What follows is a recount of the club's history as recalled by its founder member, Noel Lawrence, who passed away on 7 March 2020. It would be fair to say that without Noel, and his wife Audrey, there would be no Chantry Bowmen of Rotherham, and many of its members would never have become archers. 

Sadly, restrictions relating to the COVID 19 pandemic meant that we were unable to pay Noel a full tribute. He gave so much, both to the club and to the wider archery community. It will never be enough to say it, but we thank you, friend, we will miss you.
It all started in 1957. I wanted a bow and arrows. My thoughts were I could shoot them and fetch them back all for the same price. Audrey, my wife, worked at Plessey, an electrical firm down Fitzwilliam Road in Rotherham. One day, she came home and informed me that the Sports Club wanted to start and archery club, and were we interested? You bet!

The club bought three targets, stands, eight Galloway flat bows, wooden Slazenger arrows, tabs, and a serving tool. The sports field was behind the Three Magpies (before it was built) and we had six regular members: Audrey, Derek, Jas and Peggy Neath, John Hurley, and me.

In 1959, Plessey moved to Swindon, lock-stock-and-barrel, leaving us on our own. The company donated all equipment to the club, but we lost the field. We changed the name of the club from Plessey Archers to Chantry Bowmen (today we are know as Chantry Bowmen of Rotherham to avoid confusion with another club from down south).

When I left school I started work at Rotherham Co-Op. I had to pay my sixpence a week to the sports and social club, even though I didn't play football, cricket, tennis, or bowls. We shot on a farmer's field near Ryecroft and stored our targets in an old stable behind the 'The Queens Hotel' next to the field. 

One day, the Secretary of the Sports & Social Club was visiting my mother's house, whose house backed onto the field we were shooting on. We got an invitation to shoot on the Co-Op ground, near the 'Stag' roundabout. We shot there from 1959 to the late 1980s.

Over time, equipment improved, becoming more efficient. This meant we needed more distance behind the targets to maintain safety.