CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING ASSOCIATION: May 2012

Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Richard's Diary.......Greenfields Shooting Ground

A recent leg of my tour took me to Greenfields Shooting Ground in Cantebury, Kent on Tuesday 15th May whom I am delighted to say have re-joined the CPSA as a Registered Ground so look out for news of their registered Sporting fixtures very soon.

After another journey where my windscreen wipers nearly gave up hope, I made it to the ground and the sun came out so surely a good sign of things to come...

I met with the ground owner Tim Greenfield and his son-in-law Scott Collett who filled me in on the long history of shooting in the family going back over 200 years. The present 75 acre shooting ground has been operating since 1947 and the Norwegian Spruce Clubhouse was built in 1991 with it's traditional turf roof. Inside the Clubhouse there is a spacious Clubroom/Restaurant with a Bar and a seperate Gunshop where you can get all your accessories/cartridges etc.

The ground currently has about 300 members and membership costs £75 per year and gets you the usual discounted rates at the desk. They are open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 3.30pm and from 9.30am to 12pm on Sunday's and their primary discipline is English Sporting although they do have a Compak layout & a DTL layout.

I took the opportunity to get out and shoot some targets with Scott whilst the Sun was out which was great and they offer a wide variety of Sporting targets from rabbits to high driven birds off their ominous looking tower and everything else in between!!

I was very interested to learn that they hold Have-a-go sessions every Sunday morning costing £12.50 for 25 Clays & Cartridges with an Instructor to guide you and get you hitting those Clays. In my opinion that is excellent value and if you know someone who is interested in having a go then this would be a great introduction to our sport.

Finally, I would just like to thank Tim & Scott for their time and hospitality and would definately recommend a visit to this excellent shooting ground. Have a look at their website for more information: www.greenfieldsshooting.co.uk

Thursday, 24 May 2012

Richard's Diary.....A1 Shooting Ground

This week's stop on my tour of grounds took me to A1 Shooting Ground on the A1 Barnet By Pass, Nr Rowley Green, Herts on an extremely warm and sunny Wednesday 23rd May where I met with Claudio & Teresa Capaldo who have run the ground since 1994.

A1 is a CPSA Registered Ground and is open Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm and on Sunday's from 10am to 1pm.

Occupying a partly wooded site of approximately 40 acres the ground offers English Sporting targets over 12 stands, an Olympic Trap layout, a fully automated Helice (ZZ) layout and a recently added Olympic Skeet layout to test your speed and skill if you dare.......!!

Claudio's passion for shooting is clearly obvious and he dedicates an awful lot of his time to coaching beginners through to potential Olympians and this passion led to him coaching during the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.

So whatever your level, if you are looking to try shooting for the first time or are struggling with certain targets then I suggest you give the ground a ring on 0208 441 9986 as I'm sure Claudio will get you smashing those clay's in no time.
After shooting a few clays on the Sporting layout I sat down with Claudio & Teresa to learn a little bit more about the ground and was interested to learn that they have obtained planning permission to build a new 450sq.m Club House on the ground which will complement the facilities with a new gunshop and restaurant. We'll let you know when the new Clubhouse is up and running as I think it's going to be very impressive.

Lastly I would like to thank Claudio & Teresa for their time and hospitality during my visit and would recommend to anyone to make a trip to this friendly ground. For more fixture information, take a look at their website www.a1sg.co.uk

Friday, 11 May 2012

Richard's Diary......Southern Counties

The second leg of this week's tour took me to Southern Counties Shooting Ground near Dorchester in Dorset on Wednesday 9th May.

The wet weather had returned in full force and with the ground being 900m above sea-level there was also a dense mist in the air, however this didn't dampen my enthusiasm to visit this impressive complex which has been awarded as the Official Training Ground for the 2012 London Olympics.

I met with the ground Manager Kevin Newton who has been in charge of the shooting ground for approximately 17 years and he told me all about the layouts on offer for the shooter along with the other facilities on site.

Southern Counties Shooting was founded in 1959 and is classified as a CPSA Premier Plus ground. They have over 450 fully automatic traps and offer DTL, ABT, UT, Olympic Trap, Double Trap, Olympic & English Skeet, English Sporting, FITASC & Compak. If I 've forgotten anything then apologies but I'm not sure if there is any other disciplines you can shoot!!

As you'd expect from a ground of this size, they have a number of experienced instructors on hand for novices and advanced shots alike or if you fancy trying a different discipline to your normal one then this is the place to go.

There is a large and very comfortable clubhouse on site with a restaurant, function & conference rooms and a childrens play area outside. The clubhouse is also joined with the Sportsman Gun Centre which is possibly the largest gun shop in the UK and a shooter's dream!

If that's not enough, there is the George Albert Hotel on site (www.gahotel.co.uk) which has 39 en-suite bedrooms and on the other side of the complex is the Clay Pigeon Caravan Park with 60 pitches for caravans, motorhomes & tents (call 01935 83492 for more info.)

Now if you can't face shooting another clay then why not have ago at the Clay Pigeon Raceway which is a professional kart racing centre also on site(call 01935 83713 for more info). Perhaps if you are looking for a corporate event you could have shooting in the morning and racing in the afternoon.

Finally, I would just like to thank Kevin once again for his time and hospitality during my visit and I really would encourage anyone to put Southern Counties on their calender. You won't regret it!

Thursday, 10 May 2012

Richard's Diary......Purbeck Shooting School

The first stop of this week's tour took me to Purbeck Shooting School in Wareham, Dorset on Tuesday 8th May and after a fairly damp journey to the ground, the sun came out....yes, that big yellow thing in the sky which sometimes appears and as you can see from the photo with the owner Graham Brown and myself, everything looks better when the sun shines!!

As I arrived early I took the opportunity to have a look around this lovely ground and Graham hooked me up with a couple of Purbeck regulars, Robert White & Clive Duddridge to shoot a few clays on the Sporting & FITASC layouts. Thank you chaps for letting me join you. Hopefully I'll see you there again.

After grabbing a bite to eat and a mug of tea, I sat down in the sun with Graham to find out more about his shooting school which it is clear to see Graham is very passionate about. The school was established in 1995 and is a CPSA Registered Ground currently running registered FITASC fixtures and a registered series in English Sporting during the winter. They are open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm for lessons and practice.

Aswell as English Sporting & FITASC layouts they also offer English Skeet & Compak layouts and if you feel like it there is also an air rifle range to try your hand at.

They currently have approximately 300 members and membership costs just £50 per year which gets you the usual discounts at the desk on clays and products and also entry into the Members Competitions.

Along with offering expert tuition all year round they also promote a Young Guns programme during the school holidays on either Tuesdays or Thursdays which is a half day course for £30 per person and gets a combination of 25 shots with a shotgun and an air rifle. Each student receives a personalised certificate with photograph at the end which is a great way to encourage these youngsters to come again.

Lastly, I would like to thank Graham for his time and hospitality during my visit. Do take a look at their website www.shooting.uk.com for more information on everything they have to offer and get yourself down to this friendly ground where you'll find some excellent targets.

Friday, 4 May 2012

Richard's Dairy....Lea Valley Shooting Association

This week's leg of my tour took me to Lea Valley Shooting Ground in Hertford on Thursday 3rd May. It was cold, grey day but thankfully the rain stopped for a few hours (hooray) and I was able to meet with Alex Mitchell & Ken Rist who run the ground, without resorting to waders!!

Lea Valley is a CPSA Registered Ground and has been established since 1970. They offer clay shooting to suit virtually all tastes with an English Sporting layout, 2 Compak Layouts & a FITASC, DTL, ABT & English Skeet.

They run a Shooting School from Tuesday to Saturday 10am - 4pm where you can have 1-1 lessons with their CPSA qualified Instructors and perhaps enjoy a corporate or group event. The Club shoots every Thursday evening from May onwards from 5pm - 8pm and every third Sunday from 10am -1pm when they run their Club competition. The competition is based on a points accumulation sytem whereby a win gets you 5pts and second place 3pts and 8pts gets you a free round of Skeet and 20 points gets you a free round of Sporting.

There is also an Air Gun Club with over 200 members situated within the ground who operate every Saturday and occassional Sundays.

Membership at Lea Valley costs £80 per year and gets you the usual discounts at the desk on your shooting. They currently have a membership of over 200 and 3 new members joined whilst I was there which is great !

They are signed up for National Shooting Week again this year (2nd - 10th June) so do contact the Club to see about having a go at clay shooting if you know someone who is keen to try. You never know, there might be another young Digweed or Faulds out there....

The Club does run Have a Go days most Saturday's costing £25 for 20 clays & cartridges, all safety equipment, a gun and a qualified Instructor to get you hitting those clays quickly and safely. £35 gets you 30 clays and cartridges etc but includes a 10 bird competition and a trophy for the top shot.

On a seperate note, I was very interested to hear that they guys are currently coaching a blind chap to shoot clays and he is thoroughly enjoying it. I'm hoping to get an interview soon to learn more about this remarkable story so keep checking the CPSA website for more....

In the meantime, I would really like to thank Alex & Ken for their time and hospitility. Take a look at their website www.lvsa.org.uk for more info on this friendly ground. They sorted me out with some chaps to shoot with and I hit 50/70 on the Sporting which was okay but a slightly more respectable 18/25 on their Compak layout which as some of you already know is not my favourite discipline!!!

Look out for my blogs on Purbeck Shooting Ground & Southern Counties which I'm visiting next week.