A once common sight in England is now a rare throwback and a restricted sport, but could a revival be around the corner?

The English longbow shaped the social history of Britain. From 1252 the law required that all men aged 15-60 should be armed, and that any who owned land worth more than £2 were expected to own a longbow. The purpose was to create a nation of fighting men who could be pressed into battle if the king went to war, but instead it created an armed citizenry who could rebel (as they did in the Peasant's Revolt of 1381) whenever they felt suitably aggrieved.

Archery practice as a sport and a pastime waned in popularity during the twentieth century, and was dropped as an Olympic sport in 1920. A marked revival was sparked in the early 21st century thanks to the success of the Hollywood film The Hunger Games, which was based on a bestselling book about a talented young archer.

In the last in this series of The Dales Diary presenter Luke Casey meets North Yorkshire Moors farmer Paul Cromack, who practises archery using traditional long bows that he makes himself. He also meets journalist Jim McTaggart who left a career in Fleet Street to edit the Teesdale Mercury, one of the country's smallest paid-for local newspapers based in Barnard Castle. And finally, Luke travels to Robin Hood's Bay, where local historian Pat Labistour reveals the town's smuggling secrets.