Today (5th September 2021) we enjoyed the club BBQ and shoot. The weather had many competitors dressed incorrectly. A cool damp start to the day, then turned into a warm sunny day. This had us stripping off. We enjoyed our 50 bird sporting shoot, which also was the handicap shoot for the Roger Phillips Trophy. There was also an air rifle target shoot and a three person flurry.
After the enjoyable shoot we went back to the Ludgershall village hall for a Sunday BBQ. Chicken, sausages, steak and burgers (from Boarstall Meats), along will salads, potatoes and other healthy vegetables. An excellent array of deserts were then consumed to finish off the meal. A great thank you to those who put on the magnificent feast.
Prize Giving
Flurry Winners
Lewis, Mark and Graham, with six birds dropped.
Air Rifle Colt
Calum
Air Rifle Lady
Jenny
Air Rifle Men
Simon
50 Bird Shoot Colt
Calum
50 Bird Shoot Lady
Charlotte
50 Bird Shoot Men
Todd
Roger Phillips Trophy
This trophy is awarded to the best score, based on a handicap calculated from several previous shoots.
I know the picture has threatening skies, but I can promise you the weather was warm and dry with a light breeze to change the direction of the occasional clay. The ground was dry and hard, may summer last forever. The only negative of the day was Station road was closed by HS2 forcing a slight detour to the shooting ground. There was a good attendance of 38 (scorecards handed in), with three guests hopefully joining us for a regular shoot.
Tod 44
Johnny P 43
Adrian 41
Paul B 39
Mark C 36
Steve B 35
Graham H 35
Dawn 34
Anthea 34
John W 33
Nick C 33
Finn 33
Wally 33
Tim 32
Mark H 32
Bill 32
Thomas P 31
Ollie (Guest) 31
Jennifer 30
Geoff E 29
Simon P 29
Shirley 29
Chris M 28
Graham C 28
Geoff W 27
Magenta (Guest)26
Mike H 25
Daniel 24
Lewis H 23
Callum H 23
Jade 21
Tony H 20
Celia 19
Kelsey 19
John A 16
Roger W 16
Richard (Guest)13
Jenny M 8
The practice shoot was held at Dodershall. A small shower during the shoot did not dampen our spirits.
Wally 45
Adrian 40
Helena 37
Graham C 37
Mark H 37
Jennifer 36
Tod 36
Tye 36
John W 35
Paul B 35
Steve B 34
Dawn 33
Shirley 31
Lewis 30
Simon P 30
Callum 29
Dennis 29
Chris M 29
Geoff W 27
Geoff E 26
Jade 26
Lana 25
Anne 25
Jim 24
John A 23
Chelsey 22
Keith 22
Roger W 21
Celia 16
Kelsey 15
Bogan ( Guest )
We celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the club with a clay shoot and then lunch at Ludgershall hosted by DB Guns. The shoot was a forty bird clay shoot, results below, a flurry and the use of some black powder guns provided by Blackpowder John. After the shoot, there was a demonstration of shooting by Mickey Rouse which included shooting eggs, cabbages and watermelons. The video below has a few slow-motion shots of the black powder guns and then the Mickey Rowse trick shooting demo with exploding eggs, cabbage and an exploding watermelon.
After the shooting, we headed over to the home of Dawn and Brian, the owners of DB Guns, for an excellent meal in their garden. A very good roast of Pork, Beef and Brisket followed by a delicious choice of sweets. Prize presentations followed and then speeches from the Chairman and then Pete Sherriff.
A metal pin badge was presented to all guests commemorating the 40th anniversary.
The Chairmans Address
Kingswood Gun Club Speech 25th July 2021
It is a privilege and an honour to be in the position of presiding over the club on such a momentous occasion of the 40th anniversary since its inception. I was not around at the origination of the club which was formed by Barry Johnson, Austin Lovell, Robert Richardson, Fred Dymock and Graham Hill back in 1981. This was after a successful clay shoot was arranged for the village fete and, as in the best of traditions, a debrief was held in the pub leading to the club coming into fruition no doubt over a pint or 2. I understand from talking with some of the club originators that the initial shoots comprised of one trap that was used on land behind Lodge Garage in Kingswood.
It is a great pleasure to have so many of the original founders at today’s event to see how the club has developed since then going from strength to strength. This has been due to several factors comprising of:
The friendly manner and approach to new members, many who have never shot before. The club has always retained an active introducing and training policy – this is how I joined on phoning Pete Sheriff and being invited along to “have-a-go-day” back in 1987 which ignited my passion for the sport. I am pleased to say this core value had been retained within the club and we are now seeing many more junior and new members taking up the sport with great enthusiasm. This has and remains one of the founding principles of the club.
The demise of many local gun clubs that were tied to one shooting ground. Our club has been very fortunate with the generosity of local landowners to enable us to have 3 shooting grounds at any one time. These have varied over the years but provide us with great flexibility and choice of landscape scenarios to set up different sporting layouts. I would like to thank all the landowners for their generosity in making their land available to us which is greatly appreciated. Currently the club shoots on land owned by Arthur, Pam & Jonathan Hall at Doddershall, Frank, Edna & Kevin Goss & Dina at Quainton and Colin East at Ludgershall. Previously the club has been able to use Pear tree Farm, Collet Farm, Tetchwick Farm and land behind Lodge Garage in Kingswood along with some other “one-off” venues.
The committee, past and present, who work tirelessly in providing valuable insight and feedback in many forms as to how best develop the club; we then discuss the points informally before taking a decision. By collecting the thoughts and ideas from all club members and pooling this information it allows the committee to ensure the club is still run smoothly and to everyone’s approval.
Brian and Dawn for setting up the shoot along with their loyal band of helpers that make each shoot so enjoyable. Special thanks go to Dawn for providing refreshments at tea break time which for many years was run by Ann Holt, who introduced us all to her wonderful baking skills, and prior to that Sandra Hill. The club is very appreciative of the time and effort put in to make each shoot run smoothly and efficiently.
All the members who continue to make the club fun exciting and each shoot a pleasant experience. Everyone is keen to assist any struggling shooters on “off days” (me included) and encourage beginners to improve with impartial and friendly advice that does not come across as overbearing. At the end of each shoot everyone helps with the tidying up of the respective grounds so that no litter is left to affect any livestock or crops.
Over the years the club has had a very strong social presence, and this has appeared in a number of guises including:
In the early days there was considerable amount of fund raising with charity shoots for the acute Myeloid Leukaemia trust which raised over £5,000 over several shoots generously supported by local sponsors.
Links with other shooting clubs including one in Bexhill and one in Bridgend, where each other’s grounds were visited during the year and a friendly competitive shoot between the clubs were held. After each shoot a follow up meal was held in a local hostelry so everyone could catch up over a “pie and pint” as the saying goes
Annual dinner and dances that were held in Grendon Underwood Village Hall.
Participation in the local summer and winter league shoots
Sea shoots off the back of ferries during day trips to France between Portsmouth and Cherbourg.
And more recently an annual BBQ held in Ludgershall Village Hall held after a friendly competitive shoot.
And finally, I would like to thank everyone past and present who have helped formulate, shape and drive the club forward from its origins to its current position and ensure its continuing success.
To celebrate this event, we have had a pin badge made for all club members past and present and the landowners to receive that will be handed out shortly.
Many thanks and here’s looking forward to the future of the club.
The Shoot and Demonstration Shoot by Mickey Rouse
The Shooting Results
Tod 33
Nick C 32
Adrian 31
Lewis 30
Callum 30
Mark H 30
John E 29
Graham C 29
John W 28
Mark C 28
Charlotte 28
Paul B 28
Logan 28
Ian A 27
Richard C 27
Dawn 26
Josh C 26
Tim 25
Simon P 25
Celia 25
Geoff E 23
Finn 22
Jennifer 21
John A 21
Steve B 21
Shirley 21
Jade 21
Anne 21
Jim 20
Richard T 19
Tony H 19
Dennis 19
Daniel 17
Chelsey 17
Anthea 15
Kelsey 11
Lee P 10
Brilliant warm summer day today for our practice shoot. With the warm dry weather, we could take advantage of the dry ground, and shoot up from the field to the targets on the embankment. Normally we shoot down from the embankment.
Next week is the 40th-anniversary celebration celebrations of the club. The shoot is at the Ludgershall field.
To get you in the mood here is a video from 1989 when we were able to shoot at Edgcott. I apologise for the poor quality. We were shooting clays at Edgcott, on the farm at the top of Perry Hill. The shoot was on the 16th July 1989. I apologise for the starring role of my father and I. My brother was filming us.
The scores on the doors
Mark H 43
Paul N 42
Graham C 42
Keith 42
Nick C 41
Joe 40
Simon P 39
Mike H 39
Wally 38
Tod 38
Jennifer 37
Callum 36
John W 35
Jim 35
Dawn 34
Lewis 33
Shirley 33
Bill 33
Steve B 32
Anne 31
John A 31
Geoff W 31
Paul Ro 30
Celia 28
Chris M 28
Geoff E 27
Anthea 26
Kelsey 18
Mike Co 10
The Sunday shoot was held on a cloudy day with a light breeze. Six groups of us shot the five stands. The rain held off during the shoot, with a short spell during the memorable tea break. Memorable because there were some lovely chocolate cookies.
The scores on the doors
Nick C 43
Mark H 42
Adrian 41
Logan 40
Simon P 39
Finn 38
Tod 38
Keith 38
Dawn 37
Graham H 37
Dennis C 37
Graham C 37
Mike H 36
Shirley 36
Wally 35
Tim 35
Geoff E 33
Steve B 32
Helena 32
John W 32
Anthony P 30
Tye 29
Lewis 29
Geoff W 28
Anne 28
Jennifer 26
Bill 26
Callum 23
Mike C 22
Dean 21
John A 21
Graeme K C 21
Roger W 20
Kelsey 17
Despite the best intentions of the weather, the rain held off and we had an enjoyable shoot.
Simon P 45
Tim 42
Wally 42
Mark 40
Helena 39
Lewis 38
Jennifer 38
Dawn 38
Graham C 38
Logan 38
John W 37
Mike H 37
Todd 36
Graham H 35
Steve B 35
Mark C 35
Daniel Hu 33
Anthea 33
Joe 32
Finn 32
Shirley 30
Jim 30
Bill 30
GeoffE 29
Dennis C 28
Callum H 26
Celia 24
Mike C 23
John A 22
Kelsey 19
Graham K.C
The weather was not quite as ordered, a little sprinkling of rain during the shoot. Wind conditions thankfully were kind, and I did not freeze in my tee shirt and shorts. Looks like it was a hard shoot, with nobody in the forties. Some rather distant incoming clays shorting out the good shots from the bad.
Mark 38
Paul 35
Helena 35
Graham H 34
Tod 34
Simon P 34
Wally 32
Bill 31
Shirley 31
Dawn 30
Jennifer 30
Daniel 29
Finn 29
Steve 29
Dean B 28
Graham C 28
Lewis 28
Antony P 27
Joe 27
John W 27
Mark C 27
Adrian 26
Tony H 26
Dennis C 26
Jim 26
Geoff E 25
Geoff W 25
Tye 25
Tim 25
Callum 23
Celia 19
Kelsey 18
Despite the weather forecast, the rain held off and we had an enjoyable shoot on a warm sunny day with little wind.
A reminder, please keep your speed low as you drive down the lane past the house to the farm buildings. Ten MPH is fast enough.
John E 46
Nick 45
Mark 44
Paul 44
Charlotte 43
Lewis 41
John 40
Tim 40
Graham 39
Dawn 39
Shirley 39
Walley 38
Todd 38
Jennifer 37
Joe 37
Helena 36
Tye 36
Mike 35
Logan 35
Simon 34
Dennis 34
Anthony 33
Graham 32
Tony Holt 32
Jim 32
Steve 31
Geoff 29
Jade 29
Daniel 29
Bill 28
Anthea 28
Kelsey 27
John 26
Finn 25
Richard 22
Celia 21
Callum 21
Another good shooting day, dry ground, no rain and light wind. An excellent shooting layout with 6 stands had been set up for us, ready to start at 10. I must thank the volunteers, especially the gun shop, DBGuns for setting up these excellent shoots.
Chris S 43
Keith D 43
John E 43
Mark H 43
Nick C 43
John P 40
Wally 39
Jennifer 39
Mike H 39
Tye 37
John W 37
Paul B 37
Helena 36
Charlotte 35
Joe 35
Logan 34
Tod 34
Graham 34
Dennis 34
Tim 33
Simon P 33
Shirley 32
Lewis 31
Steve B 31
Adrian 31
Anthony P 31
Geoff W 31
Jim 31
Daniel H 30
Richard T 28
Anne 28
Geoff E 28
John A 27
Finn 26
Tony H 25
Bill 24
Chelsey 24
Anthea 20
Kelsey 19
Callum 16
