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Well I have come to Ripley Castle in north Yorkshire to join the Shotgun and Chelsea
Gun Club for a girls only driven pheasant and partridge day and the girls are having
breakfast.
It starts with breakfast.
The ladies and some of their male admirers, sorry, loaders, are gathering at the Boar's
Head in the village of Ripley in North Yorkshire.
Lady Ingilby is their host today and gives them a team talk over the croissants and lattes.
We have four drives to look forward to today.
All the guns are fascinated by one of the cars parked in the hotel car park.
Is it one of them?
Who could it be?
Once they establish it is one of the other hotel guests, they feel they can relax.
So if it's not about whips and leather, what is the Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club?
Decided to set up the club to encompass my two favourite things, obviously, and just
to make clay shooting and game shooting more accessible for absolutely everyone.
So that girls from all walks of life not necessarily had any exposure to shooting or don't feel
that they have an in to it and just a place to network for more experienced girls as well.
It has been so well supported which I am so grateful for.
Hull Cartridge have been so great to us.
Malmo Guns in Lancaster they have kindly provided us with a Browning 725 which is our club gun
which the girls love.
They are such great, great people and a wonderful shop.
Well, we are off to drive number one, a fairly easy starter drive with birds coming off farmland
and following hedgelines, with tall trees behind to keep them at a shootable distance.
Well, mainly at a shootable distance.
No question that that one is dead.
Some of the women are sharing guns.
They shoot four cartridges then swap.
They shoot safely, they follow Lady Ingilby's orders about ground game and they look great
- considerably better than a group of men in the same situation.
Pink is the colour of the day.
It's the new green.
Purple and blue are making a comeback.
And when they break after drive number one, it is of course time for pink champagne.
It's also time to talk to one of the great clayshooting names of the past, who is here
loading for one of the guns.
Joe Neville represented Great Britain at the Olympics in Olympic Skeet and won the British
Grand Prix in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s.
Well there are more and more girls who shoot today and it is great for the sport to get
them out in the field.
I do a lot of game shooting myself and there are more and more ladies taking part.
So that's a man's take on women-only shooting days (oh that sounds all wrong).
What does a woman think of looking after this bunch?
Ladies days are particularly nice because we think there is less testosterone and lots
of encouragement.
Some of these ladies have not shot much before, some of them are very experienced, so you
are able to lay on helpers if necessary.
Yes, to be honest safety is the first thing.
We want them to enjoy themselves, but we need them to be safe.
So where we think it is necessary we will stand with them just to keep them safe.
Most of the ladies come with a partner or someone just to watch them and clearly I am
around just to keep an eye on it.
You want the experienced guns to have a challenging day, but you want the novices to actually
hit something.
There is a lot of pink around today isn't there.
There is a fair amount of pink, although I was just saying that the ladies seem to be
verging into purple this year.
There is a fair amount of pink.
I myself have my very splendid pink ear defenders for ladies days and we change the champagne
to pink.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we are fairly pink.
Yes.
For drive two, I join top Chelsea bunner Victoria and her loader, the no-less remarkable Cheryl
Hall
Ladies shooting is there physically any difference between men and women shooting?
I don't see any difference in why they couldn't all compete together.
It is not about a physical sport, it is no different, we shoot the same weapons, we shoot
the same clays, we shoot the same amount of clays.
So I don't see why women have to be segregated.
Cheryl has had Digweedian levels of success in clayshooting, with 24 World Championship
titles and numerous European titles in not only English Sporting but also Compak and
FITASC.
She is also sponsored by Hull Cartridge, which is providing the shells for today.
How has that come about tell me about that.
Quite a few years ago I approached them and they said they were interested and I have
stayed with them ever since and I don't look at going to any other manufacturer.
I think they are the best product on the market and I am so happy with them.
Idea for Hull's Imperial Game cartridges, this drive has birds coming out over woodland,
and they keep the guns busy up and down the line.
More refreshment.
We stop for a snack at the Rpley Castle Shoot's well-appointed café bar.
Well, half of the point of the shotgun and Chelsea Bun Club is carbohydrate.
The day ends with a drive where everyone's shooting comes together.
The birds pour over the top of a line of trees.
It's not all shooting shooting shooting.
There's time for a gossip too.
Tired but happy, the women head back to Ripley Castle for that other passion, cake.
Well that is the girl's driven day over with and they are off having lunch, but for a bit
of a bonus there is a party of Kiwi shooters here and they have come down to the castle
for the duck.
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Was that fun?
Unbelievable shooting.
I have never seen any thing like it, ducks everywhere.
Incredible duck shooting, incredible duck shooting it really is.
If you want to go shooting at Ripley Castle, visit www.ripleycastleshoot.com And for more
about Hull Cartridge, go to www.hullcartridge.co.uk