Sightings
The Annual Newsletter of Marple Rifle & Pistol Club
December 2011
From The Chair
I would like to report that we have had an uneventful year, but this has not been the case.
We have had a number of visits to
Sealand for the hardy types who like the outdoors and have good eyesight, and
several competitions have been shot including
the Wirral and Cheshire, I am pleased to say a number of our members have had
success with these [ including me ] and I congratulate our members in their
achievements. Keep it up for next year.
I reported last year that the
Council had gone quiet regarding the purchase of the land. Well, through one or
two of my political contacts, ie councillors,
we have resurrected the procedure. This was never going to be a quick process
and hopefully we are now back on track.
Our aim is to complete the purchase
and then eventually as funds permit rebuild the current club house over the next
five/ ten years, as the existing
facility is coming to the end of its useful life.
My thanks go to our band of helpers
for both the social events and working parties, and the efforts of our IT team
who are working towards
an electronic record keeping system. My thanks also our Range Officers who man
the office and account for monies and safety.
I would also like to thank, on your
behalf , the Officers and Committee of our Club, who work very hard to ensure
our continuance, often
without recognition or reward, and without whom the club could not function
properly.
This is the time of year when we
reflect over what we have achieved over the last twelve months, it is sad to
note the passing of Phillip Minné,
who behind the scenes contributed to the club both in help and his general good
humour. Phil, you will be missed.
You will also note our new ramp and additional lighting, which should be finished in time for Christmas. I hope this helps with access and dark nights in the car park
I would wish each and every one of you a Happy Christmas to you and your families and a prosperous New Year.
John C Shonfeld
Chairman
Honours Board
The following MRPC members were successful in competitions this year
Rick Torkington won Division 1 of the Ches. & N. Wales Winter Airgun League
Nick Purcell came second in Division 1 of the Ches. & N. Wales Winter Airgun League
Mike von Achten came third in Division 8 of the Winter 2010 Wirral Rifle League
Dave Stopford won Division 9 of the Winter 2010 Wirral Rifle League
Jonathan Brown came third in Division 14 of the Winter 2010 Wirral Rifle League
Brett Tilley came third in Division 15 of the Winter 2010 Wirral Rifle League
Rick Torkington came second in Division 1 of the Ches. & N. Wales Summer Airgun League
Nick Purcell came third in Division 1 of the Ches. & N. Wales Winter Airgun League
Neville Torkington came second in Division 2 of the Ches. & N. Wales Summer Airgun League
Ron Turnbull came third in Division 4 of the Summer 2011 Wirral Rifle League
Mark Harrison came second in Division 6 of the Summer 2011 Wirral Rifle League
Karl Harter won Division 8 of the Summer 2011 Wirral Rifle League
Malcolm Yeardley won Division 10 of the Summer 2011 Wirral Rifle League
John Shonfeld came second in Division 11 of the Summer 2011 Wirral Rifle League
Gareth Brown came third in Division 11 of the Summer 2011 Wirral Rifle League
Roger Short came third in Division 12 of the Summer 2011 Wirral Rifle League
Training courses
Shooter certification courses will be held at irregular intervals
throughout the year. See the notice board for details of when they will be
available. You will need to attend one of these in order to be able to shoot
with the club on any MOD range (usually this means Sealand).
As an experiment and in order to overcome the problem of people not being
able to make five successive weeks for instruction, a consolidated
instruction course will be offered on Sunday 22nd January 2012, starting at
10:00 and ending at (about) 15:00. This course will cover the
whole subject of target shooting, starting with position, then trigger release
and then sighting. There will be opportunity for practice and the
whole session will have breaks throughout. Cost will be the standard range fee
of £2, bring your own food, but drinks will be available. If you
cannot keep all your shots from a .22 rifle in the black of a PL12 target from
an unsupported standing position, you need this course!
Dates for Sealand MOD Range for 2012
All dates are Saturdays and all are for the 300 metre “B” range (which allows shooting at 100, 200 and 300 metres).
Times are: to meet at Sealand Range Office at 11:30 for a 12:30 start and a 15:30 finish: cost is £5-00 per visit (targets included).
(Often we are able to start before 12:30 and so can have more than the nominal 3 hours).
31st March 4th August 1st December
5th May 1st September
2nd June 6th October
7th July 3rd November
Contact details.
Can all members please let me have their email addresses so that Club
news can be easily distributed; for example problems caused
by bad weather, or access difficulties due to car park work, or dates for our
social events. You will get on average about 12 emails
from the Club per year, so it will scarcely amount to a whole pile of “spam” in
your inbox.
Send your details to:
enquiries@marplerifleandpistolclub.org.uk If you wish to avoid typing the
club’s rather long email address, go to
the foot of the club’s website home page and ‘click’ on the address.
The club’s website is at: http://www.marplerifleandpistolclub.org.uk
The club’s telephone number is: 0161 427 9133
Starting in 2012 the following will be the Club’s email contacts for you to use for all relevant queries:
President ... president@marplerifleandpistolclub.org.uk
Chairman ... chairman@marplerifleandpistolclub.org.uk
Secretary ... secretary@marplerifleandpistolclub.org.uk
Treasurer ... treasurer@marplerifleandpistolclub.org.uk
Membership enquiries ... legaleagle@marplerifleandpistolclub.org.uk (also for queries relating to firearms law)
General enquiries ... enquiries@marplerifleandpistolclub.org.uk
Cheshire and North Wales Shooting Association Airgun League
Marple club members have always
kept a high profile in this league since the Air section of the club started and
have held our own in Divisions 1 & 2 for many
years. The level of competition is so often on a knife edge it can be exciting
on one side and yet so cruel on the other. This year was Nick’s turn to fall on
the cruel side, he shot so consistently and scored the highest aggregate for the
whole summer league but in the finish this would only secure him 3rd
place.
Earlier this two of us competed in
the Geoff Partridge Memorial shoot at Wolverhampton (NSISC). Unfortunately we
didn’t get our sticky mitts on the silver ware
and came home empty handed. We will do better next time.
So why not start a new sport in the
new year! We are always looking for new and existing members to join us in what
is cheap to take part and yet so lazy,
that’s right you have a machine to change your targets, what more could you want
besides a lift to the club!.
Rick Torkington
The smile section follows ...................................
