By
Howard ‘H’ Pimborough
On the 13th and 14th July, Wrexham Bowmen hosted the first of two weekends of bringing archery to the attention of the public. Set in the grounds of the historic Chirk Castle, the bespoke ‘Have a Go’ archery range was to prove extremely popular with the castle visitors, young and old. Over the two days over 400 people visited and shot their first ever arrows. Wrexham Bowmen supplied bows from tiny field bows for the very young to full size recurves for adults. The range design and all equipment were specifically chosen and inspected by Wrexham Bowmen to be safe and suitable for any age or ability.
For most ‘Have a Go’ sessions are usually the first experience of archery for most people, and Wrexham Bowmen Coaches and experienced archers were on hand to deliver 1 to 1 instruction of the highest calibre, to all the participants. As an added bonus, visitors whilst they waited for their turn at the shooting line, were entertained to stories of the history of archery, shown the various types of medieval arrow heads, bows of every style, and given demonstrations of Compound, Recurve and Longbow styles.
If the gauge to the success of any ‘Have a Go’ event is the amount of happy faces after their first experience of archery, then the Wrexham Bowmen certainly hit gold. In the case of one the youngest participants, just three years of age, who literally jumped for joy (with the help of her Dad and the coach), to see her arrows hit the target boss!
The Bowmen will be returning to Chirk Castle on the 16th and 17th of August, come along and join fun.