[Steppes] The Hawkins Site

Wed Feb 14 15:00:08 PST 2007

I will stick my neck out a bit further on this as I saw the target archery near the melee field and was witness to a safety issue that could have been disastrous. The area behind the targets was heavily wooded and a woman walking her dog was able to walk well onto the range behind the targets before being seen and a hold called. I did not think that that location was safe at all and had I been in a position to do so, likely would have shut the range down at least until the safety area was marked all the way through the woods.

The spillway is acceptable only if you have about a dozen people at a time on the firing line. With 4-5 feet per archer required by Society recommendations, that gives a maximum line length of 60 ft or 20 yds. the line itself is doable, but extending the 45 degree safety margin out to the distance of the farthest standard target (40-50 yds in most shoots) pushes those safety margins up onto the dike and the hill. When I set up the range this last Three Kings, I extended up almost to the top of the dike, not an ideal situation, plus the problems with people walking along and over the dike and people riding horses along the dike. In November we had equestrians running their horses along the top of the dike. The were just outside of our safety margin, but one rider had a problem with her horse and the horse came charging down the dike, very much out of control. Fortunately they were behind the firing line and there were very few people on the range at that time, but it could have been tragic. As it was, the rider was suffering some discomfort from her wild ride. 

As mentioned before, we have had some issues with getting archery done before court in the past several years so that we can get results to the Herald and the Scribes. This is with a firing line accommodating 25 or so archers. If we cut the length of the line, we lengthen the time of the shoots. We are known for our quality shoots and our Archery events are some of the largest in the Kingdom. 

Canton accommodates things nicely. While there are some negatives, if you look at the lists put forth so far, the pro's far outnumber the cons. We have mundane issues at Hawkins, too. We often have non SCA folk at the archery range and I've seen cars stop on the highway to watch which could be a serious hazard. This last year, with the First Monday folk being kept out by Canton, we had a lot less problem with outsiders. If we can keep this as part of our agreement, I don't see it as any more of an issue than at any other location.

Lyneya, who should have worked today rather than spending all of her time at the computer :)

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:39:01 -0800From: jlspinks at sbcglobal.netSubject: Re: [Steppes] The Hawkins SiteTo: crystal.lemming at prudential.com; sueorintx at hotmail.comCC: steppes at lists.ansteorra.org
The area next to the melee field was marginal and the event was limited to 20yd shots. Given that some are able to shoot an apple at 30-40yds in the William Tell event, that is disappointing.  It can also be dangerous since Warlord is a much larger event than any that has been held there in the past.

The area in the emergency spillway is, as Lady Lyneya stated, adequate but not excessively so. It must also share with equestrian in that same area with very limited access. (It is also bloody hot down there since no breeze can get down there).  There ARE problems but they also exist at almost every site.  I, for one, have seen no discussion of other sites and am reserving judgement until I know more. 

Count Gunthar does bring up some interesting points, however, with regard to folks mainly doing their own thing.  Perhaps we, as a community, should consider how to make our 4 day event such that folks will stick around after "their" event is over and support each other in our various endeavors?  And maybe learn a bit about other events in the process.

Jaque the Spink

crystal.lemming at prudential.com wrote:
Are we talking about the same area? I know some years the archery at 3Kings was held next to the melee field.Susan McMahill l.com> To , Wed 02/14/2007 cc 03:58 PM Subject RE: [Steppes] The Hawkins Site No, your Grace, it is not as large as Canton's and is far too small for ourneeds. At most it can accommodate 10-12 people on the line at one time. AtCanton, we can have twice that many. I have marshalled target archery atHawkins several times and this last Three Kings, ran the target archery.There are safety and visibilty issues involved because of blind areas atthe top of the dike and up the hill toward camp. Hawkins is marginallyabout 100 yards wide and is plenty long for what we need, but not wideenough. A couple of years ago, the target archery at Hawkins was almostshut down because of issues pertaining to the dike and the hill as safetyzones. I'd rather not see that sort of thing happen at a Steppes event.Lyneya de Grey> To: steppes at lists.ansteorra.org> From: crystal.lemming at prudential.com>Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:50:54 -0600> Subject: [Steppes] The Hawkins Site>> > Actually there is a very large area next to the lake that we can usefor> target archery. It is easily as large as Canton's archery area. Idon't> think we used a it this last 3 Kings. But I'm pretty sure we used itfor 3> Kings 2005.> > Conal> >-------------------------------------------------> > The Hawkins site istoo small to support the size of archery tournaments we> hold in order tohave the tournaments completed in a timely manner. We need> a minimum of100-120 yards square. It has the depth, but not the width. we> have beenpushing it to get done in time for court as it is the past couple> ofyears. If we have to use a smaller firing line, we will go well into> courtbefore we have a champion.> > As far as the lake....I don't know. I am nota lake swimmer generally and> would prefer to keep my state of undressprivate. I also think that if we> are worried about problems withmundanity, then we will find that modern> bathing suits and bathing attirewhich will be most common, will be VERY> mundane. Period bathing attire inthe lake would be...well, the most period> would be without bathing attirewhich wouldn't go over at all, I'm sure.> more acceptable bathing garbcould be heavy and somewhat dangerous for> people not used to swimming inlong dresses.> > Lyneya> _______________________________________________>Steppes mailing list> Steppes at lists.ansteorra.org>http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/steppes-ansteorra.org(See attached file: C.htm)_______________________________________________Steppes mailing listSteppes at lists.ansteorra.orghttp://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/steppes-ansteorra.org