New Airgun range in the North East/ North East clubs

[Katzenjammer]

http://www.oaklodgeshootingground.co.uk/

This is good news for the North East where there is a dearth of good reasonably priced clubs. The demise of Thorndell Field Target Club was a loss to the region with its £50 annual membership fee and no range fees. There were limited spaces there however.

I don't know what this one will cost but the membership of the clay pigeon club is £30 so if it is pitched at that with no or a low range fee then the owners are on to a winner. Given the acreage it has made me wonder whether Thorndell may find a new venue there - I know they are still looking.

I'm certainly going to give it a look see given its proximity to me and it serves both shotgun shooters and airgunners. If they could get a .22lr range as well than so much the better - not that I lack one of them given our permission.

[wezdavo]

I was a member of thorne dell, such a shame it was lost..

I have been shooting at Dunkleys but at £7 a time its a tad too much....

I will be giving this one a try

[Timmytree]

I wish we had facilities like that down here, I like a day at a range sometimes but we don't have anything worth visiting in a sensible distance.

[zippy]

http://www.oaklodgeshootingground.co.uk/

This is good news for the North East where there is a dearth of good reasonably priced clubs. The demise of Thorndell Field Target Club was a loss to the region with its £50 annual membership fee and no range fees. There were limited spaces there however.

I don't know what this one will cost but the membership of the clay pigeon club is £30 so if it is pitched at that with no or a low range fee then the owners are on to a winner. Given the acreage it has made me wonder whether Thorndell may find a new venue there - I know they are still looking.

I'm certainly going to give it a look see given its proximity to me and it serves both shotgun shooters and airgunners. If they could get a .22lr range as well than so much the better - not that I lack one of them given our permission.

Thank you so much Steve for posting this up for us...

This new club has very impressive facility's, the 100,m air rifle range is very impressive indeed, They also serve a rather nice full English breakfast, I can foresee myself putting on a little weight after a few visits to this new club, It really do's look Quite professional, and with it been a combined Air rifle and firearm affair along with the encouragement from the owners to let all have a try, and at superb prices, only £30 for membership, I think range fees are free after membership.... great, stuff...
Although it is 19,miles there and back for me to travel, I think it's worth it though.

Thank you, regards Mick

[Katzenjammer]

Yes Zippy the facilities look good don't they, especially the lure of an open fire in winter and a breakfast. It's worth having a rundown to Keith's at Saltburn as well tbh. That is an interesting shop, I call it an emporium, with fishing, airgunning and shotgunning on three floors. Open fires and leather chesterfield sofas and usually a discount at the cash register on the ticketed price of all goods. An excellent way to lure customers in and a good word of mouth marketing ploy? They will still be making a good profit. For example my Le Chameau wellies were up at £160 but they knocked £40 off! And you know how much I saved on the new Baikal o/u?

The £30 mentioned on the Oaklodge site is for shotgunners but I can't imagine them charging more for the airgunners. They may charge a range fee but that is not clear yet. The clay side will charge a fee for using the facilities to shoot a certain number of "birds" each visit so a nominal charge may be made per visit to airgunners? I agree that £7 is too much at Woodview on a regular basis but that is a visitors fee you know? If you join the club and pay whatever the yearly membership is now (discounted to £45 if you buy from the shop there) then the daily fee is only £3. I was a member at Thorndell for many years. It would be good to see them find a new home to continue an affiliated HFT/FT club in the NE.

So what do we have up here in the NE now?

Swarland
Dinnington
Mayfair at Sunderland?
Woodview at Elwick
Middlesbrough nr skippers lane
Darlington?
Oak lodge coming on line.

Any more?

[richierich]

So what do we have up here in the NE now?

Swarland
Dinnington
Mayfair at Sunderland?
Woodview at Elwick
Middlesbrough nr skippers lane
Darlington?
Oak lodge coming on line.

Any more?

I think that's it for the North East. There is a club that has started at Consett but it's a meet once a month type of club, indoor at the Consett YMCA where they rent the sports hall.

I'm a member of Swarland, and i have around a 90mile round trip from Durham over my nearest two because of the following:
Dinnington, pap as you can never get a seat and the targets never work. If you want to shoot more than 30m, you have to bag yourself the end two seats. The benches are also too short which means you can't lay your rifle on it without fear of it falling off when you are reloading mags etc. It's only redemption is the bacon sarnies.
Woodview (or Dunkleys as it's known), Been twice and didn't feel welcome. The first visit, was pissing down with rain and the only benches free were in the wet. Second visit, tried to get a bench and was told someone else was sitting there, and when i asked where this person was, i was told he hadn't arrived yet and it was always his seat. Seemed to get the same negativity from the next seat i tried to sit at. I beleive Happygrumpz had the same welcome. On BOTH visits, i just packed up my gear and left. Never been back since.

[Katzenjammer]

Woodview (or Dunkleys as it's known), Been twice and didn't feel welcome. The first visit, was pissing down with rain and the only benches free were in the wet. Second visit, tried to get a bench and was told someone else was sitting there, and when i asked where this person was, i was told he hadn't arrived yet and it was always his seat. Seemed to get the same negativity from the next seat i tried to sit at. On BOTH visits, i just packed up my gear and left. Never been back since.

Sorry to hear that mate. I am one of the members of longest standing and tbh I have an idea of the group you are talking about. One in particular thinks he owns the place and he is a relative newcomer himself. I would have just said "tough, he ain't here, I've paid etc". Some of the buggers spread themselves out as well with all their gear on the bench beside them. It all needs rebuilding imo with the benches extending as far as they can and shooting slots painted on the bench, just as the car park needs parking spaces set out imo. I rebuilt one of the benches they had taken down. Just as well I did given the rise in demand. Sunday is a bad day if it was a Sunday you came. Better clientele during the week and on a Saturday - well some of them.

[richierich]

Woodview (or Dunkleys as it's known), Been twice and didn't feel welcome. The first visit, was pissing down with rain and the only benches free were in the wet. Second visit, tried to get a bench and was told someone else was sitting there, and when i asked where this person was, i was told he hadn't arrived yet and it was always his seat. Seemed to get the same negativity from the next seat i tried to sit at. On BOTH visits, i just packed up my gear and left. Never been back since.

Sorry to hear that mate. I am one of the members of longest standing and tbh I have an idea of the group you are talking about. One in particular thinks he owns the place and he is a relative newcomer himself. I would have just said "tough, he ain't here, I've paid etc". Some of the buggers spread themselves out as well with all their gear on the bench beside them. It all needs rebuilding imo with the benches extending as far as they can and shooting slots painted on the bench, just as the car park needs parking spaces set out imo. I rebuilt one of the benches they had taken down. Just as well I did given the rise in demand. Sunday is a bad day if it was a Sunday you came. Better clientele during the week and on a Saturday - well some of them.

It was annoying more than anything Steve, spent an hour travelling and trying to find the place and was completely let down, but i won't be going back there anytime soon. Bad experience one visit, fair enough, but twice.... first impressions and all that.

I know some clubs have their bad eggs

Hopefully this new one should be good

[Katzenjammer]

Well I know I and a few others will be giving it a trial. The added bonus for me is the clay ground as well. Make more of a day of it. But all that said I am lucky in having an excellent permission/syndicate and a great relationship with the farmers and we can shoot what we want when we want when the pest control demand is not on. That and their requests on that get our full attention given their generosity to us.

[Pat g]

Steve,
Just to add to your list of North East clubs :- Bywell Shooting Ground, Felton Northumberland.
Usworth Clay Pigeon Club, Springwell, Tyne &Wear.
The Dog Inn Clay Target Shooting Club, Heighton, County Durham.
Hazel Bank Shooting Ground, Knaresborough, North Yorks.
Dishforth Shooting Club, Boroughbridge, North Yorks.
Beamish Sporting Club- Near Slaley, Northumberland.
Dents Hall Shooting Ground, Greenside Tyne&Wear.
Spennymoor & DistrictCPC, Fishburn, County Durham. (CPSA Affiliated)
Times Inn Gun Club Cold Hesledon, Seaham County Durham.
Hardwick Hall Shooting Club, Near Sedgefield, County Durham
Woodlands Close Shooting Club, Wingate County Durham.
The Mayfair Shooting Centre Sunderland is a long established Home Office approved club (where i used to be a member) offering a 25m indoor range for LBR LBP Gallery rifle shooting 38sp/357mag and 44sp/44mag and 22lr. They have access to Ponteland Military Range for the shooting of Centrefire rifles together with approved instructors where range competency certificates can be gained to access the use of Military ranges. This being a requirement.
Of course many of these above mentioned clubs don't have facilities for Airgunners "At Present". However without drifting off topic and wishing to start the Airgun Licensing debate what i would say is that English and Welsh Airgunners must realise that what has gone on in Scotland is sure to follow suit in England and Wales at some time in the not to distant future.. Despite Police Scotland not wanting to have to enforce this new law its happened and thats that. Because of this i'm sure that many Shooting Clubs, whether Clay shooting and Section 1 Firearm clubs will see an opening in the market for purpose built airgun ranges to enable law abiding Airgunners to keep their rifles legally. I'm aware that it will have no effect to the 1000,s already owned by the dregs of society. However the bottom line is if you don't want to risk prosecution then you'll need to prove you have either "A" a permission ( which many people are not fortunate to have ) or "B" be a member of a "Club" here is where the opening is for shooting clubs to cater for Airgunners. So what i would say is Legislation, though having no effect on the limited number of Airgun related crimes, may see an upsurge in much needed facilities for Airgunners and that can only be a good thing.
I feel that Oak Lodge may even have envisaged this and moved quickly to produce what looks like first class facilities in a region where sadly Airgunners have limited choice.
I for one will certainly be having a 100 bird ESP and will have a "Gander" at the Airgun Range. Excellent news and i wish Oak Lodge Shooting Ground the upmost success.
Richie, Im sorry to hear of your bad experience at Woodview. I like Steve am a long standing member and again i'm sure i know who the culprit may have been who treated you very rudely if i'm honest. Not good enough and had Steve and i been at the Range and some of our more long term members you would have been given a warm welcome. I hope that at some time you return to Woodview where hopefully you'll be treat as a potential new member. Really sorry to hear that. Although Steve and i are not often at Woodview because of other shooting commitments we do sometimes "call in".
I hope some of the above information is of some help to people,
Cheers!!,
ATB,
Pat