Hip, Hip, Hip Hooray! Unfortunately Santa didn’t make an appearance, but his hat made several appearances in a multitude of guises. The best probably was Shawn’s which had added Elf ears.
The hard core Bacon Buttie Brothers (aka Dave and Chris) were up bright and early after watching the finals of Strictly Come Dancing and were tucking into special diet alternatives to bacon cobs washed down with mugs of steaming tea. Coming in a close second in the bacon stakes were Shawn the Elf and Steve, with Les, Terry and Dan bringing up the rear. Alan made a surprise guest appearance and only needed ten minutes coaching to instruct him on how to shoot a bow again.
Flanders Fields
Way over in the distance a lone figure struggled in Somme like No Mans Land mud in a vain attempt to plough the track into furrows for next years Spring Barley until one of the Buttie Brothers took pity and towed Dick out and back to Allied lines.
Suitably refreshed and loaded with calories, hardy archers trickled over to the range to set up the bosses with a variety of Christmas themed targets making an appearance, although I’m not entirely sure how Christmassy Minions and Wild Boar are. It was with deep regret that Igor didn’t make an appearance this year as he was taking a well earned break in the Bahamas.
The Trebuchet made it usual appearance this year, but was hampered by the wind and kept firing off prematurely much to everyone’s chagrin. Unfortunately it was also suffering from loss of vigour and couldn’t get the ball over the line, so we’ll have to invest in stronger elastic next year or get a smaller ball. Meanwhile, Dick, undaunted by his exploits in the Flanders mud, managed to erect his wand in what was fast becoming a hurricane of windy double entendres.
Wails of Anguish
As is usual with our Fun Shoots, not all targets are created equal, with many taking away more points than they give, as Dan (henceforth known as “Dan the Minus”) can testify. This was especially applicable to the Wild Boar, where even missing the target gave you minus 100 points!
Keith Lemon proved to be as controversial as ever, with a high pitched wail piercing the calm as one of the Buttie Brothers sank an arrow deep into Keith’s fizog and lost a hundred points and demoting him to third place
Ringing the Wand
In what is fast becoming a permanent club fixture, Dick erected his wand and we all had a go at trying to hit it and ring the bell. Many tried, but few were successful; David managed to hit the wand but didn’t ring the bell, but there was one amongst us who had the Force with him, and managed to hit Dicks wand and ring the bell. Chris, Buttie Brother extraordinaire, was that man!
Prospecting for Gold
There’s gold in them there hills! Or a least fifteen quid in the bag. This year’s prize was hard fought, but after much deliberation and cogitation, Shawn the Elf claimed the prize. Did we mention Chris rang the bell?
Light Refreshments
Back to the Pavilion for Tea and Tiffin and the results. A small selection of snacks and sweets were laid out on the table for everyone to tuck into, then Keith dug into his bag and brought forth a veritable feast of sandwiches of every description you could think of, to gasps of delight from the Brothers Buttie.
The Results
- First Place went to Mike (Eight Arrow) Spare
- Second Place was Keith (Sandwich King) Hallsworth
- Third Place was Dave (Buttie Brother) Parker
Shawn (the Elf) Cooper scooped the Bag of Gold and did we mention Chris rang the bell on the wand?
All in all, it was a very enjoyable day and may thanks to everyone for bringing along targets and nibbles and helping to set up.
Have a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to all of our members, and did we mention Chris rang the bell on the wand?
The full gallery can be found here.