3rd Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot  at Old Glossop SG 2024

 

Due to a change in venue, the third Cheshire Sporting selection was held at Old Glossop shooting Ground which replaced Kingsley Moor due to its temporarily closure.

To be fair, I haven’t shot here for a while and had forgotten how good it is especially as the weather was just about perfect as you will see from the pictures.

It certainly was a lot busier than normal with 170 entrants which did slow things down a little however, it was well worth the wait as the team at Old Glossop had put on a throughly entertaining course. This had a good variety of presentations which was fairly challenging in places especially if you don’t like shooting fast dropping clays.

Highest scores in class and Category were:

AAA            Scott Barnett & High Gun 93

AA              N/A

A                Miles Machin 91

B                Andrew Earl 86

C               Thomas Rockall 75

 

Mens                    Miles Machin 91

Vets                      Miles Machin 91

Ladies                  Lucy Earl 90

Juniors                 N/A

Colts                    Thomas Rockall 75

Thank you all for turning up at this new Cheshire selection shoot, I hope you enjoyed it and I’ll look at make this a permanent feature for next year’s selections. If you have any comments, please feel free to get in contact.

 

The next selection shoot will be on:

12th May

Garlands Shooting Ground 09:00 - 14:00

 

Selection shot scores  and rankings can be found at: https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire/esp-team-selections

Nigel Lane ESP Manager

 

 

                                                  

Revised Cheshire ESP Selection Shoots 2024

 

Due to a clash of events, we have decided to move two selection shoots which also includes the Cheshire Championship.

The revised dates for the remaining six Cheshire ESP Selection Shoots are as follows:

21st April             Old Glossop

12th May             Garlands

23rd June            Garlands

5/6th July            Mickley Hall

21st July             West Midlands SG (Squadded, entries open 1st June)

26th Aug             Catton Hall (Cheshire Championship)

The next upcoming Cheshire Selection Shoot is on:

21st April

Old glossop SG 09:45 - 13:30 

Nigel Lane ESP Manager

                                                            

2nd Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot at Mickley Hall SG

15/16th Mar 2024

 

The second Cheshire Sporting selection shoot was held at Mickley Hall shooting school over two days with all competitors receiving the usual warm welcome from Lara or Scott in the clubhouse plus the tasty offerings being served up by Gilly in Gilly’s Cafe, made for a good start to the day.

The weather over this period was fairly pleasant with sunshine and broken cloud. However, for the shooters squadded on Friday afternoon, the weather ended up being somewhat showery and windy.

Scott and Phil set up some interesting presentations which kept competitors on their toes, especially the fast low quartering away pair in the DTL stand which certainly caught a few people out having to shoot down from the pulpit.

Following on from his success at Catton Hall, Nicky Beavis put in a brilliant score of 97 to make it two wins in a row now.

Scores are as follows:

High Gun   Nicky Beavis 97

AA              Sam Ward 93

A                 Nigel Lane 92

B                 Vincent Shaw 82

C                Thomas Rockall 77

 

Mens           Sam Ward 93

Vets            Nigel Lane 92

Ladies         Lara Dale 89

Juniors        N/A

Colts           Thomas Rockall 77

 

A massive thanks to all of you who participated in this competition. Our next Cheshire Selection shoot will be on:

21st April

Old Glossop shooting ground

If you would like to keep an update on your scores just go to https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire/esp-team-selections  you will also find here the details of the remaining shoots.

Nigel Lane ESP Manager

 

                                                           

Revised Cheshire ESP Selection Shoots 2024

 

Due to the temporary closure of Kingsley Moor where we had planned to have two selection shoots, two new venues had to be selected.

These are West Midlands Shooting Ground and Old Glossop Shooting Ground.

 

The revised dates for the remaining seven Cheshire ESP Selection Shoots are as follows:

 

15/16th March    Mickley Hall

21st April             Old Glossop

12th May             Garlands

27th May             Catton Hall (Cheshire Championship)

5/6th July            Mickley Hall

21st July             West Midlands SG (Squadded, entries open 1st June)

25th Aug             Garlands

 

The next upcoming Cheshire Selection Shoot is on:

 

15th & 16th March

Mickley Hall SG

This venue is squadded at 10:00 &13:00 so please book this with the ground.

It can also be shot on either day.

 

Nigel Lane ESP Manager

                                                              

1st Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot at Catton Hall SG

25th Feb 2024

 

The first Cheshire Sporting selection shoot was held at Catton Hall shooting school and James and Josh did not disappoint with a selection of interesting presentations which on first glance didn’t look too difficult but could catch out the unwary if you weren’t up to speed with your technical skills especially in the wooded section.

The turnout was a little bit down on last year with 25/36 Cheshire competitors taking part in the selection shoot. No doubt there were a few checking out the wares on display at the British Shooting Show over the weekend.

The conditions for Sunday started off a little bit chilly but also bright and fine, warming up as the day went on which was almost ideal considering the time of the year.

Highest score in classes were:

AAA           Nick Beavis & High Gun 93

AA              David Lloyd 78

A                 Dave Sutton 92

B                 Peter Fitkin, Martin Colclough, Lee Williams & Matt Elms 84

C                Matt Knowles 76

Mens          Dave Sutton 92

Vets           Neil Waterman 87

Ladies        Karen Hall 66

Juniors       N/A

 

If you would like to keep an update on your scores just go to https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire/esp-team-selections  you will also find here the details of the remaining shoots.

The next upcoming Cheshire Selection Shoot is on:

 

15th & 16th March

Mickley Hall SG

This venue is squadded at 10:00 &12:30 so please book this with the ground.

It can also be shot on either day.

Please note, we had planned to be having our second selection shoot at Kingsley Moor on the 10th March. Unfortunately the ground has now closed. Whether this is permanent or temporary I don’t know as information is a bit sparse at the moment. However, we will be selecting another ground to replace Kingsley Moor in the very near future,

 

Nigel Lane ESP Manager

                                                         

 

New Year’s Resolution

 

Happy New Year Cheshire Sporting shooters

So what resolution have you made this year, purchase some new kit, maybe a gun - the other half won’t know because they all look the same!!, extra lessons to improve that extra couple of percentage points or how about just shooting a minimum of three selections shoots in order to qualify for selection to the Cheshire Sporting team.

We were quite successful last year with Team Cheshire taking Ladies Gold and Individual Gold at the National Inter-Counties, Atkin, Grant & Lang.

Prior to that, Vets Gold, Ladies Gold and Senior Bronze at the West Midlands Inter-Counties, Garlands.

There were also some excellent results at the West Midlands Area Individual Sporting Championships, Doveridge. Winning Overall Gold and Bronze. Ladies Gold, Ladies Silver, Vets Silver and Junior Gold.

For the West Midlands Area Individual Sportrap Championship we picked up Overall Bronze plus Gold and Silver in Vets.

All in all, there are plenty of competitions for the Cheshire Sporting shooter this year whether you want to stick to Sporting, team/Individual, or cross over into shooting Super Sporting or Sportrap which are both an exciting derivative of Sporting.

For those of you that haven't shot for Cheshire before and would like to, we have two ways of doing this. The first is through the the Cheshire Inter-Counties team and the second is through the Cheshire Inter-Counties Clubman's Team.

Inter-Counties Team

The Cheshire Inter-Counties team composition will comprise of Senior × 6, Veteran x 3, Ladies × 3 and Junior x 3. If we have enough qualifying shooters a second team may be entered for each category or will be selected for the Clubman's competition.

Those that qualify for the Inter-Counties team and are selected cannot shot for the Clubman's team.

Inter-Counties Clubman's Team

The second way is to shoot for the Cheshire Inter-Counties Clubman's team. The difference between the two is that this competition was set up in 2018 with the aim to introduce A,B and C class shooters to participate in an Inter-County competition and to ensure all levels of capabilities are included as part of the Inter-Counties set up.

This will be a team of 12 which comprises of 4 x A class, 4 x B class, 4 x C class and the winning categories will be best team by class and best overall County team. It's a fun day out for all and for 2024 we are holding the competition at Park Farm shooting ground Saturday 28th September.

To qualify to shoot for Cheshire, you will need to have entered a minimum of 3 shoots out of the planned 8 for this year, which starts off at Catton Hall on the 25th February. If you shoot more than 3, your top 3 scores will be used.

One final point about eligibility, if you do want your scores to be included as qualifying, please make this known when you book in and you will also be charged an extra £2 for the pleasure. This levy goes to supporting Cheshire CPSA.

To get you started, the first two selection shoots will be at:

25th Feb Catton Hall

10th Mar Kingsley Moor

Further details for information about Cheshire CPSA and selection shoots can be found by going to the CPSA home page - Members Area - Your Region/County and select “Latest news/ESP Team selections” or you can click on this link which will take you to the Cheshire team selection shoots and events: https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire/esp-team-selections for all other Cheshire disciplines click on this link: https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire/championship-fixtures

 

Finally, I would like to thank John Dentith, fellow Cheshire shooter and owner of Eastfield Joinery (eastfieldjoinery.co.uk) for making a superb trophy cabinet out of Ash and donating it to Cheshire CPSA for our trophies. You can see John’s handiwork at Catton Hall shooting ground.

Nigel Lane - Cheshire CPSA ESP Manager

                                                                          

 

Cheshire Super Sporting County Championship & 

Kevin Howarth Memorial Shoot

Mickley Hall Shooting School

13th/14th October

 

Firstly, a massive thanks to everyone who took part in this event over the two days, it was a great turnout for the combined shoot and your support is greatly appreciated.

The Kevin Howarth Memorial shoot raises money for a worthy cause, the North West Air Ambulance and thanks to your participation this year we have again managed to raise a sizeable amount for them. I would also like to thank Scott Barnett from Mickley Hall Shooting School and Gilly, from the cafe for their generosity in donating their profits from the two days towards this total, a very kind gesture.

As the Super Sporting was a new Championship event for Cheshire CPSA this year, it was pleasing to see so many Cheshire shooters supporting it. I hope, if you have never shot this format before, you enjoyed it and will be back for more next year.

Talking of support, the Cheshire CPSA had to fund these trophies and medals for this event therefore, I would like to thank the kindness of Mickley Hall Shooting School, Steve Randles of Shoot SP and Nigel Lane for donating trophies towards this.

As the competition was shot over two days, the shooting conditions were certainly variable with consistent rain on the Friday, followed by sunny conditions and intermittent heavy downpours on the Saturday. However, this didn’t dampen peoples spirits and by all accounts everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great time. Scott Barnett and Phil Jones certainly excelled themselves by putting on a throughly entertaining course which ranged from a 5 yrd fast rabbit to a 50 yrd battue with everything in-between including some very interesting simo pairs!!

 

The scores were tight at the top but the winners are as follows:

Cheshire Super Sporting County Champs

Overall:   Guy Robinson - 93

Mens:   Carl Vickers - 88(Countback)

Ladies:   Lucy Earl - 83

Veterans:   Miles Machin - 89

Juniors:   Lucy Earl - 83

 

Kevin Howarth Memorial Trophy

Guy Robinson, Danny Hampson and Dave Harley are all joint High Gun with a cracking 93, I did say it was tight.

 

                                                             

National Inter-Counties Team ESP 

Atkin, Grant & Lang SG 7st October

 

After our success last week at the West Midlands Inter-Counties Team ESP Championship at Garlands, Team Cheshire headed down South to Atkin, Grant & Lang which is situated fairly close to Luton airport to take part in the Nationals Inter-Counties.

For some of the team it was the first time that any of them had shot here and were pleasantly surprised how good the grounds were with a variation of wooded stands where the the targets were close-medium range but technical in their angle and speed to stands out in the open which had a bit more range and flight.

Furthermore, because it was squadded, it enabled us to shoot together as a team which aided team spirit and we all got around without any hassle or hiccups so top marks to AG&L.

Due to circumstances, I had to modify the teams slightly from those that shot the previous week at Garlands. So, below are the teams that represented Cheshire.

Seniors

Sam Ward, Ian Morris, Mark Dale, Guy Robinson and Ed Morris.

Ladies

Lara Dale, Lucy Earl and Karen Hall

Vets

Andy Jones, Peter Fitkin and Nigel Lane

 

Although there was some good shooting all round it was left to the Ladies to bring back the medals and honours.

Firstly, the ladies team won Gold which was an excellent result and secondly, Lara Dale put in a PB of 94 to not only take the Ladies Individual High Gun trophy but also won A Class. What a smashing effort considering High Gun for the event was 97.

That is it for this year regarding the Inter-Counties. All in all, I think Cheshire should be proud of themselves what they have achieved but this couldn’t have been done without you, the shooter, putting yourself out there and doing the selection shoots which has enabled us to put a strong team together to get this far. Once again, without you this wouldn’t have been possible so hopefully we can build on our success for next year.

The only left regarding Cheshire is the Cheshire Super Sporting Championship at Mickley Hall this Fri 13th/Sat 14th

There are still spaces available as it is squadded at 1000 &1300, this can be booked up by contacting Mickley Hall on 0800 772 0058

In combination with this we are also running the Kevin Howarth Memorial Shoot for which there is a separate trophy. This will be raising money for a worthy cause, the North West Air Ambulance so please try and make the effort to come. 

On the Friday there will be two members from the Cheshire Constabulary firearms team between 10am - 1pm on hand to answer any questions regarding licensing or any other matter regarding firearms.

On the Saturday, there will a BBQ and raffle prizes to be had plus Mickley Hall will be running a Demo Day with a full range of second hand guns available to try so, there is plenty to see and do this Friday or Saturday.

 

Below are some pictures from the day's shooting and team members at AG&L

 

 

                                                                

West Midlands Inter-Counties ESP and Area Sportrap 

Garlands SG 1st October

 

Firstly, I would like to thank all of the Cheshire team shooters who took part in the Inter-Counties Championship this Sunday, it was a magnificent effort by all of you. Not only that, but for taking the time and effort in competing in the selection shoots during the year to get this far.

Secondly, I would like to thank Steve Lovett and his team for putting on a testing shoot in both the Sporting and Sportrap competitions which befitted this Championship. The only downside to the whole event was the somewhat wet weather which set in during the early afternoon. 

Overall, this year’s event has been quite successful for Cheshire by winning Gold medals in both Ladies and Vets whilst the Senior team took home a Bronze medal. 

Lucy Earl, Lara Dale and Karen Hall made up the Ladies team, Vets team consisted of Guy Robinson, Miles Machin and Nigel Lane and the Senior team being Sam Ward, Scott Barnett, Ian Morris, Steve Randles Carl Vickers and Mark Dale. 

Our Junior team of Ed Morris, Jacob Whitehouse and Thomas Rockall missed out on the medals but put in a really good effort considering that this was the first big competition for Jacob and Thomas.

We also had success in the Sportrap which is an individual event. Lucy Earl won a Gold medal in both Junior and Ladies category with a 77 whilst Tony Dean and Nigel Lane took Gold and Silver respectively in Vets with 90 and 86.

One point of note in the ESP was that Sam Ward put in a fantastic 96 to take High Gun with Steve Randles being only two behind, excellent shooting chaps.

Below is a photo montage of various moments during the day for our cheshire shooters.

Nigel Lane - Cheshire CPSA ESP Manager

 

 

                                                  

Brand new Cheshire Championship for 2023

Super Sporting

&

Kevin Howarth Memorial Shoot

13th & 14th October

Due to an increase in popularity of Super Sporting, Cheshire CPSA have decided to run a new Championship shooting competition for this format at Mickley Hall Shooting Ground on the 13/14th October.

If you have not tried it, here is your chance to have a go at this interesting variation of Sporting shooting, in addition, get your name on a trophy and win a medal.

Two for the price of one!! Not only are we running the Cheshire Super Sporting Championship, there is also the Kevin Howarth Memorial Shoot running in tandem with it which has its own trophy for High Gun.

In addition, there will be a BBQ and raffle prizes on Saturday with money raised and donations going to a worthy cause, the North West Air Ambulance which is Cheshire’s nominated charity.

This is going to be an exciting new event coupled with a worth while cause so please don’t hesitate and get your name down now.

Last year we managed to raise £1,765.00, so let’s see if we can smash this figure with your help and participation.

These two competitions will be in squads going out at 10am and 1pm on Friday & Saturday.

 

To make a booking, please contact:

Mickley Hall Shooting Ground  0800 772 0058

Nigel Lane - Cheshire CPSA ESP Manager

 

                                                                      

TONY DEAN 2023

Well, 2023 has been quite a year for Tony Dean.  He started off the year representing GB at the European FITASC in Cyprus in May, which resulted in a senior team silver medal.  The next fixture on the calendar was the UK Compak Championships held at EJ Churchills where Tony put in a magnificent performance (99 ex 100) to win overall high gun, securing a place on the GB Compak team for Foligno, Italy alongside George Digweed and Simon Fenner. Team bronze was the result.  Tony maintained a squad position on the GB FITASC team in Budapest, Hungary in July which was swiftly followed by the British Masters at Barbury (Compak again) where he won gold medal in seniors. Into September and to the last World Championships of the year (Compak) near Athens in Greece.  Tough, windy conditions were the order of the competition but the British team produced some staggering results and had the best medal haul for many years.  Tony’s score of 195 ex 200 took the Senior World Champion title and lead the British seniors team to the gold medal position.  He shot a flawless 50 straight on the last day in gusting winds to secure the top podium spot ahead of George Digweed MBE in silver.

 

                                                               

West Midlands Intercounties Clubman’s Championship 2023

 

It was delightful to see so many West Midlands Counties put up teams for this year’s Clubman’s Championship held at Mickley Hall Shooting School. These were Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire.

All in all, sixty competitors took part and I think that the idea of mixing the various Counties together in a squad and then self marking provided a very engaging and friendly atmosphere for the competitors who were certainly full of enthusiasm for this event. This was evident by the amount of shooters that stayed behind to watch the presentation of awards.

Scott Barnett with the help of Phil Jones set a fairly steady course befitting the format of this Championship however, there were a couple of stands with tricky targets to catch out the unwary. 

Weather wise, the day started off overcast and dull which was indispersed with a couple of torrential downpours, which certainly changed the shooting conditions for those about to shoot on an uncovered stand.

Winning scores are as follows:-

Overall Team Winners: Staffordshire (1002/1200), 2nd Derbyshire (964/1200), 3rd Cheshire (961/1200)

A Class Team: 1st Cheshire (357/400), 2nd Staffordshire 351/400), 3rd Derbyshire (348/400)

B Class Team: 1st Staffordshire (331/400), 2nd Warwickshire (326/400), 3rd Cheshire (314/400)

C Class Team: 1st Staffordshire (320/400), 2nd Warwickshire (308/400), 3rd Derbyshire (303/400) 

There were also some great individual scores:-

A class: 1st Gareth Davies (93), 2nd Tom Hartland & Lee Williams (92), 3rd Eddie Wilkinson (91)

B Class: 1st Mark Wain (90), Neil Foxley (89), 3rd Joshua Grice, Phil Harthshorn & Colin Mortimer (88)

C Class: 1st Matt Pickford (88), 2nd Toby Jones (87), 3rd Marcus Pickford & Gary Moxon (82)

I would also like to add my thanks and appreciation to the team at Mickley Hall which consisted of Lara, Nicky, Anna and Scott for not only providing the venue but running such a slick operation which operated like clockwork.

And finally, a massive thanks to Bob Gallager who dropped everything and drove a hour to the grounds to fill in for a Cheshire competitor who unexpectedly had to withdraw from the competition at the last minute.

Nigel Lane - Cheshire CPSA ESP Manager

                                                                           

                                                             

Cheshire 8th and final Selection Shoot at Garlands SG 

6th August 2023

 

First of all, I would like express my thanks to all of the Cheshire competitors who have taken their time, effort and commitment in supporting our county this year by attending the English Sporting selection shoots. I hope that you’ve enjoyed the variety of grounds and hopefully we will be able to expand on the selection for next year.

Regarding the final selection shoot; with the English Open just around the corner, Garlands shooting ground certainly didn’t disappoint and Steve Lovett certainly put an excellent course with plenty of variations from stand to stand. With an increasing wind during the morning it certainly made the course demanding but none the less enjoyable. 

In Steve’s own words “I hope you enjoyed the new stands and my favourite on the pond with the skimmer and 65 yard tower Chondelle looper” That was probably one of the most entertaining stands I have seen so far this year. 

Congratulations to Steve Randells who took Cheshire High Gun. 

That’s it for this year regarding the selection shoots. Myself and Scott Barnett will now be looking over the results and selecting the teams to represent Cheshire in the Inter-Counties Clubman’s, West Midlands Inter-Counties and National Inter-Counties competitions in the next few days. Hopefully, those selected will be able to make the dates as set out below.

 

26th August

West Midlands Inter-Counties Clubman’s Championship

Mickley Hall Shooting School

 

1st October

West Midlands Inter-Counties Team Championship

Garlands Shooting ground

 

8th October

National Inter-Counties Team Championship

Atkin, Grant and Lang

 

Nigel Lane - Cheshire CPSA ESP Manager

 

                                                        

Cheshire 7th Selection Shoot at Kegworth SG 

16th July 2023

 

The seventh and penultimate selection shoot was held at Kegworth shooting ground for the first time this year with 9 Cheshire shooters taking part. The smaller turnout was probably due to another event taking place at Garlands, the West Midlands ABT Championship plus, the forecast deluge around lunchtime didn’t help either !! 

Early on the conditions were warm, overcast and with just enough wind to affect some of the stands. 

John and his team had once again laid on an interesting and varied course which threw up some interesting targets, especially the low white teal which proved challenging against an overcast sky.

Leading the charge for Cheshire was Sam Ward (AAA) scoring an excellent 93.

This was closely followed by James Savage (A) 87, Guy Robinson (AA) 86 and for the Ladies, Lara Dale (A) 82.

Other notable scores were Peter Firkin (B) 74 and Colt, Jacob Whitehead (C) 64.

That leaves just one final shoot at Garlands in order to get your best three scores in. If you would like to keep an update on your scores just go to https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire/esp-team-selections.

 

The final Cheshire Selection Shoot is:

30th July 

Garlands SG 09:30 - 14:30

 

Nigel Lane - ESP Manag

 

                                                   

Cheshire ESP Championship & 6th Selection Shoot at Catton Hall SG 

25th June 2023

 

The Cheshire ESP Championship and sixth selection shoot was held at Catton Hall shooting ground for the second time this year with 22 Cheshire shooters taking part. The weather conditions were fine albeit mainly overcast, warm  and humid with just a gentle breeze to cool things down. 

Once again, Catton Hall set in the Cheshire countryside provided an idyllic backdrop for competitors looking forward to an enjoyable day of shooting and they were also greeted with the usual warm welcome and hospitality one comes to expect. James and his team had once again laid on a course befitting the Cheshire Championship and it didn’t disappoint with meticulous attention to detail which provided something for everyone from AAA to C class.

Regarding the shoot, Scott Barnett (AAA) won Overall Cheshire Champion scoring an excellent 94.

Following closely behind were Nicky Bevis (AAA) to take Cheshire Mens Champion with 91, leaving Guy Robinson (AA) and Nigel Lane (A) who had also scored 91 to vie for the Cheshire Vet’s trophy. This will be decided in the very near future with a shoot off.

Lucy Earl (A), who, unfortunately whilst suffering from a bout of hay fever still managed to put in a credible 78 to retain Cheshire Ladies and Junior Champion.

Finally, in a new category for this year, Thomas Rockall (C) became Cheshire Colt Champion with a 62.

Other scores worth mentioning were: B - Andrew Earl 82, C - Vincent Shaw 76. 

 

That was the sixth selection shoot out of eight so there are now only two to go in order to get your best three scores in. If you would like to keep an update on your scores just go to https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire/esp-team-selections  you will also find here the details of the remaining shoots.

 

The next two upcoming Cheshire Selection Shoots are:

16th July

Kegworth SG 09:30 - 14:30

30th July 

Garlands SG 09:30 - 14:30

 

Thank you Eastfield Joinery

 

I would also like to pass on my appreciation and gratitude to John Dentith who is the proprietor of Eastfield Joinery, Shavington and fellow Cheshire shooter. John has kindly made and  donated a magnificent wooden (Ash) trophy cabinet, for the Cheshire CPSA in which we can display our Cheshire Sporting Championship trophies. His craftsmanship and attention to detail have created a stunning piece that not only serves as a functional display for our trophies but also adds an elegant touch to the club room at Catton Hall.

www.Eastfieldjoinery.co.uk

 

 

                                                             

 

5th Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot at Mickley Hall SG 

16th/17th June 2023

 

The fifth Cheshire Sporting selection shoot was held at Mickley Hall shooting ground for the second time this year with 25 Cheshire shooters taking part. The weather conditions were fine for both days although conditions were somewhat overcast on the Saturday. Other than that, it was a very pleasant couple of days with hardly any wind to affect the clays.

Once again, Mickley Hall had laid on a course which encompassed many diverse stands and setups which promised an engaging experience for shooters of all levels. However, a rather limp rabbit which was part of a simo pair in the DTL stand did catch a couple of people out!! Plus, there was also a fast left to right dropping mini in the Frog stand which was somewhat entertaining and caused a few headaches. 

Sam Ward (AAA) and Carl Vickers (AA) took Cheshire High Gun with an excellent 94. Only one clay behind was Lara Dale along with Dave Sutton who tied for top spot in A with a 93. Considering Lara use to shoot Olympic Skeet and has only just switched to Sporting less that a year ago, that is a brilliant result which was also the best in Ladies. Other honours go to: B - Peter Fitkin 82, C - Vincent Shaw 74 and Colts - Henry Trevelyan with a respectable 89. 

That was the fifth selection shoot out of eight so there are now only three to go in order to get your best three scores in. If you would like to keep an update on your scores just go to https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire/esp-team-selections  you will also find here the details of the remaining shoots.

 

The next two upcoming Cheshire Selection Shoots are:

25th June

Catton Hall SG 10:00-1430

Selection shoot and Cheshire Championship

16th July

Kegworth SG 09:30 - 14:30

Nigel Lane ESP Manager

 

                                                              

 

4th Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot at Kingsley Moor SG 

14th May 2023

 

The forth Cheshire Sporting selection shoot was held at Kingsley Moor shooting ground on the 14th of May with 25 Cheshire shooters taking part. The forecast weather at the beginning of the week didn’t look too promising. However, it turned out to be a very pleasant if slightly humid day.

Once again thanks to Kingsley Moor and course setter, Miles Matchin, for putting on an entertaining layout. It certainly didn’t disappoint and in my opinion was on of the best courses there in a while. The first three stands were relatively straight forward but the forth had a rather tricky looper/dropper which popped up from behind a tree.

Dropping targets also featured on a couple of other stands in the wooded section: a simo left to right pair which by the time you had shot the first clay at its peak the second, a battue, had only just opened up and was well on its way down. Further along the track was another stand where the clay appeared from behind a tree right to left,  well on its way down at speed which was certainly entertaining.

The final stand I’d like to mention was the simo teal which in my opinion was somewhat testing!!

Nicky Beavis (AAA) won Cheshire high gun with an excellent 93. Other honours go to: Mens - Mark Dale 84, A - Lucy Earl plus Juniors & Ladies 90, B - Stephen Hough 75, C - Joseph Hill 71, Colts - Jacob Whitehead 62. 

That was the forth selection shoot out of eight so there are another four to go in order to get your best three scores in. If you would like to keep an update on your scores just go to https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire/esp-team-selections  you will also find here the details of the remaining shoots.

The next two upcoming Cheshire Selection Shoots are:

16th & 17th June

Mickley Hall SG

This venue is squadded at 10:00 &13:00 so please book this with the ground. 

It can also be shot on either day.

25th June

Catton Hall SG 10:00-1430

Selection shoot and Cheshire Championship

Nigel Lane ESP Manager

                                                                

 

3rd Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot at Mickley Hall SG 

28th/29th April 2023

 

The third Cheshire Sporting selection shoot was held at Mickley Hall shooting school over two days, Friday 28th & Saturday 29th.

It was another good turnout with 39 Cheshire shooters entering the competition and we had a good split amongst all the classes from AAA to C. It was really pleasing to see the number of B and C class shooters taking part in this as any of you could be a future Champion for tomorrow or just represent Cheshire at the West Midlands Inter-Counties Championships or the Clubman Championships. Incidentally, the West Midlands Inter-Counties Clubman’s Championship will be held this year at Mickley Hall on the 26th August, the West Midlands Inter-Counties Championship will be held at Garlands on the1st October and the National Inter-Counties Championship at Atkin Grant & Lang on the 8th October.

The conditions for both days were fine albeit Friday was a little bit on the dull side and cooler. Once again, Scott Barnett and his team put on a cracking array of targets which made for a challenging round which was certainly tough in places, as reflected by the scores.

It was pleasing to see the top seven places being taken by Cheshire shooters with Sam Ward (AAA) and Guy Robinson (AA) taking Cheshire and overall high Gun with 93, Guy was also the highest scoring Vet.

Other honours go to: Mens - Steve Randles 88, A - Mark Davenport 87, B - Peter Firkin 76, C - Hazel Denny & Ladies 78, Juniors - Ed Morris 77, Colts - Jacob Whitehead 58.

That was the third selection shoot out of eight so there are another five to go in order to get your best three scores in. If you would like to keep an update on your scores just go to https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire/esp-team-selections  you will also find here the details of the remaining shoots.

The next two upcoming Cheshire Selection Shoots are:

14th May 

Kingsley Moor SG 10:00 - 13:00

 

16th & 17th June

Mickley Hall SG

This venue is squadded at 10:00 &13:00 so please book this with the ground. 

It can also be shot on either day.

Nigel Lane - ESP Manager

                                                                

 

2nd Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot at Kingsley Moor SG

9th April 2023

Once again, a big thanks for those of you who made it to the 2nd Cheshire Selection Shoot, I know Easter can sometimes be a bit tricky to get away so well done to the 28 Cheshire shooters that took part from a total entry of 128.

Miles Machin certainly didn’t disappoint with the course setup, which was a bit stiffer than normal and you certainly had to be on your game as it had a fair number of testing technical targets which included shooting down into the valley at a fast right to left climbing orange clay at 50-60 yards. This is certainly reflected by the scores.

Cheshire High Gun was Nick Bevis 80, Mens - Lee Williams 73, Ladies - Karen Hall 62, Vets - Nigel Lane 74, Juniors - Ed Morris 74.                                              

There are a couple of upcoming events in the next few weeks:

28th/29th April

Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot at Mickley Hall SG

(This shoot is squadded at 10:00 &13:00, so please book this with the ground)

14th May

Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot Kingsley Moor 1000-1300

Hopefully, many of you can attend these upcoming competitions and all the best if you do.

Nigel Lane - ESP Manager 

                                                                 

 

Cheshire County Sportrap Championship 

North Wales Shooting School - 1st April 2023

 

The Cheshire County Sportrap Championship was held at North Wales Shooting School this year in conjunction with Merseyside.

From the rather gloomy forecast at the beginning of the week, Saturday turned out to be quite a bright sunny day albeit with a slight chill in the wind.

Many thanks to NWSS and Brett Davies in putting on four entertaining layouts especially the trap which included a trampoline; ingenious and certainly ticked the fun box.

The driven layout proved to be the most testing especially on the simo pairs.

All in all, there were 48 entrants of which 20 were from Cheshire. 

Steve Randles, the defending Champion, did not disappoint in retaining his title with a cracking score of 95.

 

Congratulations and well done to the following winners:

High Gun Champion

Steve Randles 95

Mens

Peter Lloyd 90

Ladies

Lucy Earl 76

Veterans

Colin Milton 86

Juniors

Ed Morris 90                                    

Don’t forget we encourage all shooters and anyone who has not done a County shoot before to come along and take part even if it is not your discipline as it is a fun day out.

 

There are a couple of upcoming events in the next few weeks:

9th April

Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot at Kingley Moor SG

28th/29th April

Cheshire Selection Shoot at Mickley Hall SG

Hopefully, many of you can attend these upcoming competitions and all the best if you do.

Nigel Lane - ESP Manager  

                                                   

 

West Midlands Area Individual Championship - Sporting - Doveridge SG - 18th & 19th March 2023

 

The West Midlands Individual Area Championship was held at Doveridge this year in conjunction with an England selection shoot over two days. It was certainly well attended with 359 participants of which 37 were from Cheshire.

Doveridge certainly excelled themselves with the course they set which had interesting combinations of angles, speeds, distances and setups to catch out the unwary which it certainly did. The most innovative target was a rather limp rabbit dropped down a wooden chute at 40 yards, it wasn’t doing much but certainly caught out a few people.

As for the results; I am very pleased to report that Cheshire did rather well so massive congratulations and well done to the following winners:

Mens

Fred Whitehurst                              Overall High Gun and Gold Medal

Scott Barnett & Sam Ward             Overall Bronze Medal

 

Ladies

Lucy Earl                                          Ladies Gold

Lara Dale                                          Ladies Silver

 

Veterans

Guy Robinson                                 Veterans Silver

 

Juniors

Lucy Earl                                         Juniors Gold

 

There are a couple of upcoming events in the next few weeks:

1st April

Cheshire County Individual Sportrap Championships at North Wales Shooting School

9th April

Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot at Kingley Moor SG

28th/29th April

Cheshire Selection Shoot at Mickley Hall SG

 

Hopefully, many of you can attend these upcoming competitions and all the best if you do.

 

Nigel Lane - ESP Manager 

                                                                         

Congratulations

To Lucy Earl for winning the ‘Emerging Shooter of the Year award’ at the recent Annual CPSA Awards night, what a massive achievement.

Below is a write up of Lucy’s journey in the sport and achievements so far.

LUCY EARL

I'm Lucy and I'm a 20 year old sporting shooter from Cheshire. I wasn't brought up in a shooting household, so I'd never had the opportunity to shoot until I was 15 when my dad started shooting clays. For a while after that we attended our local sporting shoot monthly, but I didn't shoot regularly until 2019 when I was introduced to the Ladies Clay Shooting League. I won high gun at my first shoot with the league and came runner up overall that year. Since then, I've shot CPSA registered events weekly and took part in my first championships in 2021, whilst balancing shooting around work and university.

2022 has been an amazing year for me, moving up to 8th in the Ladies sporting rankings and placing at almost every championship I took part in. The shoot that stands out from 2022 was the British Open sporting championships, where I qualified with the 2nd and 3rd highest Juniors and Ladies scores respectively, won the Junior Ladies title for both the Sporting and Sportrap and won my first shoot off to finish 3rd in Juniors Sporting. A special win to me was at the Lyalvale Express sporting Masters, where I won my first major Ladies high gun. This year I also won Ladies at the BICTSF British Masters Compak, 2nd in Junior Ladies at the English Open sporting and 1st in Juniors and 2nd in Ladies at the English open and British open All Round.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to everyone that has supported me so far, and I'm looking forward to building on my successes in 2023.

 

                                                                                 

 

Our Chairman Miles Machin receiving a cheque for £250.00 from Dr John Martin for Cheshire Ladies winning the Lyalvale Trophy

 

                                                                                      

 

Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot at Catton Hall 26th Feb 2023

The 2023 Cheshire ESP Selection Shoot got off to a good start at Catton Hall with an excellent turn out of 64 Cheshire participants. 

Of these a big thank you to the 37 who paid the small levy in order for their scores to be nominated towards qualifying to shoot for the Cheshire Inter-Counties team or the Cheshire Inter-Counties Clubman’s Team. It was quite pleasing to see some new names for this year putting themselves out there to shoot for their county. So, if any of you are still sitting on the fence, come and join in, this will enable Cheshire to put forward strong County teams later on in the year.

As for the shoot itself, I can’t really comment due to unforeseen circumstances which prevented me from attending. However, by all accounts it was a terrific shoot with over 200 competitors so congratulations to all of the staff at Catton Hall for their hard work in enabling this. Some notable scores were put in by Scott Barnett 97, Nick Beavis 97 and Sam Ward 93, who has just moved into the county. There were also some good scores from the Vets, Andy Jones 91, Neil Waterman 87, Mike Holland 87 and Guy Robinson 87. Whilst for the Ladies, Lara Dale who has also just moved into the County and switched from Skeet to Sporting put in a brilliant 89 and finally Junior Ed Morris with a tidy 87. There were also some good scores from B and C class shooters which were above their averages so keep up the good work. Results from Catton Hall can now be found on the ESP Team selection Link

This is the first of eight selection shoots of which your best three scores will be counted, so there’s plenty to play for. The next selection shoot will be at Kingsley Moor on the 9th April followed by Mickley Hall on 28th/29th April which will need pre-booking due to it being squadded.

Once again, many thanks for participating and good luck in the next selection shoot.

Nigel Lane - Cheshire ESP Team Manager

                                                                                

 

MICKLEY HALL ELEY SUPERSPORTING GRAND PRIX

FRIDAY 21st JULY 2023

100 Supersporting shot over 10 stands £50 entry

£200 High Gun

4000 Eley cartridges split in classes and categories

£1000 cash in classes and categories

Classes: AAA/AA/A/B/C

Categories: Juniors/Ladies/Vets/Super Vets Pre-cooked entries only Squaded, groups of 6 10am & 1pm Pool Shoot Available

Link to book:

https://mickleyhall.com/events/eley-grand-prix-2019/

 

To book for all our other comps go via the website and click book online

                                                                                  

 

LADIES CLAY SHOOTING LEAQUE 2023 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

 

 

Greetings Cheshire shooters,

It's that time of year again where, if you've put your gun away for the winter, it's now time to get it out for this forthcoming season, dust it down and consider putting your eagle eyed prowess to good use and shoot for Cheshire.

We were quite successful last year, wining the Vets and Junior categories at the National Inter-Counties, Doveridge. Prior to that, being placed 1st & 3rd in Vets, 3rd in Ladies, and 3rd in Juniors at the West Midlands Inter-Counties, Westfield. So, hopefully we can build on this for 2023.

For those of you that haven't shot for Cheshire before and would like to, we have two ways of doing this. The first is through the the Cheshire Inter-Counties team and the second is through the Cheshire Inter-Counties Clubman's Team.

Inter-Counties Team

The Cheshire Inter-Counties team composition will comprise of Senior × 6, Veteran x 3, Ladies × 3 and Junior x 3. If we have enough qualifying shooters a second team may be entered for each category or will be selected for the Clubman's competition.

In the past, 'wild card' entries were allowed to shoot for the Senior team only however, for 2023 this will not be happening. The reasoning behind this is the fact that it disadvantages shooters that have made the effort to compete in the required number of qualifying shoots and it is only right that their scores should take precedence.

Those that qualify for the Inter-Counties team and are selected cannot shot for the Clubman's team.

Inter-Counties Clubman's Team

The second way is to shoot for the Cheshire Inter-Counties Clubman's team. The difference between the two is that this competition was set up in 2018 with the aim to introduce A,B and C class shooters to participate in an Inter-County competition and to ensure all levels of capabilities are included as part of the Inter-Counties set up.

This will be a team of 12 which comprises of 4 x A class, 4 x B class, 4 x C class and the winning categories will be best team by class and best overall County team. It's a fun day out for all and for 2023 we are holding the competition at Mickley Hall shooting ground Saturday 26th August.

To qualify to shoot for Cheshire, you will need to have entered a minimum of 3 shoots out of the planned 8 for this year, which starts off at Catton Hall on the 26th February. If you shoot more than 3, your top 3 scores will be used.

One final point about eligibility, if you do want your scores to be included as qualifying, please make this known when you book in and you will also be charged an extra £2 for the pleasure. This small fee is to help pay for trophies, engraving, badges etc and contrary to popular belief, not to Scott Barnett's Longthorne shotgun fund.

Further details for information about Cheshire CPSA and selection shoots can be found by going to the CPSA home page - Members Area - Your Region/County and select “Latest news/ESP Team selections”

Cheshire CPSA Team Manager: Nigel Lane

                                                                         

 

Fred Thornley 1950 – 2022. We are very sorry to hear of the passing of Fred Thornley on the 13^th December 2022. Fred shot in both the England OT and ABT teams and was also a GBR team UT shooter. We extend our sympathies to his family and friends and all those who enjoyed shooting with Fred over the years. Fred was a vital member of the Cheshire committee for many years, managing the fast trap teams. About twenty five shooters took part in a shotgun salute outside his house on the day of his funeral.

 

West Midlands Clubman Event

To all West Midlands Sporting Shooters
In A,B and C class

On the 27th August at Garlands shooting ground we will be holding the fantastic Clubman event for all A,B and C class shooters, this was last held a couple of years ago and was an instant success.

It consists of a 12 man / person team with four from A class, 4 from B class and 4 from C class with all scores to count, it is for West Midland Counties only, is great fun and you will meet many shooters from other counties.

If you are interested in taking part in this event please get in touch with your county committee or sporting manager and let your interest be known.

https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/west-midlands

We look forward to seeing you there and wish you good luck.

Best regards
Miles Machin 
West Midlands Regional Director

 

DTL weekend at Bywell SG

Toby Hurstfield came first in Colts, in the Dougall Memorial on Saturday, and second in Colts, in the English Open DTL on Sunday.

He also has been made Captain of the England Junior Team, and has gained a place in the European Team to shoot in Ireland, AND has been asked to be a member of the World Junior DTL Team. OMG Go Toby

Peter Relph and Paul Sant were selected for the England Veterans DTL Team.

 

TONY DEAN

Tony Dean was on the England team again recently at the World English Sporting Championships in San Antonio, Texas and contributed to a team bronze on some testing sporting layouts. He’s also just been confirmed for the Great Britain team to compete at the European Compak Championships in Spain next month. A busy and fruitful start to the season. Congratulations Tony!

 

CPSA Awards Night 12^th March 2022. Congratulations to Cheshire shooters, Isabel Cartlidge for winning Young Shot of the Year, and Toby Hurstfield for runner up. Both shooters have had an outstanding year of results.   

 

 

Longthorne Gunmakers Demo Day

 

Come down to our FREE Longthorne Demonstration day on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th March 10am – 4pm.

You will have the chance to speak directly to Longthorne themselves, who will guide you through the options available and not only that but a special stand will be set up where you can have a go of their guns.

Refreshments will be available throughout the day.

For any enquiries please contact the Gun Room on 0800 772 0058 or admin@mickleyhall.com.

https://mickleyhall.com/events/longthorne-gunmakers-demo-day/

 

Paul Ellis

1954 - 2021

It is with deep sadness that we have lost a great shooter and friend Paul Ellis. He will be missed very much by many of us in the shooting community.

Paul was a true gentleman who always had time for people. He helped many with their shooting, was a great member of the Cheshire CCPSS squad traveling the country to compete for them and Cheshire CPSA had the benefit of his wisdom and sharp wit for many years as the Sporting Team Manager, County Committee Member and Competitor. Paul gave his time freely to coach the Ladies Clay Shooting League at numerous events held at different grounds.

We have been inundated with messages of condolence and support and would like to thank you all for your kind words and to pass on our thoughts and heartfelt condolences to Pauls family at this difficult time.     

 

 

National Clay Shooting Centre 17/10/2021

National Inter Counties Cheshire Skeet Gold Medal Winners Jacqui Slater and isabel Cartlidge

 

 

Single Barrel English Open

10th September 2021   East Yorkshire SG  Toby Hurstfield Colts High Gun

 

Single Barrel British Open

10th September 2021   East Yorkshire SG  Toby Hurstfield Colts High Gun

                                                            John Barnett Vets Silver

 

Double Rise English Open

11th/12th September 2021   East Yorkshire SG  Toby Hurstfield Colts High Gun

                                                                    Jane Hitchmough Ladies Gold

 

Double Rise British Open

11th/12th September 2021   East Yorkshire SG  Toby Hurstfield Colts High Gun

                                                                    Tom Roberts Junior Bronze

                                                                    John Barnett Vets Silver

 

Cheshire Skeet Team

Our new senior skeet member Steve Lawrenson being presented with his Cheshire badge from our skeet manager Colin Babcock

 

 

Dear Member(s) The past couple of seasons have been a difficult time for many people and businesses due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Clay Shooting fraternity has been no exception. Despite the adversities our grounds managed to open in ways that enabled us to enjoy our sport in a safe manner but it was difficult for Counties to run events, championships, hold meetings, and select teams. Consequently the February 2021 AGM (for 2020) was postponed and we now find ourselves having to hold the AGM in a different way to normal in order to satisfy the legal requirements of our articles. The AGM will be a very brief version held at 5pm on the 9th October 2021 at Mickley Hall Shooting School after Kevin Howarth’s memorial shoot and will only include the minutes, reports and election of officers. If anyone is interested in helping or joining the committee please do get in touch. All members are welcome, if you wish to attend please RSVP before the 5th October 21. This year’s AGM will be held on Wed 9th March 2022 at Catton Hall and all being well we plan to return to our usual format with refreshments and award presentations. Kevin Howarth’s memorial shoot will be squaded so please book directly with Mickley Hall on 0800 772 0058. We will be doing a raffle (prizes would be greatly received), a BBQ and have-a-go stands for people who have never shot before so if you wish to bring someone along they will receive a very warm welcome. All money raised will go to our chosen Charity the North West Air Ambulance.              Thank you for your understanding. Miles Machin Cheshire CPSA Chairman RSVP to: club@cheshire.cpsa.uk   Clay Pigeon Shooting Association Limited (Company number #3146770) Edmonton House, National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Brookwood, Woking, Surrey, GU24 0NP Tel: 01483 485 400 | Fax: 01483 485 410 | Email: info@cpsa.co.uk

 

There is great news for our DTL friends.

Four of them have just been awarded England Caps, and Toby Hurstfield is Jnrs Captain. What a thril

 

English Open DTL, Bywell S G 13th June, Colts, First place, Toby Hursfield. Congratulation Toby

 

CONGRATULATIONS

Cheshire Shooter Fred Whitehurst  who has been picked to shoot for England, at the CPSA World English Sporting Championships at E J Churchills on the 6th to 11th July 2021. This is Fred`s first England Cap and we wish him every success.

 

Sunday 6th June is a DTL selection shoot at Nottingham and District gun club.

Please try to attend if possible. Thanks everyone. Dave.

 

Holmes Chapel Shooting Ground and the environment. Two more DTL ranges have recently been added to the ground and to protect the neighbours from the noise, a wall of straw bales has been built at the far end. The proprietor, Mr David Hurstfield has also been working in collaboration with Gamebore Cartridge Company to produce a cartridge that will also combat any unwanted noise issues. This new cartridge contains a unique powder, exclusive to Gamebore, which reduces the noise significantly but without any detriment to the power or performance. These cartridges are now on sale at the ground and they are available in a 28gram load, plastic wad, shot size 7. They are very low noise, have minimum felt recoil, reduced muzzle flip, and are light in the pocket. Well worth a try. 

 

Mickley Hall Shooting School. The return of The Eley Grand Prix, running from Thursday 15^th July to Saturday 17^th July. It will consist of 100 targets of Super Sporting, over 10 stands, 4 traps per stand, 4 singles, full use of gun, 2 report pairs, and 1 simo pair. There will be catering with hot and cold food and drinks. Plenty of room for parking and space for caravans. There is a huge prize pot of over £12,000. Prizes for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd in all classes. Plus prizes for Ladies, Juniors, Vets and Super Vets. Also prizes for unclassified shooters and colts. Bookings are now being taken. Please check their website, or call for full details 0800 772 0058.   

Fauxdegla Shooting Ground

Fauxdegla is trying to keep developing and unfortunately during lockdown we have had the time to build what will be an additional DTL and Sport Trap layout. It will predominately be used for Sport Trap, which will give our customers not only 12 sporting stands, but also 2 permanent Sport Trap layouts to practice on. 

With the forever increase in DTL competitions and being a multi discipline ground we will be able to host two different discipline competitions at any one time. With now having 8 layouts for DTL and an additional practice layout, we will be able to host most DTL championships.

We will be doing further development, so we will have 4 Sport Trap layouts on a permanent basis for practice, and start hosing 100 registered Sport Trap competitions in the future. Thank you, all the best,  Mike Faux. 

 

Esk National Intercounties 2020

Cheshire's first squad got underway at 12.40 with Jim Wagstaff, John Shreeve and Miles Machin shooting for the vet's and Lucy Earl and Isabel Cartlidge shooting for the junior's, there were some great scores with Isabel Cartlidge (New Cap) shooting a fantastic 97, followed by Miles 93.

The Juniors came runner's up with 184/200 well done Lucy and Isabel.

The vet's finished 4th on 183.

In the next squad was Colin Babcock (senior) and Ladies Hazel Denney and Jacqui Slater with more great scores, Colin Babcock 99 followed by Hazel Denney 92, The Ladies finished 4th overall, well done.

In the final squad for Cheshire were the rest of the senior team with plenty of great scores, Chris Bethall 99, Kevin Orielly 99, Jack Hope 97, Ian Cunliffe 95 and Jim Rogers 92,

The Senior team finished runner's up on a fantastic 489/500 well done.

The day was rounded off with Isabel Cartlidge taking the Colts title and then the Ladies title after a tense shoot off, and Kevin Orielly narrowly missing out on the vet's title after another tense shoot off.

We'd like to take the opportunity to thank all the Cheshire shooter's for their continued support, and look forward shooting with you all again next season.

Esk Manager Colin Babcock   Assistant Manager Maurice Cunningham

 

 

Cheshire`s Latest New Cap Colts/Ladies English Skeet, Isabel Cartlidge  

 

Cheshire`s Latest New Cap Ladies English Sporting, Victoria Gallimore  

 

Cheshire Team at the Nationals All Rounder Championship, Northampton 20/09/2020

It was a quiet drive to Northampton with the trips in the car these days being on ones own with the Covid rules in place but the weather stayed ok for October and a full senior team was representing Cheshire at the National Inter Counties All-round. We were the last squad out for the day with Nottingham waiting in the wings as the leaders on the scoreboard. Starting on the DTL and then onto the ABT scores were looking good at this stage, we then moved onto the skeet which again went well , moving onto the sporting , last but definitely not least , again scores were great with three straights and making our way back to the club house we started to think that National Champions was a possibility and it proved to be the case taking the title by two clays from Nottingham but just to top that Scott Barnett(95) to the overall title Tony Dean(94) was not only runner up but took the Vets title and Fred Whitehurst(91) took the Junior title so all in all not a bad days work and great result for Cheshire, well done to the whole team of Scott Barnett,  Tony Dean, Fred Whitehurst, Guy Robinson, Kevin O’Reilly and Miles Machin.

Cheshire Senior Team, Gold Medal Winners Scott Barnett, Tony Dean, Guy Robinson, Miles Machin, Kevin O`Reilly, Fred Whithurst (not here, shot earlier in the day)   Scott Barnett  Overall High Gun Gold Medal Tony Dean Runner Up Silver Medal Fred Whitehurst Junior Gold Medal

 

West Midlands Area Skeet Championship, Fauxdegla 13/09/2020

Open                                    Gold     Alan Barnes                                    Silver    Kian Maher                                    Bronze  Martin Walmsley

Ladies                                                                                     Gold     Isabel Cartlidge                                Silver    Lucy Earl                                 Bronze  Hazel Denney

Vet`s                                  Gold     Graham Evans                                  Silver    Kevin O`Reilly                                  Bronze  Trevor Lewis

Juniors                                   Gold      Kian Maher                                   Silver    Isabel Cartlidge                                   Bronze  Lucy Earl

 

​The Kevin Howarth Memorial shoot 11/7/2020.

 

Of the many shooters and friends who turned up at the celebration of having known Kevin I think it is fair to say he left a long and lasting impression on all who knew him, I for one will always remember Kevin for the friend and true gentleman that he was. In the world of shooting both game and clay Kevin had many friends, from Cheshire CPSA’s point of view he left a professionalism second to none in everything he did, in fact it was because of Kevin that the committee went on to win so many awards.

Karen, Victoria and Emily would like to take this opportunity to thank all who came and supported the event and also dared to eat a burger cooked by their own fair hand. We would also like to thank the people who gave up their time to help and those who donated prizes for the raffle. It was a very successful day for the North West Air Ambulance , a charity close to Kevin’s heart, as we raised in excess of seven hundred pounds.

The shoot itself was a good combination of targets for all abilities, a credit to Scott and all the team at Mickley Hall Shooting School, a big thank you to them. There were some great scores on the day with Guy Robinson on a 90, Tony Dean and Steve Randles on 91, Nick Beavis and Tim Simmons on 92, but it was a tie at the top both with 93 for John Jones and Rob Claybrook unfortunately there can only be one winner and this was done on countback leaving Rob Claybrook to be the first to receive the fantastic Kevin Howarth memorial trophy, commiserations to John Jones and congratulations to Rob Claybrook great shooting from both.

We look forward to this being an annual event that we can grow when we are out of Covid 19 guidelines, and once again thanks to all who turned up to support this great event, thank you !

 

Cheshire Juniors

 

Lucy Earl, my story so far. I started shooting when I was around 15. My dad’s friend introduced us to sporting through our local ground, which is when we bought a Beretta Silver Pigeon that we shared. I didn’t start shooting competitions until I was nearly 17, after having some lessons from Phil Daniels, who taught me the basics. He improved my scores dramatically and inspired me with all of his shooting successes. I was introduced to the competitive atmosphere by the Ladies Clay Shooting League. At my first event with them in 2019 I won high gun and went on to place runner up in the league overall. After starting at the Ladies League, I joined the CPSA and represented Cheshire for English Sporting at the Inter Counties last year. I currently shoot a Syren Elos N2 sporting gun, which I shoot for both sporting and skeet.

I have since tried English and Olympic Skeet, DTL and Sportrap. My favourite discipline is English Skeet, but I still love the variety of English Sporting. I have recently started to shoot some more DTL with a Miroku trap gun and I am really enjoying it. My favourite registered ground is Doveridge Clay Sports, because of the huge range of disciplines you can shoot there and for non registered I love Leek and District Gun Club. I am most inspired by Amber Hill because of the hard work and effort that she has put in to have achieved so much as a young shooter.

I get the most pleasure from seeing my scores improve and knowing that my commitment and determination is paying off, but I obviously like breaking clays and winning competitions! I am thrilled to say that this year I joined Team Lyalvale Express. Everyone is fantastic and really supportive. I applied to join the team through my local gun shop, Central Guns, after shooting Express cartridges since I started, and I was lucky enough to receive an offer  of sponsorship.

In future, I’m planning on trying more disciplines to decide which one I want to pursue, whilst continuing to shoot sporting and skeet at a higher level, at some major competitions. I hadn’t had many competitions planned for this year as I was meant to be sitting my A levels, but due to COVID 19 they were cancelled so I have time to make some improvements before next year. I’m aiming to shoot at National level before I leave Juniors in a few years time, so I will be working towards this.

The advice I would give to someone looking to take up English Sporting is to get a few lessons with a good coach that works with your way of shooting, instead of trying to change everything at once, so that you don’t get the chance to pick up bad habits or get overwhelmed by so much change. I’d also say to not compare yourself to others too much, because even though some healthy competition can inspire you to improve, constantly comparing scores with someone who has been shooting  a lifetime when you have just started can be disheartening.          

 

 

Steve Johnson

A keen fast trap shooter since the 1980's, Steve represented his home county, Cheshire, on many occasions; he was a likeable and ebullient character who would keep the clubhouse amused with his anecdotes and jokes between stages, then become a serious competitor when the time came to shoot. Steve died on 17th May after a long battle with inoperable cancer; sadly, Steve's wife, Ann passed away suddenly and unexpectedly just weeks before Steve's death. They will both be missed.

A qualified electrical engineer, Steve had worked for MK Electricals and then for Honeywell Systems where he rose high in the UK Technical Sales team before retiring in 2018. Though clay shooting was Steve's passion, he was an accomplished golfer and skilful fly fisherman. He leaves a daughter, two sons and many friends.  

 

Cheshire Juniors

 

Cheshire’s Rising Stars. Over the past twelve months or so it has been a stellar time for Cheshire Juniors.  There are more Juniors taking part in competitive shooting than ever before, and they are getting great results.                                              Cheshire County Junior Champions are; James Barnett (All Round), Toby Hurstfield (Down The Line and Single Barrel), Ben Rimmer (English Sporting), Tom Watson (Olympic trap), and Tom Woodcock (Sportrap).     

At West Midlands Inter Counties level, the team of Eddie Morris, Fred Whitehurst, and Ben Rimmer won Juniors Gold in English Sporting. Whilst in Down The Line, the team of Toby Hurstfield, Tom Roberts and Ellie Hardy took Juniors Silver. Toby Hurstfield also won West Midlands Area Individual Bronze.  

To all Cheshire Juniors, your County is very proud of you, and we wish you every success in the future.

An interview with Toby Hurstfield.  Q) At what age did you start shooting, and how did you get started.  A) I first started shooting when I was 7 years old. I started to learn to shoot with my dad who is a great coach and taught me from a young age.

Q) What was your first gun.  A)My first gun was an Italian 410 which I got for my 7^th birthday, we had to cut the stock more or less in half as it was a bit long when I first picked it up, and I still use that gun now and again.

Q) How many disciplines have you tried.  A) I have tried about 5 different disciplines and liked them all but there are only 2 that I liked more than the others. They are OT and DTL. I only really shoot DTL but this year I have started on the British Shooting talent pathway, just to try out OT for a change.

Q) Who influenced your early years the most. A) That has to be my dad, as he used to take me out shooting with him. I would sit and watch him, and then he started to teach me how to shoot properly.

Q) Which is your favourite shooting ground.  A) Probably our own (Holmes Chapel) because it makes me relax and feel more comfortable.

Q) What has given you the most pleasure. A) That was last year as a whole. Some of my highlights being the England selection shoots where I shot some of my best scores. At Nottingham and District I shot 269 and 268. Then  North of England for 283 and 289. On to Brook Bank in Somerset where I shot 284 and 278. Next was the Bywell weekend where I came 3^rd in Colts on the sponsored day.  I won C class and came second in Colts on the Dougall memorial day, and on the English Open day I came 3^rd in Colts again. After this weekend I had a phone call from Bryan at Malmo Guns, asking if I would be interested in sponsorship, which I immediately said yes to, and I am very thankful to them for this. I am very grateful for the support and encouragement that I have received. 

 Q)  What are your hopes and dreams for the future.  A) Hopefully make the England team, to complete the illusive 100/300 and also hopefully gain a bit more sponsorship.

Q) What advice would you give to anyone thinking of taking up DTL. A) Just go for it, it is great fun and you can meet some really good people on the way. It can be difficult at the start, but once you have broken a few clays you will soon start to enjoy it and improve. You can never stop improving.                                         

Ladies Clay Shooting League. Lucy Earl started shooting with the Ladies Clay Shooting League in 2019. She supported all disciplines and in the competitions she achieved 3 High Gun awards, 3 Gold badges, 1 Bronze badge, and has been a member of the winning team events throughout the year. Finally she claimed Runner Up Overall for 2019.

2020 has got off to a flying start with sponsorship from Lyalvale Express Team and a Gold award with High Gun at Catton Hall on our first LCSL event of the 2020 season. Lucy is a pleasure to watch, she makes the clay smashing look easy. We wish Lucy all the best with her shooting career and it has been a pleasure to have her shoot with us at the Ladies Clay Shooting League. 

Covid 19 / Corona Virus, Following the recent relaxation in government restrictions the following shooting grounds are now open with social distancing and special measures in place.  Holmes Chapel, Doveridge, Mickley Hall, Garlands, and Catton Hall. Please check with the ground before travelling, as the special measures vary from place to place.

 

Holmes Chapel Shooting Ground

 

We will be holding 100 Registered DTL on Sunday 14th June, this will be run so that you start on A shoot 50 and then go straight to B to shoot your second 50 and then back to the car.

You will need to phone to book on and pay over the phone for your place On Sunday 28th June 100 Reg. DTL this is the Winter Series Final run as the previous competition.

This will be a chance to complete the competition and allocate the prize money, if it looks like you could be in a position to collect a prize please let us have your bank details for BACS payment on the day

 

Chairman’s End of Year Report

 

Cheshire CPSA AGM - Wed 5th February at Catton Hall, Adventure Cheshire, Bradley Lane, Frodsham, WA6 7EX.

Meet at 19:00 for a 19:30 start.

Dear Member(s)

Cheshire`s season this year has been an excellent one across the board with great results at County, West Midlands and National Inter Counties level in all disciplines and with great results not only in seniors and vets but also in juniors and ladies the future is looking bright. While there is still work to be done on numbers in some disciplines , the quality of shooting is at a high level. We are looking at initiatives for certain disciplines through the off season, there is alredy a fast trap one in place, details are at the bottom, please keep an eye on the keep an eye on the website for others. Fantastic turnouts for the majority of selection shoots and adding the the West Midlands Inter County Clubman event to our selection shoots for sporting in A, B and C class definitely had a positive effect on numbers, and the clubman event itself was an extraordinary success with great camaraderie and banter all day which was felt by all counties taking part, with everyone looking forward to next years event.

The committee has been working hard to make this year a good one and I would like to thank all the people involved on the committee for their time and energy and dedication that goes into putting the year together, all the people involved do this for the love of our sport and no gratification and I hope you the shooters appreciate their efforts, I certainly do, thank you!  I would like to thank all the shooters that took part in the selection shoots whether you were successful or not and to all the shooters that were successful for travelling to West Midlands and National Inter County events, thank you!

It was suggested that we might want to look at the selection process that we have in place at the moment and whether we can improve on what we have now. So we are asking that if anyone has any ideas to improve or change the selection process could they please put it in writing and return to the committee to look at and deliberate on.

We are also looking to fill one or two positions that are currently open on the committee, these will of course not be taken up until the Cheshire CPSA AGM at the beginning of next year, if you would consider helping on the committee please get in touch and have a chat with us. Contact details are on Cheshire CPSA website.

Cheshire CPSA would like to take this opportunity to thank all the grounds and referees where we compete and hold selection shoots at. To all shooters have a great time practising for next year in the off season and don’t forget to keep an eye on the website for updates and events.

CHESHIRE DTL TRAP SHOOTERS - WANT TO TRY YOUR HAND AT OLYMPIC TRAP (OT)?

THERE WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY ON SUNDAY 1ST AND 15TH DECEMBER ON THE PRACTICE LAYOUT AT FAUXDEGLA.

REGULAR OT SHOOTERS WILL BE ON HAND TO EXPLAIN THE DISCIPLINE AND GIVE ADVICE.

50 FREE 24 GM SHELLS OR USE YOUR OWN REGULAR 28 GM CARTRIDGES. CLAYS £12 FOR 50.

BOOKING ESSENTIAL - CONTACT ANDY POWNALL 01925 730606 OR a.pownall487@btinternet.com by midday 30th November

Have a great Christmas everyone and Good Luck.
                          
Miles Machin
Chairman Cheshire CPSA

 

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Cheshire’s Year of DTL

With six selection shoots at the early part of the year, and very well attended the teams needed to be in place for the West Midlands Inter Counties event at Fauxdegla Shooting Ground on 25^th July. It was a great start to the season, even with the weather early in the day against them the Seniors took silver, the Vets silver, Juniors silver after a shoot off for gold, and a fantastic gold for the Ladies team of Nicola Booth, Jane Hitchmough and Emma Percival.                                              

Some got wet while others stayed dry at the DTL weekend at Bywell, but all shot well.

Our Cheshire shooters were doing well and at the end of the first day of the Eley Sponsored DTL we had Eleanor Hardy winning the Ladies title and also 3^rd in the Juniors. In Colts we had Toby Hurstfield at twelve years old in 3^rd place as well.

On the second day the weather had not changed much for the Dougall Memorial when our guys were on the podium again. We had Toby Hurstfield winning C Class and 2^nd in Colts, with Tom Roberts winning Juniors and Eleanor Hardy coming 3^rd in the Ladies.

And so to the English Open, well I know, it gets better, 1^st in A Class Jezz Frith and in Colts, Toby Hurstfield was 3^rd.

Well shot to all the Cheshire Shooters and what a fabulous weekend we ha d!!! Congratulations to Tom Roberts who achieved a place on the England Junior team at the Home International .

Then onto the National Inter Counties at Northampton Shooting Ground on 16^th October. Were the Senior team was placed 3^rd, and the Junior team of Eleanor Hardy, Tom Roberts and Toby Hurstfield took the runners up medal.

In July it was the European DTL Championship at Bywell Shooting Ground. It attracted entrants from all of our home nations and France, 253 in all. So competition was fierce. Congratulations go to John Barnett from Mickley Hall, for shooting a fantastic 197/588 and being third in Veterans class.

So overall a great DTL season for Cheshire at all levels, and the numbers in all categories looking good too, well done to all who took part.  

    

Jez Frith - A Class winner at the English Open DTL

 

Tom Roberts - 3rd in the Juniors at the English Open DTL

 

T Hurstfield - 2nd in Colts at the Enlgish Open DTL

 

DTL National Inter Counties Team 2019

 

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West Midalnds Area Inter Counties ABT - Rugby - 20th October

An eventful day at the West Midlands Inter Counties ABT team competition. Weather was good with light cloud, little wind, temperature around 10 degrees. Six teams competed over the three layouts at Rugby and District Gun Club, who maintain their policy of free shooting for the under 19s. Corsivia clays give a good contrast and scores were high, though the day was long as often happens with these inter county shoots. It might well be better to compete over 75 targets in these team events. Cheshire maintained a good position throughout, with shooters Thornley, Culverwell, Faux, Gowrie, O’Donnell, and Whitehurst giving their best. Cheshire won the Silver Medal, out of six teams, with Paul Gowrie high gun for the team with 95. Our reporter understands that this is the third time of medalling in the fast trap teams this year. Well done to you all.

 

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National Inter Counties ESK Dartford SG - 10th October

After the disappointment of missing out on a Gold medal in the West Midlands Inter Counties, due to a miss calculation of the scores, we rallied round and formed a team to shoot the Nationals. The shooting got underway at just after 8.30 in the morning, the team performed well, with a combined score of 473 x 500. Chris Bethell scored a fantastic 98, followed by Jack Hope on 96, Colin Babcock 95, Jim Wagstaff 93, and Jacqui Slater 91. Thank you to all the team for travelling to Dartford and competing so well. We look forward to next year where we hope to be competing for Gold in all categories.  ​

 

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West Midlands Individual Sportrap - Garlands SG - 28th September

Congratulations go to Tony Dean for shooting a magnificent 97, and coming second overall, and first in AA class. Also scoring well on the day were Brett Davies 88, Ian Cunliffe 86, Paul Ellis 85, and Miles Machin 81. Well done to you all.

 

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West Midland Inter Counties ESP -  Garlands SG  - 22nd September

 

The ESP West Midlands Inter Counties Event of 2019 was held at Garlands SG on Sunday 22nd September 2019, both run and set up by Steve Lovatt of Westfields Clay Company. The course was over thirteen stands  and the targets were well thought out offering the competitor a varied mixture of both colours and types with varying speed and angles. All the targets were fair and hittable. The early starters benefited the most from the dry conditions but those that chose to start later suffered with the poor visibility caused by the rain clouds and darkened sky, let alone the torrential downpours. Let us not though detract from an extremely competitive event which saw some amazing scores from members of all the Counties in attendance with over three hundred entries on the day. 

Cheshire fielded two teams of each category and were duly awarded for their efforts having some new caps amongst the Teams.

Cheshire overall High Gun was Brett Davies on a fantastic score of 93. The Junior Team comprising of Fred Whitehurst (88) Eddie Morris (75) and James Barnett (74) took the Gold Medal The Seniors took the bronze medal and our two Vets Teams took bronze and silver with the Red Team pipping the Gold Team by two clays. Our Ladies Team was fourth overall which was no mean feat particularly as two of the Team, Amy Bratt and Barbara Eckersley were new caps this year, Well done Ladies. Continued good shooting to all.

 

 

Paul Ellis - ESP Manager.

 

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Cheshire ESK Championships -  North Wales Shooting School - 21st September

 

It was a high scoring day at North Wales Shooting School with many scores in the high nineties. Two shooters finished on 99, Christian Bethell and Hazel Denney. Christian won the shoot off to be Cheshire County Skeet Champion, and Hazel was Ladies Champion. Ian Cunliffe was Seniors Champion with 97, Kevin O’Reilly was Vets Champion with 96. Congratulations to you all.

 

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West Midlands Inter Counties English Skeet -  Doveridge SG - 8th September

Congratulations to Cheshire Seniors team on coming second. Cheshire Ladies came fourth, and Cheshire Veterans came fourth. Well done to you all.

 

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West Mids Inter-counties - Fauxdegla SG - 11th August

 

Sunday August 11^th saw OT shooters head to Fauxdegla Shooting Ground.  Cheshire Seniors team won the event with 416 ex 500. Second Hereford and Worcs 414, third Shropshire 396, Cheshire B 374, and Derbyshire 347.

Cheshire Senior Team consisted of Dave O’Donnell (team HG with 87 x 100), Andy Pownall (86), Paul Gowrie (84), Mike Faux (80), Fred Thornley (79), and Bob Gallagher (78).

Cheshire B Team consisted of 2 Vets (Chris Bushell and Kevin O’Reilly ), 2 Ladies (Hazel Denny and Jeanette Bushell) and 2 Juniors (Fred Whitehurst and Tom Watson). Cheshire was once again the only county to enter teams in these categories and once again there were no medals provided – a shame.

In the Area Open Championships Cheshire shooters featured in the medals, Tom Watson (82) took Junior Silver, Hazel Denny (73) took Ladies Silver, Andy Pownall (86) took Veterans Silver and Paul Gowrie (84) Veterans Bronze.

On another note, it is good to hear that Fred Thornley has no only qualified for the England OT Team, but is this year’s Captain.

 

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Cheshire Sportrap Championship - North Wales Shooting School - 10th August

 

The torrential rain and thunderstorms that were forecast did not materialise on Saturday 10^th August, at North Wales Shooting School. There was a great turnout of 73 entrants in all as it was Merseyside County Championship as well. A great course was set up by Brett Davies, using the Olympic trap range, a skeet range, and two sporting ranges, plenty of variety with the targets. Some big scores quickly came in, including Miles Machin on 94, who held the high gun position for most of the day. When all the scores were in, two shooters shared top spot on 94, Miles Machin and Richard Hughes from Wales. Then there was a tense shoot off for High Gun. Richard Hughes was victorious by the narrowest margin of just one clay. Commiserations to Miles for missing out on High Gun prize, but congratulations for being Cheshire County Champion. Other prize winners are, Seniors Champion Carl Vickers 92, Veterans Champion Paul Ellis 81, Ladies Champion Hazel Denny 68, and Junior Champion is Thomas Woodcock 84. Very well done to you all.

 

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West Midands Inter-counties UT Championships - Rugby - 4th August

Sunday 4^th August saw the West Midlands Intercounties Championships at Rugby. Cheshire shooters did very well. Paul Gowrie scored 95 for 2^nd Veteran, Andy Pownall 93, Dave O’Donnell and Bob Gallagher both on 89, Paul Culverwell 88, and Mark Wright 77. Team score with best 5 to count was 454. Team results were; Warwickshire 463, Gloucester  459, Cheshire tied with Hereford and Worcester on 454, we had a great final round, so took team bronze after count back. Congratulations to you all. Great shooting.

 

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Ladies Clay Shooting League - Mickley Hall - 3rd August

 

Back at Mickley Hall Shooting School on the 3^rd August for our 6^th event in the Ladies Clay Shooting League. At our usual early briefing we had talks from Steve Randles on the SP, an eye dominance tool, and Scott Barnett on different types of cartridges with the pros and cons and what to look for when buying cartridges.  The 75 bird course set by Scott Barnett had a great mix of targets to suit everyone from all classes and what great scores we had on the day. A great turnout saw 6 squads take on the course.

Coaching for the day was Paul Ellis, Miles Machin and Steve Randles gave up his time to not only coach a stand but to also demo the SP after the event, We would like to thank all the coaches for their time.

Mandy Berrisford as usual did a fantastic job behind the scenes with her organisation and the day ran well and smoothly. The first scores started to roll in with a great number in the 50’s but Julia Paynewas first to hit the 60’s with a great 63 only to be overtaken by Victoria Galimore on 65 then Chiara King shot a superb 69 to take high gun and the top prize of a Mitsubishi       for the use of over a weekend kindly donated by Grenson Motor Company, a big thank you to them. Chiara also picks up a voucher from our main sponsor On the Peg Clothing, well done to her.

It is fair to say that the ladies are all improving as the year goes on with some making their county teams and doing well in CPSA registered events across the country and we are very proud of how all the ladies are doing and the spirit with which the events take place and the comradery that has evolved.

 

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West Midlands Inter Counties DTL -  Fauxdegla - 28th July

 

Five squads were booked in, Seniors gold, Seniors Red, Vets, Ladies and Juniors. New Caps shooting this year were N Booth, E Percival, T Warburton, J Tennison, E Hardy, and C M Harris. Congratulations to you all. The results after some tricky targets on a somewhat wet and windy day: The Juniors had to shoot off with Hereford and Worcester after tying on 569 points, unfortunately we were runners up by one point. Good shooting!!! Seniors were runners up to H and W. Ladies won, great result with two new caps!! Veterans were also runners up. This was a fantastic result for all of you, many thanks to you all for making the effort and time to go. The Nationals are next, so be ready.

 

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Cheshire ESP Championships 2019 - Catton Hall - 28th July

 

The 2019 ESP Championship was again hosted by Catton Hall SG and, unlike previous years, where we had been treated with glorious weather, this year was the exception. It rained and rained and the wind and breeze did their bit to alter the direction during mid flight of the clays. The course of fourteen stands saw a great variety of speed and angles and a mixture of coloured clays. Those that set off early braving the worst of the weather donned their heavy duty clothing and as they returned, wet, soaking wet, dripping scorecards, which were thankfully the waterproof ones, it was obvious the scores were not going to break any barriers.  Mark Oakley, John Shreeve and Ian Cunliffe putting in a 78, 77 and 76 respectively. Ladies Kerry Oakley with a 76. Amazingly though a score of 90 was posted in the horrendous weather by Mike Holland who shot round with the recoil pad of his gun having come lose and so he took it completely off, perhaps this is the way forwards for you Mike.

The weather eased off towards the latter part of the day which saw the arrival of a few more entrants taking the Cheshire total to thirty three on the day. The scores were close to the already in 90 but did not surpass it and with two scores on 89, Scott Barnett and Steve Randles a shoot-off revealed Scott to be the Seniors Champion. The Veteran Category saw Miles Machin take the title with an impressive score of 87.

 

Paul Ellis - ESP Manager. 

 

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Skeet League - North Wales Shooting School - 27th July

 

Saturday 27^th July saw the tenth and last heat of the monthly ESK league. It was a great day for Cheshire skeet shooters. Colin Babcock won the heat with 50 straight, great shooting considering the terrible weather. Then for the grand final four Cheshire skeet shooters made up the top six. The final was a normal round of 25, then a round of 25 using low velocity ammunition supplied by NWSS. Some shooters coped with the different ammunition better than others. The final result was, 1^st Jim Wagstaff, 2^nd Colin Babcock, 4^th Ian Cunliffe (after shoot off), 6^th Maurice Cunningham. All six finalists received a package of prizes kindly provided by Eley Hawk. Our thanks go to the staff and helpers at North Wales Shooting School for putting on such a fun competition. We are looking forward to the next league starting in December.

 

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Cheshire Success at the West Mids. Olympic Skeet Championships - Gloucester SG - 21st July

Well done to Cheshire shooters that took part in the West Midlands Area Olympic Skeet Championships, held at Gloucester SG on 21st July. The Cheshire team finished in 3rd place, whilst Alex Wilkinson was third in the Junior's and third in the Area individual event.

Well done everbody!

Pictured above - Eddie and Alex Wilkinson (left and right respectively)

 

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European DTL Championships - Bywell SG - 20th and 21st July

The weekend of the 20^th and 21^st July saw Bywell Shooting Ground host the annual European DTL Championships. It attracted entrants from all of our home nations and France 253 in all. So competition was fierce. Congratulations go to John Barnett from Mickley Hall for shooting a fantastic 197/588 and being 3^rd in Veterans class.

 

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5th Cheshire ESP Selection - Mickley Hall - 13th July

It was the 5^th Cheshire CPSA selection shoot being hosted by Mickley Hall Shooting School on the 13^th July and the numbers were outstanding with 77 entries all told. The day was squaded with a number of squads starting at 10.30am and the next batch at 12.30 and with the weather staying fine and only a slight breeze it looked good for some great scores. The course was set by Scott Barnett had pretty much everything for everyone with some tricky stands to catch out the unweary. Nick Beavis, Eddie Morris (junior) and Guy Robinson took the early lead with an 85,86 and 87 respectively. Nigel Lane threw a spanner in the works with a great 88 only to knocked off top spot by a fantastic score of 95 by Steve (SP)  Randles . With things hotting up for both the Inter County teams and the Clubman event there is still all to play for at the last but not least 6^th and final selection shoot, and of course the Cheshire Championship at Catton Hall on the 28^th July. Best of luck to everyone.

 

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Ladies Clay Shooting League - North Wales Shooting School - 6th July

 

The 6^th July saw the Ladies Clay Shooting League descended onto North Wales Shooting School for a fantastic day of skeet. We broke the day into morning and afternoon squads with a great turnout for both. We were very lucky in deed with the coaching to not only have Paul Ellis and Miles Machin but also a legend in his own lifetime Ian Cunliffe who took control of things for both sessions and started to get the dark art of skeet shooting over to the ladies judging by the improvement in the scores through the day.

Jo Knapper took up the early running with Victoria Gallimore and Julia Payne then taking over the lead when Mandy Berrisford and Janine Dixon got their act together only to be piped at the post by Lucy Earl. It was definitely fair to say the day was an overwhelming success with everyone taking plenty away for food for thought.

We would like to thank everyone for attending and especially the coaches for their time and patience, also NWSS for hosting the event.

 

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England Skeet Team

Congratulations go to Cheshire skeet shooter Christian Bethell, on being awarded a place in this years England team. The team will compete in the Home Internationals, held at Mulroy in Ireland, on 23^rd and 24^th August. It was even tougher to qualify this year as the format had changed to include selection shoots at Dartford, Northampton and Nottingham, and a total of 600 targets. Great achievement Christian.

 

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Eley Grand Prix - Mickley Hall - 12th - 15th June

The third running of the Eley Grand Prix was held at Mickley Hall Sooting School from 12th to 15^th June. It was a great success with almost 300 entrants, some travelling from as far as Cornwall and Suffolk. The unique “Super Sporting” event of 120 targets over 12 stands was challenging for everybody. Using 4 traps per stand, throwing 4 single targets with full use of gun, 2 on report pairs, and 1 simo pair. Scott Barnett said “It has been very well  received, with a lot of great feedback from many of the competitors”. Heavy rain throughout the four days made it difficult for the staff and competitors alike, with a couple of stands needing to be pumped out before shooting could start.  The single targets on their own were one thing, but shot together as a on report pair, or simo pair, well that was something else. Speed of swing and accuracy was essential to get a good score. Overall high gun was Henry Collins from Northants with 111. Many Cheshire shooters were amongst the prize winners, they are. Carl Vickers 2^nd AA class 107, Steve Randles 3^rd AA class 106, Barry Peacock 2^nd C class 85, Miles Machin joint 3^rd Vet 100, Roy Birchall 3^rd Sup Vet 90, Kerry Oakley 3^rd Lady 93, Fred Whitehurst 2^nd Jnr 100, Ben Rimmer 2^nd Colt 82, and James Pickup 3^rd Colt 72. Congratulations to you all. We are looking forward to the next Grand Prix.

 

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DEJA VU

James Barnett and Tony Dean, both using Beretta/Fiocchi combinations, have been gathering the silverware in recent weeks.  James took the Cheshire Junior All Round Champion title and Tony retained the County title at Fauxdegla.  The following week both were in action again at Doveridge Shooting Ground, which hosted the English and British All Round Championships on successive days.

James won silver at the British All Round in colts, missing out on the gold medal by just one target.  Tony took the bronze medal in the English All Round.

Thomas Woodcock demonstrated that he is also on form, securing the silver position in the junior category at both the English and the British.

A week later, Tony travelled out to Greece to compete in the FITASC European Compak Championships, which was held on Evia Island in blistering temperatures.  He scored 190 ex 200, finishing in bronze medal position (repeating the exact same score and position as last year in Cyprus - deja vu).  He finished off an eventful few weeks by achieving another bronze position at the Compak British Masters Championships at Doveridge.

 

 

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CHESHIRE ESP FOURTH SELECTION SHOOT - ORSTON SG - 16TH JUNE 2019

The fourth Cheshire ESP Selection shoot was hosted by Orston SG and credit must initially be given to the owners, Dan and Emily, for getting the ground ready and setting up a very good course despite the horrendous weather with torrential rain throughout the previous week. The course was over thirteen stands which was quite testing with a variety of clay sizes and colours and where speed and angles definitely caught the unaware out. Some thirty two Cheshire competitors made their way to Nottingham for this event, Seniors, Ladies, Juniors and Vets and each found it more tricky than expected. Scott Barnett was Cheshire High Gun on the day with a respectable 85, Guy Robinson on a 82, Peter Fitkin and Mike Holland on 80 and these were the only ones in the 80’s.

The course saw some very testing targets with simultaneous pairs high from left to right at a distance, an orange Teal target causing concern to some evident by the changing of chokes, rabbit clays about twelve metres away and a blue coloured  low left to right crosser were some of the main features. Fortunately the weather stayed reasonable for most of the day and it was only towards the end with the last few squads out that the rain came lashing down.

I would like to express my personal thank you to all of you from Cheshire that made the journey and also to all the staff at Orston SG, including the catering staff, for providing excellent service throughout the day. We now look forwards to our next selection shoot which is to be held at Mickley Hall SG on Saturday 13th July 2019. (Please note that you will have to book in for this one with the ground direct as it will be squadded. 

Continued best wishes and good shooting.

 

Paul Ellis - ESP Manager.

 

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WEST MIDLANDS AREA ALL ROUND EVENT - FAUXDEGLA SG - 2ND JUNE 2019

The West Midlands Area All Round Event was hosted by Fauxdegla SG on the 2nd June 2019. From the offset, the weather was not going to do anyone any favours, in fact it was the opposite and the early entrants going out suffered the most with strong winds rain and drizzle throughout causing havoc with the flight of some clays. Cheshire fielded three teams, a Seniors, Vets and Ladies this day and it was the seniors who set off as one of the early squads. Single barrel DTL, ABT, English Skeet and finally a three stand ESP totalled the 100 target event.

Watching the clays divert suddenly from their initial trajectory caused a few losses on the DTL and it did not fair much better on the ABT although Tony Dean put on an excellent display managing to straighten it with just two second barrels.

The weather continued to do its worst on the skeet range with the targets from the high Tower plummeting into the ground well before the intended marker and the low house target rising above its normal line. The same for everyone you say, read on.

The ESP course of three stands saw a mixture of battue right to left quartering, driven, going away and a distant roller. Now, as I earlier said, ‘read on’, this is where the test came in and it was not a test of ability, it was more of a test of practicality as the wind kept the driven target coming from off a distant bank some 100 + metres away and barely coming any closer to the stand. From the Cheshire Senior squad, only two of this target was hit and had the weather remained constant for the rest of the day it would have been interesting to see the final scores but it didn’t and it eased off with no or little wind or rain or drizzle. The later scores reflected this.

Both the Seniors, Vets and Ladies Teams collected a Bronze medal which was no mean feat all considered. Well done to you all.

 

 

 

Paul Ellis - ESP Manager.  

 

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CHESHIRE ESP 3RD SELECTION SHOOT - GARLANDS SG - 19th MAY 2019

The third ESP Selection shoot of 2019 was held at Garlands SG on the 19th May 2019 and thirty one, (Levy paid) Cheshire entries (No Lady entrants this day) took to the field on a 12 stand course set by Steve Lovatt.  The weather was clear and bright with the occasional little breeze. There was a fantastic variety of clays, mini, midi, rabbit, High Towers and orange blaze with tests of ability on each stand. Angles, varying speeds and range targets were the menu of the day.

It is fair to say that some found this more difficult than others, as the scores reflected but there were some tremendous scores from Steve Randles on an excellent 96, Guy Robinson on 89, Fred Whitehurst (Junior) on 89, Mike Holland (Vet) on 88 and Scott Barnett on 88.  

Very well shot to you all. Thank you to each and everyone of you for your attendance and we now look forwards to our fourth Selection shoot at Orston SG on the 16th June 2019 where I hope that there will be as many, if not more of you, there.

Continued good shooting,

 

Paul Ellis - ESP Manager.

 

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Cheshire ESP Second Selection Shoot - Kingsley Moor SG - 2019 

 

The second ESP Selection shoot of 2019 was hosted by Kingsley Moor SG, Staffordshire and some fifty one Cheshire competitors made their way there.( Members from the Shropshire Clay Shooting County also were present for one of their selection shoots.)

The weather, early doors, was abysmal heavy rain and winds, and fears of having to wear heavy waterproof clothing was initially on the cards but fortunately the sun gods shone down on us and the weather remained fair for most of the remainder of the day.

There were fourteen stands of mixed varieties of clays, some technical with speed and angles followed by a much slower target to catch the unaware out. There was nothing out of range for the quarter choke throughout. 

Early competitors braving the worst of the weather returned their scorecards with Eddie Wilkinson on 89, Carl Vickers and James Woodcock on a 92 but most impressive was that of Mark Oakley with a stunning 96. (Very well done Mark and I hope that it was nothing to do with the fact that Kerry could not make it.)

Later on in the day saw a few more notable scores coming in, non more so than Vets Andy Jones and Mike Holland on a brilliant 93 and Junior Fred Whitehurst on 92.

As the day went on queues started to develop particularly on stand 9 which saw a simultaneous pair of a right to left rising midi and an incomer of about fifty yards away, hanging in the air for what appeared to be an eternity, the latter causing more misses than would normally be expected. Several attempts were made to repair a broken trap on this stand, probably the cause of the queues, but when the queue was fifty plus deep a decision was made to replace the trap.

I was a little concerned about the standard of some referees during the day, the fact that an absence of rule knowledge particularly on simultaneous pairs where the question of ‘First bird established’ when a clay is hit but no second target arrives should not be in question. Further more targets clearly hit should not be called a miss which causes frustration to the competitor. I know refereeing is a thankless task but a little more ‘hands on’ guidance and instruction before hand may be both appropriate and beneficial.

Overall we had another great turnout, a massive thank you to you all, and we now look forwards to our next Selection shoot at Garlands SG on the 19th May 2019.

Thank you Kingsley Moor SG for hosting this event.

 

Paul Ellis - ESP Manager.

 

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Cheshire UT Championships - 2019

Paul Culverwell is the new champion with a great score, on such a bad weather day, of 83 x 100; Dave O'Donnell (80) was runner-up and took the Mens trophy, Mike Faux (76) is Veterans winner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cheshire DTL Selections - 2019

It’s been a great start to the selection shoots for DTL, our first Selection shoot at Fauxdegla was very well attended with 25 Cheshire shooters, it was a bit of a windy day but the ground did a good job at getting us some good targets.

There was some good shooting with the best score of 100/296

AA

P Relph 100/296

J Barnett 98/290

M Harris 98/289

 

A

D Hurstfield 100/296

P Sant 100/291

CM Harris 99/291

 

B

R Pierpoint 98/285

J Hitchmough 95/276

E Hardy 89/264

 

C

T Warburton 97/288

J Richards 93/276

N Booth 93/271

 

It’s great to see lots of new Ladies now trying out for the Cheshire team!

 

The Second Selection shoot was held at Holmes Chapel on the 28/04/19, it was a much better day all round, warmer dry and sunny which saw another good entry of 22 Cheshire shooters so some good score were expected and we weren’t wrong, the best of the day was Chris Harris with a great 100/297, well shot Chris!

 

AA

M Harris 99/294

P Relph 98/292

 

A

CM Harris 100/297

ES Furber 100/296

LJ Furber 98/288

 

B

CK Hollowell 99/287

A Sage 95/282

J Hitchmough95/277

 

C

I Turtle 98/287

N Booth 94/281

T Warburton 91/272

 

So far it looks like we’ve had 5 Ldys, 6 Vets, 2 Jnrs and 15 seniors over the two events.

Thanks to all for your support and good shooting at the next two shoots, both are at Holmes Chapel on the 9^th + 23^rd June, make a note of the dates and we’ll see you there.

 

The first England Selection shoot was held at Nottingham on the 11^th April and OMG it was so cold, it could have been the middle of winter. In all there were 12 Cheshire shooters that have been invited to the England selection process, Congratulations to all those shooters and keep up the great work.

 

Good shooting everyone

David Hurstfield

 

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West Midlands Inter Counties Area DTL - Holmes Chapel SG - 2019

With the weather as perfect as you could get for the start of the day and with all squads full we were in for some great shooting and it didn’t disappoint . Holmes Chapel Shooting Ground was looking at its best in the sunshine and the catering from breakfasts to home made cakes, which were hard to resist, as always was great and a credit to Jane and her helpers.

The day ran like clockwork and the squads were  always on time with Helen, scorers and helpers keeping it all ticking along with Dave and keeping the traps topped up through out the event.

Daniel price took the early running with a 99/295 only for Christopher Moule and Ian Roper to both put in a 100/298 and so to a shoot off not only for Area champion but also for bronze as Les Furber joined Daniel Price on a 295 late in the day. It was a tense affair as the sun kept shining and keeping spirits high. Daniel Price was victorious over Les Furber with a 25/72 and a 23/68 consecutively. On to the championship title where with some stunning shooting Ian Roper took the title with a fantastic 25/75 from Christopher Moule with a 24/72 not much room for error there.

Standings from the day:

Seniors

Champion, I Roper 100/298

Silver, C Moule  100/298

Bronze, D Price 99/295

 

Vets,

Gold, GD Evans  100/292

Silver, A Ellison  98/289

Bronze, K Waters 97/286

 

Ladies

Gold JW Bushell  98/289

Silver, S Millroy  95/275

Bronze, J Burton 94/272

 

Jnr

Gold, T Burns 99/289

Silver, J Ruane 94/279

Bronze, T Hurstfield 95/275

 

The West Midlands Committee would like to thank all who took part and Holmes Chapel Shooting Ground for a great day of DTL.

 

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Cheshire CPSA ESP Selection Shoot - Doveridge SG - 31st March 2019

The first Cheshire Selection shoot of 2019 was held at Doveridge SG Derbyshire on Sunday 31st March 2019. There were 195 entries to this Event from Shropshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Northampton and Wales and forty six of these were from Cheshire. This was truly an excellent turnout from Cheshire CPSA members with Seniors, Vets, Ladies and Juniors taking part. The weather was clear and no bright sunshine to affect visibility of targets and therefore reduced the

 reason(s) for missing. There was a little breeze which carried a little chill factor but overall a very good day.

The course was over twelve stands and incorporated a variety of targets with battues, 70mm crossers, rapid distant Teal and conceivably an overhead which disappeared , if you let it go, against the foliage. Some of the competitor's appeared to have struggled on Stand 9 which saw a fast away Teal followed on report by a fast dropping overhead Midi clay. The scores on this stand showed a majority hitting 50% or even less.

 It would be fair to say that some competitors struggled throughout the day, unable to straighten stands but achieving a good percentage throughout which from an onlooker would say, ‘An exercise in concentration’ was required particularly on the two stands throwing five pairs high into the sky. There were only seven competitors that straightened these stands. (Well done John Shreeve as you were the only one from Cheshire to do so.)

As the scores came in, it appeared that B. Woollard from Warwickshire would take the High Gun prize on a great 94  but not to be as Rob Claybrook from Wales shot an amazing and incredible 98. Well done Rob, that STR practice at NWSS, Sealand obviously helped.

 

Cheshire High Gun on the day was Carl Vickers, 90 followed by Miles Machin, 87 and James Savage 87. In the Ladies category, Kerry Oakley produced a score of 82 and in the Juniors E. Morris put in a great score of 84. Well done to all.

I would like to thank all the staff at Doveridge for their tireless efforts throughout the day including the catering staff but also to you, the competitors, who without we would not have achieved a great day and we look forwards to our next Selection shoot at Kingsley Moor SG  on the 28th April 2019.

 

Regards,

Paul Ellis - Cheshire ESP Manager.      

 

 

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Success at the FITASC Africa and Sporting Compak Championships

As all Brexiteers know, there is a big world out there and a large chunk of it is Africa.  The FITASC Africa Sporting and Compak Championships this year were held in March at Valley Gun Club, situated in the majestic wine regions north of Cape Town between Paarl and Durbanville.  Comprising three back to back events of 200 targets each, the first fixture was the Africa FITASC Sporting Grand Prix.  As a Beretta World Cup event it attracted competitors from more than 21 countries, including a contingent of shooters from Great Britain, all battling it out over 2 days. 

George Digweed took High Gun and Tony Dean put in a strong performance to take top place and the gold medal in seniors, scoring 180 x 200, closely beating a strong South African contingent into second and third place.

The second weekend saw an even bigger entry compete for the FITASC Compak Championship, comprising 8 separate 25 target layouts over 2 days.  As the temperature soared, so did the scores.  Hot winds created tricky conditions on some layouts and total concentration was the key.  When the dust settled Tony, averaging 24 ex 25 on the 8 rounds (this is not skeet), finished on 192 ex 200 to take the silver medal in seniors, just 3 targets adrift of the final High Gun slot which went to Tim Hubner from South Africa.  It delivered a 1, 2, 3 for Great Britain with Martin Papworth and Phil Smith also on the podium.

Also flying the flag for Great Britain, "Monty" from ProMatic was presented with an award for services rendered in assisting with the course design, setting out the traps, and ensuring all the layouts ran smoothly, and selling a few traps in the process.

All in all another good showcase for GB's talent with many new friends and clients, some of whom will be visiting our shores this summer for the World FITASC Championships at Churchills.  I hope they receive as warm a welcome as we did in South Africa.  Rumour has it that next years' Africa Championships will be in Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls and all that!)  Why not start planning your trip now?  Our politicians may not be able to organise a tasting in a winery, but we can!!

Shiron Dean

 

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CPSA Press Release - Introducing the West Midlands inter counties Clubman event

 

In order to develop all levels of English Sporting shooter through the classes, West Midlands CPSA have decided to expand the trial event from 2018 out to all West Midlands CPSA Counties.

Designed as an introduction for A, B and C Class shooters into Inter county competition, and aimed as a way to ensure all levels of shooter are included as part of the inter counties setup, the Clubmans event will test teams of mixed classes against each other.

The team of 12 comprises of 4 x A class, 4 x B class and 4 x C class shooters with 4 prizes on offer. Best team by class and best overall county team.

Shooters will be chosen based on their performance in the Cheshire Selection shoots (details are available on the Cheshire CPSA website https://sites.cpsa.co.uk/cheshire

To qualify, potential shooters must have entered at least 3 of the 6 selection shoots, those entering more than 3 selection shoots your best 3 scores will used.

The class you start the selection shoots in is the class you will shoot in for the Clubman competition even if you change classes in the May re-classification.

If you have been chosen to represent your county in any of the other intercounty teams, you will not be eligible for the Clubmans event.

Timing for the competition is on Saturday 14th September at Garlands but will likely be around the end of August at Garlands, with the teams being selected early August once all of the selection shoots has been concluded.

If last years trial event was anything to go by it will be a fantastic day, and now West Midlands CPSA has opened this out to all 7 West Midlands counties, there is even more for us in Cheshire to prove.

We hope you will support this initiative to try and encourage more shooters to get involved in the inter counties competitions and hope to see you at the selection shoots starting 31^st March at Doveridge.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with any of the Cheshire committee members.