West Lancashire Masonic Clay Pigeon Shooting Society Newsletter Date Issue 31 - Spring 2016 Once again we will be combining with a few shooters from East Lancashire to take the War of the Roses Trophy from the combined Provinces of North & East and West Yorkshire. We were bitterly disappointed when we lost the inaugural shoot last year and hope to do better this time. The Sporting competition over 50 targets will be on 3rd April at Kellbrook shooting Ground and lunch will be available at the Anchor Inn just down the road. All West Lancashire shooters will be most welcome
Visit to Lyalvale Express 17th August 2015 PROVINCIAL SHOOT This years Provincial Shoot will be held on SATURDAY 7th MAY at Ribblebank Field Sports. Sam Has kindly offered to make the ground available for our exclusive use and we need a good turn out to make it worth while. It will mean that we will not have long waits whilst others use the stands. The usual Trophies Masonic, Veteran, Guest, Ladies and Novice will be up for grabs - Can you win one? Following a last minute email from Lawrence Alston I was able to visit the Lyalvale shotgun cartridge factory near Lichfield in Staffordshire. I was accompanied by John Wright a fellow shooter from Blackpool. The journey down was very straight forward until we used satnav for the last few miles of our journey, Lawrence had sent the postcode for the factory in an email and managed to get the last 2 letters of the postcode back to front. This put us in the middle of a housing estate 5 miles from where we should have been. As we were early for our appointment we managed to find the factory on time. The factory is in a semi rural location which considering the risks involved in manufacturing cartridges I imagine that s a good idea. First sight of the factory was a surprise as I expected quite a big place which in effect actually was quite a modest size set of buildings. We were met by the Sales Manager Marcus Iddon who hails originally Tarleton. The factory employs 25 people. Component Stores The start point of the process was the upstairs warehouse which stores and feeds the cartridge assembly area on the ground floor. Marcus showed us the various components that are used pointing out the high standard of quality of the raw materials that are imported from European suppliers. Each cartridge machine has its own hoppers in to which the components are fed down. Main Factory The business end of the operation is a very noisy fast paced environment where the cartridges are produced on very modern machines. Each machine is dedicated to a cartridge size. The machines are fascinating to watch as they do many operations in an automatic cycle which ends up with a box of cartridges being produced. They re boxed and labelled in in 250 batches and palletised. Powder Delivery Powder is fed to the factory from a series of hoppers which are set on the outside of the building which are designed to minimise blast damage in case of an explosion. The guy who charges the hoppers has to wear special overalls to minimise static. Shot Storage The shot is stored in 1 ton bags and is imported from Turkey. Marcus said that the biggest expense of the cartridge is the shot as the global lead price keeps climbing. Quality and Proof testing Lab There is a rigorous quality and testing programme which seems to keep the reliability of the product to an amazingly high standard. Despatch Warehouse The final piece of the jigsaw is the despatch department which on daily basis send out on average 90,000 cartridges each day. Having been a shotgun shooter for over 30 years I was amazed to learn so much about cartridges from Marcus who managed to dispel a lot of myths which I believed to be true. The quality and simplicity of the Lyalvale factory left a lasting impression on me and I urge any members who can to go and see for yourself. And of course I will be using the cartridges that have been recommended to me by Marcus. Ian Turner "If you want to go Contact Mike or Lawrence who can arrange for a party of four" 2
NORTH OF ENGLAND ALL ROUND CHAMPIONSHIPS It was a grand sunny day for the first North of England All Round championships at Coniston Hall Shooting Ground on 6th September. 22 people from the Provinces of North & East Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and West Lancashire tried their skill at 25 Skeet, 25 Down the Line and 25 Compak/ Sport trap. 6 Others were taken on the training traps behind the clubhouse. Most coped well with the Skeet and DTL but the Sporting layout really tested their skill over some long targets. In the end it was an easy win for Jason Rhodes who really did not have any competition. He took the title with 60. Fred Smith from North & East Yorkshire came next with 55 followed by Mick Buck of West Yorkshire with 52. The best guest was Mervyn Moylan with 58. This was a great start to a new completion. Well done to the winners and thanks to all who took part We took the opportunity to hold the Lancashire Skeet Championship in conjunction with this shoot. Jason with 24 was the winner 2nd place was shared by John Wright & David Smith on 22 with Lee Jackson 4th on 18. All the Scores NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MASONIC CLAY SHOOTING SOCIETIES The Annual General meeting of the National Society was held at Freemasons Hall Great Queen Street on Monday 8th February The Chairman Brian Saidman announced that The Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, Brother Jonathan Spence has agreed to be our President and the Most Excellent Second Grand Principal, Companion Russell John Race, DL has agreed to be our Vice President. This is indeed great news for the New Society. Elected onto the Committee were: Chairman; Brian Saidman, London GMet Vice Chairman; Mike Casey, West Lancashire Secretary; Roger Wilkes, West Kent Treasurer; Nick Jenkins, East Kent Committee; Mark Price; London GMet Steven Carter, Bristol Martin Price, Monmouth Rob Hollier, Essex Roger Nash, Norfolk In a PowerPoint presentation Brian Saidman outlined the development plan for the Association with six regional Ambassadors assisting the Committee in the development of the new Association and promoting Clay shooting within Masonic Provinces Our own Graham Brereton was appointed for the North Region covering the Provinces of Cheshire, Cumberland & Westmorland, Durham, Isle of Man, East & West Lancashire, North Wales, Yorkshire North & East and West Other appointees were Mike Busby for the South East and Steven Carter for the West of England. Three others had yet to be approached. 3
FRIENDLY SHOOT AGAINST STAFFORDSHIRE The Province of Staffordshire are trying to get a clay Pigeon section going and we have been invited to join them for a friendly shoot on SUNDAY 17th APRIL Full details will be Emailed out when we have them. Come and join us if you can Annual Membership is soon due Please pay the Treasurer Danny Chester 13 Queen Street, Lytham, Lancashire FY8 5LQ Before you forget CHRISTMAS SHOOT It was a cold day at Blackpool Gun Club for the Christmas Shoot and the targets were not the easiest 23 people braved the conditions at the ground before retiring to the Eagle and Child at Weeton for well earned lunch As usual the scores were called out in reverse order so the less experienced members got a chance of winning. But for those who say the scores don't matter here they are: George Lonsdale 19 23 Lawrence Alston 21 22 Des Hatton 22 21 Chris Casey 22 20 Martin Spillsbury 22 19 Andy McLenlend 23 18 Alex Wignall 23 17 Trevor Hunt 24 16 Jim Wynne 24 15 Tony Hough 24 14 Cliff Creer 25 13 Mick Woods 25 12 Pete Newall 25 11 Mick Gorrey 26 10 Mike Casey 28 9 Ian Turner 29 8 Ian Heyes 31 7 John Wright 32 6 John Bruffell 33 5 Philip Alston 34 4 John Whittaker 37 3 Jason Rhodes 44 2 Mervin Moylan 46 1 All the Scores 4
INTER GROUP SHOOT Once again the North Fylde Group were successful in retaining the Adams & Co Trophy for the winning group. They were easily the best with Jason Rhodes, Graham Brereton and Tony Hough putting in the best scores. Unfortunately this was not as well supported as last year with some of our better shooters absent. 23 people supported the event Our Chairman Phil Gunning presented the trophy to the Group Chairman Duncan Smith at the Group Dinner - great publicity for our society INTER GROUP RESULTS 1st North Fylde =111 Jason Rhodes = 43 Graham Brereton = 37 Tony Hough = 28 2nd Liverpool = 94 Ian Turner = 39 Chris Bruffell = 31 John Bruffel = 24 3rd South Fylde = 68 Mike Casey = 28 Danny Chester = 24 Brian Anderson = 16 " Come and Join us again at the Nationals - it is a great competition at a very good ground. 14 Stands available for the 100 bird shoot NATIONAL MASONIC CHAMPIONSHIPS We will again be going to the Nationals trying to defend our title. This year it is not too far away just outside Warwick. Any of our members will be most welcome. If you want to stay overnight there are Travelodge, a Premier Inn and Caravan sites all within the area. Contact Mike for details. We had a magnificent turn out last year lets try to support it this year Saturday 18th June 5
WEST LANCASHIRE MASONIC CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING SOCIETY Secretary Lawrence Alston 51 St Davids Road Leyland Lancashire PR25 4UX Tel ~ 07976 635 458 Email ~ wlmcpss@gmail.com Newsletter Editor Mick Woods Tel ~ 01257 2698 289 Email ~ wlmcpss@gmail.com Publicity & Social Media Ian Turner Tel ~ 07836 368 333 Email ~ wlmcpss@gmail.com ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Annual General Meeting takes place in the first week of June each year If any member of the Society is interested in sitting on the Committee please attend. If you would like to join the committee please be sure you can make the commitment - there is no point being on if you don't attend or join in with our events. If you do join us it will give you a chance of helping run the Society. Let Lawrence know if you are interested CHARITY DONATIONS Any member of the Society can suggest Charities to receive donations at our AGM. Your suggestion should be sent in to the Secretary in advance. We normally support children's and Masonic Charities We will be putting on a stand at Provincial Grand Chapter at Southport and Provincial Grand Lodge at Blackpool to publicise the Society and our successes last year We would like to put on a special event to commemorate 300 years of Grand Lodge, This could be a shoot or a social. If you have any great ideas please contact Lawrence Come and see us Better still if you can spare some time in the morning before the meeting starts you could help us answer any questions we might get.