It was an early start again on Sunday with a drive up to just outside Stoke-on-Trent to Lyme Valley club for their only shoot of 2014. Normally they run a couple a year and if you want to read a previous review look here.

As the name implies the course is in a valley and with the rain they had in the preceding days and  on the day of the shoot would prove to make it a very muddy walk read sliding course and yes it was very very slippery.

The course was made up of a mix of 3d and paper faces.  36 targets in all with I think only a half dozen faces, it gave a good warm up for the 3d Championships which is just round the corner.
Speaking to the organisers they said they had about 50 archers who cancelled prior to the event or were no shows on the day, this resulted in about 130 archers attended the shoot. I can understand why you wouldn’t want to get soaked but it was a shame as it was a good course with well set targets and good use of ground. As it turned out, the weather was not as bad as forecast but it was wet for much of the afternoon.

The shot above looks flat but in reality you shoot it from down the slope so were shooting across the ground. Good use of ground.

You can just make out the standing bear on the other side of the valley. You shot this from the river bed uphill.

I’m really glad we took the water proof trousers and yes I remembered the waterproof jacket this time too. Might do an equipment review on the waterproof trousers as they are a good buy.

Lyme valley have a break at lunch time from 12:30 -1:15 and as luck would have it we were at the furthest target when the lunch horn signalled to stop. This made for a long walk back made longer due to me being slow having fallen earlier. More details later.
It’s never easy putting on a shoot, especially on a hill side with steps being eroded either by water in wet weather or animal activities. I really feel for these guys as I know at Black Arrow we struggled to keep all the steps and paths going and it was half the size of Lyme Valley. With a course and ground like Lyme Valley its especially difficult with the fine silty mud clay soil. Maybe on a few shots they could have cleared or levelled it a bit to make it easier but in fairness I saw more than a few marshals spade in hand working on cutting fresh steps and clearing paths themselves covered in mud.  Thanks guys your work was noticed and appreciated.

With the grounds Lyme Valley have they made good use of up and downhill shots but also some nice flat shots including one along the stream and for the first time to my recollection there was a shot in the field, nicely set using the gentle slope.
It was a long day and with people struggling along the paths and steps. The drive home was via accident and emergency query broken wrist. I had taken a fall on the 10th target when retrieving arrows.  Landing heavily on my right leg and quiver resulting in a very sore leg and developing a bruise but I had put my hand out to stop my fall and bent my wrist back. This didn’t hurt much until about half way round but by the end I was finding it uncomfortable on the release. Fortunately it it appears to be a bad sprain but doctor has said to monitor it.
Sharon shot really well, with me chasing her score all day. which saw her coming first in ladies and beating the mens scores too. Not only that but she matched her best bare-bow score too. Well done. Well done to all the other Severn Valley members who also were placed.

Thank for reading and for the meet up with readers of this blog. Nice to put a face to a reader of the site.