GP3 Tondu
The first half of the double header was basically on one side of a valley. Tondu is an old quarry and has quite a long and steep in places road down to it.
And what must be typical Welsh weather it decided that it would be nice to rain, not just one of those short showers but just that constant light rain that just got everywhere. For those that shot in the morning it was probably worse for them as they were in it for all of their shooting.
The course had been set in a circle in 2 halves. The first 10 lanes were on the top of the mound some 30ft or so about the car parking area. The targets had been placed low down across some water and high up on the side of the quarry bank. With the wind was blowing to about 25mph meaning that plenty of aiming off required.
5 lanes were on the top of this bank with at least 6 of the 10 targets over 45yds away and between 10 feet beneath you or 25 feet above you. The next 5 lanes started down the mound with a mixture of reducers and a kneeling lane to finish with, the 2nd target of that lane being a 25mm as well. With the misty rain coming in waves rangefinding became challenging as some shooters found it difficult to range exactly on the targets.
After carrying on down the mound you then came across a standing lane with the targets now in the opposite direction to the first 10 lanes. The remaining 15 lanes ran along the track that brought the cars to parking area. In the first 2 lanes were in the undergrowth of the wooded area and some over open water.
The remaining lanes were in the wooded area, whilst it looked windless it was most definitely there and all the undergrowth was directing it in different directions to what you might of expected.
Those shooting in the afternoon carried on with the weather that had plagued the morning shooters. However, a few hours in it finally stopped and by the time the shooters were on their last 4 or 5 lanes the sun came out and then they started to steam in the wet clothes.
So what about the scores for the day, well I finished on a 30 again, Mr Consistent I suppose. Highest score in the morning I understand to be a 42, but that is probably subject to the soggy scorecard checks. The afternoon had a score of 44, not much of a difference but with some of the top shooters doing the morning session it could mix things up a little bit.
Tomorrow we will be heading to the other side of the valley roughly where the arrow is. I have never been there before so with the forecast 30mph gusts it could be interesting again.
Neil Mac . our spring gun man ??? HOLLY
Neil got a 33 with his springer in the Morning ??? HOLLY
Nice write up, as ever Andy, good to have pictures accompanying it too. I have shot at both venues and did well at Tondu one year when they held the inter-regionals. I have only shot Oakwood, as a guest, when visiting friends who live nearby, must admit it did my back in too. Look forward to ETL with you both.
Well good effort Andy . hard shoot , but at least it was dry . ??? HOLLY
GP4 Oaktree
What a difference a day can make, waking up to overcast skies but no rain where I was staying.
Oaktree FTc is about 3 miles from Tondu across the valley, this yellow arrow showing where the shoot was yesterday.
Today was a long drive up the side of the hill, it just seem to keep on going. When you got to the parking area you got out of the car and felt the force of the wind. It was not just a gentle breeze this was a full on 15mph breeze, well it was at 10am more about it later.
Booking in and a quick walk around showed me that the course ran down through a strip of oak woodland, hence the name, and the bottom end of the course being some 50ft lower than the top.
Lanes 1 to 6 were on the top near the club hut, plenty of angles used as the picture below shows.
The next 4 lanes were in the field were the zero range was. Here the wind could cause some real havoc, if you carefully looked at the strings and windicators they were going in opposite directions.
Next you headed back into the wood and then the next 9 lanes wound down the hill with the targets at different angles and catching the wind in all different directions.
Going back the to breeze mentioned earlier, well in the afternoon it had picked up to a more 20mph breeze and gusta a lot stronger. For example I missed the target circle in the picture below but I was aiming off about 9" off to the right the pellet dropped slightly to hit at 6 o'clock.
The last lanes run back up the hill, plenty of back straining elevation here which caused me a few problems. Aiming some 45 degrees upwards is not easy when the wind is buffeting you as well.
So score for me was a poorly 24 but considering at halfway round I had only hit 10 I was glad for a bit of recovery. Highest score was a 40 in the afternoon but a 45 in the morning showing the difference in wind strength.
A short 2 week break before I head to ETL in Essex, this time in the comapny of Holly and Bazza so lets see what happens.
Well Good Luck Andy ??? HOLLY