Colchester And District Archery Club 1954 - 1994
Page 3 : The First Two Years
In the summer of 1954 Colchester gave its first demonstration at Ardleigh works fete and pictures show Vic Massingham and Bert Bentley giving “Have-a-go” instructions. Bill Tucker was also seen removing arrows from the target – probably not his own! Standing by was pioneer member Don Osbourne with a Robin Hood face and beard. There is also a picture of Les Shaw. A noteworthy feat was supplied by Vic Massingham an army member, in July without ever shooting clout before he won the country championship at St. Mary’s College, Brentwood scoring 205, runner up 187. Chingford won the team. Vic did this after four months shooting according to the press which implies he started in March/April a singular achievement. There were 66 archers from 12 clubs competing. His win was a club publicity boost. In the following month the club championship was an Ascham round, 60 arrows at 60 yards originally devised at Walthamstow by Bill and won by Vic. Photographs of Vic show the club badge had been designed and was in use. Medal winners were Phil Dow, Don Osbourne and Audrey Crick. At this time Alderman Sir Percy Saunders (Paxman’s) accepted the presidency of the club.
It was later in 1954 that the club had permission to shoot on the Garrison ground to which it moved in August. Targets were stored in a large purpose built crate with padlock and tarpaulin cover. A pace stick marked out distances. The club developed as high a profile as possible at a time when archery was little practiced, and they did this with enthusiastic participation in fetes. The demonstration included archery darts, shooting at powder filled balloons, a rack of plates, and arrows with a chemical filled test tube at the pile end and a spring loaded plunger which made a loud report when it hit the target. That was stopped when some of the chemical got into an archer’s eye when the arrows were being prepared.
With memories of the war not too far away an archer at Brightlingsea YMCA fete was questioned as to whether archers ever got on charge for a dirty bow and arrow! One of the first club members was a former Singapore champion Major J H A Bryden who had lost one eye, caused we were told by a broken Apollo steel bow. He then carried on shooting using a pronounced peak cap for protection which developed nationally into popular headgear. In the fourth annual county championships Colchester, newly formed, entered the novice class which Vic won and Crick was runner-up. The event was held at Brentwood School whose sports master Tom Shortland was responsible for forming the county association at which inaugural meeting Bill was present representing Ascham. A girl belonging to the club who only shot on school holidays was Susan Lloyd of Chancery Farm, Ardleigh. Twelve years old she came second in the English Junior Championships shooting at St. Nicholas Round.
Land Larie - coaching the novices.
from the Bill Tucker Collection
Field archery was an early sport with Colchester and in the autumn of 1954 shot a one arrow club field, the first ever in the district and comprising wild game drawn to scale. Don won and Tucker and Massingham tied for second place. Another demonstration by Susanne Osbourne aged nine broke new ground being done on the stage of the Hippodrome Theatre. Another demonstration was given in East Bergholt, the first time the sport had been in the village and “great interest was shown in the skill and accuracy of the competitors particularly in such events as noughts and crosses and splitting the wand...” said the Press report.
In that first year the club performed at fetes and galas all over north-east Essex and planted archery firmly in the minds of the general public.
In February, 1955, its second year, the club belatedly received the official permission of the borough arms in its badge. The GNAS council, the sports governing body, was seen with some awe by local reporters who referred to Bill’s elevation to it as the “peerage”. He became a member of Council when he was PRO for the county association and editor of the Essex Bowman magazine which he founded. In that month the club was represented at the county’s AGM when it presented members with a dozen Osage orange seedling trees for the day when they matured enough to make attractive looking bows. They came from the timber man Sir Stuart Mallinson of Woodford Green for whom Bill had arranged an archery demonstration with the Ascham Bowmen before the American Kennedy family when Mr Kennedy was ambassador to Britain. It was at this meeting the county accepted Colchester’s invitation to organise the first county field shoot on the Garrison ground on June 19th. The county championships were held for the first time on Sunday it being argued that the full days shooting was easier for people to attend than when held on a weekday.
Ever promotionally minded the club’s founder persuaded members at its first AGM, reporting a highly successful first year, to accept a new orange day lily reared by its new chairman international flower judge A E Blake, for presentation at an open tournament for Suffolk and near Essex clubs. It was named “Master Bowman”. There was talk of including it on a gonfalon. The club reported a small credit balance and two county championships – clout and novice. It was decided to buy three new targets and to charge 3p for every shoot to meet the cost of target faces.
Naming of the Master Bowman lily.
from the Bill Tucker Collection
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