UKAHFT Furnace Mill, Nomads and Quarry

As we hurtle toward the end of another wonderful season, it’s time for Gary Chillingworth to report on the final three rounds of the series.

- Gary Chillingworth

In 2019, we were lucky to have almost perfect shooting weather all year, from the warm days at Cambridge to the howling gales on the hill of pain at Maldon, the 2019 season has had something for everybody and now, with three rounds left and all the major titles coming down to the wire, it’s time for the final double-header of 2019 and then on to the infamous Quarry.

FURNACE MILL

The final double-header of the year is always a wonderful event with two clubs that are very different, but are only a stone’s throw away from each other. The first club on the docket was round 7, sponsored by BSA, at Furnace Mill. This great venue is located just outside of Kidderminster and it has one of the best grounds of any club that we visit.

As you walk into the woodland, you get dappled light coming through the canopy and there is a stillness about the place – well, there is stillness until we arrive and then all hell breaks loose.

Furnace is mainly a fishery, so luckily, in the woodland there are a series of pools that we can shoot across. Shooting across water can have two main effects; number one, it’s hard to rangefind and looking over the shimmering pools messes with your head so you end up thinking the targets are further away then they are. The other main issue is that, for some reason, pellets seem to have more drop over water. This could be down to air pressure, or just perception, but looking at the faceplates around the water’s edge, there were a lot of low misses.