About the club
A brief history of Welbeck Archers
From a committee room in 1975 to a thriving club today — here’s the story of Welbeck Archers.
Founding · 1975
It all began at around 4pm on St George's Day — 23 April 1975. Three couples, Doug and Pam Fox, Pam and Barry Sides, and Christine and Keith Gascoigne, sat down in the committee room at Lady Margaret Hall on the Welbeck estate and decided to start an archery club.
The estate's military college gave them permission to shoot at Abbey Bottoms — on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings after 6pm, and all day on Sundays.
Early Days · The 1970s
In the beginning, the club had just one target boss. A member kept it at home and towed it out to the field by trailer every evening. In time, the club was given a little stone building — the Bread and Cheese Lodge — to store its gear, and later got the go-ahead to build its own wooden hut on the field.
The Jubilee Tournament · 1977
In 1977, Marksman Archery asked the club to put on a tournament for the Queen's Silver Jubilee. It was such a hit that Welbeck Archers has held its own open tournament every May bank holiday weekend since 1978 — and it's still one of the highlights of the archery calendar.
A New Home · 2023
In September 2023, after decades on the Welbeck estate, the club moved to a new home at Bothamsall. The move meant longer shooting times and has helped the club keep growing.