This week Warwick Castle welcomed special guests to its festival of archery; Junior National Outdoor U18 Champion Emelia Hughes - whose archery journey began at Warwick Castle - and Olympic archer Tom Hall who lives in Kenilworth. 

On the day, Emelia reunited with her very first archery instructor, Gareth Yearley, whilst Tom Hall pitted his modern recurve bow against the castle bowman's traditional longbow.

The archers' visit was also a fantastic surprise for some guests, who received added top tips from Emelia and Tom as they tried their hand at the castle's Have-a-go Archery stand.

Tom said: "It is great to be here at Warwick Castle and see how much the families and children are enjoying the castle's bowmen demonstrate their skills – as well as having a go themselves.

"The traditional long bow and modern recurve bow are very different but it's still great fun to shoot against the castle's bowman and see how they compare.

"The main thing for me is to show that anyone can be successful in this sport, if they are willing to give it a go and keep trying!"

Olympic Archer Tom Hall vs Warwick Castle's Resident Bowman (image supplied)

Tom, 32, made his Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

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Having taken up archery at university, he has represented Great Britain at the World University Championships twice and World University Games once.

He was also part of the bronze winning team at the Archery World Cup in Antalya in 2018, and competed at the European Indoor Championships in February 2022, finishing sixth. 

Currently residing in Kenilworth, Tom has a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Warwick. 

Liam Bartlett, operations director at Warwick Castle, said: "It's absolutely fantastic to welcome Emelia back to the castle and to find out that a Have-a-go session here is what led her to take up the sport. To have an Olympic archer at the castle, demonstrating the accuracy and power of a modern bow is phenomenal. 

"With all our events, we truly aim to unleash history and inspire all generations, so to see this in action is fantastic and we hope to hear even more stories like Emelia's."