My Yew Longbow in detail; Chris Boyton & Leo Singleton

Here is the story of my new English Yew Longbow. Crafted by the countries top bowyer Chris Boyton and his student Leo Singleton (my partner :) ).

Last year Leo was gifted an Earl Ulrich yew stave, the story of which I will tell, or perhaps Leo will, another day. It was very old and relatively not very long, so was more suited to a lighter bow and destined to be made into a longbow for me! However, when Leo and Chris came to make the bow, the staves 50yr old join turned out to be weak and shattered under tillering.  

At exactly the same time the Ulrich yew stave was shattering over in Chris' workshop, I was here in Exmoor having an incredible experience tracking a herd of red deer stags! It was when I got back from tracking them that I had the call from Leo to say that the stave had broken. In the background I heard Chris rummaging around in his workshop as I told them on speaker phone the story of the stags and how every bit of my body had gone electric whilst tracking them! An experience I've never had before or since. Here is my blog post about it: http://heartandsoil.blogspot.com/2010/08/stalking-red-deer-stags.html

Chris stopped me going on about the stags, shouting "found it! I've got a beautiful piece of English Yew here Hen, we'll make you a longbow out of that instead!". It all felt so special. Hate to say it but it felt just right, like it was all meant to be. And just look... it was..

The wood is English Yew, sourced from a woodland off the Pilgrims Way in the North Downs. Felled by our Chris himself.

Leo did a lot of the work too, under Chris' instruction. I love that Leo is able to learn from Chris and know that Leo's passion for longbow and natural skill with working wood will lead to him creating many more beautiful bows. The photo above shows both their makers marks. The B in the shield is Chris' and the lion stamp is Leo's. They stamped on the date the bow was finished too: 23rd March 2011.

The nature of English Yew is a knotty one which, to me, adds to it's beauty and uniqueness. But then I didn't have to spend days making sure those knots didn't become weak points on the bow! That took incredible skill and is testament to Chris' experience as a bowyer and innate knowledge of the characteristics of the wood. 

This is the top nock for the bow string. Leo carved it from red deer antler. I found the antler this is made from on the edge of our Oak woodland, it's from one of these stags:

The antler has great meaning to me, as not only did I find it in the first month of us owning our land here in Exmoor but it was the first time I had ever set eyes on Red Deer Stags. After watching them for a very long time from behind an Old Hawthorn, they wandered off into the woods. I followed them and there was the antler on the ground under an Oak tree. That, coupled with the tracking experience I mentioned above, meant that it was just another piece of the bows' meaningful story.

This is me behind the Hawthorn. Must have been his on the left!

Leo also made the arrow plate out of the antler. It sits so perfectly with the yew wood. In this picture you can see the difference in colour of the yews' sap wood (lighter) and heart wood (darker).

This is the bottom nock for the bow string, showing the bowyers knot in place. The bottom nock is different to the top as it has a flattened off tip. The string is of Fast Flight.

Last but not least, by any means, is the leather handle. Now, Chris wanted the bow to have this as it, yet again, adds to the story of the bow. It is a very old leather. It is a Russian leather that was part of a cargo ship called the Metta Catharina, that sunk in Plymouth Sounds in 1786. Yes... that's 1786. This leather is over 225 years old.  It has been under the ocean wrapped in a bundle for just under 225 years.

It has the most beautiful scent to it, not of rotting seaweed but of what ever it was they used to tan the leather. It's utterly unique, no other leather smells like this. I can only describe it as like linseed oil mixed with birch resin and warmed beeswax.. hmm... that just doesn't do it justice!
The colour of it just so happens to be my favourite colour, the colour of deep wine coloured hawthorn berries and has a diamond pattern on it. I had no idea leather could be so beautiful!

Learn all about the history of the leather and how it is recovered from the ocean here, it's fascinating: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article1040732.ece

The bow had it's first outing a couple of weeks ago, at this years Robert Hardy Roving Marks shoot with the Medieval Society.  It's the second time we've been and yet again we had a great day. Chris showed it to Robert Hardy who looked it over and after a while Roberts' face lit up and he said "now that's the way to treat a pin"! Robert is a very well respected expert in the longbow, as well as an actor in Harry Potter! Check out his book, it's a bible! Longbow: A Social and Military History


Thank you Chris and Leo for creating me such a strong and beautiful longbow. It's my treasure and already it is an extension of me when I fire, improving my shot a million fold!

Learn more about Chris Boyton, his courses and his bows:

www.raymears.com/Bushcraft_Products/Meet_The_Suppliers.cfm/1-Chris-Boyton-Traditional-Bowmaker/

hen xx

Meanderings by the Sea side, The Robert Hardy Longbow shoot & Woodland Dave visits!

Willow and I went to play by the seaside in the beautiful, hot & sunny weather. We found a spot where the river meets the sea & we played & paddled & splashed & swam!

I then hunted in the rock pools and found crabs, whelky type things, anemones, shrimps & stunning seaweeds.  I got into the habit of poking things. Gently mind. I poked an anemone & before sucking in all its arms it sucked onto my skin! Such an odd feeling! Above is me poking a shrimp. Unlike the anemone the shrimp wasn't scared of my poke & fought back... and won.

While I was being bullied by shrimps, Willow took a moment to soak in the peace of the ocean. 

Last sunday Leo & I took part in the Robert Hardy Roving Mark Shoot. We shot our longbows beneath an unforgiving Sun.  World famous archers, newbies Leo & me, side by side. 

 I managed to score 20, which I was very pleased with! The woman above was amazing, she won the beautiful Robert Hardy Trophy with 70 points.  I would urge you to have read about the men of the Medieval Society at the shoot here: http://www.archers-review.com/magazine/april-2010.  Scroll down to find the article on the Medieval Society Roving Marks & a great interview with Chris Boyton.

I had a visitation from a twitter friend - @Woodlanddave! He's also got a great Facebook page here: Woodland Dave . Wow, what an inspiring man he is! What incredible energy!  We had a great time exploring the land & spying on all the critters! Above is Dave modelling at Otters Rock! Where he found some otter spraint! Between you and me I did actually explode when he confirmed it as otter spraint... well.. I got a little excited...

Dave took this picture :)

Here is said Otter Spraint (*holy holy*)

Dave said that a good way to find otter spraint was to have a look for stones that had the moss rubbed off. As it was possible that otters may have been using it to urinate or defecate on for a while. There is no way I'd have thought that was otter spraint without Dave showing me. Next step is to actually SEE AN OTTER!

Dave took this picture :)

What an amazing time I had wandering the woods with Dave. We shared our stories, dreams & loves. Being with someone so rooted in the natural world, someone who's eyes shone with it & who wooped as much as me, was an absolute pleasure.

It was also great to hear Daves advice on how to thin the woodland, for its own benefit. He recommended haloing & underplanting with hazel & mountain ash.  Not to mention all his great design ideas for the new tree planting area! I am so fired up to get going on that!

We didn't manage to hear any bats as the rain kicked in that evening but Dave showed me his kit & explained how it worked.  He also played me some bat song, the sonar recording time-stretched. It's so beautiful, like bird song but ethereal with strange wing like noises. Never heard anything like it before. 

The next morning we were sitting chatting over breakfast when low and behold, no further than 30odd metres away a 5 pointed stag stood, glaring at us, framed in the entrance to the field by the hawthorn trees.  He was in no rush to go & watched us for a good while. When he'd had enough, he drew himself up, looking very strong & slowly turned, stamping his feet authoritively & walked majestically into the woods.

The stag in the photo above was sleeping in the tree planting area.  Dave spotted his antlers poking out the bracken. The photo shows a very pesked stag about to, very peskedly, walk off.

Dave took this picture :)

We explored the fields too.  We found Devils bit scabious, Common valerian, Wood sage, Woundwort, Yellow rattle, creeping broom, loads of different grasses etc!! Dave spotted this stunning little raggedy Blue Butterfly, I think its a Common Blue.

The other day I sat with this Meadow Brown buterfly, warming itself in the setting sun. *sigh* very peaceful.

Dave took this picture :)

Dave also spotted this Golden Ringed Dragonfly.  Massive, striking & exciting to see.  LooOook at him, gorgeous!

Of course, we had a ping! Dave was on the under sized, under weight, guest bow & he was a natural! In absolutely no time at all he hit the target consistently.

In fact... in absolutely no time at all he got a perfect bullseye! AWESOME!!

Dave took this picture :)

I pinged too & as seems to be the case now, with an ex-battery hen at my feet. So, all in all it's been a lovely few weeks & I'm manic busy trying to get everything sorted for our new Hebridean sheep! Who will hopefully feature in my next post!

As always, I write this with much love & with the hope that you can all find moments of peace. They're out there.. They're in there.. They're always there, waiting for you.

hen xx

Full of Longbows, Coppicing, Billhooks and Exmoor!

Click the pics to see them properly  :)

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I had the BEST time ever! I went to a Roving Mark Longbow shoot with the Medieval society. On behalf of the Mary Rose Trust and The Childrens Trust.

We split into two groups, light bows and heavy bows.  The heavy bows went first as they shot from a further distance. Then we'd walk ahead a measured distance and it was the light bows go.  I think a longbow has to be over about 45 to 50LBS to qualify as a heavy bow. My longbow is 33LB now so I was definitely in the light group!

The shoot was on the Englefield estate in Berkshire. A VERY fitting and beautiful place which added to the history of what we were doing. It was a gorgeous day and there were at least 4 Red Kites circling overhead and Skylarks in the fields shouting at us to get lost!

This is one of the Marks.  We were aiming for them, not to hit them but to get as close as possible to them.  The heavy bows were firing from a distance of about 250 to 300 yards and the lighter bows were probably from about 80 to 120 yards. Quite a distance!

This is Chris Boyton and the other senior members of the Medieval Society doing the scoring. If your arrow is within two bow lengths of the mark (12ft) then your arrow scores (within two bow lengths 3 points and within one bow length 5 points).  The closest arrow to the mark gets 12 points. The winning archer then chooses the next mark.

I only scored once! It was a 5 though as I was only a few inches away from the mark!

This is Ron Palmer. He came to chat to us during the shoot and told us all about himself. What a story! He has been making Longbows for 72 years!  He pretty much single handedly kept the skill of making Longbows alive.

He said some very important things to us too which struck deep in my heart and that have added to my motivation to live a life doing what I love and doing it well. I recommend you read this interview with him, what an inspiration. www.archers-review.com/magazine-articles/april-2010-heroes-of-archery

As if a day of archery with some amazing people wasn't enough, the next day I went to Bristol Designs woodcraft toolshop. A little treasure chest! No basketry tools sadly but I managed to finally find a Billhook that fits my hand & isn't too heavy or too light! 

I spent the weekend just gone, coppicing and I couldn't have finished the job properly without my, now trusty, billhook!

We made wildlife piles out of the brashing (the tops of the coppiced poles). I'm hoping to investigate all sorts of bugs and mammals this time next year!

We did use the chainsaw to fell some trees and also to do some of the coppicing. We just don't have enough time at the moment to do it all by hand.  I didn't like using the chainsaw myself but was pleased that I felt confident & safe using it.

We did end up with a couple of trees hung up. Luckily for us Elliott of Snowline Productions is an extraordinary climber and could rig himself up to top the trees and help get them down. I couldn't believe he abseiled off a couple of twigs!  Leo did an amazing job with the chainsaw. I couldn't have done it as long as he did!

We had a jolly over to Hoaroak Water. A beautiful little valley full of Hawthorn trees and other magic little spots.


So I think that's the past couple of weeks up to date!


hen
xx

Longbows, Red Deer Stags, Woodland Yurts & a Cloudless Weekend!

That's me that is!

Helloooo!

Well, I've been busy organising the Exmoor 6000 Trees project amongst a few other things! Above is me firing my new Longbow for the 1st time. Leo made it for me from an ash stave he bought from Chris Boyton. It's not quite finished yet & this weekend was about me having a go on it to see what adjustments need to be made.

I got a bulls eye!

Well, it fired beautifully! A longbow has to have arrows specific to it and I was using Leo's arrows so it was hard to tell what changes might have to be made. He's going to put a bend in the middle to make it more powerful and fit an arrow plate using some antler. After that it can be oiled & a handle fitted. Then I can ping ping away!!

Excitingly the antler he's using is probably from one of the stags in the video below. I found it a couple of yrs ago!

Yesterday morning I went tracking deer. It was freezing & misty but otherwise a cloudless, beautiful morning. I walked around the top of the woodland & saw nothing but tracks. Lots of them! Oh and a noisy Lesser spotted woodpecker! (NB: I could only see red on his head not his bum & he looked distinctively smaller than a Great Spotted Woodpecker).

Trying my best to stay quiet I rounded the edge of a clump of gorse and, even though I'd been looking for them, I shockingly came across the three awesome red deer stags above. They had spent the night in a cosy corner of the regeneration area at the top of the woodland. Initially I made them jump by being a rubbish tracker. I stood stock still & practiced some gentle breathing techniques to help my heart rate drop. I like to think it stopped them from bolting! You'll see in the film how they slowly mooch off, keeping an eye on me but without fear. One of them even stops to eat & have a scratch!

An incredibly powerful experience.

Another rather special thing happened at the weekend too... we picked up our Ger!!

Paul King & Zac of Woodland Yurts (I forced them to let me take a photie! Thanks guys!)

Paul & Zac of Woodland Yurts were enlisted about 4 months ago to build Leo and I a Ger. We've been finding it increasingly hard to work on the land while camping. Our backs can't take all the stooping and bending anymore so we needed something more comfortable. The times we go to the land to do the heavy, cold & exhausting work can continue without fear of ending up prematurely in the knackers yard! Yip yip!!

Woodland Yurts.co.uk

We put it up for the first time on Saturday, it's rare that you get to say this these days but we were astonished at the quality of the craftsmanship. When we couldn't get something to fit, instead of immediately blaming the maker, we knew it was something we were doing. That's just how much confidence we had in Paul and Zac's work! Everything fitted beautifully & with a precision that amazed us!

This is the roof of the Ger. The centre piece is the Tono and is made of English Oak, the poles are of English Ash. All hand made by Paul and Zac in their workshop just outside Bristol. I spent a long time lying underneath the Tono. To me, it looks like the Sun.

The Ger is 16 foot in diametre. We took our time putting it up as we were learning how to do it, took about 3 hours in all, it took us half the time to take it back down again!

The frame is just beautiful. The walls subtly curved for strength. Zac pointed out that each join in the walls was knotted by him & took him ages! Precision knotting! Well done matey!

We chose the green roof cover to help it blend in with the natural surroundings but felt it would be too dark to have the whole Ger green so the walls are white. Paul suggested we also have a roof light, so there is a plastic window over the Tono.

The picture above gives a good idea of just how light and warm it is in there. I fell asleep in the doorway soaking up the sunshine! The roof, because it is a dark material, soaks up the warmth of the sun and the ash roof poles felt warm to the touch too. Enhancing my fantasy of the roof representing the Sun!

Such a beautiful space, even without any furniture in it!

The little bender has a charm to it I love but the Ger has a warm energy to it, an openess that means it's now my favourite! Goodness knows how many hours Paul & Zac spent on making the Ger but I bet it was more than the 6 it took me to build the bender!!

Hope this post finds you all well!

Much love,

hen
xx