We are very proud of our long history as a club. As our name suggests, we were orginally founded in Tattenhall, in 1962, and we are pleased that we still count one or two of the founding members amongst our regular shooters.
Some years ago now, we lost the use of our original ground at Tattenhall and relocated to our current home at Tilston, where we have shot ever since.
We are a small not-for-profit club, owned and run by the members, the people who shoot.
Our members range from relative novices to county champions, but all share a passion for the sport of clay-shooting and a wish to enjoy their sport in a friendly, relaxed and fun environment.
The only thing we take very seriously at this club is SAFETY. If you're the kind of shooter who thinks
that winning is everything, and would allow one late bird to ruin your entire weekend, then we may not be for you. But if you like
shooting clay pigeons "Down-the-Line", enjoy good company, can take some ribbing and don't mind getting your hands a bit dirty - then
we definitely are.
Because of the way we run the club, our shooting costs are probably as low as they can possibly be. You will see under the "Prices" section that our charges for membership, clays and cartridges are far lower than commercially run shooting grounds.
ORGANISATION
The governing body for the club is a committee of members, currently chaired by Gary Crofts, with Keith Williams acting as secretary. Both Keith and Gary shoulder the bulk of the responsibility for organising shoots, provisioning and club administration. All members are deeply indebted to Keith and Gary for the work they put in.
On shoot days it is everybody's responsibility to assist in the setting up of the ground, trapping, scoring and clearing away afterwards. By doing all the work ourselves we keep costs to a minimum - but also have a lot more fun as well!
Many of the issues that require a "democtratic" decision by members are handled on shoot days by an impromptu meeting, or at our annual AGM for all members which normally takes place in November.
Down-The-Line (DTL)
We shoot exclusively the Down-The-Line or DTL discipline.
This is where five shooting positions are arranged in a shallow arc, approximately 3 metres apart with the trap located at the focal point of the arc, 16 metres in front of the shooters. 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 at Position 1 calling for a bird and shooting, then Position 2 and though to Position 5. The process is then repeated 2,3,4 or 5 times depending on the number of birds being shot in each entry. Once one fifth of the birds have been shot the scorer asks the shooters to change position and they all move to the position to their right - with the shooter at position 5 moving to position 1. And so on, until all the shooters have shot one fifth of the targets from each of the five stands.In this way, each shooter is presented with targets that are generally all "going away" - but vary greatly in their angle and perceived speed.
