THE first May Bank Holiday saw the arrival of 16 archers and guests from Tavistock Company of Archers' twin club of Pontivy in France — the 13th year of this event which now has very strong bonds between members of each club.
The French friends and guests visited Plymouth's historic Barbican and sea front for a visit of all the sights and were greeted by The Plymouth Pipe Band and a group of local Morris people who gave a display in the streets.
Chairman Mike Charlesworth welcomed the group during an evening skittles match at The Rifle Volunteer, in which Tavistock walked away with winners in each of the categories.
Sam Ball winning Junior Boys, Katherine Ward Junior Girls, Doreen Rogers the Ladies and Lez James the gents.
All the archers met at Kelly Junior School for the day's archery on Sunday.
In the morning Chairman Mike Charlesworth had laid a cunning course of 10 3D animals which seem to catch the French by surprise, with the local archers doing very well.
The afternoon saw a six dozen target round shot in very windy and testing conditions, however all prevailed and at the end of the day it was time for prize giving.
Tavistock won most of the categories, with special praise going to the juniors, Sam Ball, Mabel and Tom Barclay, Andrew Speare and Uepha Barclay exceeding all expectations by putting in very good scores.
These contributed to a Tavistock win by 1,400 points.
The presentation of awards was made by Sally Perkins, landlady of The Market Inn and a very keen supporter of the club.
The evening saw a meal arranged at The Blacksmiths Arms — the staff at the Blacksmiths had omce again come up trumps with a menu to be proud of.
After the meal the President of Pontivy Jean Yves Boscher thanked his opposite number Mike Charlesworth and gave the club a huge bottle of red wine containing no less than 16 of the finest red from France and invited the archers of Tavistock to visit them in 2011