---

-

The Captain, Guy Hair, called upon the people present to stand for the Loyal Toast to Her Majesty The Queen. He then asked the Gentlemen Archers present to stand whilst those who had not shot with him in the morning left the room.

The Captain then called for the toasts to the Society and the Arrow, The Captain Elect and Lieutenant Elect.

Lewis Mitchell, The Lieutenant read the minutes of the 300th meeting. These were accepted as a true record and the Record Book duly signed by the Captain.

There were several apologies for absence.

• Enquiries were made about whether or not the Commemorative Badge die had been destroyed. The Clerk presented the die to the members and asked for this matter to be deferred to later as additional correspondence had been received on the matter.

• Past Captain, Drew Stapleton reported to the members that Neville Lever, his main supporter last year and the person who had made the 300th meeting possible, through his support and fundraising had sadly passed away 4 weeks ago.

• The Clerk reported that the Loyal Message and Rose had been sent to Her Majesty. No reply had yet been received, nor had one been received for last year either.

• Correspondence has been received from Past Captain Adrian Hayes, proposing that the Commemorative Badge die, not be destroyed, but rather used to create a new trophy for longbow archers. Significant debate ensued, with views expressed for and against this proposal. A vote was taken and a substantial majority voted in favour of retaining, modifying and re-using the die for a longbow trophy. Ideas and designs for such a trophy and it’s specific use should be sent to the Clerk, to be discussed by the Council of Captains and for final details to be presented to the 302nd Meeting.

• The Clerk presented the accounts for the approval of the members. A balance of £4,922.50 was shown in the Reserve & Administration Accounts. The Clerk proposed that as the funds were growing substantially and that there were no great demands on either fund, that in future the cost of the insurance for the Meeting should be met from the funds. Again, after much debate, the proposal was voted upon and a substantial majority supported the proposal. This will take effect from the 302nd Meeting.

• Philip Rolls proposed that in future, recurve bows should only be permitted if they were shot as barebow, without sights and other aids. This was voted upon and a small majority rejected the proposal.

• Gordon Aldred pointed out that a Horn Spoon, believed to be a replica of the Spoon awarded for the Worst White, presented by the Society to Ribblesdale Archers in 1926, had, with the closure of Ribblesdale, now come into the possession of his club at Samlesbury. The archers of the club, wished to present the Spoon back to the Society, if that would be acceptable. This kind offer was accepted, and the specific use of the spoon as a trophy would be considered along with the use of the die.

• A comment was raised about Gentlemen standing and applauding whilst the guests left the room after lunch, and how this was no longer practiced. No firm proposal was put forward but the general agreement was that it was acceptable for the Captain to ask the Gentlemen to stand and for him to offer thanks to all our guests for their company during lunch, but to ask everyone who had not shot with him during the morning to leave the room.

The Clerk pointed out that due to venue constraints it was necessary to cease shooting at 17:30, which meant that 2 hours would not be available for shooting in the afternoon, and he then closed the meeting at 15:40.

---