Barton on Humber Wildfowlers Club has secured a £100,000 loan from the Wildlife Habitat Charitable Trust (WHCT) to turn 16 acres of arable farmland into wetland habitat to benefit species including lapwing, golden plover and redshank. The club, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, plans to purchase 15.82 acres…
News
Met hands over gun owners’ home addresses
Home addresses of around 30,000 London firearm and shotgun owners have been handed over to external marketing agencies by the Metropolitan Police in what BASC described as a “potentially serious breach of trust”. The shooting organisation has contacted Met Commissioner Cressida Dick to question this apparent breach of the Data…
Drama at the Rural Oscars
Rural businesses from across England and Wales were celebrated at the 12th annual Countryside Alliance Awards at the House of Lords two weeks ago — a happy event that took a sombre turn as the Westminster venue was sealed following a terror incident. As the ceremony drew to a close,…
Breaking news: Countryside Alliance refused charitable status
The Commission commented: “Certain purposes of the Alliance relate to preserving, protecting and promoting the heritage and practice of activities related to wildlife, the countryside and wildlife management including hunting, shooting and fishing together with the management of the natural environment; and the advancement of rural community life. “These do…
A victory for common sense over EU gun laws
These proposals have been under consideration and ongoing debate for more than two years and originally included changes criticised as unnecessarily restrictive. Plans to tighten European gun laws were made following the shootings at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris in January 2015, but were brought forward by the European…
Tories say STOP! to anti-shooting foundation
The chairman of the Conservative Party, the Rt Hon Sir Patrick McLoughlin MP, has told the anti-shooting Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) to stop using the party logo and to limit its operations. The CAWF drew criticism after it urged the Government to launch a review of the shooting of birds…
The size of the bag is not the point
As shooters we are often guilty of making sweeping assertions as to what the wider public love or hate about what we do. We base our beliefs on what we or our friends think, rather than a more scientific assessment of what voters think. And it’s that category that impacts on us in Parliament and the…
Firearms licensing still a “postcode lottery”
The 2015 Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) report Targeting the risk concluded that the application of firearms licensing in England and Wales is “inconsistent and inadequate” with a wide variation in the amount of time it takes to grant and renew a certificate. Shooting Times took a look at…
Volunteers needed to save red squirrels – and cull greys
“In most of the UK there are only a handful of refuges left for red squirrels,” said Dr Cathleen Thomas, programme manager of Red Squirrels United, a conservation partnership started in 2015. “Without help, experts predict this beautiful and treasured creature could be extinct within as little as 35 years.” Volunteers…
Wildfowling club granted £35,000 loan
The Wildlife Habitat Trust (WHT) has granted Clevedon Wildfowling Association a £35,000 loan to buy a plot of land, which the club says will support wildfowling “for generations to come”. The association has been shooting over the 13.80-acre patch of grazing and a pond in Kingston Seymour, North Somerset, for…
5 minutes with Patrick Galbraith – the new editor of Shooting Times
SUK: Welcome on board Patrick. So tell us, where are you from in Scotland? PG: I was brought up in Edinburgh and learned to shoot during summer holidays in Dumfriesshire. I started my shooting career, as so many people do, going out after bunnies with an old BSA air rifle. I…
CLA seeks to strike new deal to end rural broadband divide
Landowners have pledged to work with fibre broadband providers to grant access to private land — in the hope of bringing an end to the rural digital divide. Slow internet speeds and patchy mobile coverage Rural areas are way behind in terms of the fastest broadband and best mobile phone coverage and this…
BBC bias against fieldsports could go unopposed
Changes to the BBC complaints procedure could lead to continued bias against fieldsports from its shows and presenters, say shooting groups. In the past year, the BBC has come under fire from the rural community several times. An October episode of Inside Out London presented a biased depiction of gamebird rearing that did not show best practice, presented…
Anti-shooting proposals in “Tory” group manifesto
The Countryside Alliance (CA) has called on the Conservative Party to distance itself from an animal welfare group that it says is “masquerading” as part of the party. The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, established last year, seeks “an inquiry into commercial driven shoots” and urges the Government to “commit to…
League Against Cruel Sports claims shooting industry to blame for bird flu outbreak
Eduardo Goncalves, LACS chief executive, said the outbreaks were “inevitable” because “the number of birds used by the shooting industry each year is a disaster waiting to happen. More pheasants and partridges are bred to be shot each year than the combined number of turkeys and duck killed for the table, but…
Shooting sports make huge contribution to rural economy
Shooting and countryside organisations have highlighted the important role that the shooting and farming industries play in supporting rural tourism. A number of groups gave evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee inquiry into tourism’s role in supporting rural growth in England last month. Vital source of income for rural business The committee is also examining issues…
RSPB officer attacks GWCT
Rural organisations are concerned that the RSPB considers itself to be “at war” with moorland managers, following a highly critical public presentation by one of its senior officers. Speaking to the North of England Raptor Forum in November, RSPB senior upland policy officer Dr Pat Thompson said that certain groups,…
Bird flu discovered in pheasant flock in Lancashire
A number of the flock have died and the remaining live birds at the infected premises are being humanely culled. A full investigation is under way to determine the source of the infection. Public Health England advises that the risk to public health from the avian flu virus is very…
The Handicap Challenge – a competition for all at the Royal Berkshire Shooting School
What is the Handicap Challenge? It is an open, handicapped, 100 target, English Sporting championship held over 11 weeks, with the course built to a “par” score of 94 ex-100. The course, set by Royal Berkshire Shooting School (RBSS) instructors Robert Cross and Steven Turner, will include the renowned high tower as well as theexciting…
No more hiding for activists as police gain unmasking powers
The House of Lords passed an amendment to the Policing and Crime Bill last month that will make it easier for the police to unmask violent protesters. The amendment was made in response to concerns that existing powers do not permit police officers to unmask protesters, often including hunt saboteurs and other animal rights activists, without prior written authorisation. Animal…