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History
There being no field archery in Cheshire in the
early seventies, it was necessary to introduce it, first by attempting it
as an offshoot activity of a target archery club in Crewe, then as a full
blown club of its own. A ground was quickly found, on the Adams
farm at Audley. A few club members were gathered and open shoots were
started, at first a bit over ambitious with four in the first year, which
proved too difficult and was quickly cut to two, which it has been ever
since. The club ran very successfully at this ground for several years and
the club’s reputation for putting on good shoots grew.
The first club championship shoot, 1976. The third
on the left, Mark Preston, has been target archery champion of Surrey for several years in and is still shooting
regularly.
3-d targets were introduced, home made from wire
and papier mache at first and eventually the club was successful in staging
what was believed to be the first full 3-d shoot in Britain. This was
before the introduction of Mackenzie 3-d targets.
In 1982, Black Bank Wood at Delamere became
available; this had been used for the National champs some years before,
and was deemed to be a vast improvement on the existing ground which,
although very pretty, was small, cramped and full of banks and streams that
made target placement arduous and tricky. Black Bank was far bigger,
flatter, easy to park near and was accessible and not subject to local
vandals. The move was made. The previous ground was handed over to the
newly formed Lyme Valley Archers, who have used it very successfully for
many years.
The move to Black Bank proved a great success,
many successful shoots were held there and it was popular among visiting
archers (except for one who said he wouldn’t come again since he didn’t
like the rules of shooting!)
A bigger caravan was acquired, then another,
fitted out for catering, and this gave the club better shoot facilities
than many other clubs. It was possible, because of the lack of local
vandals, to lay out a permanent shooting course for members and the ground
was open at all times. Parking
was possible very close to the wood and this also made it popular with
visitors- there was no mile- long hike to the course.
The club was now drawing its membership from a far
wider area, virtually the whole of Cheshire.
Things went on happily here for many years.
Disaster came when Greenalls – to whom we were
paying only £60 a year rent- decided to auction off the ground and it was
sold to a gentleman who wanted to build a huge chicken farm. A third of a
beautiful wood was cut down, leaving us with enough still for 40 targets,
but an awful smell and a gap in the middle. Very luckily, another wood was
found, only a mile away, and it was a better wood in that the ground was
more undulating than Black Bank wood and more interesting and challenging
to shoot.
A move was made quickly and hopefully the success
the club has had at Thieves Moss will continue. The membership has expanded
hugely. The thinning of the wood should make it far more pleasant to shoot
in and easier to lay interesting courses.
Mike Hamlett-Wood
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