It is great to see new grounds opening and adding registered shoots to their calendar. A recent new addition to the calendar has been Honesberie Shooting School who have opened up a new ground to hold regular Sunday registered sporting. I took a trip down recently to take part and see what they have to offer.
The ground is situated just outside Watergall on the A423, with the postcode CV47 2XP bringing you right to the entrance to Hill Farm, where you access via a good farm track, and then across an open field for car parking. There is a small, functional set of buildings being used as a booking in office, a small refreshments hut, and some nice outdoor seating which was welcome in the bright morning sunshine when I visited.
Booking on was quick and efficient, and we were out on the ground in a few minutes. Early arrival for my squad meant that we had a pretty free flowing round, but the fine bright morning had clearly bought a lot of shooters along who quickly built up a good crowd moving around the ground.
Shooting is set across three distinct areas, to the right of the club house were a couple of stands which shot into some woodland, Stand 1 had a high chondelle and a high crow, and Stand 2 had a pair of fast woodcock type birds off into the trees.
Then back past the clubhouse onto a ‘middle section’ of the course which mainly shot out into an open paddock with four good testing stands – the pool shoot was also here. Stand three had a pair of rabbits, then stand four had a tough battue with a quartering target on report. Stand 5 had another tricky, fast quartering bird with a climbing crosser off a small platform behind some trees.
The next ‘area’ of the shoot was set around another wide field with stands set facing outwards into adjoining fields, there was one stand shooting through a hedgerow and across a small brook with a sim pair of crossers and another stand that was through a treeline and into a clearing which involved a long incoming curler followed by a left to right midi.
All the way around the ground, the team had used platforms to create some nice elevation on birds and introduce some height to a ground that is largely flat. By using trees, they had also created some small windows to make some targets a little harder.
On the way back in after finishing stand 12, there was a three target pool shoot with some fast and testing targets – this seemed busy throughout with a £75 payout for the High Gun there. Back at the clubhouse, coffee and food was good quality and value, and there was a great atmosphere with so many shooters visiting the ground for their Sunday morning worship!
Overall, I really enjoyed my morning at Hill Farm, the targets were good quality and had a wide variety – with something for everyone. I think that the ground will develop nicely if attendances stay good. I’m not sure how access will be in the winter, and hopefully Nick and the team there will be able to manage that carefully – but in the meantime it’s a ground I will definitely visit again.
Honesberie (Hill Farm) can be found at Hill Farm, Watergall, CV47 2XP and registered shoots run from 10am till 2pm on 22nd June, 13th July, 27th July, 24th August, 14th September and 28th September. Call 01327 262922 or visit www.honesberieshooting.co.uk for more details.
