Nerves of Steel
Archers need to put their trained eye to the test in Nerves of Steel, with one arrow on the line aimed at a small target surrounded by a steel plate - which gets ever smaller.
The steel has seen the demise of many arrows over the years, with this year being no exception - but we have a paper variant for those who do not have nerves of steel.
Fox Archers 13th Portsmouth
A strong turnout from Darenteford at Fox's annual friendly Portsmouth shoot, with Darenteford showing "this is how we do it" by taking home five medals.
Well done to Chris B, Ruth, and Ant who each won gold in their categories, Leanne who won silver and Dan S who won bronze. We saw great shooting from all our archers.
Inter-County Match with the Kent County Team
We were delighted to have three of our members selected for the county team, to compete in the 4-Way inter-county match hosted by the Kent Archery Association.
Congratulations to Dan, Ant, and Jason on being selected to represent Kent. Well done Jason for winning silver medals for team and individual compound.
Rayleigh Town 2025 Portsmouth
We saw strong competition at this UKRS shoot in Essex! Congratulations to Ruth who took a silver medal in the women's recurve and, Darenteford also took third place in the recurve team category.
Kent Indoor Championships
The members of the Bowmen of Darenteford had a great turnout at the Kent Indoor Championships shooting across the morning and afternoon session.
Congratulations to Antony K for claiming the gold medal and Kent Indoor Champion title in the gents recurve category, also Ruth B for claiming the silver medal in the ladies recurve and Chantel D for claiming the Bronze medal in the ladies recurve category.
Kent Archery League AGM
Congratulations to members of the Bowmen of Darenteford that took part in the Kent Archery League 2024 season. Darenteford took 3rd place in the pure score competition and took 1st in the handicap competition.
Many of our members also took home badges commerating their season highs in the league for their respective rounds, Well done to all and look forward to the upcoming year of the league!
Kent Shooting Day
Darenteford turned out in force at Sittingbourne Community College for a Shooting Day, which was held alongside the Kent Archery Association AGM.
The day aimed to give archers help with bow setup, form, and mental approach to their sport. We're proud to see our club members committed to developing their skills, with many setting goals toward the County Team.
Gravesend Shrimp Shoot
Darenteford made a great turnout at the annual Shrimp Shoot, competing as individual, pairs, and teams, and shooting a Portsmouth round.
Collectively, club members took home an amazing 12 medal prizes (and had their fill of foam shrimp sweets)!
Peacock WA18
Archers from Darenteford took part in Peacock Archers' WRS WA18 shoot in Bottisham, Cambridgeshire. There was some excellent shooting despite a very cold sports hall!
Congratulations Logan for scoring a personal best, and Ant who took home a silver medal.
Clophill Triple
Four of the club visited Bedfordshire to compete in a Portsmouth, Double Vegas, and Worcester - all in one day. That's a minimum of 180 arrows each!
Well done to all for completing the event, and congratulations Ant for winning two golds and a silver medal, and Jason who won two silver medals.
January Challenge with AGB
Archery GB are starting the new year with a virtual competition, the January Challenge.
Scores for Portsmouths submitted to the Records Officer will be entered, and you may shoot as often as you can throughout January. Archers will be categorised by experience and there's a certificate available to everyone who participates.
Festive Frostbite
Our outdoor seasonal shoot had our archers competing in a double Frostbite round. Everyone wore their best festive outfits in the cold, with cakes and hot drinks afterwards.
Christmas Fun Shoot
Thanks to all archers who dressed up and took part in the indoor fun shoot this year! No archers use a sight for this shoot, but our snowman -and other festive faces- still took a lot of hits!
Robin Hood for Bazza
Congratulations to Barry, who shot an impressive Robin Hood during our Portsmouth League match in Northfleet. His own arrow was shot through the knock creating what looked like an extra long arrow and, a fun spectical for everyone there!
The Portsmouth league is a winter indoor competition run by the British Archery Postal League, shot by clubs across the country. The score of the pierced arrow is also won by the arrow that shot the Robin Hood.
Field Shoot at Lullingstone
Darenteford were invited by local club Lullingstone Bowmen to take part in a field archery taster competition at their range in Kent. Each end was shot at a different face and distance, keeping our target archers on their toes.
Thanks to Lullingstone for introducing us to field archery.
Allington Indoor Double
Congratulations to our archers who shot at Allington's Autumn Indoor Tournament on Sunday 8th December. Ant took multiple gold medals coming 1st overall in his category and Jason won the silver for Portsmouth round.
Aim For Paris Virtual Challenge
The results are out for Archery GB's Aim for Paris Virtual Challenge which took place between July and September. Congratulations to Ruth for winning in her category, and receiving a gold badge.
The club held additional Aim for Paris events including beginner's courses during the Olympic and Paralympic games and, a head-to-head match back in June.
AGM 2024
Thanks to all members who attended the club's annual general meeting
(AGM) this year. Classification badges earned in this year's outdoor season were given out, with a
Many of our committee will be continuing their voluntary roles at the club, with some changes: the field captain will be Mally, and new ordinary member representatives are Mike, Gordon and, Logan.
SCAS Regional Indoor Championships
Ten club members took part in the SCAS Indoor 2024 competition in Eastleigh, Hampshire.
Darenteford's recurve team took bronze medals, and silver individual medals went to Ant and Chris B.
Berkshire Archery Indoor Championships & Open Tournament
Ant K and Dan S competed in the Berkshire Archery Indoor Championships & Open Tournament, a UK record status shoot in Sandhurst UK. They achieved excellent scores in the Recurve and Barebow categories.
Congratulations to Ant, who came 1st in the visiting gents' recurve category.
Waterside Indoor Tournament
Club member Chris B travelled to Southampton to take part in Waterside Archer's triple Indoor Tournament. They were awarded bronze medals for both WA18 WRS and Worcester UKRS rounds in the barebow category.
Frostbite Dozen
Congratulations Dan on scoring a perfect round in our Frostbite league match. An impressive feat!
The Frostbite league is part of a winter competition run by the British Archery Postal League, for over 40 years. Clubs across the country shoot outdoors at 30 metres. Sixty is the maximum score in a single end of six arrows.
Hillingdon WA18 Weekend
Four members took part in Hillingdon Archery Club's WRS shoot on 2nd and 3rd November, at Brunel in Uxbridge. Despite fierce tenacity we didn't take home any prizes this year, instead there were goodies for participating archers as Hillingdon celebrated their 15th year.
Halloween Fun Shoot
Our annual monster hunt saw an excellent turn-out from fancily dressed monster members.
Costume prize winners were the Mad Hatter and, a Viking-age person suffering from an unfortunate werewolf attack!
Clacton Archers WA18
Five Darenteford archers competed in WA18 in Clacton, Essex.
We took bronze medals in both the Gents and Ladies recurve, with team results yet to be announced.
Update: Darenteford recurve team won second place.
Starting the Indoor Season
With the shortening of the days, the indoor season is here. Outdoor archery is on Saturdays. Indoor archery is on Thursday evenings.
See info for archers for updates to the calendar, plus times and indoor fees.
Fox Challenge and KAL
Darenteford competed with Fox Archers in our annual challenge match, and won the trophy for another year.
This was the final Kent Archery League match of 2024, won by Darenteford who won every league match this year. League results will be announced in course.
Following a break-in at Otford where this match was scheduled, we extend our special thanks to the archers from Fox who attended this match at our field.
Aug/Sep Beginners Course
Congratulations to everyone who took part on our beginner's course on 31st August and 7th September. Many thanks to our volunteers, and a very warm welcome to our newest members!
Participants in this course received an Aim For Paris certificate for taking part in an archery event during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Week Night Outdoor Shooting Ends
Summer is drawing to a close, and the last mid-week evening shooting at Bluebell Barn Farm, is done for the year. The final Summer season weekend shoots will be on 28th and 29th September.
Indoor shooting on Thursday evenings will resume soon, and our Winter Frostbite rounds will start from Saturday 5th October.
Bank Holiday Equipment Sale
Our members are having an bring-and-buy archery sale, including some club equipment. If you have something to sell, bring it to the field with you on bank holiday Monday.
The sale will take place first thing, before setting up the field.
KAL Match at Home
Darenteford competed with Crown Archers in the August Kent Archery League match. We've managed to hold onto the winning streak once more!
2024 Ind Coope
Leaves Green Bowmen hosted the 42nd Ind Coope shoot, on a beautiful afternoon.
Our members took home several gold medals and team awards from the outdoor event.
SCAS Inter Counties 2024
Members Jason and Antony shot for Kent in the SCAS inter counties shoot at Andover Rugby Club, coming away with silver in the compound and bronze in the recurve. Kent also won gold in the juniors compound.
Lucky Spectators at Olympic Archery
Congratulations to Darenteford members Ruth and Chris, winners of a pair of tickets to the mens and womens individual eliminations in Paris, with Archery UK magazine.
July Beginner's Course
Congratulations to everyone who took part on our beginner's course on 11th and 27th July. A warm welcome to our newest club members, and big thanks to our volunteers.
Participants in this course received an Aim For Paris certificate for taking part in an archery event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games!
KAL Match at Home
Darenteford competed with Medway Archers in the latest Kent Archery League match, continuing a winning streak in league matches this season.
2024 Club Metric Shoot
This year's Metric event was rained off despite starting in the sunshine.
Since not all rounds could be scored due to the weather, no prizes have been awarded for the club Metric shoot this year.
Fox American Shoot
Ahead of American Independence day, Fox Archers hosted their annual American competition. Five of our archers attended, and took three prizes; Gold and bronze in the ladies recurve category, and bronze in the gents barebow category.
Evening Taster Session
Thanks to the members and participants involved in our taster session on 6th June. We're looking forward to welcoming many of you back for our next beginner course in July.
Memorial Shoot for Brian Kember
Many of our members are familiar with Brian Kember, President and a founding member of our club. We are sad to share that Brian died earlier this year.
This summer, we remembered Brian and celebrated his life and contribution to the club with a Memorial shoot. Please remember Brian, and keep his friends and family in your thoughts.
May Beginner's Course
Congratulations to everyone who took part on our beginner's course on 11th and 18th May - all participants passed.
A warm welcome to our newest club members, and big thanks to our volunteers.
Website re-design: live
We're proud to have been one of the first archery clubs with a website, since 1999! Initially set up by club member Gordon Childs, we've now launched a big makeover.
We'll continue to make improvements to the site over time, and hope you'll find it easier to use and navigate on your device.
Swan v Darenteford Challenge Match
This is an average handicap match where all archer scores are used for the team total.
We won, bringing the score to 13:7 for this long-running challenge shoot.
"Have a Go" Farm Open Days
On Saturdays 23rd and 30th March, our hosts at Bluebell Barn Farm held open days where the public could visit the farm and join in with our club's "Have a Go" archery sessions.
Despite challenging weather on the first week, it was a huge success. Thanks to our members for volunteering their time, we're look forward to many more to come.
Indoor Club Championships
The Indoor Club Championships had 19 archers taking part, shooting a Portsmouth round. At the event we handed out Indoor Classification badges, Portsmouth badges and, Frostbite badges.
Fox Archers Portsmouth
Our members did well at this Portsmouth round event, coming away with two wins.
Four way Indoor County Match
Six Darenteford members where selected to represent Kent at the county match - a great achievement making up over a third of the archers representing Kent (there were sixteen Kent archers in total). Club members did well, with two personal bests, one club record and, a win for Kent in the Compound division.
Allington Castle Spring Tournament
This event is a WA18 in the morning and a Portsmouth in the afternoon, with results for both rounds and, overall. Our members came away with four wins, five 2nd places and one 3rd place, plus, a potential county record for U12 Barebow Women.
Gravesend Archers Shrimp Shoot
We had eleven Darenteford archers attending the Shrimp Shoot - Portsmouth round with team elements - taking three individual wins, three team wins and two team second places and, the Lord Paramount prize for the afternoon session!
The Vegas Shoot
Over the weekend of 1st to 3rd February, this year's Vegas Shoot took place in Las Vegas, Nevada USA, with two of our archers competing in three Vegas 300 rounds shot across three days. Although neither of our members came away with prizes, both won medals for scores and, a potential county record for men's Recurve.
Peacock Archers WRS WA18
This event is a World record status WA18 run by a club in Bottisham, Cambridge. Members did well coming away with a win and a score that broke the club record.
Rayleigh Town Archery Club UKRS Portsmouth
This event is a UK record status Portsmouth with team element run by a club in Rayleigh Town, Essex. Our members did well taking third in the team recurve event.
Clophill Archery Club Triple
This event is a UK records status triple round shoot run by a club in Ampthill, Bedford. The event consists of a Portsmouth followed by a double Vegas 300, finished off with a Worcester - over 200 arrows shot throughout the day! Our members came away with two wins, three second places and one third place.