ROBIN Hood and the legendary bowmen of England are firmly rooted in the realms of English history.

Field archery was given a modern showing last weekend with a tournament organised by an Amersham company.

The R100 Tournament, which took place on March 5 and 6 on the Surrey/Sussex borders, is the brainchild of former wildlife photographer Adrian Caddy and Tony Weston, UK 3-D archery champion who have formed event company Match Play Archery to promote the sport.

"The two-day shoot was aimed to show what the sport can offer," said Adrian.

The R in R100 stands for Rinehart and refers to American model maker John Rinehart, who is passionate about archery and makes 3-D archery targets such as dinosaurs, warthogs, wolves and even aliens. John came over from the States with his wife and daughter for the event.

In field archery all the targets, their size, location and distances are set at various distances from the shooting lines, and are altered from tournament to tournament.

Each target has a score zone on it and the tournament will be based on a points systems with a trophy for the winner.

The skill lies in good distance judging and how the archer and his or her bow are in tune with each other.

Adrian first met Tony around six years ago when he began shooting and Tony was his teacher.

"I'm a big fan because you can be any age or ability to enjoy field archery," said Adrian. "I am very excited. There have been sleepless night and bitten nails but it has been worth it.

"The American archery industry is worth more than £700 million. It is a great opportunity to get more people here interested in the sport."

Two special guests were a couple who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary taking part in the shoot.

Adrian and Tony are hoping to put on more events during 2005.

More details are available on www.matchplayarchery.com