Fennes Clay Pigeon Shooting

On 11th March 2014, five brethren from St Laurence had a day out at the Fennes Shooting School in Braintree.

Fennes

Fennes is situated in 100 acres of beautiful, picturesque Essex countryside and woodland and provides excellent shooting facilities for the novice and experienced gun alike. The school boasts a huge variety of targets with all new traps, stands and landscaping. It has 8 different traps on a 100ft tower, 14 stands of sporting targets, 3 pro trap layouts, skeet and DTL (shooting Down The Line). Unlike many shooting venues, Fennes is well drained and even following very wet weather the grounds remain relatively dry and firm underfoot.

We started the day with tea, coffee and bacon rolls and then met up with Sarah, the organiser and our teacher for the event. She was one of England’s foremost shots, having won many accolades and awards and was exceedingly patient with us. We went through the safety aspects of shooting (e.g. don’t point a loaded gun at anyone!) before receiving individual tuition during our practice shoot. She then led us on to the various traps for the competition.

Ken and Ian are experience shooters. They shot very well and obtained the highest scores but it must be said that out of the three novices, Fraser was very close to matching them!

An extremely enjoyable day made more so by the fine weather and excellent company.  It closed with a retrospect and a little boasting over a hot drink, followed by the taking of a few photos which can be seen below.

The idea of a St Laurence shooting team has been suggested and anyone interested in joining the team, or indeed coming along to a future shoot at Fennes (or other venues) should make contact. You will be very welcome.