OK strictly speaking 2018 Christmas has come and gone, but the seasonal county clout that is shot at Putley between Christmas and New Year is well known by this name.

The weather was calm, bright and seemed unseasonally warm when the sun was out – almost perfect conditions for a clout which tempted 27 archers from all three county clubs (Ledbury, Bromyard & Hereford) away from their fireside hearths into the Herefordshire countryside.

A mixture of bow styles (Recurve, Barebow and Longbow) competed over 4 different distances – 165m, 125m, 115m and 75m, depending on age and experience, and to add a bit of variety, this year a metric clout was organised.

A definite encouragement to achieve higher scores was the use of the 15m diameter target circle as mandated by metric clout rules, measured by 7.5 m clout ropes. As a result every archer was able to post a score.

The day was split in two, with the medal positions decided by the morning single clout. Ledbury Archery Club had an excellent shoot with many (most?) of the medal positions being filled by our archers. Congratulations must go to; Rachel (G), Jamie (G), Mark (G), Robert (G), Richard Lee-Buxton (G), James (S) & Chris Harvey (S).

Once again thanks must go to Anne for organising the tea and coffee at the interval and Graham, Chris H and George for setting up and striking the range. A special thanks also go to Jan Lee-Buxton for the ‘official’ photographs of the day and, of course, our Herefordshire Archery Association Chairman, Dave Bruce, for organising the whole event.