Most of you who have ever shot at a Dunedin Archery Club tournament will have at some stage met our regular Director of Shooting Pam Gordon. However, Pam‛s part in the sport of Archery goes back a long way.
I first met Pam in the late 1970‛s after being offered free Archery lessons as payment for printing some scorecards. Pam was part of the coaching team of Ivan Powley, Pat Corston, Graeme Marett, Errol O‛Halloran and Miles Buckland. The coaching took part at the Clubs and Societies building at the Otago University.
Pam first became involved in Archery in 1952 while taking her younger brother to Archery lessons. The Dunedin Archery Club range at that time was at Jubilee Park. You may be wondering why we aren‛t there now. Well, this is the story as relayed by Mrs Mac. One of the juniors saw this guy (a bowler from Kaituna) bending over and just couldn’t resist the temptation. You can imagine what happened next! I don‛t think any great damage was done but the guy was either on the City Council or high on the Council Staff. However, the guy may have got his own back as later on when the club shed, with all the records of the early club in it burnt down. The council wouldn‛t renew the ground as they wanted it for Soccer and they couldn’t/wouldn’t give us anywhere else. The shotee was always blamed for being behind it. That is how we got to Hancock Park which was run by a domain board who were looking for more activities to justify their existence. The archer I must say was not Pam.
Pam was 14, a secondary school pupil when she first had an interest in archery. There were at that stage two very important ladies involved in the DAC, Sylvia Strang (daughter of Eric Strang) and Mrs McLean, later known as Win Rapsey. These two names appear regularly in the history of the DAC. Mrs Win Rapsey (or also known as Mrs. Mac) became an important figure in Pam‛s archery career. Most bows at that stage were imported into New Zealand from overseas. However, the bows were readily available over the counter in Dunedin. Around this time another well-known person in NZ Archery, Jim Hinchco was making bows himself and selling them around the country. In the 50‛s Pam started shooting with a basic lemonwood bow. All arrows were made by hand with points made out of shell casings. A basic groove for the nock and turkey feather for the fletches. The first set of arrows had hardwood inserts at the point made by Hugh Butel. Pam continued to improve and was confident enough to enter her first Archery Tournament in Timaru. Pam along with some fellow archers drove from Dunedin to Timaru. It is interesting to note that in the 50‛s Archery was very popular with clubs in such towns as Bluff, Timaru, Nelson, Christchurch and also Westport.
Archery not only gave Pam an interest in sport but also a bit of romance. It was through Archery that Pam met her husband Brian. Pam and Brian together became regular target archers but were also very keen on Bowhunting. Along with other Dunedin Archery Club identities, Bevan and Lexie Arnott, Neville Booth and sometimes Errol O‛Halloran they would hunt in areas such as Waimate and Murchison. They shot mainly Deer, Wallabies and Pigs, however, Brian managed a World‛s first with shooting a Chamois. Usually, a Chamois would spot a person from 500M away but on this day, there was a low blanket of mist which enabled Brian to get within 50M of the animal and make a good clean shot. On the same trip Pam also shot a big game pig the first for a lady bowhunter in New Zealand. There was a great deal of publicity over this, some of which was unwelcome. A member of Parliament, Mabel Howard claimed that bowhunting was cruel. To prove a point Bevan and Lexie Arnott compared the penetration of an arrow against a bullet into a drum of sand. The arrow went the furthest.
Tragically, Brian was killed in 1971 while diving off the coast at Blackhead in Dunedin. Pam had 4 children aged 8, 9, 10 and 12 and a partly finished house. In true Pam Gordon style this major setback didn‛t deter her and she went on to finish building the house, bring up the 4 children and still carry on with her interest in archery.
During 1981 Pam took part in her first Flight competition. This sport is basically to see how far an arrow can fly. This branch of archery is very specialised and during this period most bows were custom made. The mudflats at Ellesmere near Christchurch was one of the few places where this sport could be held. Ladies shot bows with a maximum draw weight of 18kg (40lb) and men 25kg (55lb). There was also an Unlimited Class where any draw weight could be used. The draw weight was control-led by a marker or limiter marked on the bow itself. What I found was most fascinating was the standard of quality and precision that these ‘home-made‛ bows and arrows were built to. A very good friend of Pam‛s, Bruce Winder made all of his own and Pam‛s equipment. Bruce was an Engineer at Air New Zealand. The shafts were turned out of solid carbon, and believe it or not, barrelled!! The points turned out of brass the nocks made of aluminium. Razor blades were used for the fletchings. Pam shot regularly and won many trophies both here in New Zealand and overseas. Her biggest claim to fame was while being caregiver for Neroli Fairhall in Melbourne. Pam borrowed a flight bow and shot at the Australian Nationals in Melbourne and actually came second to April Moon from the United States. Pam‛s furthest distance was 563.3M, shot at Petone. As a matter of interest Flight Shooting was part of the SIDAA Champs. However, due to lack of interest and the difficulty in finding a suitable venue the discipline was dropped. One story that Pam told was of an incident at Ellesmere. Ellesmere has an area of mud-flats that was used for Flight, when the tide was out. However, on this particular occasion when Bruce and Pam were testing gear they misjudged the turn of the tide and their car got stuck.
Pam throughout her Archery career achieved many titles. Although she is not one to brag, in fact I almost had to drag it out of her. Below are just a few of the many titles and records she attained.
1983 Nationals, 2nd Ladies Flight Limited; 1st Ladies Flight Unlimited;1st Ladies Target.
1986 Nationals, Ladies Flight Limited (National and New Zealand Record); Best Ladies Score 1166.
The list goes on and would be a story in itself. Not only was Pam taking part in the sport but also part of the administration of Archery. She was Vice President of NZAA, President of SIDAA and Vice President of the Dunedin Archery Club and also a National Judge.
She travelled on numerous occasions overseas as a manager of a team. In 1988 she accompanied Ann Shurrock (Ashburton) to the Seoul Olympic Games. Other trips included the World Champs held in Adelaide, this team was made up of Pam, Neroli Fairhall, Ann Shur-rock and Dale Lightfoot. She was Team Manager for AOTAC where Neroli and Ann also took part. Manager for Championships held in Perth, Christchurch and as mentioned before caregiver for Neroli at the Australian Nationals in Melbourne.
I asked Pam if she had any hints or tips for budding archers. She gave this advice, “only use one coach at a time”.
Nowadays she still has an interest in the sport and keeps up with what is happening both locally and nationally. Her lifetime love of music has also taken her to most parts of New Zealand and overseas as longtime member of the Kaikorai Brass Band. She has competed regularly in band competitions and was the manager of the Kaikorai Bavarian Band.
I would like to thank Pam for the time she gave up to put this brief story together. I think it is very important to put down on paper some of the history of the sport and people who have given the Sport a helping hand through the years. Let us not let Pam down and keep the momentum going.
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