Dear Member,
Firstly, and on behalf of all of our members, I would like to wish every success to our competitors that are travelling north to Barry Buddon to start competing on Friday 25th July. You will be able to follow the games here https://www.glasgow2014.com/
For those interested, here is the introduction to fullbore shooting, taken from the website:
All eyes are rooted to the targets straight ahead.
Spectators glance at the wind flag. The slightest shift in wind speed and direction is all it takes to blow the shot. In split seconds, vital calculations are made.
No one dares blink.
A succession of rapid bangs rattles the air. The athletes hold steady as their bodies discharge the full force of the rebound. Only a precision hit will guarantee maximum points.
A deceptive calm blankets the range.
Has Gold been won?
The Club Scatt machine is missing; if anyone can help with finding it, please contact me.
For those without email, I would ask District Superintendents to attempt to circulate their “e-less” members with hard copies…many thanks. In addition, we would ask any member who has changed his or her address recently and has not alerted the Membership Secretary, to do so immediately and, if he/she is now on email, to inform the Club of this please (membership@englishtwenty.org.uk ).
Officers of the Club
The members retiring by rotation during 2013 are P.N. Hinchliffe, R.P. Rosling and C.S.T. Lehmann, may I thank them for their efforts during their periods of office.
The Club Yearbook, 2014
The yearbook is once again being produced under the editorship of Heather Webb. During the year Heather will make a record of any changes notified to her and amend the following yearbook accordingly, so if you notice any errors in the yearbook, please notify her. Likewise when you send any changes of e-mail addresses or other contact details to Jim Carter, please copy Heather in. The Council thanks Heather for her assistance with this task, which she does in her spare time. Without this kind of support the club would cease to function. yearbook@englishtwenty.org.uk
The Clubhouse
The Club will be opened for the traditional periods of Spring Meeting and Imperial Meeting as well to support members during section events such as Gallery Rifle currently: 21st to 23rd March, 26th July for a family day and August 22nd – 24th. The Club will be open for the Ages Match later in the Year. The Club is only opened for specific events or when there is a requirement to support members for events. Given sufficient warning and planning the Club may be booked for events such as training weekends at a £100 charge to cover costs of special bar licences, staff wages and other overheads. Full catering can also be arranged.
The Club continues to benefit from the efforts of a few willing members and this year we are most grateful to Brian Gil for installing a wood burning stove. The benefits from this have been immediately apparent with a far more efficient use of wood and a far warmer clubhouse. The old gunroom has been cleared and more work is required to turn it into a useful space for meetings or classroom. Volunteers are most welcome!
Spring Meeting 2014
This year the Spring Meeting will be held 24th to 26th May 2014. Tom Rylands will again organise the meeting and HPS ammunition will be issued to competitors if they so designate on the Entry Form. Entry forms will be available on the web site and in the Bisley Clubs. It will be possible to enter on line this year and this is to be encouraged as it assists with the squadding and admin, making the organising much simpler. If you wish to enter online, but still pay by traditional means that is fine, please send your cheque to Tom Rylands and indicate that you have entered on line.
Online entry can be made at https://www.shootingcompetitions.org/
Please note that again this year, competitors may use hand-loads that conform to NRA Rule 151, rather than the ammunition being issued by the Club. Members wishing to use hand-loads will have to sign a declaration on the Entry Form that their ammunition conforms to Rule 151. Issued ammunition will still be available for purchase.
This meeting is the premier Club event of the year and members are encouraged to participate. In recent years, the clubhouse has been well attended especially on the Saturday when a special evening meal is available and a true club spirit prevails thanks to Debbie and her staff. Please do support your club by entering; costs have been kept down as far as possible but it means we do need an entry of 120 plus to break even.
Gallery Rifle
The 2014 season sees a few changes for the Gallery Rifle section. Chris Farr steps down as the club representative for the discipline to be replaced by Neil Francis. Neil, who has been GR Captain for the last three seasons steps down from this role to be replaced by Sophie West.
Neil is also the current NRA Gallery Rifle discipline representative and has tasked himself with the objective of increasing the visibility and awareness of the fact that the English Twenty club actually exists and represents the Gallery Rifle discipline at the highest level. Along with the new captain a publicity drive was initiated at the Great British Shooting Show at Stoneleigh where space on the Gallery Rifle stand was taken to publicise the benefits of the EXX club and promote the competitive GR shooting element. With a promotional banner and the distribution of hundreds of flyers along with an ongoing plan to fill competitors’ scorecard envelopes at both Phoenix and GR National meetings with English XX material and entry forms, we hope to attract many new members.
Sophie will be continuing the generic format for team selection for the current season. As of writing, the squad has been selected and team selection for both Centrefire and Smallbore events against teams from Germany and Ireland as well as Scotland and Wales are being finalised for the very popular Phoenix Meeting at the end of May. Unfortunately we will have no representation from South Africa this year due to circumstances only recently foreseen. However all is not lost as we are attempting to plan a head to head event against what we are sure will be a very strong Southern hemisphere team who will be competing at the virtual level and will be recognised for doing so.
As usual we have websites which are to be bookmarked if you have anything more than a passing interest in the Gallery Rifle discipline.
Http://galleryrifle.com is the main website with Facebook sites of the same name. This year we have also launched a Facebook page and twitter stream of the England Gallery Rifle team. Find the former at EnglandGalleryRifle and the latter at EGRifle. Follow both and keep up with the news.
England Teams for National and Lawrence Matches, 2014
Message from the Captain, Nick Hinchliffe
I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed by the English Twenty Club Council as Captain of England for the National and Lawrence Matches in 2014. I have asked Tom Rylands to be my Adjutant and Nick Tremlett to be my main coach.
I would like to draw your attention to the following: The Lawrence Match will be held at Blair Atholl on Saturday 7th June during the Scottish Championship Meeting which runs from 6th to 8th June. I would like to encourage as many competent English shooters as possible to enter this meeting. It is a Match that we have not won since 2007, and I should like to make amends to that this year! It is a long way to travel, but you will be warmly welcomed by our Scottish hosts. The shooting is very competitive and the scenery is superb. If you do intend to go, and would like to be considered for the English team, it would help me immensely if you would let me know at the time you enter, so that I can get an idea of the pool of shooters available for selection. (Details should be available from NRA website under Upcoming Events in due course.)
The National Match will be held, as usual, on the final Thursday of the Imperial Meeting at Bisley, 17th July. It is a condition for selection that you have paid your English Twenty Club subscription for the year and that you have entered the Club Championship, which costs £10 and is concurrent with the short range competitions in the Grand Aggregate. There have been cases in the past where shooters in the running for selection have been ruled out because of failure to meet one or other of these conditions, so please make sure you do not become one of them. There will be plenty of opportunities to enter the Club Championship before the Bisley meeting; you can do this alongside your Spring Entry meeting, or you can do so at the Clubhouse at any time up to the start of the Grand Aggregate on Middle Saturday lunchtime.
The guidelines for selection state that the team should include at least five shooters who have not shot in the National Match previously and half of the team who have not shot more than once. District Superintendents are asked to provide me with recommendations. However I appreciate that this method is not fool proof, so if you have not shot in the match before or have only shot once, and you feel that you should be in contention, please do not hesitate to contact myself or Tom and put forward your case. A Club team is being selected for a match against the RAF and other Home Countries on 17th May which will be shot under National conditions and I hope to use this as an opportunity to try out some new faces both coaching and shooting.
Finally, if for any reason you do not wish to be considered for selection for the National (perhaps because you have to be off camp on that Thursday), it is most important that you let us know. Selecting someone who then turns out to be unavailable makes trouble for everyone.
I have a hard job to follow Charles Brooks’ success last year, but I look forward to the challenge.
Nick Hinchliffe
Match v Combined Services and Home Countries 2014
Message from the Captain, Peter Smith
I have been honoured with the captaincy of the English Twenty Club team to compete against the Combined Services and the other Home Countries this year. I am pleased that Rex Barrington has accepted the invitation to be my Adjutant. The team will consist of twelve firers and three coaches. The course of fire is as for the Kolapore: one sighter and ten to count at 300, 500 and 600 yards. The match will be held on the second Friday of the Imperial meeting, alongside the Kolapore match.
I invite members of the English Twenty Club who wish to be considered for the match as a shooter or a coach to contact me or my Adjutant at the earliest opportunity. I am keen to include a mixture of the ‘old and bold’ with up-and-coming shooters and coaches. A sheet will be posted on the notice board on the veranda outside the clubhouse, inviting members to submit their names for consideration at the start of the Imperial Meeting.
Captain: Peter Smith
Adjutant: Rex Barrington
Certificates of Competence
Please note that the English Twenty Club is not a primary club and so will not be issuing Certificates of Competence for any member who wishes to fire TR, MR, F Class or Gallery rifle disciplines on MOD ranges INCLUDING Bisley. These MUST be obtained from your primary club.
KGV Heats
To encourage the widest possible participation in the KGV please note that if holding a Queen’s II match is not possible, then a match covering at least two ranges between 200 and 600 yds, with 30 shots per firer can be held.
This year there is a change to the rule regarding ammunition, which is to allow ammunition as agreed within the group, rather than it be issued by the organising DS. This is only when all teams agree, if not then the organising DS must supply ammunition in the traditional manner.
Peter Kelly is the Competitions Secretary, and if you are responsible for organising your heat please ensure that you liaise with him.
Significant Dates, 2014
17th May
Matches versus RAFTRC, Scotland and Wales
24-26th May
English Twenty Club Prize Meeting
24th May
Council Meeting, 17:30 in the clubhouse
10th July
English County Rifle Championship for the King George V Challenge Cup, 13:30 (subject to confirmation)
12th July
Aggregates for Club Championship and Varley commence. Entries close at the clubhouse at 12:00
13th July
Meeting of District Superintendents, 18:45 in the clubhouse
14th July
Council Meeting, 20:15 in the clubhouse
15th July
County Short and Long matches
16th July
H.M. The Queen’s Prize, first stage
17th July
Aggregates for Club Championship and Varley finish
National Match
Annual General Meeting of the Club, 19:00 in the clubhouse
18th July
Kolapore; Combined Services match
H.M. The Queen’s Prize, second stage
19th July
Mackinnon
H.M. The Queen’s Prize, final
Best wishes for the 2014 season,
Martin Liversage, Honorary Secretary
secretary@englishtwenty.org.uk