Derby Archery

Derby is slap-bang in the middle of 'medieval badass' territory. Back in the day, this awesome little city was a village surrounded by forests, outlaws, warring nobles and royal highways. Its fields hosted tests of skill in every weapon, including the most legendary of them all - the traditional English longbow.

This is definitely worth getting the stag party out of bed for! Using modern variants on this ancient piece of warfaring kit, you'll learn every stage in the unleashing of a successful quarrel (that's what pro archers call the arrow).

Master the art of the nock, the draw, the hold and the release. You can use a recurve longbow, designed for field use in the traditional style, or a compound bow. Smaller, lighter and easier to handle, a compound bow replaces the long limbs of the longbow with a pulley system: the pulleys allow the bow to develop epic release force without the need for the much bigger arms of a traditional bow.

Your field of combat is a beautiful wooded area close to Derby - on the border between Derbyshire and Leicestershire. As you draw the string tight, breathe, and release your arrow, imagine you're an outlaw of old, fighting for your life among the ancient trees. That'll cure those wedding worries in a hurry!

In a nutshell:

• Stag party archery session near Derby
• All equipment
• Instruction and safety briefing