My son loves adventures. He likes learning and trying new things and I’m also up for a bit of that. Going to forest school is one of his favourite things. So for his birthday, as a treat for us both, I booked us on an archery session at Adventure Now in Manchester. We’d both separately done archery before, but we were very excited to have a session together. Proper mother and son bonding time.
I found Adventure Now on Google, I’d read the reviews, stalked their Facebook page and looked at all the photos. I was impressed by their set up and it was all easy to book online. The session cost £25 for kids and £30 for adults, so £55 for the two of us for an hour. They sometimes have special offers on their Facebook page, so that’s worth keeping an eye out for.
They emailed me a set of directions to their location in the woods in Worsley, about 3 miles from the Trafford Centre. It’s a bit off road and down a dirt track to get there, so be prepared to get your car a bit muddy. There’s a car park and a small place to grab a coffee if you need to.
We were met by Vincent, our instructor for the afternoon. He ran us through the safety rules and precautions; showed us how to stand, how to hold the bow and load it with an arrow. Ben has dyspraxia, so he can struggle a bit with his co-ordination, so this was a great exercise in focus and control for him.
We practiced shooting the arrows and we both improved throughout the session. 30 years ago I was a very keen archer, but the cost put me off carrying on with the sport. It wasn’t long before I found my rhythm again and it felt really good. I wasn’t too bad at it either.
Once we’d got our eye in, Vincent moved us on to playing some games. We had to hit various points on the target in a specific order, we had to shoot at and pop balloons and we competed against each other and teamed up for some games too. It was great fun.
We both absolutely loved our hour of archery. It was great fun and some gentle exercise for us both. I really enjoyed being outside in the fresh air. Spending an hour in the woods, quietly focusing on a target is a strange kind of mindfulness, but one I could easily get addicted to. We both said that we would love to go back, and that’s our intention later on in spring. We are both up for more archery adventures together!
Adventure Now in Manchester offer a range of different outdoor adventure sessions. From axe throwing to archery; quad biking to air rifle shooting; throwing angels, crossbows and bushcraft; there’s something for every adventurous type!
For more information, visit their website.
We paid for our visit in full, I just wanted to tell you about it, because it was brilliant!
