Whiteleaf Bowmen Longbow Open Tournament 2107
My worst fears were not realised. A couple of weeks before the shoot, I was wondering if we would have enough entries to make it all worthwhile. A late spate of entries and a renewed interest by club members ensured we had a presentable field of about 30.
The Gods were kind and we had almost perfect weather; so nobody could use that as an excuse… As always I am amazed and slightly humbled by the enthusiasm of some of our members. Tony (Mrs. Mop) White had, on the Friday, terrorised the clubhouse floor, and it positively shone. Saturday morning saw a stalwart gang clearing the newly cut grass from the field. A thankless and back-breaking task. Thanks in particular, to Gary, who organised it and to the Dickson’s who rocked up with the other club members. 8.00am on the day saw Dave and Mark digging out the bosses and setting out the field under the watchful eye of yours truly; not that they needed watching over. BBQ Will arrived with all his food and two fantastic helpers. Within a few minutes, we were all distracted by the mouth watering smell of bacon being cooked. On course, some of us had to stop and check Will was doing it properly. Needless to say, he was. By this time, a veritable crowd of Whiteleafers (Good word?) were helping out and I was hard pushed to find them all jobs, so I just left them all to it. (It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.)
Guest entrants started to arrive, as usual, about an hour and a half early, so we were all glad of the 8.00am start. Insults and abuse was exchanged and the day looked as if it might turn out ok after all.
I had been asked if some juniors/beginners might be able to join in. We had three from the club, all of which were doubtful as to their ability to reach 60 yards. As the formal shoot was a Double National, and no alternative rounds advertised, we couldn’t, in all fairness, include them in the shoot. However, we decided to include them on the field, along with the rest of us, but shooting Double Short Junior National, (say that with a mouthful of cream-cracker) and not include them in the awards. Everybody seemed happy with that, so a separate boss was set up at 30 yards for them.
We heard all the usual excuses for the dubious quality of shooting but the best to date was from Mike Tappin, who said the ground must be sinking under the weight of his wheelchair because he kept shooting low……
The essential sherry break after 4 dozen restored relative sanity to the proceedings and in happy bonhomie the shoot continued. Lunch BBQ was Will’s teams second moment of glory, well deserved it was too. By 4.00 we were finishing off the shooting.
Carol and her sister swung into action with a fantastic spread for tea. More than even we could eat. While James and I, under the eagle eye of John, were sorting out the results, the raffle team were doing their thing outside. In the midst of all this activity, the field was being taken down and put away. I’m sure I didn’t take too long entering the scores, but when I stuck my head over the parapet, all the clearing up had been done. I have no idea who was responsible, so all I can do is send out a heartfelt THANKS to everybody involved.
The awards were distributed and I got the impression the day was enjoyed by all. I know I did, despite my earlier trepidation.
Well done to you lot. You know who you are so I won’t try and name names.
Now we’ve got to do it all again on May 14th.!!!