Richard's Diary.....Barbury Shooting School

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Barbury Shooting School in Wroughton, near Swindon, Wiltshire and met with the ground owner Huw Stephens who took over the School approximately 5 years ago.

The ground is situated in a beautiful location surrounded by farmland and within close proximity to Barbury Castle which is an iron-age hill fort.

Barbury Castle Country Park is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, Local Nature Reserve, County Wildlife Site, Country Park and part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).



Huw took me on a tour of the ground and explained how they had increased the car park area and provided more Sporting stands and a Sporttrap layout within a new part of the ground and planned to extend the Sporting layout further to provide yet more opportunities. Huw would also like to hold Registered Sporttrap fixtures at the ground so is shortly to become a CPSA Registered Ground which is great news.

Membership has grown from about 80 when Huw took over to approx. 350 now and the School is open 6 full days per week from Monday to Saturday and half day on Sundays for tuition and practice.

During June - September the ground stays open late on Wednesdays with last entry at 7pm for practice so an excellent opportunity to get a few rounds in after work!!

Single Membership costs £105 and includes a 1 hour lesson or £80 for the experienced shot who doesn't require a lesson but considering a lesson costs £70 this represents very good value for money.

Family Membership costs £115 with a shared lesson and £90 without.

Junior Membership costs £60 with a lesson and £25 without.

Membership gets you the usual benefits at the desk on clay rates and various events during the year and if you introduce a new member to the school you can claim a free 50 target round once their membership has been approved.

They also run a Have a Go day every month which costs £8 for 10 shots and includes a voucher for a half price lesson which is an excellent idea. Their next day is Saturday 11th August.

There is also a Young Shots Beginners Program on Tuesday 21st August which costs £49 and guests will benefit from professional tuition in clay shooting, air rifles and archery so contact the Club to find out more.

For more information on Barbury Shooting School which was voted Shooting Ground of the Year in 2010 at The Shooting Industry Awards call them on 07872 666154 or e-mail them via enquiries@barburyshoot.com Alternatively visit the website www.barburyshoot.com

Disabled Shooting Project Update

Dear All,

This is a short round-up of recent developments relating to our internet presence. 

DSP on Flickr: disabledshootingproject

A photograph album has been set up on Flickr, illustrating and explaining many aspects of disabled target shooting.  The hope is that it will encourage disabled people into the sport when they see how it is done, particularly by shooters with disabilities similar to their own.  More images will be added as they become available; I am very keen to include as many different disability+discipline combinations as possible.  Photographs of helpful pieces of equipment, disabled-friendly facilities, etc. will also be added. 

Obviously any contributions of suitable photographs will be most welcome.  If you are able to submit any please remember to make sure that everyone featured in them agrees to their use on the internet, and let me know if names are to be withheld.  Some background information is always very helpful. 

Please have a browse: http://www.flickr.com/photos/disabledshootingproject.  Then please spread the word about this latest addition to the DSP’s resources wherever and however you can. 

 Infopack on website

Our information pack, launched a couple of months ago, is now available via the DSP website: http://www.disabilityshooting.org.uk/more-information/downloads/category/12-promotional-material.html .  The arrangements for accessing it are not yet perfect – I hope we can make them slicker before too long. 

QR code

We now have a QR code square which creates a direct link to our website when scanned with a smart ‘phone.  It has been added to our leaflets and posters.  A copy is attached in the hope that you will be able to add it to any documents you produce in connection with disabled target shooting. 

In addition to all the above, there is a lot more information and news going on to our main website www.disabledshooting.org.uk, and we’re using Facebook and Twitter to publicise all sorts of things relating to the project’s work.  No-one can say we aren’t doing our level best to get our message “out there”!

P.S. Please ignore any additional attachments to this message (apart from the QR code) – they are just the graphics files!

Liz Woodall

DSP Co-ordinator

DSP Mobile: 07527 579686

The Disabled Shooting Project

Welcomes ALL disabilities into a competitive mainstream sport as well as helping less able shooters to stay in it

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.  Margaret Mead

DSP Post: P.O. Box 173, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 9DF    Web: www.disabledshooting.org.uk     Facebook: Disabled Shooting Project     Twitter: @Disabledshooter

The project is funded and supported by Sport England via British Shooting www.britishshooting.org.uk

British Shooting Limited, 2nd Floor, 40 Bernard Street, London WC1N 1ST

Richard's Diary...Beverley Clay Target Centre

The third and final stop of my whistle stop tour in Yorkshire saw me land at Beverley Clay Target Centre in Cherry Burton, Near Beverley, East Yorkshire where I met with Club Director Ian Patterson & Club Secretary Alison Dupree.

Beverley is a CPSA Premier Ground and offers fantastic facilities particularly for the Trap & Skeet shooter with 4 covered layouts and 4 open layouts providing DTL, English Skeet, ABT, UT, Double Trap, Olympic Skeet & Olympic Trap. They also have 8 Sporting stands so there really is something for just about everyone. They hold Registered Fixtures every weekend and with covered layouts can accomodate your shooting whatever the weather.....!!

Membership at the Club is £50 per annum for an Adult, £80 for Husband & Wife, £90 for Family and only £25 for a Junior and this gets the usual discounts at the desk (£4.50 per round for Members and £7.00 per round for non-members).

The Club are also putting on some Junior Training days (Under 21's) over the Summer holidays with John Robinson MICSI (International Coach) providing coaching in Olympic Trap & Olympic Skeet at a fantastic price of only £3 for 25 Clays & Cartridges so contact the Club and book your son or daughter's space asap. the Junior days are from 12.00 Noon - 4pm on Saturday 28th July (OT), Saturday 18th August (OSK) & Saturday 25th August (OT).

Beverely CTC are also interested in taking part in the Clubman Classic League which is a series of 50 bird Sporting Competitions for C Class & Unregistered Shooters in a round robin League with other participating Clubs in the east Yorkshire region. If you are a Sporting shot or a Trap/Skeet shooter wanting to try your hand at Sporting competition then have a chat with Ian or Alison who'd be happy to sign you up for their Team. Equally if you shoot at another ground in the region then have a chat with your Club and ask them to get involved. Contact richard@cpsa.co.uk for more info.

In the meantime, contact Ian Patterson on 07970 449954 or Alison Dupree on 07970 036634 for more information on their fixtures or e-mail them at info@beverleyclaycentre.co.uk or visit the website www.beverleyctc.co.uk

Richard's Diary......Park Lodge Shooting School

The second stop of my whistle stop tour of Yorkshire took me to Park Lodge Shooting School in West Cowick, near Goole, East Yorkshire where I met with the ground owner Tom Bayston.

I met with Tom at his hugely impressive new Clubhouse which was completed in April this year and offers a restaurant, lounge bar, conference/meeting rooms and an extensive shop for your shooting and clothing accessories.

The grounds occupies a 40 acre site and offers up to 12 English Sporting stands and 4 Skeet/DTL/ABT layouts along with Sporttrap and FITASC facilities and two towers, one 30m high and the other 42m high. The ground is open from Wednesday to Sunday with late night opening on Thursday's till 8pm.

Membership at Park Lodge costs £70 per annum for adults and £59.50 for Vets & Juniors (Under 18's) and this entitles you to 10% off your Clays and every 3rd Saturday Members get a further 15% off their Clay rate which is excellent considering the Member rate is only 20p per Clay to begin with!!

For more information please contact the ground on 01405 764500 or e-mail them on info@parklodgeshootingschool.co.uk or visit their website www.parklodgeshootingschool.co.uk

If you are a member at Park Lodge or an English Sporting Shooter in this part of East Yorkshire then have a chat with Tom about the CPSA Clubman Classic League which is a series of 50 bird Sporting Competitions for C Class & Unregistered Shooters. We are gathering together 6+ Clubs in the region to compete in this round robin series which is an excellent opportunity to compete for both individual and team trophies on behalf of your Club!

Richard's Diary....North of England Clay Target Club

Last week saw me on a whistle stop tour of some of our grounds in Yorkshire, the first of which was North of England Clay Target Club in Rufforth near York where I met with the ground owner Phil Thompson.

Phil has been at the ground since it first opened in 1988 and is proud to be a CPSA Premier Ground. They specialise in DTL & Skeet targets with several layouts and being open 7 days a week are available for practice pretty much anytime. They do hold Registered Competitions every weekend so check out the fixtures link on our find a club section to see what's on.

North of England CTC is also an activity centre and as such there are opportunities for Quad Biking, Grass Karting & Archery to name but a few so if you are looking for a venue near York for a Stag/Hen Activity or for a Corporate Group event then this could be the ideal venue for you.

For more information contact Phil on 01904 738120 or e-mail him on info@noeac.co.uk
Alternatively take a look at their website www.noeac.co.uk

As Phil says: "There is nothing more exhilarating than hitting a clay and seeing it disappear into a cloud of dust!"

Richard's Diary.......Owls Lodge Shooting School

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Richard Faulds MBE at his Owls Lodge Shooting School in Barton Stacey near Winchester on a rare sunny day to discuss the Clubman Classic League and take the opportunity to have a look around his impressive ground.

Richard had just returned from training abroad in preparation for this Summer's Olympics in which he is competing for the fifth time in Double Trap so I'm grateful to him for taking the time to show me around.

The Shooting School is open every Tuesday & Thursday from 10am - 6pm and every 2nd Saturday of the month for practice, lessons, corporate events and group events. The Clubhouse is only about 12 months old and offers excellent facilities and the perfect place to start your shooting experience.

There are multiple layouts at the ground offering English Sporting, Compak Sporting, English Skeet, DTL, Olympic Trap, Universal Trap & Double Trap so something for just about everyone.

Back to the subject of the Clubman Classic League and I'm very happy to say that Richard is supporting the League and has kindly donated his time to give a Master Class to whoever wins the Overall Individual High Gun for the Hampshire region. Owls Lodge is holding it's League fixture on the 27th October which is combined with its annual Hogroast and Fireworks Display and everyone is welcome so if you are shooting this League event why not bring the family along as there'll be plenty to do.

Lastly, I'd just like to thank Richard for his time and hospitality and if you would like further information take a look at their website www.owlslodgeshootingschool.co.uk