Woodland Maintenance and NFAS Open Shoot

As you may have seen from recent posts on our social media accounts, we are hosting an NFAS open shoot on the 31st of October 2021. This means we will be having several maintenance days in the next couple of months to prepare the woodland and the course.

Hosting an open shoot takes a substantial amount of work, both in the weeks before the shoot and also on the day of the shoot. The funds we raise by hosting the shoot go a long way towards helping us maintain and replace the equipment and facilities we all use as members of the club, including the hall and woodland. We would like as many members as possible to get involved in hosting the shoot this year, so if you can spare any time at all, no matter how little, please come and join us at the wood on one of the maintenance days.

The first maintenance day will be on the 11th of September and we will look to arrive around 10am. I realise this may be short notice for a lot of you so don’t worry if you can’t attend. There will be more opportunities to get involved over the coming weeks.

The first maintenance day will usually involve a survey of the woodland and the course to assess how much work will be required and to draw up a list of tasks. If time permits, it may also involve some course planning for the second loop of the NFAS course that will run through our permanent EFAA course.

We also need to get an idea of how many people want to get involved and also, how many of you can commit to attending on the day of the shoot to assist with the various duties such as marshalling and car parking.

If you are unable to attend on the 11th and still want to get involved, please let me know by replying to this email. For those of you who wish to get involved and can attend the woodland on the 11th, we’ll see you there.

Thanks in advance
Andy

Wood Maintenance Day – 30th May 2021

Hi everyone

maintenance day image

We will be having a maintenance day at the wood on 30th May. Now that we are coming out of the varying degrees of COVID restrictions, we need to put in some work to get the equipment and course ready for our open shoot later in the year. We will be arriving at the wood from 9am and trying to work as long as we can to achieve as much as possible.

We will primarily be focussing on repairing and rebuilding as many of the bosses in the wood as we can. If we have sufficient people attending, then we may also be able to carry out some of the other tasks that need doing around the wood at the same time.

We should have the equipment and materials we need for the work on the bosses, but things like hammers, shears, branch cutters, gloves etc are always useful so feel free to bring any tools you think will be useful. You will also need to bring your own lunch/refreshments.

All members are welcome and are encouraged to attend. It will give you an opportunity to meet other club members and you may also pick up a few new skills.

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you on the 30th.

Andy Betts

Club Secretary

Reopening of the Artemis Woodland

Hi Everyone

As we are now out of Lockdown V2, the club has decided to make the wood available for practice.

This is for the sole use of Artemis Archers members who hold a current full NFAS membership.

Your use of the wood is subject to your compliance with the conditions outlined in the document linked below. If these conditions are not adhered to, it will result in the woodland once again being closed for practice. Please ensure you read and understand the conditions before visiting the wood.

If you have any questions, or require further information or clarification, please contact me.

Andy Betts

Club Secretary

A Fiver for Wyver

Hi Everyone

As you may or may not be aware, at the beginning of this year part of Wyver Lane (the lane that leads to our woodland) was resurfaced. This has massively improved access to our wood. Until recently we were unaware of who payed for this work. Last week I received the below letter, forwarded on to us by our friends Nick and Kate who live in the property at the end of Wyver Lane.

The work was funded by the Derwent Valley Trust as part of the work to complete the Derwent Valley Cycleway. There is still a small section of Wyver Lane that requires resurfacing, and they are raising funds for this purpose.

It goes without saying that this will benefit all of us and anyone attending our annual open shoots so please support the fund if you are able. They have already raised £13000 but need to match that in order to be able to complete the work.

 The link to the donation page is https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/3135428

Anything you can give to support the project will be much appreciated.

The full text of the letter including links for more information about the project is below.

Thanks for your support.

Andy

Letter from Derwent Valley Trust

At the beginning of 2020, the Derwent Valley Trust re-surfaced the first section of the Wyver Lane segment of the Derwent Valley Cycleway in Belper. Throughout the lockdown, we have received heartening reports of the new section being regular used by families with young children, seeking some fresh air and exercise to support their physical and mental health during the virus crisis. The quality of the re-surfacing has been so good that we have even heard of wheelchair users coming to the lane specifically to enjoy a flat and smooth route to access the countryside in the valley.

We are now planning to complete the re-surfacing of Wyver Lane by finishing the final section to provide a continuous cycle route of 2km. With this segment completed, Belper residents will be able to enjoy a 4km /2.6 mile return route, walking, cycling or in wheelchairs from the heart of Belper into the Derwent Valley to access the countryside, the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust bird reserve along the Lane and the river valley.

We have already raised £13,000 towards the project from a local landowner but we need to match this amount with another £13,000 to cover the total costs of completing the Wyver Lane cycleway. Would you as a local Belper resident or business be able to contribute to the project to provide this much needed facility? There is nowhere else in Belper where people can enjoy the countryside in such an accessible and active way. We are sure the Belper community, be it your friends and family or your customers and employees, would be very grateful and impressed with your involvement and contribution to such an important new facility for the town. We would of course register any support you are able to give (unless you wish your gift to be treated anonymously) and would love to work with you on this community project.

Please contact us if you are able to help in any way – whether it’s a “fiver for Wyver” or if you are able to give more, we will be very grateful for any support!

Please give a fiver (or more if you are able) by paying online via Paypal using the following link:

https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/3135428

Please give your name and Wyver Lane as a reference with any payment. If appropriate, please fill in the Gift Aid details so we can gain an extra 25% from your donation from Government.

I do hope you can help!

Please see www.derwentvalleytrust.org.uk/cycle  for further information on the longer term aims of the Derwent Valley Cycleway from Derby to Chatsworth and our other initiatives in the Derwent Valley.

Kind regards,

Tanya Spilsbury

Chair of the Derwent Valley Cycleway working group, part of the Derwent Valley Trust.

E: cyclechair@derwentvalleytrust.org.uk

Woodland Closure

Hi everyone.

In line with the recent government announcement regarding the restrictions put in place to combat the spread of COVID-19 and the additional guidance published by both the NFAS and EFAA. We have taken the decision to close the Artemis Woodland to all members. This closure will remain in place until further notice.

We will continue to monitor the Government guidelines and the guidance issued by both the NFAS and EFAA and keep you informed as the situation changes.

Thank you for your continued cooperation.

Re-opening of Artemis Woodland

Hi Everyone

As the government are easing the restrictions that have been in place due to Covid-19, the club has decided to make the wood available for practice.

This is for the sole use of Artemis Archers members who hold a current full NFAS membership.

Your use of the wood is subject to your compliance with the conditions outlined in the document linked below. If these conditions are not adhered to, it will result in the woodland once again being closed for practice. Please ensure you read and understand the conditions before visiting the wood.

If you have any questions, or require further information or clarification, please contact me.

Andy Betts

Club Secretary

Maintenance Day Update

Hi Everyone

Firstly, thank you to everyone who turned up to for the maintenance day today. Your help is very much appreciated.

Following on from the work done today, a list of maintenance tasks has been compiled and is currently being kept on a Wunderlist. I have included a current copy of the list below.

Tasks

☐ New targets 2,3&4 require pegs setting
☐ Boss 10 needs rebanding
☐ Boss 10 needs rotating 90 degrees
☐ Old 8 (new 9) birch needs removing at break
☐ New 7 move pegs
☐ Trim tree between 5 &6
☐ New boss 5 needs restaking
☐ Old 9 (new 5) back stop remove
☐ New bosses for 2,3 & 4
☐ Clear between 4 & 5
☐ Chain saw trees between new 2,3, 4 and 5

If you’re visiting the wood at all and you can spare a little extra time to complete any of the tasks above, it would really help to keep the course and the woodland in good shape for everyone.

The list will be fluid with new tasks being added and existing tasks marked as complete. If you would like access to the live list on Wunderlist, please leave a comment below and you will receive an invitation containing a link by email from one of the existing members.

Thanks

Andy

Maintenance Day – 1st June

Hi Everyone

On Saturday 2nd June we will be having a maintenance day at the wood. We would like to encourage as many members as possible to attend, it’s a good opportunity to meet other members and see what goes in to maintaining a field archery course. If you haven’t visited our woodland before, it’s also a good opportunity to familiarise yourself with the layout of the course and the terrain.

We will be gathering at 10am around the gazebo at the bottom of the wood. If you can’t make it for 10am, there will be people at the wood for most of the day, so if you can only spare a couple of hours feel free to arrive at any time.

If you have any gloves, gardening tools or any other tools you think will be useful around the wood, please bring them along.

As there will be people working in the wood, this does mean that the wood will not be available for any practice on the day.

If you haven’t been to the wood before, the wood is located in Belper at the very end of a long Wyver Lane, so please keep following the track to the end. The postcode is DE56 2UB, OS Grid SK3449,Longitude 1.491° Latitude 53.046°

If you have any further questions or would like any further information, please contact me by email, andy@artemisarchers.com.

Thanks

Andy