Well, dear Reader, I got my hands on a gun…..or a 20 bore Beretta to be more precise! The day arrived when I finally made it to a fabulous day of clays and cake with the even more fabulous Chelsea Bun Club girls. A lovely group of ladies who enjoy shooting more than shopping and who can bake cakes that would put Mary Berry into serious baking retirement!
I arrived nervous and sure that I wouldn’t hit a thing. For moral support, I decided to persuade a lovely new friend from the village to come along. However, I quickly realised that it was possible that with all her years of country experience, she might well be the best beginner shot! Having listened to the safety briefing, picked up my hat, ear plugs (oh the glamour!) and a box of canary yellow cartridges, I made my way with our group to the shooting ground. I was in shooting awe of the smart ladies with elegant looking black cartridges. Wonderful to see all the gents look twice as 60 ladies emerged out of the club heading towards the shooting ground. Be warned chaps – lady guns and plenty of them. Surely the ultimate in countryside girl power!
Determined that I was not going to hit anything, I opted to go last in the group. Rob, our first instructor was brilliant – his catchphrase for where to place your hand on the gun “Wood is good” had me in fits of giggles…. Poor Rob, he did blush rather profusely! The dear new village friend was predictably good and we all whooped and cheered for every clay hit. The ladies in our group were jolly good fun and not at all the sort of stuffy shooting set I had been dreading an encounter with. My moment of truth arrived as I uttered for the millionth time that I wasn’t going to hit a thing before holding the gun and shouting “Pull”. To my surprise, I hit not just my first one but the four subsequent clays too! Rob rescued my virgin cartridge as a prized souvenir and then said that I was clearly telling fibs.
I promise, dear Reader, I really had never shot anything until that moment. Thrilling! The morning continued and we had a chance to try out plenty of other clay shooting thingies (very technical shooting term, I will have you know, dear Reader), firing every which way at you and some bouncing along the ground like rabbits. All the instructors were brilliant and I managed a rather respectable 16 out of 30 on the score card. Onwards to tea and cake – a welcome end to the day. My feet and hands had just about turned to ice standing around in the cold.
Might have to persuade Jerry to invest in a new set of Le Chameau boots for me in order to ward off the cold next time?! That’s right, dear Reader, there will be most certainly be a next time and a time after that!! I am truly bitten by the shooting bug and cannot wait to book another day with the charming Chelsea Bun Club ladies. I am so very glad they convinced me to come along. Let me loose with a shotgun and a load of clays any day. Countryside beware – Margot wants a gun!