was very well attended with 25 targets out, most of which were full. SCOA sent 4 shooting archers with 3 more club members supporting.

The weather started out grimly with light showers attending the sighters, but it did clear up by the end of the first distance. By this time Louise was feeling the effects of the weekend (not alcohol caused, but from a surfeit of arrows - (2/3 dozen on Friday PM and a FITA on both Saturday and Sunday). She gamely carried on with a heat pad on her shoulder to ease the pain and her scores improved no end at the next two distances.

Peter Langmaid shot to his usual high standard and finished the day with a respectable score. Bob Cole again held his end with the longbow and Dave Johnson left the shooting line at the end of the competition saying; "I enjoyed that". It’s great to hear Dave say that after a competition especially as this was his first with the Compound.

The Raffle and Prize giving followed with Bob taking Second Gent in the Longbow and yours truly collected a raffle prize.

NB: Don’t talk to Louise about archers remembering to return Cups won the previous year, or me about yet another chair collapsing whilst sitting in it (that’s 3 now!!!)

Clive Freeman

CSAA Midland Regional Champs York/Hereford, 10th June

This was the second year that I had shot this particular tournament and was very pleased to be accompanied by Peter Langmaid. We arrived at the gates of RAF Stafford and were met by the slightly intimidating armed guard (complete with sub machine gun). Having passed the ID test we were allowed to proceed to the shooting area where we were met with the sight of already erected marquee tents and the bosses being dressed with their faces.

Thus stimulated, we parked up and started to assemble our kit. Very soon the need for cold drinks became apparent as the sun raised its head and a call from the marquee alerted us to the availability of a range of suitable refreshments.

When all archers had assembled (only 20/30 minutes late), we commenced sighters and before I was really ready, live ammo was called and away we went. The expectation for the day as far as the weather was concerned, was for unbroken sunshine, which was maintained, but unfortunately we suffered with continual high winds that moved from directly behind us to directly across the flight, so to a certain extent scoring was a lottery.

Well: the 100yds sped by at a rate of knots (especially for me as the other shooters on my target willingly scored and collected my arrows).

True to form the very civil; Civil Service; took a break after 3 and 6 dozen for drinks and if desired bar-b-cued hot dogs.

So the shoot proceeded through 80 then 60 yards with regular breaks to keep hydrated as the sun reached its zenith and continued to beat its rays down on us all. At the end we congregated for the prize-giving and very high standards were achieved by both Recurve and Compound archers, even with the variable wind conditions. The winners of both disciplines exceeded 1100 points.

Both Peter and I shot scores warranting an award of a medal and I was able to shoot sufficiently well enough to be selected to be included in the Midlands Region team to compete in the National finals in Cheltenham in September.

Both Peter and I returned having had a very enjoyable day but very very tired.

Clive Freeman

SCOA’s Breakfast Shoot, 18th June

Yet again a group of us (conned) convinced ourselves that it was OK to set the alarm for 0330 and assemble at the club house for 0430 to participate in this very special annual shoot.

The weather was very kind again with light breezes and a gentle sun to help us maintain an attempt at alertness and some vestige of really knowing what we were doing.

Again we had approximately 14-15 shooters this year progressing through the first distance of the Western with (in the main) all arrows scoring or at least hitting the boss.

At the change of distance we repaired to the al-fresco dining table and did justice to another wonderfully calorie busting breakfast prepared by Janice in her usual style.

Replete we all returned to the shooting line and finished the round off with NO ONE falling asleep (well done Matt).

The day finished with the sun sinking into the West (no, it wasn’t that bad). After the Trophy and Medal presentations we all returned to our families with the clock yet to chime 10!!.

Roll on next year (God I must be mad).

Clive Freeman


All Carbon Arrows

As you may know, there are three types of arrow available for purchase, (discounting wooden shafts). They are Aluminium; Carbon / Aluminium; and All Carbon.

Whereas the first two types are perfectly suitable for use, the ALL CARBON type is not. As Somers playing field is multifunctional, and ALL CARBON arrows present a potential risk, on health and safety grounds the Committee have taken the decision to ban the ALL CARBON type from use on the field. The reasons are twofold - firstly they cannot be found with a metal detector, as the target to be located is small, and the signature is similar to the natural responses in the ground, and secondly, if they are broken, the shards present a significant injury potential not only to us, but to other users.

At this moment in time there is no intention to ban them from indoor use.


Dates for your diary

17 September - West Midlands Summer League - Nationals. (Postal Match at Somers)

Bow Magazine competition

As you may have seen from the notice on the clubhouse door, we are entering the Bow Magazine prize competition. We have decided to shoot short handicap adjusted rounds, so that everybody can participate. There is a prize for the winning archer over three rounds and also a prize for the winning club. So good luck to everybody. Dates are:

23 July - Short National
20 August - Short Western
10 September - All Comers' Warwicks

Sighters approximately 1.30pm


Clothing

Our newer members may be interested to know that clothing is available bearing an attractively embroidered club logo. It can be ordered at any time in any quantity. Please see Bob or Maggie for details.


Visitors

Can you please make sure that if you invite visitors to shoot at the club, you must fill in the visitors book which is in the clubhouse, and there is also a fee of £2.50 to be collected.


Reminder

Can we remind you to pick up any large splinters of wood from the target stands, and dispose of them safely.


Dave's Quiz

Dave is having a break, so this will be 'Pete's Anniversary Quiz'

  1. What is 50 in base 2 (binary)?
  2. What is 50 in base 50?
  3. What was No. 1 on July 9, 1956?
  4. Who was British Prime Minister in 1956 (but not for much longer)?
  5. When was GNAS's 50th Anniversary?
  6. Which archery supplier celebrates its 75th anniversary this year?
  7. What is the chemical symbol for gold?
  8. What is the atomic number of gold?
  9. A piece of gold assayed in Birmingham would be stamped with which symbol?
  10. Is an ounce of gold lighter or heavier than an ounce of feathers?

Thoughts from the Shooting Line

Spotting scope adjustments should not necessarily require movements of the boss to improve clarity.