Wildfire destroys Lands End Shooting Club as members rally

The fire took the clubhouse, firing point, backstops, target systems, storage containers and virtually all of the club’s equipment in a matter of hours. No firearms or ammunition were stored on site and nobody was injured.

What did the club lose?

Beyond the range itself, the flames destroyed the junior trees and wildlife habitat that members had planted and maintained around the boundary over many years. The Countryside Alliance, which reported the loss, said what took decades of volunteer effort and investment to create had been wiped out almost overnight.

The club has served the local shooting community, rifle and clay alike, since its foundation in 1982, and its loss will be felt across West Cornwall.

How can shooters help the rebuild?

Insurance will pay out but will not cover the full cost of rebuilding, so the club has launched a Crowdfunder appeal with an initial target of £5,000 to replace essential equipment and get the range back on its feet. The appeal is open now and the link is below.

The committee is treating the rebuild as a chance to build back better. Plans include combining the clubhouse and firing point into a single building, improving the layout of the range and installing modern modular target systems to serve existing members and the next generation of shooters.

A summer that keeps burning

The fire adds a shooting ground to the growing list of countryside casualties in a summer of wildfires that has already burned moorland, heathland and forestry across Britain. This week Forestry England published its initial assessment of the New Forest fire, which destroyed more than 100 hectares of rare heathland, while moorland groups continue to press ministers over the fuel loads driving fire severity.

For clubs and shoots, the Cornish fire is a reminder of how exposed remote facilities are in a tinder-dry season, and of the value of reviewing cover before the worst happens.

What happens next?

The club’s focus now turns to fundraising and reconstruction, and donations of any size can be made through the Crowdfunder page, linked below.