Page 7 | To think archery has no place on a public playing field?

IroningThrone · 2022-10-22T13:02:03+00:00

I live in a village with a large public sports/playing field - it has grass tennis courts, football pitches and such marked out. Dogs are allowed and I've always used it to give my dog a good run around (he's on a 50ft bright pink lead, not running loose. I tend to stick to the edges near the hedges so I'm not disturbing anyone!) Walking today and just been shouted at by man setting up archery targets. They're set out so 1/3 of the field is now unusable. I'd planned to loop round the full field (as shown by the blue line- red dot is where he was setting up. Blue blob is where I entered the field!) He also wasn't shooting at the time so I'm not sure why he felt the need to shout at me that I couldn't go that way! It's a public field with multiple access points - aibu to think that archery belongs somewhere where the access can be more controlled? A kid could quite easily run in from the side access and right across where he'd plonked himself!

Ludo19 · 24/10/2022 19:36

@CaptainThe95thRifles Thank you! I'll definitely look into it.
Thanks also for the quote, made me chuckle.

MargaretThursday · 24/10/2022 20:15

CaptainThe95thRifles · 24/10/2022 19:07

There's a long history of archery on common land - historically, men were obliged to shoot on the village greens every Sunday by law. There were archery courses set up like golf courses across large areas of common land too.

It's not really relevant to the thread, given that they're shooting on private land and in accordance with their risk assessments and procedures, but the significance of archery, historically, is pretty cool.

I've been told that the university archery club in Oxford has the right to close the High Street to practice too.

Archery is a lovely sport, and the people have always been so keen to share their knowledge. My daughter has done a few sessions of disability archery (missing a hand) and loved it.

APurpleSquirrel · 24/10/2022 20:40

Never too old - DD (8) has taken it up & to do the beginners course it was advised an adult do it too, so DH has taken it up too. They're both really enjoying it, we've bought DD her own bow set for Christmas & DH is on the hunt for one himself.
Seems like a lovely group of people too.

SuperCamp · 24/10/2022 20:45

Thank you for coming back to the thread OP.

Completely understandable that you asked for opinions..,LOL, not like some early PP saying ‘tell the police’!

I am a bit sorry that you haven’t really got a 50’ pink dog lead, but hope you continue to enjoy your dog walks.

All’s well that ends well.

Original poster

IroningThrone · 24/10/2022 20:52

From what's been said, it seems like they don't really want dogs on the field (even though I always pick up any mess) so I'll probably find somewhere else to walk in the village.

OP posts:

NippyWoowoo · 24/10/2022 21:32

Go Greg!

BlackberryCat · 24/10/2022 21:45

Glad to see the OP has apologised. Oh, wait...

Original poster

IroningThrone · 24/10/2022 21:49

BlackberryCat · 24/10/2022 21:45

Glad to see the OP has apologised. Oh, wait...

What does that mean? I admitted I was wrong and should have looked into it more. Do you expect me to grovel?

OP posts:

BlackberryCat · 24/10/2022 21:53

IroningThrone · 24/10/2022 21:49

What does that mean? I admitted I was wrong and should have looked into it more. Do you expect me to grovel?

Show quote history

No, I expected you to say sorry. Instead you just posted a woe is me list of excuses. 🤷🏼‍♀️

BlackberryCat · 24/10/2022 21:55

Sorry, you did say I apologise. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.

LikeTearsInRain · 24/10/2022 22:20

@GregJP needs to go on a date with Jackie Weaver I think

PuttingDownRoots · 24/10/2022 22:25

To be fair to the OP... the Archery club nly moved there last year. Before that it appears it was a Community Playing fields.

I wish there was an Archery Club near where I lived. The closest is Paintball....

GregJP · 24/10/2022 22:26

LikeTearsInRain · 24/10/2022 22:20

@GregJP needs to go on a date with Jackie Weaver I think

You do not have the authority lol 😂

Original poster

IroningThrone · 25/10/2022 00:08

PuttingDownRoots · 24/10/2022 22:25

To be fair to the OP... the Archery club nly moved there last year. Before that it appears it was a Community Playing fields.

I wish there was an Archery Club near where I lived. The closest is Paintball....

Where did you find that out?

OP posts:

GregJP · 25/10/2022 00:55

IroningThrone · 25/10/2022 00:08

Where did you find that out?

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If you google our club it tells you on our website.

We moved April 2021 from Seaton Cricket Club, we also have a Facebook.

We really do want the local community to use the field wether we are also using it or not. Just obviously not walking behind targets.

I will be looking at publishing our usual club sessions on the notice board in the future but for now it remains on both our Facebook, website and the Google page.

girlmom21 · 25/10/2022 06:23

PuttingDownRoots · 24/10/2022 22:25

To be fair to the OP... the Archery club nly moved there last year. Before that it appears it was a Community Playing fields.

I wish there was an Archery Club near where I lived. The closest is Paintball....

The OP moved there more recently than the club did

QuebecBagnet · 25/10/2022 06:39

I don’t know why everyone is having such a go at the OP……the mob needs to stand down a bit!

OK so we have established that the club own/rent the field and have every right to be there. But from my understanding of Greg’s posts he agrees with the OP that there are some known/well used gaps in the hedge where there’s no warning signs. Great that Greg says this is going to be rectified. But I think most people would agree if they walked into what they thought was a community field (and had been a community field until recently ) with no warning signs and you came out into the target area of an archery club you might be wondering if that was ok or not.

girlmom21 · 25/10/2022 06:43

QuebecBagnet · 25/10/2022 06:39

I don’t know why everyone is having such a go at the OP……the mob needs to stand down a bit!

OK so we have established that the club own/rent the field and have every right to be there. But from my understanding of Greg’s posts he agrees with the OP that there are some known/well used gaps in the hedge where there’s no warning signs. Great that Greg says this is going to be rectified. But I think most people would agree if they walked into what they thought was a community field (and had been a community field until recently ) with no warning signs and you came out into the target area of an archery club you might be wondering if that was ok or not.

But most people would then see it on Google maps and go "oh, there's actually an archery club" not scribble the name of the archery club out so that they can post the map online and complain.

QuebecBagnet · 25/10/2022 06:47

And she gave a plausible explanation of why, for privacy reasons. Though I do agree it would have been better if she’d mentioned that maybe she had reason to believe the club had permission to be there. But like I said earlier even with permission the OP would still be wondering about safety rules. I just get a bit fed up with MN pile ons. Some people have been really daft, sending her PMs demanding she returns to the thread, whooping with delight about her being “caught out”. No need for it.

SpringersLoveSofas · 25/10/2022 06:47

Feels like both sides have been a bit selective with the truth tbh.

We hear a lot about the great signage at the entrances and only later do we find out there are gaps in the hedge that are

A) known about to the club
And
B) acknowledged that they do need signage which hasn't yet been erected yet.

Half a dozen of one and six of the other, to me.

GregJP · 25/10/2022 07:05

SpringersLoveSofas · 25/10/2022 06:47

Feels like both sides have been a bit selective with the truth tbh.

We hear a lot about the great signage at the entrances and only later do we find out there are gaps in the hedge that are

A) known about to the club
And
B) acknowledged that they do need signage which hasn't yet been erected yet.

Half a dozen of one and six of the other, to me.

No, signage was erected multiple times by myself and has been taken down by some unknown individuals. Sadly I don’t live in the village and cannot always attend the field. So nothing selective here. Sadly kids and adults mistreat the privilege of the sports field and damage fences/gates/play area and unfortunately we are limited with volunteers so repairs don’t get done immediately,

JobSeekingMissile · 25/10/2022 08:15

@GregJP I think @IroningThrone has done you a favour here.

You admit there are issues with people walking behind the targets - they could easily approach outside the archer's line of vision until it was too late. In the instance of injury (or worse) and the injured party having entered the field by a known access point - gap in hedge - with no signage then you could have been in hot water legally.
if you can't block the entry points immediately then you either need signage or to stop lone archers until it's resolved. At least a group of you are able to be more vigilant than one person.
From a legal stand point you need to make sure you are well covered here for your sake, so maybe some positives will come out if it for the club, and maybe you will get new people looking in to
archery 🏹 it is a great sport and you'd be surprised who may have a natural aptitude for it, it's not always the stereotypical sporty person 😬

Ekátn · 25/10/2022 08:22

When the op took the photo and blacked out ‘archery club’ she knew exactly what she was doing. She could have just hidden then name.

Surely, when she looked at the field and saw ‘archery club’ her response would have been ‘oh, it’s an archery club’ and actually looked into it.

No one can control people making gaps in the hedge. If op is so fussed about signage and the proper way to do things, she should enter via the entrance. Not via a gap in the hedge.

if people are making gaps in the hedge it would be impossible to have signage to accommodate this consistently. And things like this are why these sorts of things end up being closed to the public.

The problem here really is that Op believed the field was something it’s not them moaned publicly without even looking into it.

GregJP · 25/10/2022 08:29

JobSeekingMissile · 25/10/2022 08:15

@GregJP I think @IroningThrone has done you a favour here.

You admit there are issues with people walking behind the targets - they could easily approach outside the archer's line of vision until it was too late. In the instance of injury (or worse) and the injured party having entered the field by a known access point - gap in hedge - with no signage then you could have been in hot water legally.
if you can't block the entry points immediately then you either need signage or to stop lone archers until it's resolved. At least a group of you are able to be more vigilant than one person.
From a legal stand point you need to make sure you are well covered here for your sake, so maybe some positives will come out if it for the club, and maybe you will get new people looking in to
archery 🏹 it is a great sport and you'd be surprised who may have a natural aptitude for it, it's not always the stereotypical sporty person 😬

Thank you for your input. But to point out there is adequate space/distance before an archer can see a member of public walk on the range so shooting alone is not an issue. I have shot alone but would prefer to shoot with someone as it’s a social sport as much as a competitive one.

One side exceeds 80 yards and the other 50 - 60 yards. so there is plenty of time to observe some one approaching either side of the target. Access directly behind is neigh on impossible as there is a big tree line/over growth with a beck immediately behind it. But thank you all for your advice and suggestions.

JobSeekingMissile · 25/10/2022 08:50

GregJP · 25/10/2022 08:29

Thank you for your input. But to point out there is adequate space/distance before an archer can see a member of public walk on the range so shooting alone is not an issue. I have shot alone but would prefer to shoot with someone as it’s a social sport as much as a competitive one.

One side exceeds 80 yards and the other 50 - 60 yards. so there is plenty of time to observe some one approaching either side of the target. Access directly behind is neigh on impossible as there is a big tree line/over growth with a beck immediately behind it. But thank you all for your advice and suggestions.

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@GregJP i work with the general public and as a whole they never fail to surprise with their ingenuity for the stupid / ridiculous mishaps. Great believer in belt and braces to protect one's self.
my local pub has 2 sets of clear hazard signs "mind the steps" & "caution steps" complete with images, they have paint on the steps to make them stand out, and they are well lit and you would not believe the number of people stumbling in - usually accompanied by a sniggering friend that did read the signs 😣