Juliette Reid

By Johnny Snyman

There seems to be renewed interest worldwide in the enriched values held by traditions. Similarly, there is an increasing interest in traditional archery in South Africa.

Looking ahead towards an exiting year for this wonderful sport, we would like to introduce a newcomer into our ranks: South Africa’s first professional arrow smith, Juliette Reid.

Juliette’s interest in archery was born in England. Ten years ago, she received a medieval coin commemorating the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Her fascination with the small coin drew her closer to the pages of her homeland’s history, and before long revealed the magnitude of importance archery played in establishing the foundations of England during the Hundred Years War. Sooner than she expected, Juliette’s first encounter with the mysteries of the bow and arrow was among the beautiful gardens of Hever Castle, where for the first time she received lessons in shooting the English Longbow.

It wasn’t long afterwards that Juliette left English soil as a backpacker on a journey of discovery through the Dark Continent. Among firsthand experiences of a year’s travelling across various African countries, climbing the Rwenzori Mountains (also known as The Mountains of the Moon) and experiencing close encounters with the gorillas in the jungles of Zaire, her special coin and dreams of new beginnings remained constant close companions. As many other journeys end, so too did hers in sunny South Africa, where today she has her roots firmly secured near the bordering green forests of Knysna. As the years passed by, the little coin constantly reminded her of the magic with which the bow and arrow once captivated her, constantly urging her to “one day draw a bow again” – until almost a year ago when she happened to casually stroll into my workshop as I was tinkering with a newly made longbow.

Needless to say, Juliette soon became a regular pupil, always showing patient eagerness in learning how to shoot the longbow, and soaking up every facet of traditional archery, taking the time to learn its history, terminology, different forms, and forever bombarding me with a myriad of inquisitive questions. Today she is a proficient shot with the longbow, loosing arrows with the grace of Diana; following through with the tranquillity of a lake in the woods. Her feathered darts strike home with a satisfying thud on the target butt. It wasn’t long before she showed particular interest in the craft of wooden arrow-making. With pride taken in her work, Juliette now runs her own arrow-making trade under the name Minerva Arrows, setting the standard for custom-made arrows in South Africa.

Her delicate feminine touch is evident and hard to slip past the eye of the beholder. Every wooden arrow she handcrafts remains a constant learning curve in her never-ending quest for perfection and meticulous attention to the finest detail. Her custom arrows include a wide range of end finishes, fletching styles, colours and stains, and are spined to within five pounds and weight batched to within ten grains.

To further complement her commitment to customer service par excellence, detailed specifications accompany each set of custom arrows, right down to each one bearing its own serial number. Other than that, she caters for a wide variety of customer needs, and is also in the process of supplying various archery outlets with monthly supplies of entry level, matched arrows.

Taking her arrow-making a great leap ahead, Juliette is making the arrows for the big screen production “10 000 BC”, due to be released early next year. Filmed on location in southern Africa, the movie is directed by the makers of “Independence Day”, “Godzilla” and “The Day After Tomorrow”.

Readers can learn more about Juliette and Minerva Arrows, as she will also feature in the forthcoming first edition of the African Archer & Adventurer magazine.