Though I’m not strictly a city girl, I spent a chunk of my childhood around horses, chickens, ducks and geese, it’s very safe to say I’m not exactly au fait with country pursuits. It’s also fair to say that I’d never been around guns. Until recently they utterly terrified me. I wonder if part of that is hearing so much growing up about shootings in Manchester. The only guns I knew of involved bodily injury.
As one of my challenges for this year, I wanted to give clay pigeon shooting a try. The idea of holding a gun made me nervous, but as I’m trying to do things that scare me, I wasn’t going to let this somewhat irrational fear stop me. As is so often quoted, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. And I was going to shoot inanimate objects.
Joining my friend Rebecca we headed out on a glorious Saturday morning, to Cloudside Shooting Club in Congleton. We were meeting the Shotgun and Chelsea Bun Club for a day of shooting followed by, yes you’ve guessed it, tea and cake.
Cloudside itself is stunning. Set on the side of a hill, it overlooks the Cheshire countryside which on this crisp sunny day was still tinged a little with patches of snow. The Clubhouse is just as you’d expect, filled with gentlemen and ladies in tweed and quilted gilets, green boots, a roaring fire and mounted trophies on the wall. While we waited for our hostess, Victoria to arrive, we were treated to a cup of coffee and we got to know some of our fellow ladies.
We were a thoroughly mixed bunch. From those who had their own guns, glasses and gear, to the absolute beginners amongst us, without a clue and done up in jeans and boots. And the ages were varied, with the youngest of our group was Chris, a 6th former, due to head to university after the summer to ladies in their forties and fifties.
Of course chatting over coffee had to come to an end, and we were separated into two groups – there was to be an element of competition, the best of each team would win a prize. Myself, Rebecca and Chris were thankfully together in a group with tutor Lindsay, who promised us he was the best and as such we would easily beat the other team. As an extra challenge, we had been encouraged to provide cake for the afternoon tea, as there would be a competition for this too.
Walking out to one of the many traps on the side of the steep hill, I was not feeling confident and even once safety was explained, the process was explained and we stepped up individually for practice, my hands were more than a little shaky. Then I had a practice shot. Then two. As I moved away from the trap, I could feel my nervousness recede and though I didn’t become confident exactly, I felt much more comfortable with the shooting position, shotgun itself and the bang and kick.
We moved from trap to trap, shooting both practice and competition shots, the clays moving in different actions, directions and speeds. The mix of experience, meant that our score totals were kept pretty high and the three beginners amongst us finished with a very comfortable 13 out of 20 competition shots each.
As an end to the day, we made our way back to the clubhouse for some fantastic tea and cake – provided by both hostess and guests alike. Given the chill of the afternoon, it was very welcome and the cakes were beautiful.
Sadly, I didn’t win a prize, what I did discover was that guns and shooting aren’t as scary as I expected and while I won’t go shooting every weekend, I certainly see another visit on the cards as soon as I can fit it in my diary.
And next time, I’ll bring cake.