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Class B

Class C

Maybe we should start holding shoot-offs to decide placings, given the number of tied placings. I decided to award a free round worth £25 to each of the tied-winners in "B", and in "A" the winner gets £40, the joint seconds each receive 125 shells. In "C", the joint winners receive £20 plus 75 shells, while third gets 100 shells.

Another low turnout presumably thanks to the weather forecast, but thankfully better than May, when only 10 cards were handed in for scoring. As promised, Terry, Tony and Gary set out the layout, and will be on hand next month to help the new owner, George, to get his team up and going. Hopefully, the transition will be seamless and there will be no problems or issues on the day.

The layout was fairly standard, a rabbit replacing the usual teal stand, but scores were generally slightly lower than usual - again, I blame the incessant rain and wind on the day.

A reminder that prizes must be claimed within 3 shoots of winning, trying to ensure adequate shells are available for winners and purchasers mean we are having to keep large stocks available.

Class B

Class C

Despite the usual effort in producing a good, challenging layout, the combination of weather, Bank Holiday and school half-term combined to hand us a very poor turnout of about a quarter our usual attendance. Only 10 cards were handed in for scoring, and I regretfully decided to award only High Gun in each class.

As usual, we put up eight stands, the favourites being Stand 6 (pair rabbit) and Stand 7 (midi and mini Teal pair).On Stand 4, a Teal followed a quartering right-to-left away standard, again a favourite, not least of all because we tend towards left-to-right pairs. Stand 2 had a right-to-left away standard blaze with a report "dropping crow", again, the report makes a change from a diet of simultaneous pairs.

The lack of numbers produced a higher than usual demand for re-entries, again indicating that we had got it right with the layout. Hopefully, June will do better. Talking of which…..

Terry and Chris, Gary Val and Tony have decided to call it a day. Terry, Tony and Gary have for over 5 years run the operation, laying in necessary stocks of clays and shells, organising trappers and scorers, designing and putting out the layout every month, and getting to the shoot at 7am to supervise its placement. Chris and Val have run the catering operation, keeping shooters, trappers and scorers supplied with hot food and drinks as well as providing active support for the shoot. I'm certain that you will all join me in thanking them all for the effort they have put in not only to keep the shoot going, but to improve its standing and popularity in the shooting community.

Terry, Chris, Tony, Gary and Val - very best wishes for the future and thanks for all your work and time on Leigh Mill's behalf. Don't be strangers, we'll always be pleased to see you.

Class B

Class C

As for the shoot, Terry put on a cracking report pair at Stand 4, right in the corner by the entry to the next field, which attracted high scores in all classes. The away first clay was followed by a crosser from the left which almost sat on the end of the barrel! Lovely!!. Stand 5 was a pair of bunnies followed by two more report pairs on stands six and seven. Emphasis on report clays this month, but they give more action and interest for the shooter than simultaneous pairs.

Roger Doswell (current scoring average of 87.5%) is monopolising A at the moment, but Ben Ayres (csa of 89.1%) is determined to reclaim High Gun. You'd better watch out Roger. In "B", Rick Lawrence is looking for promotion to A, he had a great score this month, and also in the scoring in March. With a csa of 74.8%, an extra push will get Rick into A soon. George (72.3%) and C. Smith(74.8%) are also on course for A.

Steve Dent is an infrequent visitor to Leigh Mill, and P. Ballard a new member, whilst Ray Davies is a not infrequent winner in C.

All prizes will be available for collection by winners at the next shoot, Sunday 27 May.

I look forward to seeing you at Leigh Mill, in the meantime, safe shooting.

Class B

Class C

Class B

Class C

First, I must apologise for running out of shells, our estimate was inadequate and we will ensure adequate is available at February's shoot on the 25th.

We altered the layout position slightly to avoid any potential for complaint from surrounding premises and the shoot proceeded without any issues regarding fall of shot. Of special note this month was Stand 7, the Teal, which always is a favourite, not least of all with new shooters who are invariably encouraged by a few easier kills. Stand 8, a driven report located in the woods, showed middle scores, predictable for fast and low targets. Stands 1, 2 and 3 were particularly affected by the wind which threw the clays around unpredictably, but there is little scope for altering those traps without incurring potential complaints about falling shot. The scores, particularly for stand 2 in B and C, reflected the added difficulty, the three A-class entrants had no problems.

With health and safety firmly in mind, we have invited Dave from Ultimate Hearing Protection Systems to discuss their bespoke equipment and bring along samples. They are obviously more expensive than cotton wool or latex plugs, but if you are interested, Dave will be back for the February shoot. The club is arranging this as a service, and will not be profiting from it.

Prizes are available for collection at next months shoot as usual.

Class B

Class C

November shoot, as the last in 2006, was well attended having almost 80 shooters turn up to enjoy an excellent layout. The wind occasionally caught the clays and made them erratic but the scores were good notwithstanding. Terry and his team put up a good layout, which had, for safety reasons to be slightly altered mid morning. The high wind was causing shot to fall across the valley where football was being played, so the relevant traps were lowered to remove the risk. This did not materially affect the competition. Future shoots will be positioned to reflect this possibility and prevent a recurrence.

As you can see, Ben Ayres made up for being out of the scoring in October, with a very creditable 74. Rob Bradley broke in with his 70 in only his third outing in A-class since moving up from B in September, and a newcomer to the Mill, P.Juffs, took third.

In B, the usual trio of Messrs. Chidwick, Reynolds and Wingrove were joined by Paul Duggan who obviously liked the layout enough to step up his game to get an excellent second place.

In C, Kevin Joyce scored his third first-place and Mick McDonagh his third second-place, of 2006, while D. Simpson scored his first placing of the year. Well done all round.

Regrettably, prices have had to be increased for 2007. Those of you who were at the November shoot had a newsletter giving details, these are reproduced below.

Membership (Jan-Nov inc) all classes £30
80-clay round - CLUB MEMBERS £20
80-clay round - NON- MEMBERS £25
Re-entry to competition £15
Non competition 50 clay "practice" card £17
One junior may shoot FREE with full price card purchased
Shells (25/box) £3.50

We look forward to seeing you when we re-open on Sunday 28th. January 2007, so it only remains for the staff and I to wish you a Happy Christmas and prosperous 2007.

Class B

Class C

Class B

Class C

Class B

Class C

Nice to see Ben Ayres back on form this month - Ben's score of 78 equalled Alex Cobb's 78 in July 2001, and is only beaten at Leigh Mill by George Digweed's 100 straight back in 1997 - the only declared straight at Leigh Mill in my time as record keeper. I live in hope that another straight will be recorded sometime, by one of our regulars as we certainly have our share of very talented shooters.

Looking back over our scores - I have recorded each shoot from Feb. 1999 - I'm immediately drawn by the way our scores have progressively increased within the grades. Pre- '99, A-class were routinely recording mid to high 60's, with C showing 40 to 50's apart from the odd carpetbagger! Within the last few years, scores have increased on average by about 10%. I don't believe that we've made the targets any easier, but the scores are improving across the board. The other thing is that so many people are still regulars at Leigh Mill, many from pre-'99, and newcomers are becoming regulars, which I take as an indication that we are doing something right.

This month's shoot featured three teal stands, 2 pairs and one on report. All three stands were popular and produced good scores. Stand 6, a driven pair of black standard clays caused difficulty with a maximum achieved score in B and C of only 7. Main problem was the short time the clays were visible, but it was a challenging, not impossible, stand. Good use of blaze clays gave nice targets across the layout.

There will be a different layout in September, in line with our intent to present different targets every month, although it is difficult to have eight different stands each month. Our layout planner, Terry, and his team put plenty of effort into presenting a good sporting layout for all our competitors.

Shoot starts at 10.00am prompt; we aim to finish shooting about 1pm, so last card about 12.30.

Class B

Class C

Well this month, Ben wasn't on form and was beaten into 3rd in A by Roger Doswell, while Robert Faimali took 1st in B, and R. Wells was displaced into 2nd place in C but still earned himself a move into B class.

I've reviewed the scorings for the last 3-months and reclassified over 40 of our regular shooters. The classification process seems to be working well if you consider the consistency of the scores in each class, and I've had no complaints of "sand-bagging" since we started, and feedback has been all positive to date. Briefly, I maintain a running average of every shooter's scores at Leigh Mill. These are used to place each shooter in A, B or C class using (>75.1% for A, >66.1% for B and up to 66% for C). This means that a consistent winner in B or C may not be moved until their average score reaches the higher class minimum score. Additionally, competitors who have not previously registered scores with me are placed into A until I have a minimum of 2 results - a bit hard on new shooters, but it does prevent unclassified shooters walking off with the prizes.

Back to Sunday. As always a good sporting layout, although stand 4 was generally found to be difficult. This was a simultaneous crossing pair, comprising a black midi and a standard blaze. Scores recorded on this stand were low, most competitors not achieving 5 kills of the 10 maximum.

Stand 5 was a report Teal pair, black standard, located halfway along the top field. There was an element of "driven" to this pair as they appeared to climb up the slope towards the shooter.

Stand 7 was a pair of blaze rabbits which tended to jump erratically due to the lumps and bumps in the hard ground, but most competitors found them and no complaints were made so I presume the occasional forays into mid-air didn't dismay anyone.

Overall, a mix of quartering, crossing, away pairs, with standard and midi, blaze and black, clays to make it interesting.

Class B

Class C

So, no surprises in A and B classes this month! Yet again, James and Ben take the first two places in A, and Chris takes 1st in B. If Chris continues at this rate, he'll be competing against Ben and James before the end of this year. Kevin is doing well in C. Throughout 2005, Kevin's scores were well outside the prize-winning levels, but his scores have been improving month by month. Messrs Reynolds, Faimali, Wavell and Wells are all old friends at Leigh Mill, and it's a pleasure to see them in the placings- and hopefully Robert Faimali back on his way into A again.

The scores are fairly high again, partly because of the slight breeze we enjoyed when normally we get high winds blowing the clays all over the sky, and partly thanks to Terry and Gary who put a competitive but shootable layout together again. They try to vary the layout every month whilst keeping everyone happy, novices and experts, and generally succeed. The layout this month attracted favourable comments - something I say often but the proof of the pudding is in the continuing increase in both new shooters and people returning every month, even when they are not in the prize list.

An idea of the layout -
Terry and Gary used a mix of standard and midi, black and blaze clays, as pairs and reports. Into this mix, they added quartering incomers, two Teal/Crows and away crossers. Must admit, my favourites are the Teal/Crow pairs - even when Gary measures out 70 yards to the trap from the stand! The clays are in sight for plenty of time, even for a middling shooter like me, to get respectable numbers on my score card.

We look forward to seeing you at Leigh Mill, next shoot SUNDAY 30th JULY.

Class B

Class C

Generally lower scores across the board due, I think, mainly to the high winds across the shooting ground causing clays to move erratically particularly on traps one to three. Stand 3, a teal with a right to left crosser, was particularly affected. The teal was ok, but the crosser hovered, dropped short and even flew backwards! As it was the same for everyone, the layout was not amended.

Despite this, there were no complaints, or appeals to alter the layout, and comments were that the layout was good.

Stand 6, a pair of standard blaze rabbits, gave some good scores, and the mini and midi black teal pair on 7 attracted good comments and scores.

Apologies for the problem with stand 2, a defective bolt caused the clay magazine to move and repeatedly break clays when launching. This will be fixed in time for the next shoot on Sun. June 25th.

Ben took the honours in A (surprise!!), Chris is making a habit of placing in B, and Gary has finally managed to get above fourth place in C - nice one Gary.

The grading procedure introduced at the beginning of the year is working well, and is not generating any adverse comment from people new to Leigh Mill competition. Following review, most regulars grading remain unchanged, so, barring any major issues arising, it will remain in place.

Comments are always welcome, please feel free to contact me by e-mail rog.kemp@tiscali.co.uk

Class B

Class C

An almost perfect day, weatherwise, prompted a really good turnout on Sunday 30th April. Shooting started bang on time at 10.00, and, as usual, a good layout returned good scores. The wind was moderate so we didn't see clays bouncing around the sky, and this helped the scores. Ben and James Ayres monopolised A, but a new-comer to Leigh Mill, P. Butler, beat Ben into 3rd. place, not a position he's accustomed to, and James again took high-gun.

It's good to see some different faces taking the honours in the other classes, though Chris Wingrove is becoming a fixture in B, and it's Kevin Joyce's second appearance in C this year. Almost half the competitors this month were new-comers to Leigh Mill, and if this trend continues, we should see more faces in the club rankings. It appears that word. is spreading that Leigh Mill is a good alternative to our neighbour at Keston-not least because we offer 80-clays where many find 100 too many, especially beginners.

As to the layout, the rabbit pair on stand 6 excited most comment and not a little laughter as some targets were jumping like young stags - fast and jumpy over the uneven ground. The crossing midi, with a report midi teal on 3 was a favourite, with most favouring the teal, while the simultaneous standard black teal on 7 also got good scores. The teal is a favourite with many of our newer shooters because of its predictability, and the viewing time, an easier target.

The rest of the targets were a mix of pairs and reports, both crossing and away clays, the use of a mix of blaze and black, standards and midis, giving a range of difficulty which satisfied all tastes.

Hope we'll see you at the next shoot on Sunday 28th May, shooting starts at 10.00am.

Class B

Class C

Yet again, Ben and James took the honours in A, with new-to Leigh Mill, shooter T. Peerless taking 3rd. place. The story was repeated with both B and C classes, with Chris and P. Reynolds being joined by George in B, and Ray and Tony joined by Gary in C.
The amended grading system started in January is fairer, but it does make for regular winners. We are seeing a lot of new faces at Leigh Mill, so I hope there will be some competition for the regular winners in future.
The layout this month included two Teal (stands 5 and 7), Both of which attracted high scorings by A and B shooters, while in C, the lower svoring shooters found difficulty with stand 7, probably due to the clay being fully visible for a short time as it appeared above the tree line. Stand 8, in the woods, gave most problems to C shooters, with none scoring above 6 on this stand, and most 4 and under, however A and B had no problems with this regular stand in our layout.

Overall, the layout attracted the usual compimentary comments apart from the lack of driven clays. Next month this will be remedied by replacing one of the crossers with a driven stand.

As usual, a good layout, but, presumably thanks to poor planning of the calendar, both Mothers Day and the clocks going forward were both scheduled for our shooting day, leading to fewrer shooters!

Next shoot is April 30th., nothing in the calendar clashes so no excuses, come along and enjoy a few hours shooting at Leigh Mill.

Remember that a licence is NOT required to shoot at Leigh Mill as we have A Police Exemption Certificate, so anyone may join in, and we have loan guns available at no charge (including a 20 bore for juniors). See earlier notes for conditions of loan. Finally, we are on a grass meadow so don't forget the wellies.

Look forward to seeing you.

Class B

Class C

As promised in January, we made February shoot slightly easier - hence the higher scores recorded. Ben and James dominated A-class (so what's unusual about that??), and B not far behind. C-class tied on 61, so the prizes will be split equally between the three competitors.

The Sporting layout was easier, Stand Five at the top of the field may have been too easy as 9-10 kills were very much in the majority even in C-class.

Stand One, looked very easy, almost coming to a standstill immediately in front of the cage, surprised a lot of shooters who missed them though. Stand two was similar and scored from 1-10 with the majority scoring 5-8 kills.

The weather put off a lot of shooters on Sunday, snow flurries and a biting wind meant attendance was low and people got around quickly.

We still have membership open (£25 to Nov. 06 inc) which saves £5 on a round, one of the lowest charges in the area.

Class B

Class C

As you can see, scores were well down this month compared to previous, and it was noticeable that the layout was tougher than usual. Most shooters saw it as a challenge and were complimentary about the layout, as for the others - you can't please all etc....!

Being January, many people renewed membership (recognise a bargain) but this meant slight delay in the queue for shooting cards, which normally only happens in January, so we should get everyone shooting with minimum delay next month.

There was a very strong demand, well in excess of 100 shooters during opening hours so cards were still being sold at 1300, so bear in mind to arrive early. As to the layout, the cold weather, gusty wind and need to be bundled up

probably all contributed to the lower swcores, but Terry, our field planner admits he put up some difficult targets. Only Stand 5 got consistently high scores across all three classes, Stand 1 averaged only 3 kills, tho' Gary Arbery and Kevin Joyce in C got 7 and 8 respectively. This was only beaten by Ben Ayres in A with a very creditable 9.

We'll make the layout slightly easier next month and give the purists an opportunity to complain about it being too easy! Re-grading has taken place and everyone graded against their scores last year, with everyone being encouraged to put their cards in to permit accurate grading within classes. Hopefully this will reflect CPSA grading practice and be easier to manage and keep updated.

Next shoot is SUNDAY 26th. FEB., look forward to seeing you all there.

PS We still loan guns , incluiding a 20 bore, but please remember to bring photo ID - you don't have it, we won't lend you a gun.

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