Southern Counties Dorset.

[ips]

I think he tucks them in his socks these days Ian. He no longer wears that wig though!!! :spiteful:

Yes he does mate but its hidden by his cap. He also wears the same vest but Mrs 40up has effected the odd darning repair over the years.

 

[jwpzx9r]

Lovely gun Mr 40UP sir ! Did people really go out to shoot wearing that sort of clothing or was this fancy dress? Any way I suppose I have to say that you probably shot through the golden years of trap.

Back to the original topic, which I have now read through. I cannot understand why the shooting fraternity in the UK has not adopted the approach the French shooters have. Down here the grounds are owned and run by the members just like a bowling club is back in the UK. Shooting works out much cheaper because there is no drive for profit and it is very much more a family of shooters rather than a shooting ground. Now I would have to say that not all the clubs are extensive but most have at least one UT stand and a club house. The one I am shooting at today has one UT and one OT/UT and a large but typically French (slightly scruffy ) club house but everybody is welcome to a free fresh coffee with a wee bit of Armagnac before shooting. A round of shooting is €4 and you could not meet a friendlier bunch of people. So come one UK tarpies galvanise and get started on your co-op... say what you want about the French but the do know how to get a successful co-op going !

 

[Les53]

John as far as I know, back in bygone days, there used to be quite a few member owned clubs, especially in the north. Such clubs seem to be pretty rare these days, apart from some of the straw bale sporting clubs. I have no idea why it is that the majority of our trap grounds are purely commercial. I would imagine that Fred (40up) will know a great deal more about this than anyone else does. So how about it Fred?

 

[ips]

I would imagine that the difficulty with planning permission is enough to put off many would be member run club shoots.

 

[jwpzx9r]

Les today I went out and shot at a ground which is well run the traps are great and the schemes are changed regularly and always the most challenging and the grounds are first rate and well looked after. The club house is big with a large fire place and the older guys go along in the winter and chew the fat over a few drinks... my idea of what a CLUB should be. My only gripe is that the clubs tend to close at the start of the hunting season so first week of September but the weather down here can be great right through the year. I do shoot at another ground that is open all year though which has 1 OT,3UT, 4DTL, 5 parcours, 5 compak and one running boar run and owned by the members €4 a round!

edit French people have a good attitude to shooting sports and hunting in general also the shooting grounds tend to be on the periphery of villages so no real problem planning wise Ian also the countryside in France is sparsely populated in comparison to the UK.

 

[ips]

One has to also remember that there is a big difference between shooting at a club shoot and shooting comp at a shooting "ground" nothing against club shoots or people who frequent them but depending on your level of competitive interest many miles and much money is required to shoot on the "circuit" so to speak. Very few "clubs" have the layouts to hold the bigger events. But as les and i have eluded to many times it is our opinion that we will all be forced to shoot glorified straw baler before long due to the increasing demise of shooting grounds.

 

[jwpzx9r]

I think that most French departments have a club with the type of set up you refer to Ian but you are right most of the clubs are two trench set ups. Thing is I suppose that clubs set out there grounds for what the members actually need. On any normal weekend for example Mirande will have both UT set ups going or one UT and one OT but there will only normally be two squads of shooters so any more than two set ups is waste really.

 

[ips]

Don't get me wrong John i believe small clubs are the future as the larger grounds seem to be in demise.