Author Archives: 2020

Zombie Apocalypse: Rise of the Archer

(Or, five reasons why learning archery will help you survive the zombie apocalypse)

The zombies are coming! You’ve stocked up on supplies, you’ve brought the dogs inside and you’re frantically hammering sheets of Homebase MDF over the windows. (Zombie arm through glass = very possible and extremely unpleasant. Zombie arm through MDF = even worse… but hopefully less likely). So, when the dreaded moment arrives and hordes of undead are hammering on your door, what are you gonna do?

 

Got a gun in your bedside cabinet? Hopefully not, or ‘Her Majesty’s finest’ might want a word with you. You might have a few kitchen knives, but that means getting awfully close to those chomping teeth. What can you start practicing with right now and keep in your flat in South London (or y’know wherever you are. You don’t necessarily need to be in South London)? What’s gonna be the best damn option to get rid of the undead masses?

 

Oh yes, the humble – sorry, make that ‘reliable’ – bow and arrow

 

Used as a weapon for centuries, the bow and arrow is one ancient invention that has proven itself to countless civilisations. It may not have the gadgets and all the bells and whistles that comes with the latest firearms, but this reliable weapon has advantages of its own.

 

1) Less is more

 

So it doesn’t feature the latest technology, but simplicity is also its advantage – and yours when them zombie beasties come snapping at your heels. Easy to make (well, relatively…. try making a gun out of a tree), easy to maintain and easy to understand, the modern bow and arrow is one weapon where beginners luck or natural talent isn’t always required.

 

2) Silent but deadly

 

The bow and arrow is naturally quiet. No need for bulky –and often inaccurately named – silencers, the bow makes little noise as it projects the arrow through the air with barely a whisper. Perfect for silently disposing of hordes of zombies, or secretly hunting for food.

 

3) Ready, set, go

 

The bow may not be as light as some pistols, but it’s easy to throw on your back and great for a quick get-away. The bow and arrow is also perfect for quick loading – no need for rounds of bullets, just grab an arrow and shoot some zombies as fast as you can (see Lars Anderson). When the zombies are dead, just go and get your arrows back. You might want to clean them after this bit.

 

4) Waste not, want not

 

Not only are arrows reusable, but they’re also versatile. You can use arrows with multiple types of bow. OK ,so they may not be perfectly tuned – but they’ll still fly,  whereas guns will only fire with specific  bullets.. As well as this, the durability of bows, and the possibility of reusing arrows, means that your weapon may just  see you through the whole apocalypse.

 

5) Making themselves useful

 

Guns are guns. But bow and arrows can do a lot more than just kill. Arrows can be set on fire to signal for help. If your bow is wooden you might want to take care during this step:  a flaming bow and arrow makes a great beacon (and ready fired BBQ for the zombies to toast you on).

 

Bows and arrows can be used to pass messages across distances (don’t try this in the club, mind) and they can even be used for – ahem – short-range encounters with the living dead. The short-range encounter (i.e. beating to death) is also the favoured technique when being mugged whilst carrying a ‘taken-down’ take down bow – “just give me 10 minutes and I’ll be absolutely lethal”. With all that functionality at your disposal you can truly say that the bow and arrow is versatile. Just what you need when the dead rise…..

 

Have a go…

 

Still not sure the bow and arrow is your weapon of choice? Come down to 2020 Archery to try it for size (1.5 hr Have a Go’s are only £25). We promise to keep the building zombie free, although some of the hungover faces at the Saturday morning shoot may momentarily persuade you otherwise.

https://www.2020archery.co.uk/lessons-courses/have-a-go

 

Flickr_Eddy Berthier

 

Meet the Instructors : Diccon

Tell us a little bit about yourself

Apart from the archery I am also a luthier (Guitar builder) which means that I build and repair Diccon 3custom guitars in a south London workshop. I play bass guitar and love old heavy rock and metal. I’ve been playing in bands since I was a teenager and am lucky enough to have played some great shows and travelled to some amazing places over the years. Touring is not as glamorous as it sounds. It’s all waiting around in airports and not getting any sleep in dodgy hotels. The next bit of waiting I have to do is outside the Japanese embassy to get my visa as we’re playing a show in Tokyo in a few weeks.

I also have a keen interest in ancient history and am nuts over classic cars. I have a 1956 Sunbeam that needs a small lottery win to get it back on the road.

 

How long have you been shooting for?

Since September 2011

 

How did you get started with 2020 Archery?

In 2011 I found myself without a band and therefore at a loose end on weekends. I’d always wanted to do archery, but erroneously thought that all the clubs would be outdoors and therefore outside London. On a whim I googled ‘archery in London’ and 2020 came up. I was amazed to find an indoor club in central London and when I looked at the address and saw that the street was called ‘Druid’ I thought ” Ah, it’s a sign ! ”

I did a beginners course and then joined as a member After a few months an opportunity came up to help out with some of the events that we do. I needed some extra work at the time and so took the plunge…

 

What’s the best part of the job?

When a beginner on a course starts to do well and really surprise themselves with their shooting. Their face is a real picture and you can see their enthusiasm and confidence increase ten-fold. There’s no substitute for that. Did I also mention going to the pub for a proper session after the Saturday shoot ?

 

What’s the worst part of the job?

Truly ? There is no ‘worst’ part about the job for me at all. I really mean that. It’s an unusual and quirky job to have which suits me well and it’s also help me to develop as a person ( for the better, I hope ! )

 

What’s the one bit of advice you’d give to someone thinking of taking up archery?

Just relax and enjoy yourself as you take part in an ancient skill that is part of our DNA. If you have interest and enjoyment then you’re halfway there…

 

What’s your best archery story?

One day I went in to have a shoot, but my antiquated old bow was shooting a bit weird and I had to re-set my site to a position that I never have it in and everything just felt a bit odd about it. Then, all of a sudden, I Robin-Hooded an arrow. Joy and amazement !

After posing for the obligatory pics I pulled the arrows out and walked back to the line to have my initial feeling of elation replaced by face-palming embarrassment as I discovered that I’d put my bow limbs on upside down. Go figure…

 

Diccon montage

5 Tips for Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse

October 31st is drawing near – and if the undead are, inconveniently, to rise, it’s a fair bet that it’ll be at Halloween (if nothing else for blending in purposes). You don’t have much time to prepare. And preparation, in the event of zombie attack, is key. Better read this fast. Here is 2020 Archery’s five-step-guide to surviving the imminent Zombie Apocalypse.

 

You’re going to need a source of food and water, weaponry, a place to hide, transportation, a bunch of kooky ‘how-did-I-end-up-with-this-bunch-of-feckin’-weirdos’ bunch of weirdos to surround yourself with (these are called ‘survivors’ and you want to be one of them) and, finally, weaponry.

 

So, how can you maximize your chances of survival?

 

First of all, you need to sober up and accept the situation. Then, you can start to consider:

 

 

1. Food and Water

 

Start stashing food and drink away now.  Find a secure place – basements tend to be popular for Apocalypse hoards, but bear in mind they’ve only got one exit, and, if you’ve seen your movies, you’ll know that ain’t good. Still, needs must and all that. Don’t stock up on Druid Street Market fare unless you want hordes of hipster zombies kicking your door down in search of civilization’s last surviving vegetarian Scotch egg.

 

If you haven’t pre-prepared your stash of survival food, come Apocalypse Day you’ll probably want to head for the outskirts of cities (see point 3). The main supply depots for supermarkets are going to be a better bet in terms of minimizing encounters with the marauding undead than heading for Greenwich Waitrose. Mind you, negotiating Greenwich Waitrose on a Saturday morning is probably good preparation for dealing with zombies.

 

Tip: Don’t burn the straw bosses for a barbecue. They smoke like bastards.

 

Boss fire

 

Figure 1. Bonfire of the (knackered old) straw bosses.

 

2. Weapons

 

In order not to get eaten while stocking up on supplies (it doesn’t count as ‘looting’ once it’s survival.*) you’re going to need a weapon. You can probably guess which way we swing with this one. Silent, deadly, unlimited ammo – no, we aren’t talking about Saturday afternoon post-pub flatulence. Archery, dammit. Get your archery lessons started now, kids. You won’t regret it when the undead rabble starts snapping at your wing-mirrors.  But which type of bow?

 

Don’t bother looting our bow stores – we will have already hidden the stash as part of our 2020 Archery instructor zombie apocalypse privilege system**. If you really can’t find an archery shop to loot you’ll need to read our later blog post on ‘How to make a longbow in the event of a zombie apocalypse’. In essence this blog post will advise you to make it quickly – somewhere out of sight. Or the more cack-handed amongst you can, instead, have a go at this simpler emergency zombie-killer, fashioned from little more than a PCV pipe. Either way, we recommend starting archery now so you already have a bow that you’re familiar with. Remember Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Practice. Or something.

 

Book a lesson here at http://www.2020archery.co.uk/lessons-courses

 

3. Transport

 

Depending on what type of undead horde you’re working with, it’s usually a good plan to get out of town. If it’s the “Hell is full – now they walk the Earth” kind of zombie, you’ll definitely want to avoid old civil war battle sites  and, say, Indian burial grounds (not that the Home Counties are overflowing with these, but you know what we mean – probably stay away from Hadrian’s wall). There are probably still going to be less bodies out in the sticks.

 

If it’s your standard Hollywood, “Oh, blast. The damned infected monkey’s escaped from the lab,” type of outbreak – well, that’s going to infect the living, and you definitely want to be out of the city.

 

So, once you’ve shot your way out of London (you’ll need a nice clean headshot for each zombie – seriously, get some practice in) you’re going to need to grab the wheel of a truck in order to get outta town.  Choose well – you want space for your beer – I mean, water – tanks, and enough room to seat your group of quirky cannon-fodder (sorry survivors). Allow some space for bows and arrows – a couple of take down recurves, maybe a compound, and a horsebow if you want to go trad.

 

 

4. Hiding Out

 

 

Find someplace safe to hide out the apocalypse – ideally, somewhere with a good vantage point from which to shoot, should you need to defend the old palace. And – naturally – find a place with a bit of space to practice your archery. The more practice you can get, the better your chances with the undead – this is also true for archery competitions, though that’s probably not top of your priority list right now.  Take your archery books along – the evenings will be long. If, by some unlikely miracle, you can still get WiFi, you can get some more archery inspiration from online folks like Infinite Curve, Grizzly Jim, and our old mates Ageing Archer and Twitchy Archer.

 

Don’t let training slip – we’ve all experienced the drop in form after even a two-week holiday. The more you practice, the better you’ll get. Honestly. There’s a reason why regular archery practice used to be legally enforced. (See – How to improve my archery – earlier blog post).

 

Implement classic battle tactics – look for high ground with a good view. If there is an undead sortie, make sure you aim for the head. Nice clean headshots should stop them in their tracks. Arse shots will just annoy them.*** Moving targets are tricky – aim slightly lower than your natural inclination, stay calm and try and judge the pace at which they’re moving. It will, obviously, be helpful if the zombies’ heads can be picked out against a backdrop of red, blue, black and white concentric circles to help you focus. Try and judge it fairly quickly, though. And – as ever – make sure you have a good release. Think smooth draw, give yourself a bit of time to aim, and get that back tension going. A few lessons pre-apocalypse can do wonders here.

 

Zombies

 

Figure 2. A zombie target. Very convenient.

 

 

Once you have a pile of undead don’t forget to collect your arrows. You might want to clean them at this point.

 

Hone your combat archery skills (yes, we really said COMBAT ARCHERY) at one of our Archery Tag sessions: http://www.2020archery.co.uk/archery-tag

 

 

5. Repopulating the planet

 

Hopefully, the worst hasn’t happened and you’ve managed to siphon enough gas along the way to find yourself a fabulous mountain hide-out. You’re managing to refill your fresh water supplies, you’ve got some seeds planted, and a bit of fresh meat and fish available for bow-hunting. You’re keeping your head down in the hills (and keeping up your target practice). All this is looking pretty good and, eventually, you’re going to start seeing fewer zombies. Now is the time to start repopulating planet Earth. Choose your quirky band of cannon-fodder wisely. That’s all we’re saying on this one.

 

Left it to the last minute? Join one of our intensive two-day weekend archery courses: https://www.2020archery.co.uk/lessons-courses/saturday-beginners-course

 

*Well ok maybe it does but there’s probably some prohibition in London against encouraging looting that we don’t want to fall foul of. Croydon. That’s all we’re saying.

 

** you’d be surprised by how many of our instructors took up archery in case of zombie apocalypse. Honestly.

 

*** and you do not want an annoyed zombie on your case.

 

Now where's that third arrow?

Archery for the Average by Corrinne

 

“So, how long have you been shooting?” asks the course member, eyeing my distinctly un-grouped triumvirate of arrows. “Well, about three months …” I begin, to which she responds with an understanding nod of the head. “And, uh, a year.”

 

The course member blinks. Tumbleweed rolls, accusingly, along the shooting line.

 

It’s fair to say I’ll never be the best in t’club –my scores are currently drifting lazily about in the lower quarter of the Traditional scoreboard, like leaves in a late September breeze. That doesn’t bother me – I’m only out to compete against myself. What does bother me is that Myself sometimes plays dirty. Like a lot of people, I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to shooting. But of late, I’ve developed a better awareness of when my own mind is getting in the way of a good shot. How so? Oh, let me count the ways:

 

Fighting with the bow

Yeah, I initially did that classic newbie thing of overbowing myself. Partly ‘cause I got cocky and told myself that being a 5-foot-1 woman was no barrier to shooting what the big boys shoot. Pfffft. Your bow should feel like an extension of your body, not a demon determined to take you down. If your arms hurt, your draw is jerky, and you feel like the bloody thing is shooting you, not the other way round – go down a few pounds. 30 lb is my limit.

 

Lack of concentra … ooh, helicopter!

It’s really easy for me to drift off somewhere in between nocking and releasing (as the nurse said to the vicar … honestly, who came up with these terms?). Gotta keep focus on that target all the way through. Harder than it sounds for someone like me, but it makes a big difference. Tune out the chatter – other peoples and your own bloody head’s.

 

Rushing, rushing

There’ll be time for everyone to shoot their ends (and there’s that vicar again). I always have to guard against rushing, doing that overly-self-conscious thing of wanting to get myself out of the way so my target partner – a better archer, in my head, regardless of who they are – can shoot. Don’t rush. Give yourself permission to be there.

 

Going instinctive too soon

No, I am not Byron Ferguson, nor was meant to be. I stopped consciously counting out my sequence, and damn, I sucked for a while. Going back to that stance-nock-set-hands-etc. malarkey has made a big difference.

 

Grumbling

Yeah, you missed. So what? During a round, try not to have an emotional response to any shot, good or bad. Getting annoyed at a bad shot will have a knock-on effect on your next.  Conversely, getting too cocky at a good couple of shots will only lead to Third Arrow Syndrome, and we all know how annoying that is. Do your celebrating in the brewery afterwards.  Quietly, preferably.

 

Now where's that third arrow?

Now where’s that third arrow?

 

Now, where could that third arrow be?

That’s it for now. Just a few more things, afore I go:

 

  • It’s meant to be fun. Try to find that balance between performing at your best, and not letting your hobby become another source of stress.

 

  • Get a mate to film you. It does help. No, you don’t look like a twat. This video someone took of me helped me see I was yanking that string like an old-fashioned bog chain: https://vine.co/v/OFY1AvdD3hM

 

  • I didn’t get better without ongoing support from the coaches.  If you can’t figure out where you’re going wrong, do ask them for advice.

 

Time for my evening beverage. Happy shooting, one and all.

Important Information on Shooting at Downside Fisher – we must not assemble bows outside of area booked for archery!‏

Dear Club Members

 

This is just to let everyone know that Downside have specifically requested that no-one puts together bows outside of the area we’ve booked for archery and that we do not enter the room booked for archery until the session start time.

 

Our booked entry time on a Saturday is 12 o’clock and on a Sunday it’s 2pm. We also need to be out promptly for the session end time – if everyone can arrive on time to get set-up together & then stay to help pack-away we can maximise the shooting time in the middle!

 

Downside have had a safety evaluation done for all activities and the assembling of bows outside of the area booked for archery has been flagged as something that CANNOT be continued.

 

Please help us to stay at Downside! It’s a great location for us and the facilities are very well suited to our club. The more of our club members that are pleasant and respectful to Downside staff and their building safety policies the better our chances of continuing to grow and thrive as a club at this super convenient spot.

 

We really do appreciate the support of our club members as we all navigate our way forward.

 

Best wishes, The 2020 Archery Team

 

P.S. However annoying these new rules may be please don’t be angry toward the staff at Downside! We want to be the friendliest, nicest people that use the centre and we’re very appreciative that we’ve built up many special arrangements for using the centre over the years.

Important Information on Shooting at Downside Fisher – we must not assemble bows outside of area booked for archery!‏

Dear Club Members

 

This is just to let everyone know that Downside have specifically requested that no-one puts together bows outside of the area we’ve booked for archery and that we do not enter the room booked for archery until the session start time.

 

Our booked entry time on a Saturday is 12 o’clock and on a Sunday it’s 2pm. We also need to be out promptly for the session end time – if everyone can arrive on time to get set-up together & then stay to help pack-away we can maximise the shooting time in the middle!

 

Downside have had a safety evaluation done for all activities and the assembling of bows outside of the area booked for archery has been flagged as something that CANNOT be continued.

 

Please help us to stay at Downside! It’s a great location for us and the facilities are very well suited to our club. The more of our club members that are pleasant and respectful to Downside staff and their building safety policies the better our chances of continuing to grow and thrive as a club at this super convenient spot.

 

We really do appreciate the support of our club members as we all navigate our way forward.

 

Best wishes, The 2020 Archery Team

 

P.S. However annoying these new rules may be please don’t be angry toward the staff at Downside! We want to be the friendliest, nicest people that use the centre and we’re very appreciative that we’ve built up many special arrangements for using the centre over the years.

Meet the Instructors – Roger Huggins

We thought we’d start a new ‘occasional series’ of blog posts getting to know a bit about the 2020 Archery instructors. We asked a few general questions and we also asked them what advice they’d most like to pass onto beginners and club members. We’re starting with Roger Huggins who leads at the club on a Monday evening and Sunday afternoon. He also does loads of our great archery corporate events / stag do’s and he is a regular assisting at Junior club on a Saturday morning. Over to the questions….

 

How long have you been shooting for?

Roger with longbow

I’ve been shooting since the year 2000, although I stopped shooting for about 7 years in the middle of that. So about 7 years in total.

 

How did you get started shooting?

 

When I started university I had the opportunity to try lots of different sports but archery was the one that I came back to again and again.

 

What do you remember feeling stuck with when you first got started / what was the hardest thing?

 

It’s hard to remember that far back, but my release has always caused me problems. It causes lots of people problems because problems with release are usually caused by other problems so focusing on it in isolation is usually not that helpful. It’s not until I focused on my posture and form that I’ve become happy with my release.

 

When did you get into coaching?

 

I started coaching about 3 years ago and haven’t thought about much else since!

 

What’s the best part of the job?

 

The best part is when an archer looks effortless when shooting. As a coach you can’t help but notice when, and usually why, someone is struggling. But when an archer just flows through their shot and they’re in perfect harmony it’s a beautiful thing to behold and an even better thing to feel. I always want people to feel that feeling and when you see someone achieve it it’s wonderfully satisfying.

 

What’s the one bit of advice you’d give to someone thinking of taking up archery?

 

When you go on a course make use of the instructor and ask lots of questions. That’s their job and they will most likely enjoy talking about archery as much as me! You and the rest of the class will get more out of the course this way and you will all come out of it with a better understanding and skill level.

 

Anything else you’d like to share?

 

Have fun! Find what you enjoy most about archery and do that. Try and shoot different types of bows, different rounds, different disciplines and try a competition or two. If you mostly like chatting to your friends at the club make sure you go to  the same sessions as your friends.

 

And if you get stuck ask for advice, either from a coach of from an experienced archer, most clubs are pretty sociable and help is usually easier to find than you might think.

Club Newsletter about Move to Harris Academy

Dear 2020 Club Members, I hope all is well and the Summer is looking good for everyone.

 

We have exciting news! As of Monday 28th July and Wednesday 30th July – we’ve changed venue for Monday and Wednesday evening to Harris Academy which can be found at 55 Southwark Park Rd (SE16 3TZ).

 

The advantage for Monday night regulars is that it is a little closer to Bermondsey tube station and the advantage for Wednesday night regulars is that we’ll be able to fit 10 bosses and have bags more room on the line. There are also direct buses from Elephant & Castle (bus number 1 towards Canada Water) which is an advantage if its raining / you have heavy kit and don’t feel like a walk.

 

The main thing that all archers need to be aware of is that the entrance is in front of the shooting line. This doesn’t mean that you need to time your entrance to fall between arrows – or zigzag under a hail of arrows like the cornfield scene in Apocalypto.. what it does mean is that we’ll be closing and locking the door once we’ve set up. If everyone could keep an eye out for latecomers it would be appreciated but, for the most part, we need people to aim to arrive on time for setting up.

 

ARRIVAL TIME FOR BOTH MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY is now 6.45pm to 7.15pm. We have the hall booked from 6.30pm if you do want to arrive early.. but we’re expecting people to arrive to help set up between 6.45pm and 7.15pm (the earlier the better). We should be all done and out of the hall by 9pm.

 

A quick reminder about archery etiquette – it should be fine to arrive late (as long as we spot you) or to leave a bit early – as long as you apologise to the other club members who have had to do all the setting up or packing away for you. We do not expect – or pay – instructors to do the set up and pack down on behalf of the club. In line with all clubs that have to set up and pack away everyone that is shooting should be helping at each end of the session. Everyone understands that occasionally something comes up which means an unavoidable late arrival or early departure – etiquette asks that you apologise to the people around you. You aren’t expected to apologise to the instructor as this perpuates the idea that it’s Diccon or Roger’s responsibility to set up or pack away and club members are just being nice and giving a helping hand. We can – and do – sanction club members who don’t help out.

 

Saying that, we know that we have had a problem with the weekend course sessions lasting for longer and we’re trying to sort it out. At the moment were trying to get better at informing the club when we’ll be having a 3 hr Sat / Sun session, ultimately I think we may be changing club or course times so everything is a bit clearer.

 

We’ve updated our Find Us on the web – if you want to have a direct click through here is Google’s route using Bus number 1 from Elephant & Castle.

 

Here is the walking route from Bermondsey tube.

 

We think this is a really positive move for the club and we hope that you will all like the new venue as much as we do.

 

Best wishes, 2020 Archery

Ask the Experts – Why do people put twists in their bowstring?

This is a great question and something that is often confusing for beginners. It’s all to do with something called ‘Brace Height’ which is the distance between the bow and the bowstring. You usually measure this from the button (hole in the riser near the arrow rest if there isn’t an actual button yet) to the string using a bow square. There will be a general guide for each individual riser – this is a starting point. From the starting point (usually around 8.5-9” for a 68” bow.. can be slightly less for a shorter bow and 9-9.5” for a 70”) you then need to do some basic tuning to determine what the perfect brace height for your bow is.

 

bow square

 

Couple of things :

 

1. You should always have the SAME brace height. If you lose ½” of brace height you might lose 20 points on a Portsmouth (or more). Remember that archery is “the art of repetition” and its all about reducing variation. Check your brace height at the start of every shoot.

 

2. Putting in twists will make the string effectively shorter (think about twisting up a piece of string) which will increase the brace height; taking twists out will effectively give you a longer string and therefore smaller brace height.

 

To do the tuning – start with the lowest sensible brace height and shoot 3 arrows. Take off string and put in a few twists (you’ll probably need to miss an end to do this). Re-measure brace height and shoot 3 arrows. Listen to the noise the string makes and note your grouping. If you have a bad end and you know you shot badly you might want to repeat another 3 arrows at the same brace height. Keep doing this until you have explored the full range (8”ish to 9.5”ish). You should find two ‘sweet spots’ where the bow sounds quietest and shoots the best – one will be at the lower end of the range and one will be at the higher end of the range. I’ve never been madly successful with hearing this.. but you can usually tell that the bow just feels better. Choose the higher brace height out of the two not the lower. Remember this or mark it down somewhere.

 

Store the string by doing a simple loop through loop knot (any experienced archer can quickly show you how to do this) in order not to lose twists and have to start from scratch the next time you shoot.

 

Here’s a little You Tube video I found showing this : http://youtu.be/em_BP1uz2Gw?t=32s

 

Quick tip : you know that the brace height is too low if the string hits your wrist. As longbows need a much lower brace height than recurves the string ALWAYS smashes into your wrist. This is why longbow archers wear much thicker arm guards and they tend to be worn much lower down the arm.

 

Nocked Longbow

 

P.S. its also a good idea to check the brace height on club bows. We try and check them as often as we can.. but the more club members take the responsibility the better they’ll shoot. Just ask an instructor where the nearest bow square is.

May Member News from 2020 Archery

Hey everyone – two pieces of news for May 2014.

  • You can now book a place for our next Sunday Handicap Competition on Sunday 8th June
  • We’ve re-opened the Direct Debit system with new pricing options

 

Save the date for our next handicap competition – or better still click through and book!

Our upcoming competition will be on Sunday 8th June! And we’ll be having an Autumn one on Sunday 14th September. To improve the system we can now accept bookings for the handicap competition ahead of the normal website opening! To get things rolling in advance we’ve added competition places to our normal ‘vouchers’ page. If you click through here you’ll be able to buy yourself a place on either the 12 noon session or the 2pm session.

 

There will be a few improvements this time, primarily there will be categories to the competition so you can enter as a longbow archer, a sighted recurve, barebow recurve etc. We will need at least five people in a category to award a prize.

 

Re-opening Direct Debit Programme

The other great news is that all the pre-payment shenanigans have now died down – we even got some love from a few people for not having to remember to get cash out before the session. Phew. We’re glad that’s all taken care of.

 

We’ve also made huge inroads into getting the Direct Debit people to re-open places / alert us if for some reason they can’t attend and we seem to have successfully passed the message on that there is a limited number of missed sessions that we can cope with if you’re on programme.

 

So.. we’re re-opening the system. A little bit new and improved.

 

1 shoot per week : £25

This seems to be really popular and we don’t want to change a winning formula

 

Unlimited shooting each week : £65

As we’ve now got less sessions than before it seems fair to make the unlimited price a bit cheaper. It also makes sense to only differentiate between once a week people and, beyond this, to open it up and make it a bit more viable for any of you that want to come as many times as you can in a given week and practice.

 

T’s and C’s are the same as before.

To give a quick rundown – we can’t guarantee that sessions will go ahead – particularly where Acts of God are concerned (or ‘Acts of Downside’ as we refer to them).  At least once a year Downside forget to tell us about a closure (or have an explosion – I believe they melted part of the road on Druid St last time) and – not even joking – Southwark Academy changes parents evening to a Monday night with about 3 days notice at least on an annual basis. Last year they booked in a sports hall resurfacing which closed the venue for three weeks and only told us the week before. Still, it adds another frisson of excitement to London Life for all of us. We definitely know that we close for a little bit at Easter and over Christmas, and Bank Holidays are usually closed too. We can’t refund DD payments, carry over credits or anything similar, and we’ll (very nicely) ask you to go back to PAYG if you miss more than 3 sessions in 3 months which we didn’t have enough notice to get filled.

 

Happy Shooting! Heidi and the 2020 Archery Team