New Features Shoot Reports 6 Meet Dearne Valley Archery Club 8-9 Regent Archers 08/01/2017 18-19 FAN UK Introducing presents… 20 Foxhill Bowmen 26/1/2016 “Now Strike Archery” 26-28 Aurora FAC 15/01/2017 32-35 “Shooting Shooting (and climbing) the castle 40-41 Oakwood Bowmen 08/01/2017 walls: the not so Hollywood style…” 46-49 English War Bows New Zealand 01/2017 by Jaro Petrina 64-65 Noak Hill Archers 10/2016 54-57 “The EFAA ” - by Ian Brown 68 Club Update: K.L.F.A 70-71 “A Wheelchair for Tonya” Regulars by Rob Sutherland-Smith 12-15 “A Journey in Archery - Part 4” by Mitch Vaughan 24-25 Del the Cat’s “Bowyer’s Diary”: Heat Bending Shoot Info/Entry Forms and Heat Treating by Derek Hutchison 29 A Cartoon for You! 4-5 Dearne Valley Archery Club - 15 & 16.04.2017 50 “Archery on the Big Screen” by David 1066 16 2017 South West Crown - 09.04.2017 60-61 HOODS & MAIDS 36-37 South West Challenge 2017 66 Another Wonderful Cartoon for You! 43-45 Scottish 3D Championships 2017 67 “Toxophilia Poetica” by Barry Johnson 58 Magna Carta Field Archers - 09.04.2017 74 Apollo & Raven’s Southern Champs 2017 Updates Photography 38-39 “Azincourt 600 Archers’ Tribute” - COVER SHOT - taken by ADAM BROWNING by O H Boyd 78-79 Club Locations Directory 10-11 PHILIP CAVE 22-23 PAUL HARRISON 81 JASON QUINN Quizzes & Comps! REAR COVER - 52 Answers to Anagrams, Dec/Jan - Volume 2 taken by MARK SERVICE 62 Word Search 72 Answers to Word Search, Dec/Jan - Volume 2 76 QUIZ TIME! Anagrams! 2
Welcome/welcome back, to FAN UK magazine from your editor! For those of you new to Field Archery News UK - welcome! And again, to those of you returning, welcome back and I really hope that you continue to enjoy both FAN UK & GOOD SHOOTING IN 2017!!!! 2016 saw the birth of this publication and the support that I have received since setting it up has been simply awesome, it makes all of the hard work so very worth it to know that you are enjoying FAN UK so thank you for reading - it’s all for you and your clubs after all! I would like to mention that the aim of FAN UK is to bring ALL FIELD ARCHERS & THEIR CLUBS TOGETHER, irrespective of society/association/etc … to that end I welcome ALL clubs & archers to be part of the magazine so please don’t be shy - you are ALL are welcome! Please continue to share what I am trying to achieve with as many interested parties as you can - that way we can continue to grow the archery family across the board and share as much with each other as possible without excluding anyone :-) Don’t forget! If YOU or YOUR CLUB would like to contribute - be it shoot reports, club contacts, photos, event calendar inclusions or other articles - I would be delighted to hear from you and, as always, please email: [email protected] to do so or get in touch via the website, Facebook or Twitter. I am expanding the website this year do keep checking in to see how it’s going and to have your club featured. For the love of archery, field and all!, and the wider archery family & community :-) Thank you again & I do hope that you enjoy this & every issue - Hels, Creator & Editor. The Editor reserves the right to edit any submissions received. 3
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Mark Tinker invites FAN UK & you to meet … Dearne Valley Archery Club: Dearne Valley Archery Club was founded in 1957 and is one of the most successful field archery clubs in the country. Several of its members attended the inaugural World Championships in 1969 and since then many more have represented Great Britain in field and target archery, including 6 members from the same family. In 2012, Dearne Valley was proud to say that member Amy Oliver represented Team GB at the London Olympics reaching the last 32 and knocking out the World number 1 in the process. In 2016, Amy became double World Field Champion with a Team and Individual Gold medal - the first ever British Lady to win the Individual title. Dearne Valley have their own shooting venue at Savin Royd Woods near Barnsley (M1 J38) and while general public access is regrettably not allowed, they do hold several key events and open days throughout the year. The course is part of the GB Squad selection rota and they hold two World Record Status FITA events a year - the first is traditionally at Easter and the second is in the Autumn. They have space for up to 28 targets with a large practice area and the course is relatively flat while traversing across a mix of old and new woodland, so is a great place for archers new to the Field Archery experience. In addition to their FITA rounds, they hold a fun Animal round on Remembrance Day as well as holding once-a-month Winter League Open Days during the Winter months. Their Open Days are open to any GNAS-affiliated archer and no booking is necessary - turn up and play and the fee is just £3 for the whole day. There are always at least 12 FITA targets and 12 Animal unmarked targets to shoot. Hot and cold refreshments are also available. Visitors please note: Savin Royd Woods is mixed-use woodland and Dearne Valley share the facilities with a Paintball Adventure company. Please drive carefully and if there are people around at the paintball area, please advise them you are driving down the track for the archery. Please see the following links for event dates, news, entry forms and results: http://dvac-archery.org.uk/2014-06/ http://www.yorkshirearchery.co.uk/ http://www.gnasfield.co.uk Or follow us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/DearneValleyArchery/ https://twitter.com/dvarchery 6
in the country. Several of its members attended the inaugural World Championships in 1969 and since then many more have represented Great Britain in field and target archery, including 6 members from the same family. In 2012, Dearne Valley was proud to say that member Amy Oliver represented Team GB at the London Olympics reaching the last 32 and knocking out the World number 1 in the process. In 2016, Amy became double World Field Champion Dearne Valley have their own shooting venue at Savin Royd Woods near Barnsley (M1 J38) and while general public access is regrettably not allowed, they do hold several key events and the first is traditionally at Easter and the second is in the Autumn. They have space for up to 28 targets with a large practice area and the course month Winter League Open Days during the turn up and play and the fee is just £3 for the whole day. There are always at least 12 FITA
Regent Archers - Jan 8th shoot Report & results provided by Dave Framingham. Sunday dawned bright and clear, no strong wind or rain thank goodness. The catering team arrived early and quickly got the kettle on and bacon butties going. We had 73 archers on the day, both old familiar faces and new ones. The course was 36 targets, mostly 3Ds and a few of Pauls lovely hessians. Everyone seemed to enjoy their day as we had lots of compliments and helpful suggestions. It’s only through such suggestions that we can see how to improve things for everyone. We have put a lot of work into improving things here at Regent so it was nice to see so many enjoying a day in our wood. Results: Gents Compound U/L 1st Lee Gardeki 770 2nd Gary McMaster 750 3rd John Whitehead 712 Gents Hunting Tackle 1st Simon Clark 570 2nd Andy Flint 526 3rd Chris Wilkinson 526 Gents AFB Gents Longbow 1st Steve Hall 594 1st Mike Kime 544 2nd Roly Bee 560 2nd Richard Waters 458 3rd Colin Hall 542 3rd Andrew Cross 454 Gents Primitive Gents Barebow 1st Paul Bailey 560 1st Mark Brooks 638 2nd John Rush 494 2nd Paul Atherton 562 3rd Tony Watson 314 3rd Chris Haddon 550 Gents Compound Limited Gents Bowhunter 1st Rich Pearson 654 1st Liam Blakeley 444 Lady Hunting Tackle Lady AFB 1st Alison MacRory 520 1st Lana Lensselink 410 2nd Jean Horwood 404 2nd Rachel Kenny 358 3rd Chrissie Bratton 384 3rd Kay Blanchard 184 8
Lady Longbow 1st Elenore Cotterell 444 2nd Sarah Wilmot 304 Lady Barebow 1st Nicky McMaster 534 2nd Jacqueline Brooks 504 Lady Bowhunter 1st Sam Haynes Boys Under 16 Longbow and quickly got the kettle on and bacon butties going. We had 73 archers on the day, both old familiar 1st Jack Dove 334 faces and new ones. The course was 36 targets, mostly 3Ds and a few of Pauls lovely hessians. Everyone seemed to enjoy their day as we had lots of compliments and helpful suggestions. Boys Under 16 AFB 1st Jay Harvey 282 We have put a lot of work into improving things here at Regent so Boys Under 12 Barebow 1st Rohan Clark 406 Boys Under 12 AFB 1st Luke Dove 550 Girls Under 16 Barebow 1st Lorna Brooks 572 Girls Under 16 Hunting Tackle 1st Caitlin Pitts 9
Photo taken by Philip Cave at Company of 60 Field Archery Club (www.co60.co.uk)
Field Archery – Chapter 3 Eventually the decision was made on clubs. Which Direction? the growing needs of both clubs, The first thing the new coaching Part 1 COACHING!!! EFAA offered very little group at Panther did was to support on this front, but there was a organise a doctor from the local by Mitch Vaughan, coaching structure within hospital to come along and give strong Billericay, Essex. GNAS. In Essex this took the form of the archers and coaches, a talk on the Essex Guild of Archery Coaches – Sports Injuries and the physical The end of 1995 brought me back EGAC. This gave regular contact implications of archery. A significant to the cross-roads again - where with active coaches of all levels, point of his talk, noted by most of should I put my main Archery those present, was that the bones although mainly orientated towards efforts, Field or Target? I was Archery; much of the Target and joints of young people did enjoying both disciplines, each with knowledge we picked up could also not fully mature until their early its own characteristics. Field was in be applied to field shooting. twenties, so showed the need to many ways less disciplined, but As I mentioned earlier, most of the not over-bow our juniors. much more immediate and at major active coaching within Panther was competitions I could shoot with, or being carried out by GNAS qualified Next we contacted Chris Jones of against, members of the controlling coaches, who had an interest in field Merlin Archery to come and present executive. The downside was that archery, including shooting regularly a talk on Compound Technology being a much smaller organisation, in local competitions. The Guild also and to run a coaching clinic. This went down very well with clubs were much more scattered provided frequent talks from practicing archers who were given around the country, so that a great relevant speakers and laid on a deal of travelling was required to be variety of events where coaches many useful tips on compound fully involved. This was something could enhance their skills. My wife bow set-up and preparation for competitions. that did not appeal to me at this and I joined the Guild and time. concentrated on archer development Eventually the decision was made within both clubs. Locally we were on the growing needs of both clubs, also providing archery instruction for COACHING!!! EFAA offered very youngsters at schools and sports little support on this front, but there facilities, as after school or holiday was a strong coaching structure activities. I decided therefore, that within GNAS. In Essex this took the I would step down as Hon. Sec. form of the Essex Guild of Archery at Panther Bowhunters and put more Coaches – EGAC. This gave regular effort into the position of Club This year Panther were again contact with active coaches of all Coach. This was quite an amicable hosting the EFAA Spring Champs. levels, although mainly orientated transfer as Dave Murdoch was happy While I did not have responsibility towards Target Archery; much of to move from the position of for organising this from the Panther the knowledge we picked up could Chairman to take on the duties of side, I was still involved in work also be applied to field shooting. Hon. Sec. and Rod Wale, a long time parties. However, as Coaching As I mentioned earlier, most of the club member, came forward to be Officer I contacted a number of active coaching within Panther was Chairman. This was all approved by the top EFAA shooters who would being carried out by GNAS qualified the membership at the 1996 AGM. be attending and invited them to coaches, who had an interest in This change of emphasis did not attend a seminar at a local pub field archery, including shooting mean that my wife and I would give on the Saturday evening. This was regularly in local competitions. advertised at the competition and up shooting, either Target or Field, The Guild also provided frequent as we believed it was a case a substantial number of archers talks from relevant speakers and of “Practice what you Preach”. came along to quiz the “Experts”. laid on a variety of events where Developing our own shooting skills This provided a lively, informal coaches could enhance their skills. would give us greater understanding discussion on equipment for the My wife and I joined the Guild and confidence in our coaching various shooting styles and the and concentrated on archer techniques used to obtain their activities. However, we would now development within both clubs. be concentrating most of our outstanding results. Their training Locally we were also providing schedules were also questioned. energies on teaching and coaching archery instruction for youngsters archery, partly on our own, but also Keen archers and the coaches at schools and sports facilities, all gained a great deal of in conjunction with the coaching as after school or holiday activities. groups we had established at both inside knowledge from the open 12
discussion. our visit to see relatives in the USA Post that autumn, to write of our and Canada. experience. Some is still very clear, In spite of all this work on the but some details still escape both coaching front, I did not entirely With this sorted, it was back to give up on my own shooting as archery. A new innovation at this Astrid and me. I didn’t want to be left too far time was the introduction of the Because of our intention to extend group at Panther did was to behind in the local competitions moulded foam animals as targets, our trip to a holiday as well as that I entered and, also, a number known as 3Ds. One of the first the competition, on the Friday, hospital to come along and give of us decided that we would like clubs to put on an open tournament Astrid and I flew out from London to enter the forthcoming World was Kings Forest Bowmen in Suffolk, to Vancouver. We then had to Field Archery Champs in the USA. where Dot Southgate had organised transfer for the flight to Seattle To this end - and recalling what a “Marked 3D” shoot in November Airport, the one nearest to our I had learned about having a 1995. Before this could take place destination. This turned out to be suitable back-up bow - I started to however, Dot, EFAA President a comfortable and interesting and joints of young people did look around for a bow to shoot and IFAA Vice-President, suddenly experience, particularly the final part not fully mature until their early in parallel with my new Ocelot. passed away. She was much loved as we approached the West Coast The difference between the Ocelot in the EFAA for her personality and of America and could look down and the Hoyt SuperSlam was quite all-round enthusiasm for archery. on the Rocky Mountains. We landed noticeable and so I decided that this Her organisational skills had done safely, but were the first of our would be the one to be replaced. a great deal to build up EFAA Field group to arrive, so had to sit around It did not take me long to find a Archery in the country. The club in the airport for quite a time before and to run a coaching clinic. willing purchaser for the Hoyt, therefore decided to nominate this Dennis turned up. so this helped with the financial side competition as the “Dot Southgate Then it was off to the hire company of the new purchase. Helping me Memorial Shoot” and so it has to collect our vehicle, which turned make up my mind as what to buy, remained, as it is shot annually out to be a V6-engined Plymouth up and preparation for was that Astrid was very happy to this day. Unfortunately, my other Voyager, people carrier. This gave with her Merlin Sapphire. We had archery and domestic commitments us plenty of room for our archery seen quite a number of top archers prevented me being able to join the kit and other luggage. We then set shooting Merlin bows at this time, competitors for that event. off to find our residence for the so I had no difficulty in deciding to Back at Panther we put on a novel week ahead. This was quite a buy one of the new Merlin Eclipse Night Shoot in the early spring, challenge, getting to terms with models from Chris Jones. which went down well with LHD, US roads and regulations. With the bow problem solved, members, enthralled at having to Fortunately Dennis proved well able the next important job was to shoot targets by the light of torches. to handle this, so became our main organise the trip to WFAC. This was Some attached the torch to their driver for the duration. This year Panther were again to take place in a town called bow and used it as a form of aiming Darrington, in Washington State, as well. The regular NFAS Southern USA, in the foothills of the Cascade Counties Bowhunter Championships Mountains ... this we gleaned from created a great deal of work, the information provided by NFAA. as usual, but brought in a good parties. However, as Coaching Astrid also wanted to come along number of archers from Essex and this time, so Dennis Burrow and nearby counties and proved to be as Roger Dawes, who were keen to go popular as ever. as well, agreed that we would make I did my best to work up my attend a seminar at a local pub up a group to rent accommodation new bow and get it tuned in with on the Saturday evening. This was in Darrington or as close to the a new set of arrows. At the same competition location that we could. time I worked on my technique in Again, Dennis stepped in with his preparation for shooting later in the organisational skills and with some summer. It kept me very busy, fitting help from Roger, arranged for us all this in with my coaching duties, to rent a bungalow just outside both Target and Field. Darrington, plus a hire car for daily In no time at all, or so it seemed, transport. We each had different August came round and it was time travelling requirements, so we could to travel to WFAC. Unfortunately, not organise common flights. I did not write up a report for this event, not quite sure why, so will Keen archers and the coaches Dennis and Roger each had to fit all gained a great deal of in with their work schedules, while have to rely on memory and a report Astrid and I planned to extend our that Roger provided to our Panther 13
to do this all the time, so Roger volunteered to do the cooking. To keep the fridge stocked up, we pooled our funds and bought new supplies at the local supermarket on a daily basis, as we came home from shooting. The next morning we all piled into the Voyager and went off to find the Registration Office and shooting ranges. We found that Darrington was a logging town in the Cascade Mountains, approximately 60 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, not really so far from The first job was finding our digs for the week. This wasn’t too difficult and turned out to be an almost brand new three bed-roomed bungalow, just outside the town of Darrington itself. We didn’t have too much time to investigate at this stage as we had to drive back to Seattle to pick up Roger who came in on an even later flight. Once we were all together we had time to look around the house and see what we had. The owners had moved back with their parents in another bungalow, next door, so we had access to them if we wished. They had taken the event seriously and left us a fridge-full of food a fast running river. the Canadian border, and proud to get us going and even provided We decided that we would have our of its archery heritage. a target at the end of the garden, main meal each day in the evening, The centre of organisation was the enabling us to practice at up to local high school, providing offices at the bungalow, but felt that at least 80 yards. Mind you, and this would be asking too much of a canteen, plus the grounds overshoot took you straight into the only woman in the group, Astrid, for assembly and the practice range. It was also within a short walking distance of the woodland in which the courses had been laid out, very convenient! Around 500 archers from around the world were booked in, mainly from USA and Canada of course, as the North American Field Champs were also incorporated, as had been the European Champs at Culford in 1994. They would be spread over several courses, each named after a North American animal, such as Cougar, Bear, Coyote, Bobcat, Deer and Elk. 14
to do this all the time, so Roger After we had completed our registration and initial bow To keep the fridge stocked up, inspection we had time for a look we pooled our funds and around the trade stands. These seemed to be mainly supermarket on a daily basis, small manufacturers, such as Don Kudlaceck, manufacturer of “Genesis” archery products, who would in fact be shooting with us during the week. There was also a stand by Mr Stanislawski, manufacturer of the popular back-tension release aids. He was however, promoting a new trigger release to compete with Carter and convinced me to buy one. A local Pro-shop also had a stand by the practice range, but stocked mainly hunting-orientated equipment, not much use to most of us from England; but, overall, the su pp o r t w a s no t ve ry impressive I am afraid - with no major companies such as Easton, Hoyt or Carter having a presence. By the Canadian border, and proud Mitch Vaughan, Billericay, Essex. and a canteen, plus the grounds for assembly and the practice range. the courses had been laid out, the world were booked in, mainly from USA and Canada of They would be spread over several courses, each named after a North American animal, such as Cougar, Bear, Coyote, Bobcat, 15
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4 About Us What we do From Now Strike Archery Ltd is owned and run its inception Now Strike Archery set out by Thomas Mareschall and Adam Jenkins. to revolutionise the way archery is Now Strike has gathered together some of experienced by the public and raise the finest craftsmen in the country to deliver awareness of the importance of the longbow their craft and experience based courses. in our social and political history. We started by Tom has been making longbows for over offering “have a go archery” sessions to 50 years and has made bows for collectors all the public at National Trust properties and over the world. In addition to this he is a historic events around the country. Unusually skilled arrowsmith and qualified teacher. for such a business we took the decision early on to offer the public as authentic an Aside from making bows, Adam is a skilled fletcher and makes beautifully hand crafted experience as we could. To achieve this we included our handmade Yew longbows on arrows using traditional materials and the shooting line with handmade wooden techniques. Adam is an experienced showman and outdoors instructor having arrows and commissioned specially painted taught various activities to different age targets for the public to shoot at. groups and abilities. Whilst offering 1-1 tuition we also included a history lesson and gave shooting demos for Rick Sherwood joined the team in 2015 and the public. In year 1 we attended 4 events. is a skilled blacksmith with over 30 years’ experience, having served his apprenticeship We were so popular that in year 2 we had bookings for 14 events and the number of with a world-renowned master blacksmith. events has grown each year to the point Between them they offer a unique skill set professionally delivered in a friendly relaxed where we now have a subsidiary company environment. All three are skilled archers as that handles all of the events for us. well as knowledgeable historians. Because of such a radically different and high profile presence we were getting requests for 18
longbows to be made on commission and we took the step to offer people the chance to come and learn how to make their own longbow over the course of a weekend. Since then the number and range of our courses has grown hugely and we now run courses on a weekly basis. Longbow Experience Days Our range of courses now includes arrow making for both modern and traditional arrows as well as arrow smithing and blacksmithing. We also offer shooting masterclasses where we train based on the techniques and practices we have uncovered during our academic research and practical experimental archaeology. Arrow Making out to revolutionise the way archery is experienced by the public and raise The Future We have other major projects that at present are in the planning stage and will hopefully see fruition in the summer of 2018. USA trip This is all in addition Approximately a year to the handmade ago we were invited bespoke products that to trade at the we make to order for Traditional Bow Hunters our customers. Expo in Kalamazoo Michigan, USA by the Charities and show’s host - The Great other good works Northern Quiver Company. Although a big Now Strike Archery Ltd jump, our policy is to always say yes to is proud to support a opportunity so we have jumped at the task. We will be taking with us 9 bespoke bows number of charities including Help for Heroes and Essex Air Ambulance. In addition as examples of our work and as many we work closely with the local community traditional arrows as we can carry. We are very excited to be branching out into the groups and we are planning to lead a project this year to make wooden toys for international markets and have received distribution to children who would otherwise fantastic support from the UKTI part of the have nothing. Department of Trade and Industry. 19
FOXHILL BOWMEN BOXING DAY SHOOT 2016 By Helen Watson 58 archers came to Foxhill on a very cold and windy Boxing Day. The targets were all fun Christmas targets painted by our members: young Chris Plant, Robin and even Richard who made the Christmas pudding (out of paper of course). Chris Plant’s Waving Reindeer Gordon in his Christmas Hat We had mince pies, Christmas cake, tea and coffee which all went down a treat. Santa and his Toy Sack Peter McGiffen and Jim Belcher (he must have lost his sleigh) At the end of the shoot we put names in a bag and pulled out three Ladies, three Gents plus all juniors received a selection pack - Ladies – Toria Hough, Kiri Frances and Kath Harrison; Gents – Gus Gramauskas, Mark Oversun & Duncan Jaques and Juniors – Harry Smith, James McGiffen, Alex Mayall & Jacob Crossley. This is me, Helen, This is Mr. Snowman - after a long day. he has been coming I originally had a out on Boxing Day Christmas jumper for the last 29 years on but it got so cold which is almost as long I decided to put my as we have been coat over the top putting this shoot on. and yes my nose has been painted He is still looking good, red (but only with always smiling, we just give him a lipstick) and I have antlers on which wash and brush up had twinkling red every year with maybe lights! Thanks Chris Plant for this pic- a repaint on his scarf ture now everyone and broom! knows I am crazy! Many thanks to everyone who came we are glad you enjoyed it despite the very cold weather and we wish you all good shooting in 2017. Thanks again to everyone who came shot and helped. 20
58 archers came to Foxhill on a very cold and windy Santa and his Toy Sack Many thanks to everyone who came we are glad you enjoyed it despite the very cold weather and we wish you all good shooting in 2017. 17
Photo by Paul Harrison “The Volley @ Rebellion”
Del The Cat’s “Bowyer’s Diary” Heat bending and Heat Treating : by Derek Hutchison (AKA Del the Cat on various archery forums!) These two tools in the bowyer’s armoury have been known about from pre-history are intertwined and can often be done at the same time… Wood becomes pliable at about 100 degrees C and so it can be bent, steam is a good source of heat for doing this as it won’t over heat the wood. I use a wallpaper stripper, these are relatively cheap and will give about an hour of steam. The common mistake is not allowing enough time for the heat to penetrate and not getting the bending form (jig) set up beforehand. The wood needs plenty of time for the heat to penetrate, and the thicker it is the longer it needs. Once it’s out of the steamer it needs to be clamped on the jig very quickly. One way round this is to combine the bending jig and steamer into one device! For bends over a small length I use a 5L plastic bottle with holes cut in so the bow can pass through it and the steam pipe is pushed into a hole in the cap. I wrap insulation over it to keep in the heat. The bow can be arranged to be clamped whilst still in the steam. Once it’s been going for about 35 minutes the clamps can be progressively tightened with the steam is still on. It can all be left until the water runs out and the steamer switches itself off. Bigger steam chests can be made of insulation board, chip board or plastic drainpipe can be used although it will warp a bit at 100C. A handy jig for clamping up bows can be made from a couple of lengths of 4”x2” timber screwed together to form a long right angled channel, you’ll want plenty of G clamps and off-cuts of wood. Once the bow is cold it can be removed, it is sensible to give the bow a day or at least over night to settle down. With all heat bending, there will be a degree of bounce back in the bend, so if you recurve a limb by say 3” on a jig (caul or form are other terms for the same thing) once it’s off the jig it will only have about 2 to 2 ½” of recurve. The technique can also be used to remove twist from a stave once it’s roughed out to approximate dimensions (a raw stave would be too thick for good heat penetration)... It is a really good idea to do a “try out” on a scrap of wood say a 3’ length 1”x 1/2”. If it is clamped at one end and steam applied near that end, you can pull on the other end and feel that nothing is happening, this will continue for ages and you will be thinking “this steam bending doesn’t work”… then all of a sudden you’ll feel it go and start to move. It’s a real revelation. Alternatively you can tie a brick on the end watch for it to start slowly moving down. One of the pictures shows steaming in a recurved tip with the 5L plastic bottle in place and a couple of bricks on the far end of the bow to apply some force. This same try out can be done with dry heat from a hot air gun (a cheapo one from Wickes etc is fine). There are pros and cons to dry heat vs steam and there are times when both are used. Where the hot air gun comes into its own is for heat treating (also called tempering), this is the hardening of the wood by getting it up to over 200 degrees C (approx.) This is done to the belly of the bow, you’ll notice of course that for the wood to get to 200C it must pass through 100C and thus can also be bent during the heat treating process. The important thing here is patience… Much to my chagrin I did a test on a scrap of Hazel “proving” it did nothing, I published this on the Primitive Archer forum and was politely slapped down and told to read the Traditional Bowyers Bible Vol 4 in which Marc St Louis had done a huge amount of work on the subject, bringing it into the public domain. To explain briefly, simply charring the outside of the wood does nothing (that was my mistake), the heat needs to be applied slowly and evenly turning it a golden brown. What it does is to harden the resins in the wood and stiffen it. This is 24
a very useful tool as it can stiffen a bend that was steamed in to prevent it creeping back to the original shape. It can also gain you 10# draw weight on a bow or stiffen weak areas. Words of warning, I consider it an advanced technique so it isn’t a substitute for poor tillering in the first place. It’s your ace in the hole when added to other tricks. Take care not to get the heat onto the back of the bow, making the back harder and stiffer is a recipe for history are disaster. I’ve developed a trick to help speed up heat intertwined and can often be done at the same time… Wood becomes pliable at about 100 treating: you clamp thin slats of wood to the sides of the bow, this prevents the hot air flowing round onto the back, this also directs the heat along the belly and gives a more even heat over a larger area (see pic). To heat treat a limb will take about 45 minutes and involves moving the heat gun along 3 inches or so every 3 to 4 minutes, so you can see some sort of jig to hold the heat gun, a kitchen timer and a cup tea are essential. I’ve ruined so the bow can pass through it and the steam pipe is pushed into a hole in the cap. I wrap a bow by popping indoors and seeing something interesting on TV… 30 minutes later the bow was scorched right through. This final trick is top secret, so shut your eyes as you read Heat Treat Setup this and tell no one. You can refurbish a tired bow which has some set, especially if the tiller isn’t perfect. Theory is that set is caused by the cells of wood on the belly being crushed and deformed and they can’t be repaired… So what if we rasp off the outer layer of damaged cells (having first made a note of where the set was concentrated and thus the tiller was slightly off)? We’ll lose draw weight! BUT heat treating can gain us 10# of draw weight, so we can clamp the bow up straight, heat treat the belly and re-tiller it! Doing this can give us a bow that is better than it was originally. I actually did a test on this using a cheapo Hickory trainer longbow that a friend donated. The bow was 52# @28” with 3” of set. I heat treated the belly whilst clamping it straight, re-tillered it and took a lot of It is a really good idea to do a “try out” on a scrap of wood say a 3’ length 1”x 1/2”. excess weight from the tips. It ended up still at 52# @28” with only 1” of set and the arrow speed went from 141fps to 165fps! Steam bend is also applicable to small models, wooden sculptures etc, so you can even stick a sliver of wood into the kettle and mess about when your other half isn’t watching. WARNING! Don’t steam Yew in the kettle that you use for making tea, the Romans made their suicide drink of choice using Yew! So if you have a tired old self bow patience… Much to my chagrin I did a test on a scrap of Hazel “proving” it did nothing, that you don’t use anymore, or some craft work you are doing have a play, see what you can do. Mind you don’t try it with a laminate, the glue won’t take the heat. Steaming in a recurve 25
Aurora FAC New Year Shoot January 15th 2017 (All photos by Adam Browning) A beautiful day in the woods for set-up on Saturday, forecast fine for next week and then nestling between, the Aurora New Year shoot… yes you guessed it, rain, mud, cold (repeat for the next 6 hours) were the order of the day. Did it dampen our spirits and those of the hardy archers joining us? No, of course not and the 90 stalwarts that came enjoyed a great day shooting, eating and generally having a good time. It was wonderful to see so many of our old friends returning and lots of new faces too – we hope you enjoyed your first taste of Aurora and we have whetted your appetite for more. A 2 x 20 3D course laid with customary deviousness and trickery by Holly, Stew and Paul kept everyone entertained and resulted in just a few curses thrown into the mix for good measure. A couple of notable innovations this year were Stew turning his hand to fashioning some Swedish torches for the glade – a great way to keep warm albeit a bit smoked; and the new deer placement halfway up a tree – messing with people’s heads like that … cracking stuff! As always, thank you to Teresa and the gang in catering served up scrumptious goodies including buffalo burgers and a selection cakes to satisfy the sweetest of tastes; to Louise and Theresa who ensured Admin ran as a well-oiled machine and, of course, massive thanks to every member of Aurora who turned out in force to welcome and look after our guests (and of course dismantle everything at the end) – much appreciated one and all, you are awesome! Thanks to Lord Petre for allowing us to enjoy his wonderful Parsons Spring woodland and last but definitely not least, to Mick and Tom Mitchell for allowing us to trash borrow their Radical Bikes field for the parking … I am delighted to report that it survived remarkably well, which is a bit of a relief… We look forward to welcoming you to our next shoot over the August bank holiday weekend, a 3-day archery extravaganza and hopefully some slightly warmer weather – more details to come soon. In the meantime, be well, shoot straight and see you all somewhere in the woods very soon. Thanks, Martin. 26
up on Saturday, forecast fine for next week and then nestling were the order of the day. Did it dampen our spirits and those of the hardy archers joining us? AFB - M Score Spots AFB - F Score Spots Mark Jones 684 7 Tyler Alex 526 2 David Lovell 672 3 Penny Grew 508 2 Andy Doyle 614 2 Volker Fauvel 612 3 BB - F innovations this year were Stew turning his hand to fashioning some Swedish torches for the Richard Fulton 600 2 Nicky Desforges 604 2 Mick Maxen 594 3 Barrie Cooper 562 5 BB - U16G Paul Ian Lockyer 474 2 Georgina Simmonds 316 1 Keith Cattermole 410 4 BH - M BB - M Scott Jones 788 8 Ian Desforges 756 8 Phil Maher 736 6 Thanks to Lord Petre for allowing us to enjoy his wonderful Parsons Spring woodland and last but Mark Stockton 756 6 Stephen Barker 706 5 Sean Quelch 748 8 Terry Stevens 684 3 BH - F We look forward to welcoming you to our next shoot over the August bank holiday weekend, Jason Ellis 680 6 Olivia Morgan 630 4 day archery extravaganza and hopefully some slightly warmer weather Iain Morris 662 2 Sue Birch 598 4 Arron Patterson 652 2 John Marshall 630 3 BH - U12B Aadin Holness 558 2 Sebastian Stockton 700 6 Sean Morris 468 2 Charlie Cook 454 2 CL - M Thomas Bithell 376 0 Andrew Knott 734 5 FS - M HT - M (continued) Doug Shaw 718 10 Kevin Pyle 556 2 John Hillsden 644 1 Michael Bundy 554 2 Steve Munnings 632 3 Steve Jordan 548 3 Michael Ashington 514 1 HT - M Stefan Purdy 496 1 Roger Massey 774 9 Conrad Cook 450 2 Steve Dixon 662 4 Andy Williams 444 1 Colin Lightfoot 646 3 Elric McCloud 430 3 Bob Moore 638 2 Shaun Beckham 422 3 Ben Hearne 634 4 Terry Chittock 420 1 Cliff Meyer 616 4 Roger De-Buriatte 252 1 27
LB - M Score Spots HT - F Score Spots Kevin Button 636 2 Alayne d'Attoma 544 1 Rob Slatem 624 4 Jan Beckham 496 1 Alain Jacq 600 0 Clair Parfit 422 0 Lawrence Wiles 542 0 Patricia Seaman 410 1 Peter Warner 516 5 Samantha De-Buriatte 330 0 John Lowe 512 2 Beverley Cooke 318 0 Martin Sutton 498 4 Roger Grew 496 1 LB - F Graham Radford 478 0 Monique Purdy 514 0 James Wilby 462 2 Catherine Chandler 374 0 Phil Stratton 462 0 Anita Sutton 250 0 Philip Faithfull 460 0 Gary Powell 432 4 Dan Simmonds 394 1 Ian Stanley 380 2 PV - F Karen Freeman 520 3 UL - M Mark Wiseman 890 17 Michael Lee 852 13 David Stone 800 8 Steve Dickenson 766 9 Nick Hearn 746 4 Graham Birch 696 4 UL - F Sue Dickenson 750 6 XB - M Colin Rose 690 4 Don’t forget our next shoot, August Bank Holiday weekend 3-day archery extravaganza! 28
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PROGRESS ON THE AZINCOURT The thumb details, nail and creases added and 600 ARCHERS TRIBUTE the whole hand has been tidied up. Work has recommenced on the archer after the festive period and various distractions of other necessary work; the emphasis being on refining some of the detail before starting on the buckler - which will require an addition of wood to that area. It was planned as I don't always build the whole thing up at one go, it gives better access and can help with getting at some of the surrounding detail. Especially difficult is the undercarving because the hand is clawed to hold the arrow and held close to the cheek. Tools have had to be adapted to do this together with the technique of carving whilst standing on your head. The Drawing Hand The drawing hand - with the tensions on the tendons and veins - have been further The Belt and Purse refined, which is important because this area is a focus at eye level for the viewer. The belt and purse was previously roughly set in and now has been the time to further refine this area. The hang of the belt is important, the heaviest factor being the sword, the action of raising up to draw to loose the arrow pulls up the purse. That has now been organised so that the weight is properly represented. 38
same way we take pride in the knot of our necktie. The hanging end will be undercut so that it appears to be hanging free. These refinements are another stage leading to the final detail and we will carve it a dozen times before we do the final cut. The trick is to organise every stage so that they run in parallel - that way we do not lose sight of the work as a whole and it keeps a constant balance. The deep loops are now cut into the purse where with the technique of carving whilst standing it loops over the belt. The buckle is organised in the medieval style, the knot appears to be a fashion thing in the To keep up with all my news about woodcarving, Masterclasses and the Azincourt Tribute, you can visit the News page of my website - www.ohboyd.com - this will The belt and purse was previously roughly also enable you to follow the beginning set in and now has been the time to of the story of the Azincourt 600 Tribute in case you missed it previously in FAN UK magazine. The hang of the belt is important, All requests for Commissions, appearances, of raising up to draw to loose the arrow Masterclasses or talks should be directed to my pulls up the purse. That has now been Agent: Tina Gayle, on [email protected] so that the weight is properly ~ By O H Boyd ~ 39
Sunday January 8th 2017 2 X 18 Big Game 1 Arrow Shoot By Mel Horne. Oakwood Bowmen would like to Thank all our Guests and Members for making the day another success. Richard Narey and his team laid an Excellent Course with a few Cheeky Numbers thrown into the mix … \"Darn that Satanic White Goat\"! Big Thanks to the Catering Department, always a good Menu and fine selection of Cakes - you kept us topped up nicely all day. The next Oakwood Shoot will be on Sunday The 5th of February with the usual 10am start. To book in please use either website at oakwoodbowmen.co.uk or email [email protected] . We look forward to seeing you soon … Happy Shooting! Men’s BB Women’s BB Richard Narey 856 Jos Costello 428 Martin Joy 800 Rachael Baynes 184 Charlie Cook 652 Conrad Cook 650 Junior Boys U16 BB Stewart Beckham 648 Alfie Foster 424 Bob Piper 632 Ian Martin 532 Junior Girls U16 BB David Baynes 348 Katie Costello 318 Men’s AFB Mark Jones 784 Men’s AFB continued... Keith Cattermole 634 RJ Mitchell 452 Adam Browning 604 Steve Gaskin 316 Andrew Lehane 576 Neil Coote 308 Mark Oakes 556 Russell Mutton 526 Rich Davies 482 40
Women’s AFB Theresa Hearne 404 Men’s FS Mitch Hill 748 Steven List 644 Marc Schwartz 436 Women’s FS Lisa Lord 624 Nadine McFedries 568 Men’s BH Dave Sexton 764 Women’s BH Men’s LB John Foster 680 Sue Birch 732 Mark Allen 728 Dave Arnold 672 Kevin Button 656 Oakwood Bowmen would like to Thank all our Guests and Members for making the day Junior Girls U16 BH Colin Rose 648 another success. Richard Narey and his team laid an Excellent Course with a few Rachel Costello 352 Alfie Allen 642 Anthony Garbutt 568 Men’s HT Bob Keeley 444 Big Thanks to the Catering Department, always a good Menu and fine selection Ben Hearne 656 Kevin Cook 604 Women’s LB Chris Osborne 566 Olivia Morgan 452 Mark Service 564 Del Newman 520 Men’s UL Andrew Linley 500 Lofty Rooke 846 Elric McCloud 500 Graham Birch 804 Richard Watson 500 Matthew Cook 492 Men’s PV Shaun Beckham 432 Steve Ward 628 Bob Bassett 288 Men’s CL Women’s HT Duane Williams 812 Linda Lehane 528 Peter Tricker 772 Jan Beckham 488 Clair Parfitt 382 Sarah Metcalfe 344 Anne Fincham 324 41
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English War Bows New Zealand Roving Marks shoot 15-1-2017 With another beautiful Hawke’s Bay summer’s day in the offing we set off for our annual Christmas Down Under shoot - this year it was a rove. The climate in Hawkes Bay is somewhat similar to that of N.E. Italy with long dry summers and the river landscapes are also reminiscent of that part of the world. The dykes (or stop banks as they’re known here) which protect the surrounding farm land from flooding are set back about one hundred metres from the actual rivers themselves. This creates a many kilometres long strip which is ideal for archery as we can shoot into the banks at short range or parallel to them when we practice our long-range shooting. There were five of us present on this rove. We were using bows which ranged from a 40lb Kassai Bear horse bow to my 125lb yew war bow. The Kassai Bear was being used by Craig who had never handled a bow, so for him it was a completely new experience. We’ve found it to be an excellent beginners’ bow which can be drawn to 32”. The view from the bank 46
Wayne and Julian were using laminate war bows around the 100lb mark and my son, Ethan, was using a 90lb yew bow. The arrows we used had heads made from 10mm mild steel tube. The end of the pipe is squeezed shut which flattens it so that it resembled a stone mason’s chisel. This type of head has less chance of burying itself in the ground and if we do lose an arrow the loss of a cheap head is less keenly felt than when an expensive hand-forged bodkin goes west. The shoot is what we call a random rove as there are no set targets or marks. The first mark is decided by group consensus and then the winner of that mark chooses the next and so on. Sometimes there is a group debate if the chosen mark is going to result in the possible loss of several arrows. Part of the fun of a random rove is trying to describe what the next mark consists of. I selected a one which I called ‘the face in the dirt’ (that’s what it looked like to me). It took a wee while for the lads to identify what I was pointing to but once everyone was on board we shot off our six arrows each from about 30 yards distance. I thought I’d won the mark with an arrow which just grazed the left ‘cheek’ but Ethan took the honours with his last arrow which socked it straight in its ‘chin’. (or stop banks as they’re known here) which protect the surrounding farm land from flooding are set back about one hundred metres from the actual rivers themselves. The ‘face in the dirt’ circled in red We walked on shooting at a variety of marks. At one point a herd of cattle had to be shooed away to make sure they were not going to be in any danger as we were coming up to our regular weekly practise area. This is about twenty minutes walk from where we park our cars and is seldom visited by anyone except the odd hunter. However, on this shoot it had taken about an hour and a half to reach there. There are some large trees which supply some much needed shade on a hot sunny day - otherwise the area is clear, which allows for good long range shooting. By the time we got there Craig had already picked up the rudiments of how to shoot and with a bit more instruction he was loosing arrows at the mark 150 yards away. 47
A strong cross wind had sprung up by this time and his first couple of arrows were blown well to the right of the mark. I told him to shoot to the left of the post which was the mark and sure enough his arrows drifted to land very close to the desired spot, close enough in fact to win the mark. Not a bad start for the newbie. Craig winning the long range mark This was also our turn around spot and we headed back to a couple of marks which we’d spotted on the walk out. One was a shot across a pond. Ethan loosed an arrow from a tree using the horse bow. The arrow ricocheted off a branch straight into the pond. 48
Fortunately, the pond is quite shallow and the water was only up to his knees when he waded in to retrieve it. The last mark was a piece of heavy duty steel cable which was buried in the bank with a bit sticking out forming a loop about a foot in diameter. The objective was to put the arrows cleanly through the loop from about forty yards away. Lining up on the loop Most of the shots were maddeningly close and we didn’t see any go cleanly through the loop. However, when we went to retrieve the arrows we could see three arrows had in fact gone through the base of the loop which was hidden in the long grass. That was the last mark of the day. After a short walk to our vehicles it was off home to look at the photos we had taken over a lunch of sandwiches and cold beer. By Keith of English War Bows, New Zealand. You can keep up with us on Facebook as well at: https://www.facebook.com/englishwarbows.nz 49
NEW FEATURE: \"ARCHERY ON THE BIG SCREEN\" Throughout the decades, Hollywood has had more than just a passing interest in archery. The studios have churned out hundreds of films (some good and some quite forgettable) featuring bows and arrows in some form or other. In the future issues of FAN UK we will be reminding you of some of these, while also dredging up some you will have definitely never heard of! \"ARCHERY ON THE BIG SCREEN\" No. 3 \"THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD \" (Warner Bros. 1938) Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia DeHavilland, Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone Director: Michael Curtiz No history of 'archery on the big screen' would be complete without this one. Of all the Robin Hood pictures that were made, this one was probably the most memorable. The casting was superb, the director Curtiz at his best, the musical score was lively and inventive and the Technicolor print was simply glorious. This was Flynn's most popular film and was the top money-spinner of the year. With its simple but strongly delineated message that good triumphs over evil, its rousing story, and a rumbustious finale in which a polished Basil Rathbone (Guy of Gisbourne) perishes on the edge of Robin's sword, the film has enough high spots to furnish half a dozen adventure yarns. Other delights included Erich Wolfgang Kornbold's inventive score, the use of the new three colour Technicolor which immeasurably enhanced the majestic look of the film as well as the magnificent sets. The Cast: Robin Hood ~ Errol Flynn Maid Marion ~ Olivia DeHavilland Guy of Gisbourne ~ Basil Rathbone Prince John ~ Claude Rains Friar Tuck ~ Eugene Pallette Little John ~ Alan Hale King Richard ~ Ian Hunter The film picked up 2 Oscars for set design and musical score. By David 1066, Delamere Field Archers, Cheshire. 50
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