The annual election of the Lord Mayor, traditionally held on 29 September (Michaelmas) is usually a big event held in the Guildhall. The Aldermen and their beadles, as well as all of the Masters of the Worshipful companies process in full regalia. Many of us have attended in the past, even if relegated to the Old Library and seeing it all on the big screen.

It had already been decided that the Lord Mayor elected in September 2019, the Right Honourable William Russell, would serve a second term. But a formal election - rather than a re-election - was still needed on 29 September 2020. How then to adapt this ancient and important election ceremony to meet Covid rules and yet to represent something which resembled the customary procedure?

Since the liverymen are essentially the electors, a representative from each company was sought. I was privileged to be present on behalf of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers. We were all given staggered arrival times, and then seated on very socially distanced chairs in the Guildhall. I was placed directly underneath our shield on the edge of the vaulted roof of the Guildhall. By pure accident, of course, but it was a good experience none the less. Next to me was a doctoral student representing the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers. 

It was sad to see no robes were being worn, and no wigs. No large fur hat for the Lord Mayor's Sword bearer, alas. The ceremony was pared down to the minimum but the essential elements were all there. There were three candidates as usual, and we were expected to make the usual cries. We were not very voluble and ended up having to do it again! But it was none the less reassuring to know that even in difficult times the City can adapt yet retain its traditions, which link past, present and future. 

• 
• 
•  

The Trust’s involvement in “inclusion” started when it was asked to fund an initiative by Archery Great Britain to try and reach out to the community to become involved in the sport, not only the lonely and disabled but also schools and other clubs. That led to Deer Park Archers being asked to run an “Inclusion Event” which the Trust helped to fund and which athletes from across a broad spectrum attended; it was a great success and has now been running for three or four years.

Members of the Charity attend this event which is great fun and liverymen are invited to come along. Deer Park has now extended its inclusion approach and as can be seen from the videos a wide range of people of all ages and abilities turn up, have fun, help build the club’s facilities and enjoy being together.

Members and participants range from grass roots to Paralympians and long may the club continue its fantastic work.

 The Worshipful Company of Fletchers received this kind note of thanks from a hopeful Paralympic Archer, Hazel Chaisty, to whom the Trust has recently granted an award. The elite archers often visit small grass roots clubs to encourage and inspire and the Company is promoted by them as a means of help.

Hazel was also the first winner of the Fletcher's Championship Cup for all elite archers, a competition held in Lilleshall each year.

 "I can’t thank you and the Fletchers enough for such a generous grant. 

The help that you have given me will put me in the best place for a medal finish in Tokyo next year and I will be SURE to give you a wave and considerable mention from the podium!

I am contacted regularly by grass roots Para Archers and really enjoy helping out with sessions for people with disabilities. Of course, The Worshipful Company of Fletchers features high in conversation and I will be sure to continue that. 

My very best wishes and thanks to you and the Fletchers"

Hazel Chaisty

We all have an idea about crossbow shooting either from history or folklore. The idea of William Tell shooting an apple off his son’s head is almost ingrained in people’s minds. If you look at the stories the act was frowned on then. William had two bolts. One for the apple on his son’s head and one, should he hit his son, to shoot the lord who was forcing him to take the risk. It is a story that has reflected badly on the sport. Today the National Crossbow Federation of Great Britain (NCF) is dedicated solely to encourage, promote and develop the practice of Target crossbow shooting in Great Britain using the rules set out by the World Crossbow Shooting Association (WCSA) which is our governing body.

The sport is open to people from all age groups and people with disabilities.

The NCF organises local and National events both indoor and outdoor, usually in the midlands. Members have entered International Championships and returned with many Gold medals, and World Championship, World and European Records.

WCSA recognises 4 classes of crossbow:

 The Target bow is hand built to order, or by the shooter. It is highly efficient, limited to 95lb draw weight, and both front and rear sights must be “open”; i.e. no magnification is permitted, although filters are allowed. The bow is limited to a physical weight of 10kg (22lbs). The string must be drawn into the trigger by hand without any aid – this includes the wearing of gloves. The picture above shows Iris shooting in the Forest round.

Sport crossbows are mass produced. Under WCSA rules they must have a telescopic sight. Draw weight and physical weight are not limited. The string may be drawn using a loading aid. 

The picture to the left shows a bow with a recurve prod. To the right is a compound bow. WCSA make no distinction between recurve and compound bows.  Both are simply designated Sport Crossbows.

Sport bows are separated into two groups – Standard and Freestyle.

A Standard bow must be used in the state in which the manufacturer supplied it to be used. You are allowed to fit a foot stirrup, if the bow does not have one, and any telescopic sight you like provided it does not have a range finder.  In addition, you may fit a device that allows you to tilt the sight to allow for changes in shooting distance. There is one additional proviso. The bolt momentum (bolt mass times speed of travel when it leaves the bow) must be less than 0.55lbft/sec.

Momentum is a method of assessing the impact conditions when the bolt strikes the target and the performance of the bow. The more momentum a bolt has the more difficult it is to stop. Better bows in general give more momentum to the bolt.

  A Freestyle bow may be modified more or less in any way you see fit provided that it is safe to shoot and mechanically sound. Range finders in the sight are not permitted, neither are electronic trigger mechanisms. Just about anything else is permitted. The momentum limit is over 0.55lbft/sec up to a maximum of 0.75lbft/sec.

 Bows that develop bolt momentum above 0.75lbft/sec are not permitted. It is simply too difficult to slow and stop bolts so that scores can be registered.

A Medieval bow is usually made by the shooter. They are made to a general design from between 11^th and 15^th centuries. Modern materials are permitted, but if used they must be covered by a binding, preferably of leather. Metal prods must also be bound for safety – the bow shown is not in a safe shooting condition as the prod is not bound.

OUTDOOR rounds use a single 60cm face with 30 scoring shots at each distance.

Target                    65m/55m/45m

Sport bows            55m/45m/35m

Medieval                40m/30m/20m

For Individual Matchplay and Team Matchplay the middle distance is used.

INDOOR rounds, all classes, use a vegas face and have 60 scoring shots.

18m with a 40cm or 18m with a 25cm or 25m with a 40cm target.

At World Championships there may be Forest, 3D or Bushland rounds, too.

An Assisted (disabled) shooter must use a spring mounted on a tripod and an assistant to load the bow. Over the years at Rugby Sport for the disabled (RSDA) we have had 8 arbalists who have held World Records.

I took up the sport 25 years ago at RSDA when I married John as it was boring to watch. My training outdoors is at Rugby Bowmen or Nuneaton Archers. I am a WCSA International Judge, National coach and the Recorder for the WCSA.

Unfortunately, few archery clubs allow crossbow shooting although, in Archery GB rules a bow up to 95lb with no scope is permitted. With two 60cm faces on the boss, there is no wear to the centre. The speed (220fps) of my 95lb Target crossbow bolts is less than that of a compound archery bow.

In 2003 when the WCSA was formed, ‘assisted’ shooters were included and I no longer had to shoot as a guest with the IAU. I have won every event in the ‘assisted’ female division (I shoot from a wheelchair due to a spinal condition) and am delighted to hold 43 World Championship Records, 49 World Records and 42 European Records. 

Last year I was recovering from an operation to remove a growth from my right deltoid muscle. This meant that I was unable to handle the weight of my Target bow. I did go to the World Championships at Ennigerloh in Germany but had to shoot a physically lighter Sport Standard bow. We shot in blistering heat at the beginning of June. I understand that it was pouring with rain in the UK. I shot in the main two-day competition. I won the competition for Assisted Standard bows, and set three distance records, the single day record, and the two-day record. These were World Championship, World, and European records.

Graeme Mooney (a right arm amputee) and I, pictured right, won the Assisted Team competition. We also set 5 World Championship, World and European Records.

For the third day I joined the Judging team for the individual and team Match Play competitions. The NCF entered a team of novices for the Match Play to give them the experience. In the first round they met the favourites (Germany) and thrashed them. In the final against Sweden the teams were tied after three ends. The match was decided on a single end shoot off. The NCF team won the Gold.

In 2021 the next World Championship is due to take place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in USA and I hope that we shall take a team there.

The assistance of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers has helped to make all of this possible, for which I and members of RSDA are extremely grateful. I thoroughly enjoy my shooting and hope to continue for years to come.

                     Iris Bingham

Please click to read La Flèche May 2020

Article on Archives - correction 13/05/2020 AC

Please note the dinner at the Crystal Palace was 1874 not 1847. 

Apologies for the mistyping of the sum paid per meeting in the sixteenth century, which is 3d not 4d.  It raises a point which might be of interest.  You will see that the last digit of iii actually looks like a j rather than an i.  It was common when roman numerals were used to make the last letter longer to avoid anyone adding an extra penny.

Margaret Maughan

The UK’s First Paralympic Gold Medallist

 Some of you will have noticed that the UK’s first Paralympic Gold medallist in the first Paralympic Games in 1960, Margaret Maughan, died this month (May 2020) aged 91.

Court Assistant Michael de Styrcea spotted an obituary in the Daily Telegraph.  Margaret won her first gold medal for Archery in Rome and she went on to compete at another 4 games winning a total of 4 gold and 2 silver medals across 4 sports.

To this Liveryman Hilda Gibson adds some memories of meeting Margaret in the excitement of the 2012 Paralympic Games.

"When I was working for London 2012, we (the Archery Sport Team) were frustrated that more was not made of Para Archery as the first Paralympic sport.  Also, the identity of who would light the flame at the Opening Ceremonies was a closely guarded secret, with lots of speculation going on in the press.  I don't think Margaret's name came up.  At the Opening Ceremony for the Paralympic Games, I was delighted when they did a cameo of Margaret Maughan and recognised her as winning the first British Paralympic Gold Medal.  I was then thrilled when it turned out that she lit the Paralympic flame!

 "After the Opening Ceremony, we approached Margaret and she agreed to come to the Woolwich Royal Artillery Barracks (where the Para Archery events were held) to present medals.  She presented both the Women’s and the Men's Recurve Team medals and then spent time with Dani Brown and Mel Clarke, chatting with them about the Gold and Silver medals they had won the previous day.  It was a privilege to meet her.  She was very charming with an infectious smile.

“I attach one of my favourite 'snaps' of London 2012, taken with Margaret in the athlete call area after she arrived to present medals.”

 Several Fletchers will also remember attending those medal ceremonies on what was perhaps our first experience of international Para Archery at this level.  Here is a photo of Margaret presenting the medals at the ceremony for the Men's Recurve Team Open.  I don't think that I was alone in thinking that the medallists had a huge respect for Margaret and gave her a very warm welcome.

If you want a reminder of the 2012 Opening Ceremony try this link. A new page will open with a 3h 50m show of the whole thing and if you go to 3h 33m 35s you will see the last 3 torchbearers bringing the flame into the stadium and Margaret lighting the stadium flame that looked like a giant dandelion.  Enjoy a reminder of a great show.

Certainly some happy Fletcher memories of a lovely lady who helped pioneer Para Archery at Stoke Mandeville and at the Paralympic Games.  Our thoughts go out to her family who, no doubt, have many more happy memories of Margaret.

PM Andrew McMillan

• Margaret Maughan with Hilda Gibson Margaret Maughan with Hilda Gibson
• Margaret Maughan presents medals at 2012 Margaret Maughan presents medals at 2012
•  

Past Master, Mr Stuart Robbens was installed on 21 April 2020. The Master is elected for a year and presides at all our functions.

I hope all of you are keeping well at this very difficult time. Have to admit this is not the email update I was expecting to write one year after getting my bow. It has been a fabulous time since the Fletchers awarded me a grant sufficient to get my first proper compound bow. I went from really struggling to becoming a challenge in competitions. Silver in the National disability championships, two UK Para records for my classification and a handful of other awards alongside massive increases in PBs. Like everyone in the archery community I was really looking forward to the outdoor season - a chance to see what I could now do. 

It wasn’t to be as lockdown came just as the outdoor season did. Not deterred I decided to concentrate on my form and set up a (safe and fully insured) range in my garden. I would really love to use this to practice a lot more than I am, but I am am a Serous Incident Investigator for the ambulance service. My role is to try to help maintain patient and staff safety across five counties in this difficult time. 

I have also decided to return to the Control Room To help out as I am a qualified 999 Call Taker and Dispatcher. This means Jupiter and I will be coming out of isolation to do this but I can’t stay at home whilst my colleagues struggle. My family fully supports this and we know the risks, don’t know what the next part will bring but I hope to be able to be proud that I have done my bit that willl hopefully help us all get back on the field again one day. 

Anyway good luck in all of this and stay safe. 

Yours

Amanda 

More about Amanda and Jupiter can be read here

On Friday 24 April, having been marshalled by the Clerk and tempted by the quizzing expertise of Liveryman Gordon Sharp as host and quizmaster, 11 Fletcher families linked by the Zoom platform logged in for what turned out to be an hour of chat and fun and, for some, a glass of wine. The mix of Liverymen, Freemen, friends and family totalled 19.

The 9 rounds included classics such as History, Geography and Food and Drink plus some sneaky questions about Livery Companies. Answers included Goldeneye, Dolly the sheep,Toto, a sheep's stomach, the Hairy Bikers and Mr Clyde Barrow so you can work back to some of the questions.

Eventually as one team clearly were having connection problems we finished on a picture round to name 5 famous Gordons (see the attached photos to see how you would have got on) and then the scoring which produced a winner but only after a recount !!  We only found out the next morning that the incommunicado team had claimed a resounding victory by 6 points.  Congratulations to Past Master Clare James and her family.

Gordon has offered to run another quiz – so watch this space.