Tattenhall Gun Club
.... clay pigeon shooting in beautiful South Cheshire
Est. 1962
Tattenhall Gun Club - DTL Clay Pigeon Shooting, Tilston, Cheshire Email: tgc@tattenhallgunclub.co.uk
HISTORY
We are very proud of our long history as a club. As our name suggests we were founded in
Tattenhall in 1962 and we are very fortunate to still count one or two of our founding members
amongst our regular shooters. We have several members who have shot with us for over 40
years.
In the late 1960s we lost the use of our original shooting ground and we relocated to our
current field at Tilston where we have shot ever since.
The club's mission today is the same as it always has been: To provide regular shooting
opportunities for members, with costs being reduced to the absolute minimum and to ensure
that the whole experience is enjoyable and, above all, safe.
....breaking clays since 1962!
ORGANISATION
As we are strictly non-commercial, the club is owned and run by the members,
with any surpluses generated being used for investment in club facilities or to
reduce the cost of shooting.
The vast majority of the work in running the club is done by our Secretary, Keith
Williams, and Club Chairman, John Tennison. All members owe a great debt of
gratitude to Keith ad John for the work they put in.
On shoot days, it is everybody's responsibility to assist in the setting up of the
ground, scoring and trapping, and clearing away at the end. By doing all the work
ourselves we keep costs to an absolute minimum, but we also have more fun as
well!!
Issues that require a "democratic" decision by members are normally dealt with
by an impromptu meeting on shoot days, or at our AGM.
Keith Williams and John Tennison
(Club Secretary and Chairman respectively)
(Club Secretary and Chairman respectively)
Down-The-Line (DTL)
We shoot exclusively the Down-The-Line or DTL discipline.
This is where five shooting positions, or stands, are arranged in a shallow
arc at a distance of 3 yards apart. The trap is located in a small "trap
house" which is at the focal point of the arc, 16 yards in front of the stands.
The clay targets are thrown away from the shooters at a constant
elevation, but at unpredictable angles left and right.
Shooting commences with the shooter on Stand 1 calling for a bird and
shooting, followed by the shooter on Stand 2 and so on through to stand
five. For a 25-bird shoot, this will be repeated 5 times, until each shooter
has shot their first five birds. The scorer will then ask the shooters to
change stand.
At this point the shooter on Stand 1 will move to Stand 2, Stand 2 to Stand
3 and so on. The shooter on Stand 5 will walk around the back of the
other shooters to take up his new position on Stand 1.
Once everybody is at their new stand the scorer will call "Line Ready" and
Shooter 1, now on Stand 2, may call for and shoot their next bird. This
whole process is then repeated until each shooter has shot one-fifth of the
birds being shot on each of the five stands. So Shooter 1, for example, will
shoot his last 5 birds from Stand 5.
By the time the line is finished each shooter will have shot a whole range
of targets, all basically rising but varying from extreme left and right
crossers to fast going-away birds.
A TYPICAL SHOOT
Most of our shoots are scheduled to start at 10:00am on a Saturday morning. People normally start to arrive at the ground from about 9:30am onwards, with
the early starters helping Gary and Keith to set up the trap and stands and get the ground ready for the day's shoot.
Once things are set up, Keith will be found in our "pavilion" taking bookings. Most of our shoots are organised on a re-entry basis with either 10, 15 or 25
birds. There are no rules to limit the number of "goes" anyone can have - but Keith will normally call a halt to new bookings at 11:00 am. New shooters may
limit themselves to one or two lines (20-30 birds) but the more experienced shots will normally try to shoot in the region of 60-75 birds, so 5-6 goes depending
on the number of birds per line.
As soon after 10:00am as possible, the first five shooters will be called to their stands and the shooting will commence. All our shoots are competitive in one
form or another, be it for a notional payout or for one of our various trophies (See the Trophies page for details). But the competition is always light-hearted.
The only thing we take very seriously at this club is SAFETY, so if you can't take a bit of "ribbing" and a one millisecond late bird might ruin your whole
weekend, then sadly we may not be the club for you!
Shooting is normally concluded by about 3:00pm at which point a winner for the day will have emerged - if not, then a shoot-off may be required. Once
shooting is finished, all members will work together to pick up unbroken clays and clear away the ground. When we are not shooting, the field is grazed by
livestock, so we cannot leave anything lying around. (It is for this reason that we have a strict FIBRE WADS ONLY rule).
The final task for the day is the presentation of cash prizes and/or trophies to the first three shooters. You should note that in order to be awarded a prize, you
have to be there at the end to collect it - otherwise the prize will go to the next best scoring shooter who is still present.
Normally by 3:30pm - 4:00pm we have left the field and are on our way home.
MEMBERSHIP
We currenty have about 35 active members and on any shoot day we normally expect 18-20 shooters. Our members range from novice to county champions,
the only pre-requisite being a responsible interest in the sport and a wish to enjoy it in a friendly, relaxed and fun environment.
Most of our members live within the Wrexham-Crewe-Chester area and, as with any club of this kind there is an established "hardcore" of people who rarely, if
ever, miss a shoot. Conversely, we have members who live a lot further afield or who, for various reasons may only shoot with us once or twice a year. But it
is always a pleasure to see them.
Once somebody had shot with us for over 40 years they become eligible for Honorary Life Membership, and we currently have 3 or 4 regular shooters who
enjoy this status.