Clay pigeon-shooting club targets new headquarters
8:59am Thursday 9th February 2012 in News
A CLAY pigeon-shooting club has set its sights on moving to a new home after 37 years.
But Bolton Gun Club — founded to teach Second World War soldiers to shoot — is moving only 75 yards from its current base at Reeves house Farm, off Chorley Road in Westhoughton.
If Bolton Council backs their relocation plan, the club will get a new clubhouse so coaches can promote the sport in what is a key year for the group.
Club chairman Steven Dawes said: “The sport is featured in this summer’s London Olympics, which gives us a wonderful opportunity to showcase what we do.
“We are hoping that, coupled with this successful move, will boost our profile.”
The club, which also has a rifle and pistol section in Scout Road, Bromley Cross, was started in the early 1940s.
It originally served as a teaching school that equipped the young men of Lancashire to shoot to help them survive the Second World War and return home safely.
Club committee member James Murphy said: “The club has approximately 75 members and is a not-forprofit organisation.
“Many of our members are women, young people and disabled people.
“We moved to Reeves House Farm with the assistance of the then landowner, Mr M Whitefield, who gifted us his club, Westhoughton Gun Club. The land in recent years has been owned by UK Coal PLC.
“The land we shoot on is in the process of being sold and the club cannot remain there.”
The club wants to move to a two-acre plot with a further four acres serving as a safety buffer zone.
There would be four shooting stands, a car park with 35 spots and a portable clubhouse, making use of solar energy and recycled rain water.
In 2010, the Countryside Alliance voted the club as UK Shooting Club of the Year.
