Fencing north of t’Angel

Feb 2020.  A visit to Newcastle Fencing Club last week gave me a very intense evening on the piste (that’s Newcy On Tyne).
I’d emailed the club coach, Iain Aberdeen, ahead of our trip to the Frozen North to see our daughter - recently relocated there. Iain made me welcome on the Thursday evening – Epee Night. The “Fencing Centre” is in an unusual location – a large industrial unit on a trading estate, but it's an ideal space for their 8 permanent metal pistes, with reels built into the floor.  It’s the main Epee training facility for British Fencing Team GB in the North and Scotland – so little wonder almost everyone there on the night was wearing ‘GB’ apparel. This is a big club – over 60 registered members and over 30 there on the night I attended.
Iain's format is half–an-hour of very hi-tempo drill, in full kit, followed by one big Poole match – where everyone fences everyone, regardless of age, gender, or level. Iain vigilantly patrols and is ready to give tactical advice and ensure fair play. 
I think I did okay .... I won 9 of my 12 pool matches (each to 5 points). Then, a final hour of free fencing, and for me, not a second’s rest between invites ....all the senior fencers very eager to ‘grab the newbie’.
So overall, friendly, competitive... and a very intensive session.  I’ll certainly go again. Next time I’ll probably go for their Monday evening session, which is Foil and Sabre.  They also hold juniors and special coaching on Saturdays.
But 'oh', the following day...I ached all over ! That's the price to be paid for upholding the honour of Stone Fencing Club. The purpose of our trip was to give our daughter a hand with the decorating, but sadly, there was a lot more sitting than sanding. 
Paul Smythe

2020 Epee Success

Another competition success for one of our young fencers - Aldan Tai took third place at the British Youth Championship Qualifiers on Sun 26th Jan. The event was held at Packwood Haugh School, Shrewsbury. Aldan competed in Epee, in the U 16yr group - a field of 20 fencers. These are among the best youth fencers in the region. All those finishing in the top 8 have a guaranteed opportunity to represent the West Midlands region at the National Finals of the British Youth Championship (BYC) in May 2020.

Christmas Party 2019

The Club’s Christmas Party was a great hoot again this year – held at the Duke of York PH in Barlaston. Our old friends Fred and Leslie kindly came back from their new retirement home in Wales to host the games and the competitions. Great also to see old friends Ivan and all the loyal partners of fencing club members. Normally, each Wednesday, club members step out into the evening air to “go fencing” but sometimes return with mysterious deep yellow and black body markings. Which must prompt partners to wonder at times, what their other half is really up to on a Wednesday evening. So the Christmas party is a good way to reassure partners that it’s all totally innocent – if you don’t count the mental bruises inflicted by the pub quiz.

 In any pub quiz you would be forgiven for guessing that Vasco da Gama was the first sailor to circumnavigate the globe when in fact, as Fred revealed, it was Ferdinand Magellan. Doh ! But can you really be forgiven for not knowing the correct order of traffic lights ?  You’ve sat waiting for them to change a ‘million’ times but Fred’s questions are there to remind you haven’t learned anything new since you took your O-levels. 

 The bountiful supper of sausages, chips, onions and buttered bread was the best ever – especially good for healing the wounds of so many disappointed Quoits players earlier. Quoits must be the devil’s own way of reminding players that the laws of physics don’t work for you. The winning score was steadily building, initially from just over 100 to well over 300 - the eventual winner being lovely Leah – our pub landlady. Leah would have achieved superhero status just for the supper alone – but then she promptly donated the Quoits prize money back to the club !  Outstanding.

 It was an easy choice to award Brian the clubman of the year trophy. His dedication to coaching both newcomers and experienced fencers is the beating heart of our club. Ken’s remarks amplified the breadth of contribution that Brian makes to our understanding of the modern laws of fencing – and given Ken’s coaching success this year that’s true praise.

 We will miss Dan for the foreseeable future as he departs for a gap year, or more, in New Zealand. We hope that along with trying the extreme sports famously taken up there he will get a chance to fence at some of the big city clubs. Dan – if you’re reading this don’t forget to post back some pics for our website.

 Thanks again to Fred for hosting another excellent bash – and hope you can continue fencing near your new home town.

Look forward to seeing you all in the New Year – we’re back on Wed 8th Jan 2020.

Gianna Wins Silver !

Our star young fencer Gianna won the silver medal place at a prestigious regional fencing competition – the CocksMoors Woods Epee Championships. Gianna travelled to the competition in South Birmingham with her Dad, early on Sat 9th Nov 2019. Gianna competed in the U9’s Epee competition and got through four tough rounds of pool matches to find herself in the final. Her dad said afterwards “this is her first Epee competition – what a result ! We’re all so pleased”.
The sweet taste of success. Well done Gianna.

Fantastic donation of fencing Kit to Stone Fencing Club

Mrs Denny Shortland (pictured) retired recently and will be known to many throughout Staffordshire as a champion of community and schools sports, as well as a fencing coach in local Schools and Universities. Denny is a fine Epeeist and contacted the club in early Nov to say she would kindly donate all her equipment – and will occasionally come and fence with us on a Wednesday evening to keep her hand in.

The equipment may be a few years old but is in pristine condition – all protective clothing washed, masks scrubbed and swords restored. So if you fancy trying fencing for the first time now is the ideal opportunity. There’s a good chance we can fit you out with the right size and ‘hand’ of kit – just turn up in grippy trainers, stretchy bottoms and a bottle of water.
Many thanks Denny.

Robin Grey features Stone Fencing Club on BBC Radio Stoke's "Extra Time" show.

We were delighted to welcome Robin Grey from BBC Radio Stoke to the Club last Wednesday evening. Robin took over the station's Extra Time programme one year ago and has made a great success by providing a lively weekly round-up of sports news - from international events to local sports stories. Each week he points the floodlights at a community sports group and towards local sports stars.

Robin Grey, presenter from BBC Radio Stoke, chatting to Katey at our practice session on Wed 23rd Oct.

The broadcast went out on the following Frid night show - between 7 and 8pm, and again on Sat 26th at 7:45am. Its the first time that Fencing has featured on the show. Stone Fencing Club are the premier club in the Stoke and Staffordshire area so Robin's visit was a great oportunity to introduce our new club setting to the local radio audience.
If you want to catch the programme here's how you can hear it;
Tune to 94.6 FM and 104.1 FM and on DAB digital.
There’s a listen again feature for past programmes on the ‘BBC Sounds’ app (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds)
The Extra Time programme website is:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07nwcqg

Katey explaining the basic differences between Foil, Sabre and Epee fencing for "Extra Time" listeners.

Congratulations to Ideh and Stuart

We have two new recipients of bronze fencing awards - Ideh and Stuart. Congratulations to both of them for all their hard work to achieve this award.

Congratulations Gianna!

We are delighted that Gianna has received her bronze fencing award. Congratulations!

(July 2019)

Stone Fencing Club has moved!

From Wednesday 7 November 2018, we will be meeting at Meir Heath and Rough Close Village Hall. 

We are looking forward to fencing in our new venue and hope to see you there soon. Click on the Directions tab to find out how to get there.

Fencing Club music video

Stone Fencing Club has been featured in a video made by one of our members as part of their A level course work. The creator of the video, Amelia, received a distinction, so the examiners must have liked it!

Click on the YouTube link below to view the film.

Well done Amelia!

Join The 49'ers

Each month, the 49ers Club gives Stone Fencing the opportunity to raise funds for new equipment, coaching, etc. By paying £3.00 per month and picking a number between 1 and 49, members have a chance to win £49.00 if their number matches the bonus ball drawn on the first Saturday of every month. 
The winner of October's 49ers draw was Tracy Kennedy. Congratulations!
If you would like to join the 49ers Club, please contact Fred Powell.

Diary Dates, Dec 2014 - Jan 2015

December 4, 2014
Wednesday 10 December - fencing club open as usual

Wednesday 17 December - no fencing, as it's our Christmas Party! 8pm, Duke of York Public House, Barlaston.

Wednesday 24 December - club closed

Wednesday 31 December - club closed

Wednesday 7 January - club re-opens, fencing as usual
 

James is the 2014 foil champion

December 4, 2014
Congratulations to James Mills for winning the 2014 Individual Foil Competition at Stone Fencing Club on Wednesday 3 December.

Nine fencers competed for the title in an extremely enjoyable competition. Full details can be found on the Competitions page of the website.



James (left) in the final match against David J.

Well done James!!

Continue reading...
 

Individual Foil Competition, Weds 3 December 2014

November 27, 2014
We will be holding an individual foil competition at the club on Wednesday 3 December.

All Stone Fencing Club members are invited to take part in the competition.

We would like to start the event at 8.30pm, so if you want to compete you will need to register on the night by 8.20pm. If you arrive late you may not be able to compete.
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Stone Fencing Club v Abbotsholme School, 26 November 2014

November 27, 2014
It's been a while since Stone Fencing Club has hosted a fencing competition against Abbotsholme School, so it was good to get them back over to Yarlet for the usual fun evening.

Sabre
As there were only five who wanted to fence sabre, we fenced an individual poule. The results were:
1.Paul (Stone)
2. Hannah (Stone)
3. Katey (Stone)
4. Reuben (Abbotsholme)
5. Henry (Stone)

Foil
Two teams of four competed in the foil team competiton:
Adam K, Dave, Amelia and Alison (all Stone) v James (Stone) with Max, J...
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Fencing at Wrekin Sword, Friday 3 January 2014

January 7, 2014
Wrekin Sword hosted an evening of fencing on Friday 3 January 2014 to try and get us all back into doing some exercise after the Christmas break. Some of us were feeling very sluggish after a couple of weeks of extra food and drink.

Sabre
Hannah, Paul and Katey represented Stone against a strong Wrekin team consisting of Andrew, Rob and Alex. Despite Stone's best efforts, Wrekin were superior this evening, winning both the team competition and the individual poule.

Foil
Jon and Dave performed mu...
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Welcome to 2014

January 1, 2014
Hello fencers. Thanks for making 2013 another sucessful year.

Special thanks go to Fred for organising the Christmas party again. We had a great night!

Thanks to Hannah and Dave for organising the foil competition. Thanks too to Martin and Fred for helping the club buy our new, flashy electric scoring box.

Stone Fencing Club re-opens on Wednesday 8 January 2014.

If you can't wait that long, we have been invited by Ken to fence at Wrekin Sword on Friday 3 January.

See you soon!

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Upcoming Competitions

September 30, 2013
Tuesday 1 October
Wrekin Sword v Stone Fencing Club
8pm start at Wrekin College

Saturday 5 October
Shrewsbury School v Stone Fencing Club
2pm start at Shrewsbury School

Wednesday 23 October
Stone Fencing Club v Abbotsholme School
8pm start at Yarlet

Fencers of all ages, abilities and weapons are welcome!

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Dates for your Diary

June 6, 2013
28th/29th September: Shropshire Open (TBC)

5th October: Shrewsbury School v Stone Fencing Club

19th/20th October: Leeds Open

9th/10th November: Welsh Open (Cardiff)

16th November: Cocks Moors Woods Epee (Birmingham)

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Victory at Harper Adams University

May 20, 2013
Three fencers from Stone Fencing Club travelled to Harper Adams University for a small competition on Saturday 11 May. Dave, Hannah and Katey represented Stone, with Ann from Harper Adams, and Alastair and Luke from Wrekin Sword. As there were only six fencers, it was decided that we would hold an individual epee competition.

The results were:

1. Dave (25 points)
2. Alastair (23 points)
3. Hannah (21 points)
4. Luke (17 points)
5. Katey (16 points)
6. Ann (9 points)

Thanks to Harper Adams for organis...
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Coaching Session with Ken and Andrew

March 16, 2013
Ken and Andrew Holding will be running a coaching session at the club on Wednesday 27 March 2013.

Don't forget that nightly fees for the coaching evenings are £6.00 for adults and £5.00 for 16 and under.
Continue reading...
 

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