North of the Fenland village of Cottenham, the flat fields are disrupted by an island of ridges, valleys, ponds, and young woodlands. One weekend in December, a heavy fog obscured the landscape. Cars crawled slowly along the surrounding roads, while tractors remained in barns. Yet a passerby could hear the sporadic sound of shotgun fire from the Cambridge University club.
A cadre of students was practising maintained lead on crossers and cutting a line across the path of looping midis. Nearly 20 of them had put down books and lab equipment to pull on boots and caps for the resumption of clay pigeon shooting after the November lockdown. As the morning ended, the sun began to shine through the fog. By then the students had expanded their cartridges, cleaned the barrels of their Brownings, and were preparing to drive back towards end-of-term deadlines and journal submissions.
As they returned to Cambridge, the smell of cordite clung to their clothes. During the long week ahead that scent would make them long to don their boots and head back to that Fenland isle.
The Cambridge University Clay Pigeon Shooting Club (CUCPSC) was founded in 1978 and has been using this shooting ground, in its different iterations, ever since. Originally comprising a team half-a-dozen strong, the student membership has now grown to 77. This makes it one of the largest sports clubs at the university. Over the past five years, it has gone through a period of reorganisation and growth, with membership more than tripling and the dedicated team of coaches expanding.
World-class
Denne historien er fra March 2021-utgaven av Sporting Gun.
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Denne historien er fra March 2021-utgaven av Sporting Gun.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Thermal spectrum
Paul Austin explores both ends of the thermal market with latest high-end release from Zeiss alongside a surprising entry-level offering from Xinfrared
Roe, rucks and new ground
Jon Snowdon and his team have much to keep them busy and a new tool to help them
Tales from a lifetime of foxing
Join Mike Powell as he explores the evolving world of fox shooting, drawing from a career that spans seven decades
Fox rot about Charlie
Patrick Hook responds to claims that fox numbers are dangerously on the wane
The sniff of success
Join Ryan Kay as he navigates the fascinating dynamic between a handler and their canine companion
Adventures of Nick & Ted
A new chapter in the histories of Sporting Gun and Sporting Shooter has Nick Ridley reflecting on the dogs he has trained over the years he has been associated with the magazines
The problem: Inflammation in the nervous system
Vet's advice
Gundogs Q&A
No problem goes unsolved as Sporting Gun puts your questions to the gundog experts
Stop-start!
Fran Ardley continues her training tips on disciplining your dog to the stop whistle and the exercises you need to do
Gundogs at the Game Fair
Organising the Game Fair's prestigious gundog competitions: behind-the-scenes with Francesca Prentice