Woking Archery Club history, founded in April 1968 by three archers who originally shot at Guildford Archery Club. These three put an advert in the local paper asking if anyone had a piece of land and would be prepared, for a small sum, to allow archery to take place on it. Apparently there was very little response so they posted a notification of the Inaugural Meeting without having anywhere to shoot!
One or two interested people turned up, together with the original three, and they all sat around talking about archery and discussing ways to approach the Local Authorities in order to try and secure a shooting venue. Suddenly the door opened and in came a Gentleman, “Mr. Foat”, and offered them, there and then, a ground on which they could shoot.
The club started that evening with six members all paying around £5-00p (in old money) for membership of the new club together with membership of The Grand National Archery Society.
Woking AC shot at its initial venue at Martyrs Lane in Woking for approximately seventeen years building up its reputation and membership whilst retaining its overall aim which was to enjoy the sport of archery.
Woking AC eventually left Martyrs Lane because the club required better facilities, like toilets instead of trees, due in the main to a steady increase in lady members and younger children.
The new venue was terrific with “Toilets” and “Showers” and even a “Bar”, as well as a field to shoot on, and the grass was cut for us instead of having to do it ourselves. Think of all the time you would have for archery if you didn’t have to cut the grass, go to the toilet, drink in the bar, and have a shower!
However, the luxury of all this had to come to an end when the popularity of the club meant that Club Night became almost unmanageable due to a large number of people at the field at one time.
So in 1990 Woking AC moved to Wisley onto a field that was just for our use with a shooting line that is almost 200 meters long with adequate, if not luxurious, facilities and a club that has still retained the philosophy under which it was formed.
Woking AC remains grateful to RHS Wisley for the use of their land and for their support for over twenty-five years.
We hope you enjoyed reading the Woking Archery Club history, if you have information then feel free to send it through.