Harrogate's St George's Archery Club's clout team impresses at pair of competitions

Members attended the York Archers Society’s Open Clout and the East Midland Archery Society Championships, with blustery, changeable weather conditions making for challenging shooting at both competitions.

Clout is a form of the sport where archers shoot from long distance attempting to drop their arrows as near as possible to a 12-inch square flag.

On Saturday, the York Archers shoot was held at Hopgrove Road Sports Ground, where Fiona and Ian Harris shone for St George’s.

Fiona Harris claimed second place in the ladies’ 140-yard barebow shoot, while Ian Harris won the bronze medal in the gentlemen’s barebow 180-yard competition.

The pair were joined by associate St George’s members Matthew David and Ray Chaplin, who placed second and third respectively in the gentlemen’s 180-yard recurve competition. Meanwhile, compound archer Julian Smith bagged the trophy for shooting the arrow which landed closest to the flag.

On Sunday, Carol Fairbrother joined Julian Smith in Lincoln for the East Midlands Open Championships, hosted by Waterwheel Field Archers.

Both placed first in their bow classes, Fairbrother winning the 140-yard barebow category despite an uncharacteristically slow start, while Smith continued his excellent run of recent form in the 180-yard compound bow class.

The clout season concludes with the holding of the National Championships, which this year take place in York.