Although we have been closed during lockdown things have been busy with some changes being made to the shooting ground. We look at what has been going on.

Since Bywell Shooting Ground started life back in 1980 it has seen many changes from its overall size, layouts and infrastructure. These have occurred in both the retail and the clay shooting sides of the business. As things became busier and with us then beginning to host larger competitions and championships the ground needed to evolve. After starting with just the one skeet layout and a handful of DTL layouts in the early days we have grown to have 12 DTL layouts, 6 ABT layouts, 4 Skeet layouts and numerous sporting stands. The shop and gunroom retail area has also evolved in various stages, the last of which was completed in early 2019. After this latest change we now wanted to turn our attention to outside to improve things to yet another level.


This year we were all set for the arrival of the prestigious World DTL Championships in July which required several changes to the ground in preparation. Unfortunately, with the current Coronavirus outbreak this has been postponed back to June 2021. With the current lockdown now was the ideal time with no ongoing disruption to get started and push with these much needed developments. So, what has been changing? We have been adding new pathways, extending the car park, creating a hard-standing area to park some for our scissor lifts during the wetter times of the year. We have also had 4 new DTL trap houses manufactured so for the World championships we can run 16 DTL layouts. We are also planning on erecting more safety fencing between the layouts.


Although this sounds relatively simple put hard standing areas in requires a lot of materials, man power and heavy machinery. The first step is marking it all and then digging the area out. John with his expert hand on the 360 excavator carried out the first job removing large amounts of soil. This was then efficiently led away by Ethane on the tractor and trailer. Once the correct depth was taken out Ross then boarded out the edges by hand with long lengths of wood and pegs to keep the material in place and stop the soil coming away. Terram is then laid out on the bottom which is a semi-permeable material allowing water to drain through but will keep the paths relatively weed free. Once this is down and level several lorry loads of aggregate are brought in by the boss Allan and are the first material put down. This is then compacted by being rolled ready for the finished layer on top. The top is finished with road planings which again are leveled and rolled with Grants expect eye on the rolling machine.


Regular shooters will know that on the bustling Sunday competition days parking can sometimes be an issue. Several years back an overflow carpark was installed to the East end of the ground which proved very effective at time but was quickly outgrown. After a week of hard work by the team with the lengthy process this has been upgraded yet again by more than doubling the area give much more room for our customers and competitors to safely park.

The hardened trap shooters will know the very last layout to the East of the ground has been fully on the grass. Well this has all been changed, with a path now in place leading right up to the layout. The layout itself has also been fully surrounded by hard stand making shooting on this layout in damp conditions much more pleasant.


During the busy competitions being able to access the entire shooting ground quietly, efficiently and quickly for the ground staff is key for a successful event of any kind. The existing path that runs behind the layouts has been used over previous years but the close proximity to competitors shooting can make things difficult at times. Additional paths set back to both the east and west of the ground are currently being installed to make this movement much easier. These will prove very effective particularly in adverse weather conditions where going on the grass with vehicles is not possible.


One of the most exciting changes to come is the addition of the new hard stand to situate the 90 foot high tower. The tower is used often on lessons throughout the year, but with the logistics of the ground shooting this target to shoot as practice is not usually possible. Having this new stand down the West end of the ground will allow the tower to be used uninterrupted throughout various parts of the year. Watch this space as we will soon be introducing the opportunity to shoot these testing targets as practice, perfect to get your eye in for the up and coming season ahead.


As you can see during this quiet period for many, we have been very busy improving the ground for you all to enjoy when you come back. I’m sure it won’t be too long before we are all enjoying shooting clays once again. We hope you are all staying safe and look forward to welcoming you all back when we are back open.