Member Article

Actor and longbow expert to visit Wirral event

The All Creatures Great and Small actor Robert Hardy will be visiting The Longbow Shop on the Wirral to mark the 600th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt.

Mr Hardy will be giving a talk on The English Longbow – a subject on which he is regarded as a world authority. He will also be signing copies of his books on the subject.

The renowned actor, who has also appeared in the Harry Potter films and played Winston Churchill on many occasions, has had a lifetime fascination with the Longbow.

Thirty years ago he had a 6 foot replica made of one of the original Longbows used by the Anglo-Welsh Army in the Hundred Years’ War at battles such as Crecy and Agincourt. He has studied the weapon all his life and written books about it.

Mr Hardy, 89, is a patron of the Battlefields Trust and was also a consultant during the raising of the Mary Rose, the Tudor warship. During the exercise, over 6,000 steel-tipped arrows were discovered as well as 138 longbows which he kept at home under strict security.

He said: “The Longbow was the super weapon of its day. It has been my life’s study since at the age of six I discovered two bows in an attic and was fascinated by them.”

The Longbow Shop is run by founder Jason Powell and fellow directors Graham Higgs and Mike O’Sullivan, all of whom are Longbow archers and have their own Archery GB club, The Longbow Club and archery events company Longbow Events.

They have supplied arrows for acclaimed BBC series such as The White Queen and Dr Who along with products for New Zealand SFX company Weta Workshop (Hobbit, Lord of The Rings, Avatar etc). Various bows have been supplied for new TV series The Royals as well as Shakespeare productions at the Globe Theatre in London.

Thanks to an increasing global interest in archery, The Longbow Shop is the largest traditional archery shop in Europe.

The shop’s stock is all hand-made by artisans and all their bowyers are self-employed English bowyers. A beginner’s bow starts from around £200 and a top quality yew English longbow can cost up to £850.

Jason, 46, said: “From the first time I loosed an arrow from a traditional English longbow I was smitten. We’re delighted to be welcoming actor and Longbow expert Robert Hardy to our shop for this very rare and exclusive event to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt.”

A limited number of tickets are available for the Robert Hardy event on 25th May, 10am-4pm. Tickets cost £50 and are available from The Longbow Shop. The price includes lunch and refreshments throughout the day.

The Longbow Shop is headquartered in Unit 20, Price Street Business Centre, Price Street, Birkenhead, Wirral CH41 4JQ.

To book online please visit: http://www.thelongbowshop.com/products/A-special-day-with-Robert-Hardy-25-May-2015.html or Tel: 0151 652 6653

About the Longbow

The longbow has a distinguished history, becoming a weapon of war following King Harold’s defeat at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. During the 16th Century, societies dedicated to the bow and arrow emerged to satisfy the demand for competition, with modern target archery dating to the 18th Century. The Society of Archers at Scorton was formed in 1673 and its annual tournament for the Antient Silver Arrow is still contested today.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mason Media .