1. A member will have been formally invited to join CHLS by the club secretary and his /her name entered in the club membership list following the approval of the committee. The joining member will complete a membership form provided by the secretary or treasurer.

The appropriate shoot fee is due to existing members on 1st January with a deadline of end of February. New members joining will pay a pro rata payment dependant on the remaining months in the year. Existing members prior to 1st January 2011 had the option to “pay as you go” at the rate of £3 per shoot, although this option is no longer available except to members who chose this option in January 2011.
PAYG members need to attend 27 shoots in the year before qualifying for club subsidies.

Members unable to make regular attendance due to geographical distance, work commitment or personal reasons may take half membership but this would be limited to a maximum attendance of two Sunday shoots and two Wednesday shoots a month. Upgrading to full membership will be expected if the member wishes to shoot more often.
The guest fee will be paid at the appropriate amount at the time, for visits attending after the first time free introduction visit for both Sunday and Wednesday shoots. The guest fee will be paid up until the full membership fee is paid.

Juniors under the age of sixteen years will pay half the guest fee and half the annual fee.

At the point of joining, the member is expected to look towards providing his/her own equipment.
Members having paid no subs for more than 12 months will cease to be club members but may apply to rejoin at a later date under his/her original membership arrangement.
A member attending as a guest prior to joining, may have his/her scores count towards his/her handicap when becoming a full member. Flags and flushes will also count.

2. Club equipment will be available for guest use. A guest is invited by a club member and it is up to that member to ensure his guest is provided with equipment from the equipment officer. Equipment should be booked in good time with the current equipment officer. Equipment is on a first come first served basis.

3. A shoot will qualify for club scores and averages provided that a minimum of two club members are present, one of whom must be nominated as shoot captain.
Only Sunday shoots, Wednesday shoots or days replacing a Sunday or Wednesday shoot will be considered club events, other than designated practice shoots following main shoots with the prior consent of the shoot captain and consideration to the requirements of the landowner or representative thereof.
For competitions only, in the event of foul weather, there will be a vote of members present on site on the morning of the event, to postpone to the following Sunday or continue. In the event that the vote is to continue, the minimum participants will be three, one of whom is nominated as shoot captain. If a member abandons the event once it has started, he/she will have a proportion of their handicap added to their score at the point of departure. This proportion will relate to the number of complete rounds shot, IE one third of handicap to each completed round.
If the vote is to postpone to the following Sunday, at the discretion of the shoot captain or his deputy, a normal Sunday shoot can continue with normal scoring/ handicaps, provided there are at least two participants, one nominated shoot captain.

4. No shoots will take place at either of the two club sites except as club events, or designated practice sessions in line with above.

5. A prominent warning notice should be displayed at any potential point of public entry to the shooting ground prior to commencement of activities.

6. The field Captain or a deputy/deputies nominated by him/her will be present at all club events. The field captain will be fully endorsed by the other members present and his/her decision will be final. Mainstream archery association advice is that there be sufficient officers of the club present at a shoot to reflect the total number of archers present, therefore additional club members with sufficient experience may need to be nominated by the shoot Captain in the event of a large attendance.

7. The shooting discipline of CHLS is fixed mark and arrows will be loosed only at the appropriate fixed mark flag. Arrows will not be loosed at any other time or in any other direction. The field captain will ensure that a straight line is kept when shooting and that shooting does not re commence until scoring on the previous flag is completed. The field captain will establish that shooting to a given flag is completed before participants walk forward to the scoring flag. Members practicing before a shoot will shoot only to flags nominated by the shoot captain and have an adequate backdrop.

8. Only longbows as defined by I.L.A.A. will be used in club events. This definition refers to bow dimensions. Bows will be constructed from wood and may be of up to six laminations. Bamboo is now officially classified as a legitimate bow material and will be permissible. There will be no upper limit regarding bow draw weight although the archer should be aware of the range of heavy bows in regard to overshoot. The field Captain may , at his/her discretion, limit bow weight on certain directions of shot effected by wind conditions. There will be an adequate clear backdrop/overshoot for each flag.

9. Arrows may be of any length or shape provided they are made of wood. Fletchings may be of any size but fletching colour must be as agreed to be that member`s colours. Fletchings will be natural feather only. No plastic or similar materials permitted. Experimental arrows may be tested during club shoots provided that the arrow/arrows are nominated as non scoring prior to loosing on any given flag. All arrows shot on a scoring shoot will have piles no more than 1/8”wider than the arrow shaft diameter and be no longer than 2”. The exception to this rule will be where a member wishes to test arrows in the historic/ experimental context where provision is made for such an exercise either side of a club shoot , under the control of the shoot captain and with the approval of the committee. In events requiring that archers use Military or Standard arrows, these will comply with the dimensions laid down by ILAA. These will usually be away events.

10. The field captain and members present will remain vigilant as to possible members of the public coming into the shooting line and a call to cease shooting given as soon as possible. Any shooting participant shall have the right to call fast. Shooting must not continue until that person/ persons is/are completely out of the shooting line and the field captain calls for shooting to continue.

11. Members using bows of 40lbs draw weight or less may go forward at the discretion of the field Captain when shooting the longer flags. This is not only to give the low bow weights a fairer chance but to avoid arrows falling short into the trees at the European school, where arrows later falling out of trees onto the pitches during school time could lead to severe consequences. Big bows shoot first then all archers then move forward ten or twenty yards.

12. Only the appointed scorer will enter the scoring area, i.e, within 12 feet of the relevant flag. The scorer`s decision is final except that the scorer may call for a second opinion if he considers it necessary. Members should assist the scorer eg in holding his/her bow and receiving scored arrows as they are removed by the scorer.

13. A member breaking another member’s arrows will offer that member compensation to the amount of £5. An arrow broken by the scorer in the execution of his duties will not render him/her liable to compensation to the arrow “owner”.

14. Two handicap trophies are shot for each season, these being the Robert Wallis memorial trophy and the Crecy trophy. Also, three non handicapped competition based purely on skill and a high score, the Agincourt trophy, Mary Rose trophy & ‘Dobbs’ Peter Madden Trophy.
These shoots are in March, June, August and October respectively. A member must have attended at least five shoots in that year to qualify for the handicap shoots . There is no qualifying period for the Agincourt, Mary Rose & Peter Madden shoot but participants must be full/Half members. End of year trophies will be presented to three places for each of these competitions.
A running handicap set at 70% and adjusted every four months or each third of season will be awarded to members who have attended five shoots.
There will be a trophy awarded each year end for the highest average score and also for the highest individual score. Also a trophy for the best ten handicapped scores
Two year end trophies will be awarded at year end for the highest number of flags and flushes, one for Wednesday shoots and one for Sunday shoots. These trophies will be called “Master archer”.
There will be a year end trophy presented to the best improver from one season to the next.
There will be a year end trophy awarded to the highest average scoring Junior.
In the event of a tie in a competition, the tying members will shoot off on two flags nominated by the shoot captain There will be one short flag and one long flag. Each tying member will shoot six arrows on each flag.
Each tying members handicap will be divided by 15 to give a single flag handicap. This will be multiplied by 2 for the two flag tie break and added to the score.A decimal point handicap of 0.5 or over will be rounded up to the next higher full point.
Members who have not been awarded a handicap may shoot in the two handicap competitions but may compete for the trophies on base score only.

15. To qualify for end of season averages/ high score trophy, a member should have attended ten scoring shoots in that season. These averages will be calculated at the end of the season on the basis of each member`s best ten scores through the season. A trophy will also be presented for the highest individual score during the season. Again, the member would have to attend ten shoots in that season. There will be a trophy presented year end to the member who has in the opinion of the other members, given outstanding service to the club in that year . Nominations for the trophy will be sent to the club secretary in the weeks prior to the annual buffet/trophy presentation, and the member with the most nominations will receive the trophy. The trophy will be named the fingers trophy.

16. The Improvers trophy will be awarded at the end of the year, based on the improvement percentage between the current year and the previous year. In order to qualify, members should have attended ten shoots in the previous and current year.

17. There are three trophies to be competed for on Wednesday evening shoots in the summer. One for highest score for the season, one for second place and one for third place.

18. The wooden spoon, or derrick bettis trophy as it is correctly named will be awarded to the member wth the lowest average score, for stirring effort.

19. All members are expected to have respect at all times for the grounds we shoot on and do their utmost to leave gates etc; as found, avoid damage to trees and fences or make good if possible.

20. CHLS has the use of the Motocross Fields, Abbey Meadows & Cliften Locksite on Sunday mornings and Wednesday Evenings , the lock site being agricultural land with cattle grazing at times should be respected as such and no shooting should take place if cattle are in the field constituting the shooting ground.

21. There is no upper limit or cap on membership, but the committee will monitor club numbers and reserve the right to impose a limit should this become necessary.

22.The rules of the club regarding shooting safety will be in line with those of mainstream archery associations.

23. An incident book will be maintained at all club shoots by the shoot Captain.

24. A risk assessment will be maintained for all shoots.

25. An emergency procedure plan will be maintained regarding safe evacuation of the shooting ground in the event of an emergency and with regard to juniors who should only attend shoots accompanied by a parent or nominated guardian.

26. A first aid kit will be available on site at all shooting events, with a member trained in first aid. Present, although this member need not be currently certificated. First aid members should be recorded so are known to other members.

Badges known as “100 club badges” will be awarded to a member who achieves 100 point or over at a single shoot.
Further badges will be awarded upon achieving personal bests of 110 or over, 120 or over, 130 or over,140 or over and 150 or over.

These rules supercede all previous rules prior to 8th May 2017.

Amendment to Rule 3 (10/06/11):

For competitions only, in the event of foul weather, there will be a vote of all members present on site on the morning of the competition to proceed with the competition or postpone it to the following Sunday.

In the event that the majority vote is to proceed, the minimum number of qualifying participants will be three, one of whom will be the shoot captain or a nominated deputy. If any member abandons the event, he/she will be a proportion of their handicap to be added to their actual score up to the point of abandonment of the competition.

If the majority vote is to postpone to the following Sunday, at the discretion of the field captain or deputy, a normal Sunday shoot can continue under the terms of rule three for non competition shoots , with a minimum of two members, one of whom must be shoot captain or appointed deputy. Normal Sunday shoot scoring/running handicaps will apply.”

This amendment will be formally approved at the next committee meeting and will be put to the club membership for approval at the next AGM.

Amendment to Rule 1: A guest attending a shoot for the first time will not pay a shoot fee, but will pay a shoot fee of £5 (juniors £2.50) for any subsequesnt visits. If and upon the guest being offered membership, any shoot fees paid as a guest will be offset against the annual membership fee. (11/12/12)

Addition to Rule 14: In the event of a tie in a competition, the tying members will shoot off on two flags chosen by a committee member who is not one of the tying competitors.
There will be one long flag and one short flag, six arrows on each.

11/12/12: A member who attends as a guest prior to joining the club may have those scores achieved contriute to his/her handicap when becoming a full member.

12/03/13: Rule 1 – a member having paid no subs, nor attended as a PAYG member for more than 12 months, will cease to be a club member, but may re apply for membership at a later date under his/her original membership arrangement.

05/08/14: Rule 13 – an arrow broken by the scorer in the execution of his duties will not hold him liable to payment in compensation to the arrow owner.

Amendment to Rule 7 (03/11/2015). Members practicing before the start of a shoot will all shoot together to the same flag and will ensure that a minimum 50 yard backdrop exists behind each target flag.

Amendment to Rule 14. A member must have been awarded a running handicap before qualifying for a trophy handicap.

Additional information re definition of English/Welsh longbow:

The bow shall be the traditional longbow made from wood, either “self”, “backed”, or “laminated” with cambered (stacked) belly and horn nocks. It shall be not less than five feet in length for an arrow of less than 27 inches and; not less than five feet six inches in length for a 27 inch or longer arrow, this being measured along the back between the string nocks. At no point shall the depth of the bow, measured from back to belly, be less than 5/8 (five eights) of the width of the bow at the same section. The bow may carry no support for the arrow. Bows of bamboo, constructed in conformity with the above, shall be permitted.

Addition to Rule 14 – Trophies:

Once a year, there will be a distance shooting competition named the Mary Rose Target competition. A first place trophy will be presented to the winner of the competition at the annual buffet.