Richard's Diary......Willow Farm Shooting Ground

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Willow Farm Shooting Ground in Tenterden, Kent to meet with the owner Trevor Frith and his partner Karen.

The Ground has just become a CPSA Affiliated Club Member and hopefully during 2015 will look to put on some CPSA Registered Sporting competitions which will be great.

Within the boundaries of the shoot is Oxney Skeet Targets which is already a Registered Club holding registered Skeet competitions and NSSA Skeet competitions so it is a natural progression to continue the development of the Sporting Ground to be able to hold registered Sporting fixtures in due course.

Willow Farm was first established approximately 25 years ago and over the years has grown to now offer Sporting, Skeet, Compact Sporting & DTL layouts for shooters to enjoy.

The ground occupies a site of 29 acres and is open 6 days a week Tuesday to Sunday for practice and open Sporting and All Round competitions at the weekends.

 
During the week there is free tea and coffee and light snacks available to buy and the kitchen is open at the weekends for hot food which is a must particularly at this time of year!

Coaching is available at the Ground with a package for novices which includes 50 Clay targets, Cartridges, Shotgun hire and the services of a professional instructor at an all inclusive price of £50.00 (You do not require a shotgun certificate for this package).

Alternatively if you just want to experience clay shooting their 'Have a Go' package includes 10 Clay targets, Cartridges, Shotgun hire and a professional instructor for just £7.00.

Next year (2015) Willow Farm are taking part in the CPSA Kent & Sussex Clubman Classic League for C Class & Unclassified shooters so if you are reading this and shoot there please do speak to Trevor or Karen and sign up to join the Willow Farm team and take part in this enjoyable inter-Club League competition. For more info on the rules of the League don't hesitate to contact richard@cpsa.co.uk

Lastly thanks to Trevor & Karen for their time and for allowing me to use photo's from their website as the conditions on the day I visited the ground were wet & wild to say the least and wouldn't have given a fair reflection of the ground. For contact details and fixture dates please refer to their website www.willowfarmshootingground.co.uk 

2014 Kent & Sussex Clubman Classic League Trophy Presentation

The Victorious 2014 Winning Team Stumbletts Gun Club

2014 Runner Up Team (part of!) Mill Farm Clay Pigeon Club

Winning Team Captain Adrian Ritchie

Runner Up Team Captain Darren Daunt

2014 Overall High Gun Richard Leonard from Normanhurst Clay Pigeon Club

2014 High Guns - Overall Runner Up Anthony Hawkins, Ladies High Gun Sam Durrant, Overall High Gun Richard Leonard & Veteran High Gun Malcolm Burt. Also congratulations to Junior High Gun Luke D'Ambrosio who was working and couldn't make it!

Teal, Crow & Rabbit Class Winners (L-R) Tony Skippings, Darren Daunt & Chris Vine

Hampshire Clubman Classic League 2014

Successfully retaining their 2013 title, the 2014 Winning Team Bramley Clay Club 

2014 Runners Up Fareham Clay Target Club

Winning Team Captain Louise Dexter

Runner Up Team Captain Barry Du Crow

Overall High Gun 2014 Simon Hammal from Wallers Ash Gun Club

2014 Runner Up Nick Bailey

2014 Ladies High Gun Sarah Rowland

2014 Veteran High Gun Peter Scott

2014 Teal, Crow & Rabbit Class Winners L-R Alan Crook, Scott Richardson, Alastair Scott, Bryan Patterson

Richard's Diary..........Coniston Shooting Ground

Following on from my visit to Kelbrook Shooting School, I traveled across the border into Yorkshire and headed to Coniston Shooting Ground at Coniston Cold on the A65 just North of Skipton.

The ground is situated on the 1,400 acre Coniston Estate within the grounds of the 4* Coniston Hotel so you can enjoy a fantastic weekend away with the shooting on your hotel doorstep! Fear not, I stayed at the Premier Inn up the road!!

Coniston SG is already a CPSA Premier Plus Ground and although the weather conditions at the time of my visit were a bit grey and overcast, it is easy to see why this is one of a select few in the Country to be awarded Premier Plus status.

It was a real pleasure to meet Peter Manley who runs the ground and some of his team and to take a look at the facilities on offer. First off, is there substantial new Clubhouse constructed in 2008 providing a spacious, welcoming area to relax in either before or after your shoot, a gun room, shop, cafe, small meeting room and of course ladies and gents toilets! As you can see below there is also extensive parking adjoining the Clubhouse.

Outside there is a substantial Sporting layout to one side of the ground within the woodland area with stands shooting both uphill and downhill and an 86' tower to practice those high birds. Opposite the Clubhouse there are 4 English Skeet layouts and 4 DTL layouts and the ground is certified to hold English Sporting, English Skeet, DTL, Sportrap & FITASC Sporting CPSA registered competitions.

Peter told me his proudest moment recently was to have a 4th Skeet layout installed which would enable him to run a major English Skeet competition and this is something they may consider doing in the future!

In the short term, they are planning to install a new ABT layout which Peter is very excited about!

Membership of the Ground starts from just £50 per year and the ground is open 6 days a week, Tuesday - Friday 9am -5pm and Saturday - Sunday 9am - 1.30pm for practice, competitions, lessons and corporate/group bookings so please take a look at their website for more information http://www.conistonshootingground.co.uk/ or telephone the ground on 01756 748586.

Lastly I would just like to thank Peter for his time and I look forward to going back to Coniston very soon.

Richard's Diary.........Kelbrook Shooting School

Following on from my visit to Blackpool Sporting Clays, I traveled across the top of Lancashire to visit Kelbrook Shooting School 8 miles west of Skipton on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border.

A family business run by Michael Meggison, son Aaron & daughter Penny, I'm delighted to confirm the School has re-joined the CPSA as an Affiliated Ground after an 11 year absence.

Michael with Penny on their new ABT layout

Michael has over 50 years of shooting and gun fitting experience, who became a qualified coach in 1972. He has represented Great Britain in 2 Olympic games, 1980 & 1984 and is the only person to win the British Championships in all 3 Firearms events (Pistol ‘76, Rifle ‘77 & Shotgun ‘91). It was certainly a pleasure to talk to Michael whilst looking round this lovely ground as he really does have a wealth of shooting experience which is no doubt why the shooting school has been so successful over the years.

The School occupies a stunning location with grouse moors, lakes and woodland and far reaching views over the surrounding countryside and beyond. Primarily a sporting layout, there is also compact sporting layouts and a recently constructed ABT layout. 

The school is open 6 days a week from 9.30am - 5pm Tuesday to Saturday and 11am - 3pm on Sunday's for practice, lessons and corporate/group bookings and hopefully in the near future may be holding some CPSA registered competitions!

For more information on Kelbrook Shooting School please visit their website www.kelbrook.com or ring them on 01282 861632.

Richard's Diary.....Blackpool Sporting Clays

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Andy Richardson & Leslie Case who run Blackpool Sporting Clays and recently re-joined the CPSA as a Registered Ground after a 10 year absence!

We are delighted to have them back on board particularly as their is a shortage of opportunities for our members to shoot registered competitions in the the North West.

Previously know as Blackpool Gun Club, Andy took ownership of the Club in 2000 and changed the name to Blackpool Sporting Clays and as the name suggests is an English Sporting layout with two compact Sporting layouts. The shoot is arranged over approximately 20 acres but this may be extended further soon as they have access to more land to shoot over.

Their first registered competition was the Merseyside County Championship held at the end of July and their next is the Lancashire County Championship on the 12th October 2014.

Andy tells me that he plans to hold about half a dozen registered competitions a year but may do more if the interest is there so please do support the Club going forward.

Otherwise, the Ground is open on Wednesday's from 12 - 8pm, Fridays and Saturday's from 12 - 4pm and Sunday's from 10 - 2pm for practice and they have two CPSA qualified Instructors available for lessons and corporate groups.

Please see below for a selection of photographs of the ground and for more information have a look at their website www.blackpoolsportingclays.co.uk  or contact Andy on 07730 409 415 or Lesley on 07854 035828.

Richard's Diary............Atkin Grant & Lang Shooting Ground

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Atkin Grant & Lang's Shooting Ground in Markyate, near St Albans, Hertfordshire to meet with Charlie Stewart-Wood and Luke Roberts, Director and Shooting School Manager respectively to discuss becoming a CPSA Registered Ground.

Atkin Grant & Lang have been making best shotguns & rifles since the original company of Stephen Grant & Joseph Lang was formed in 1925 and more recently opened their shooting ground within the last 12 months.

The shooting ground which is open 6 days a week for practice & lessons (closed Mondays) occupies an attractive woodland setting over approximately 50 acres of Hertfordshire countryside and it is clear that a lot of investment has been made in the sporting layout with gravel pathways, smart new fencing and substantial timber stands with the electronic Promatic Claymate system which features a solo delay enabling shooters to practice alone if they wish.

There is a substantial Clubhouse on site with a reception area and the all important Gun Shop and of course the Gunsmiths and I understand the intention is to replace this with something even bigger and better within the next couple of years!

The sporting layout offers an excellent variety of targets with 10 new stands and includes a high tower and a traditional stone butt offering realistic grouse flights from fast incomers to wide crosser's and work is currently underway to expand the number of new stands available to shoot.

I'm delighted to welcome AGL on board as a registered ground and they intend to hold their first CPSA registered competition in April so please keep an eye out on our website and in Pull for fixture details.

It was great to meet Charlie, Luke and some of the team and for more information please don't hesitate to contact them on 01582 849382 or via e-mail on info@agl-uk.com or visit their website www.agl-uk.com