Went with a few club mates today to shoot at Birchwood shooting ground Sherfield English Hampshire only to find notice on the gate to the effect that the shoot is permanently closed with no real explanation. this is the second shoot in the area to close in the last 12 months. Is this a theme throughout the country. Don't hear of any opening.
Loss of another shooting ground
- Thread starter jagster
- Start date
Help Support :
schmokinn
Well-known member
Really not surprised,hadn't been for a couple of years but the lady who's shoot it was didn't really seem that bothered when i spoke to her then.
Always seemed to be somebody else doing all the legwork and he didn't really look happy about it.
Pam at Ower has just announced that they will only be shooting Wednesdays till October and as i understand it there will be no more registered there,bit disappointing as it seemed to have potential.
Somerley gone,3 Lions somewhere i have never felt safe shooting.
I resigned myself to travelling to shoot registered a couple of years back as most of the local shoots were on there way out.
The only club shoot i go to now is Pilford and sometimes only shoot the compak as it gets ridiculously busy when the sun comes out.
We have managed to get the ground registered for some disciplines so will be running some county shoots there but no dates yet.
It seems that it is either noise or retirement that is closing small shoots and with all the townies moving to the lovely QUIET countryside and complaining about the noise there really is no hope for most small shoots once they have issues as they cannot afford to fight them
Always seemed to be somebody else doing all the legwork and he didn't really look happy about it.
Pam at Ower has just announced that they will only be shooting Wednesdays till October and as i understand it there will be no more registered there,bit disappointing as it seemed to have potential.
Somerley gone,3 Lions somewhere i have never felt safe shooting.
I resigned myself to travelling to shoot registered a couple of years back as most of the local shoots were on there way out.
The only club shoot i go to now is Pilford and sometimes only shoot the compak as it gets ridiculously busy when the sun comes out.
We have managed to get the ground registered for some disciplines so will be running some county shoots there but no dates yet.
It seems that it is either noise or retirement that is closing small shoots and with all the townies moving to the lovely QUIET countryside and complaining about the noise there really is no hope for most small shoots once they have issues as they cannot afford to fight them
Last edited by a moderator:
CharlesP
Well-known member
Mark I was at 3 Lions yesterday - maybe it was the sunshine but it did feel better. I had no safety concerns at all.
Shame about Ower, I was looking forward to shooting Registered there this year.
Pilford does get busy early on, and coincidentally the gang I shoot with have this morning been "email conferencing" about a later start time.
It is a matter of huge concern to me that Dorset is so desperately short of clay shooting grounds. When you look at the map and see the vast tracts of countryside it's astonishing that there's no suitable land.
Shame about Ower, I was looking forward to shooting Registered there this year.
Pilford does get busy early on, and coincidentally the gang I shoot with have this morning been "email conferencing" about a later start time.
It is a matter of huge concern to me that Dorset is so desperately short of clay shooting grounds. When you look at the map and see the vast tracts of countryside it's astonishing that there's no suitable land.
Unfortunately Charles it is not something that is only affecting Dorset!! Grounds have been closing all over the country for years now, a sad state of affairs!! Just look at the trouble Purbeck had a year or two back, almost shut down by one idiot living down the road, due to noise!!! Yes just one person can get a ground closed down, that just cannot be right!!!! So who would risk starting a new ground these days?
schmokinn
Well-known member
The trouble at Purbeck is ongoing and at this moment in time about as bad as it gets( shooting there subsonic cartridges on the top 9 stands) though they are trying expand away from the W***** down the road
Please do not move to a later start time as that is reserved already!! :lol:
CharlesP
Well-known member
The new stands at Purbeck away from the gentleman who is complaining (together with another gentleman who shoots game, and who when trying to get elected said he was all for Country Sports etc(!))) are actually rather good, and well worth a visit. You have to hand it to Graham for sheer tenacity! They've been working hard to provide challenging and interesting targets, and that work continues, with more to come in the near future.
I had hoped that a new iteration of Dorset Shooting School might materialise, but alas nothing as yet.
Every pastime I have ever had has been threatened in one way or another. Fishing is constrained, sailing has all sorts of restrictions (like people wanting you not to anchor in Studland Bay because of a nebulous and unproven threat to Sea Horses), I seem to pick pursuits that upset someone every time!
I had hoped that a new iteration of Dorset Shooting School might materialise, but alas nothing as yet.
Every pastime I have ever had has been threatened in one way or another. Fishing is constrained, sailing has all sorts of restrictions (like people wanting you not to anchor in Studland Bay because of a nebulous and unproven threat to Sea Horses), I seem to pick pursuits that upset someone every time!
Charles, I guess I must be lucky in the fact that my target club is actually expanding again!!!! Yes it's an indoor facility and hence has no noise or pollution issues to contend with. It's rather nice to see a shooting club that is growing!!!
Ha.....it's about shooting indoors, in comfort, coffee and bacon sarny whilst on the firing point!!! No rain, no snow, no cold, no gales,no queues, just nice laid back shooting and comfortable temperature all year round!! No need for special clothing, no unaccompanied novices to make you nervous, everyone clears up their empty shell cases before leaving their firing point, no round fees!!! :lol: :lol:
westley
Well-known member
A few years ago, when I was involved with running a ground, I remember a newcomer buying a property close by and then trying to get the ground closed on the noise issue. The only problem being it was a MILITARY RANGE ??? He got VERY short thrift !
Dbac300566
Well-known member
Is that clay shooting or full bore rifle shooting.Never been to a indoor clay shooting,a lot of holes in the roof?
westley
Well-known member
When I was the CPSA Merseyside Rep. I was asked to check out an indoor range which had been converted from a pistol range to a shotgun/clay range, for which they had applied for affiliation Membership. I have to say I have never experienced anything so dangerous in all my life and felt very lucky to get out uninjured. Exposed trap at around shoulder height, 2 feet from the end shooter in a line of 5, nothing preventing an earful of clay from a 'no bird'. ALL shooters loading 2 cartridges, then standing, with closed guns pointing at their neighbours legs. It was impossible to fire 2 shots at the clay, before it hit the sandbank backstop, so NO requirement to load more than 1 cartridge. Absolutely NO safety signs displayed, although I doubt the ability of some of the shooters, to read ! I still have nightmares over the whole fiasco and the last that I heard, it was still going, albeit with a few changes. The mind boggles ?
I feel that we live in an age where complaining has become the 'IN HOBBY' for some ! Even if you took up knitting the needles would probably have to be rubber coated to reduce the noise !
ChrisPackham
Well-known member
I can see this becoming a genuine problem to the sport in time, our neighbours who are some distance away complained about the fun/charity skeet BBQ we held in the paddock last summer to raise cash for one of the kids in the village, they soon shut up when we explained the cost for us stopping would be painful (BBQ raised 12K) Apparently they also complained about the smell from the farm and 'millions' of shot game 'raining from the sky' at the local estate.. fortunately house is for sale now.. back to towie land they go (I assume)
