Ian and Sue have been professional musicians and music teachers for nearly thirty years. For most people, music is a much loved hobby, but they spend their spare time enjoying archery and are passionate about it!
Being generally creative people, Ian has very good wood working skills and Sue loves painting and sewing. The Medieval ‘Have a Go’ Archery section of their club has provided opportunities for Ian to make Longbows and Medieval Crossbows and for Sue to enjoy making authentic costumes. They have always tried to use natural materials and have closely copied authentic designs.
Ian found that he was particularly drawn to making arrows and after making hundreds, if not thousands over the last 8 years or so, he feels he can now call himself an Arrow Master. A lot of the work is carried out in his workshop (shed), but most of the whipping on of fletchings, is done while sitting at the Kitchen table; especially in the winter, when this is the warmest room, heated by their wood burner. They typically lose three or more arrows on a field shoot, so arrows are constantly being repaired or replaced. Other archers are now beginning to recognise and admire the craftsmanship of Ian’s arrows.
Ian and Sue Blunsdon of Oxford Neolithic Bows
When Sue first began to get seriously interested in archery, she specialized in shooting Hungarian and Mongolian horse bows. Although she really loves these bows and the style of shooting, she wanted to shoot a primitive bow, rooted in the heritage of the British Isles. After much research, Ian was able to make a bow, in ash, in the style of the Meare Heath bow. Sue had always been attracted to the designs in Neolithic artwork, which can still be found today, on rocks, in caves and in burial chambers and her imagination led her to decorate the bow, using natural earth pigments and authentic designs. Ian made a second bow, which was left undecorated, but was bound at stages along the limbs with linen string. The original bow had leather bindings in specific places and it seems that this helps to absorb shock and make the bow silent, which is obviously an advantage when hunting in particular.
There is some academic speculation that the Meare Heath bow, being a huge bow, was for ceremonial purposes only and was never intended to be shot. From the moment that Sue shot the first bow, any such suggestion of this kind was dismissed! The bow, with its’ large limbs is so different to a horse bow, but Sue found it to be fast, accurate and very smooth, with no shock in the handle. Ian found that the bow with bindings,did indeed become much quieter. Both Ian and Sue began to shoot these bows in the Primitive Class on NFAS field shoots in the spring of 2012. Since then they have won many medals in this class and Sue came third in the National 3D championships. Sue also won the Primitive class in the Southwest Challenge in the summer. This grueling event was hampered by particularly wet weather, even by the Southwest’s standards and the bow received a daily drenching! Happily, Sue found that this didn’t affect the bow's performance and she feels that she has found a bow that is truly suited to the British climate!
The bow has unexpectedly attracted a lot of attention from fellow archers, who upon trying it have found it to have an exceptionally smooth draw and immediate cast of the arrow. For its draw weight the bow is easy to draw compared with a recurve, or longbow of similar poundage. It’s design is attractive and different to other popular bow styles and is a serious choice for the instinctive archer. Many fellow archers have enquired and placed orders for this individual, attractive bow. Since making the first bow in the Spring of 2012, Ian has gone on to make many more. In the true spirit of the Primitive bow, no two are exactly the same and each bow brings out the essence of the wood used. Flint arrow heads would have been used on Neolithic arrows, but there is no archeological evidence to ascertain precisely what style of fletchings would have been favoured, during this period of time. After experimenting with various spine weights and fletching shapes, combined with pile weight, Sue has settled on an arrow which is well matched to her bow. However, she has found that a variety of fletching shapes, are all successful. With Ian’s expertise as an arrow master, he is able to make arrows, fitted with modern field points, with natural feather fletchings and with self-knocks, thus fulfilling the NFAS criteria for an arrow to be used in the Primitive class.
There is no doubt that the Meare Heath style bow is very much a serious contender for any amateur or professional, primitive and instinctive archer.
