Novice Sue Hobson triumphs at St George’s Archery Club's Barbara Williams Memorial Clout competition

Clout is a form of the sport where archers shoot at a 12-inch square flag from 180 yards (gentlemen) or 140 yards (ladies) and various distances according to age for juniors.

The flag is surrounded by a circular scoring zone, and archers score points depending how close each arrow lands to the flag.

Williams was a much-loved club member with a great enthusiasm for archery, particularly clout, and her estate kindly donated a silver tankard to be used as a prize for this club competition, which was set up in her memory.

A handicap system enabled archers of different bow styles and experience to shoot against each other and, despite the blustery conditions with wind gusts up to 40mph, even those shooting clout for the first time managed to get a score on the board.

Novice barebow archer Hobson was only taking part in her first imperial clout competition, but still managed to serve up the performance of the day.

She shot superbly and was presented with the Barbara Williams Memorial Trophy by club president Clive Roebuck as reward for her efforts.

Carol Fairbrother finished as the second-placed lady, while Roz Sheldon, shooting her first clout round, was third.

Longbowman Gary Sandles took top spot in the gents’ competition, with last year’s winner Ian Harris second, and current National Champion Clive Woolley claiming third.

Martin Hobson and Lee Wilson, both shooting at their first imperial clout competition, shot exceptionally well to be placed fourth and sixth respectively.

Under-12s longbow archer Matilda George continued her excellent start in the sport, triumphing in the junior category.

Annie Horner, trying out clout archery for the first time, soon found her range and claimed the silver medal.

Matilda George shot the best junior arrow of the day but was pipped to the Ted Mallett President’s Arrow trophy for the best clout by Fairbrother, who landed an arrow directly into the flagpole on the penultimate end.

St George’s host their Open Clout competition this month and the club run beginners’ courses throughout the year.

Full details can be found on their website www.stgeorges-archery.co.uk.