This weekend was the final training weekend for the team before they headed out to Canada. The Saturday started off on a dismal, drizzly and overcast morning (in contrast to the previous training weekend) with a Commonwealth Match and the whole team was ready to go exactly on time. The dismal nature of the weather only proceeded to get worse as the morning progressed with a light shower for the first shooter that made the target very difficult to see. As the match was run as a full match practice there was very little time between shooters to rest (as there were plotting and score board duties to complete). When one of the team had his turn to plot he took his job very seriously, so seriously that he decided to repeat the wind calls back to the coach in a very loud voice so they knew he had heard them. As you would expect, this was frowned upon especially as those behind the firing point could hear him without electronic ear defenders on. Despite the ridiculous wind conditions one of the team managed to get an HPS.
Scores for the morning were noted down on what appeared to be a child’s white board so it was a good job that some of the team have very small but neat handwriting.
The team were sharing the range with the Home Countries and finished well ahead of time, which meant that the move back to 1000yds was quite leisurely and there was time for tea. The wind took a turn for the worse at this range and to quote one team member it was “bat s**t mental”. The weather really couldn’t decided if it wanted to play which meant that there was sun one minute then rain the next and back again. The conditions were very testing and the coaches made full use of the time allocated and finished the last shooter with only a fraction of a minute left to go.
Lunch for the team was one again provided by the wonderful Sue Fitz and consisted of cheese, bread, salad, yoghurt, fruit and a multitude of other tasty treats. As some of you may know, the Lions had a match against Australia on Saturday and from previous diary entries mentioning the Ireland vs. Italy game earlier on in the year, it is obvious that the majority of the team wanted to watch it. Unfortunately the BCRC is not equipped with a TV so ingenuity took hold and the team crowded around the Adjs phone to watch a very small version of the match.
After lunch the team moved out to 300yds to begin a Canada Match practice. Unfortunately for this diarist nothing of note happened during the 300yd shoot except that it rained for a brief period, but this is England so that goes without saying. 500yds however, was much more interesting. Henryk had to move lanes after his 3rd shot as the butt markers had de-railed the target from the frame (clearly in haste as the team was shooting very fast).
The team finished the 500yd shoot well ahead of the time limit and therefore there was a bit of a rest before the start of 600yds. This time meant sleeping for some people and playing with Gary’s cute little dog Fergus for others.
A quick debrief was held back at the BCRC after finishing at 600yds and congratulations were given to Birty for scoring the only 150 of the afternoon. The team were then released to get all dolled up for the team dinner later on that evening.
Dinner was held back in the BCRC and partners were invited to join the team who were dressed in No.1s (all expect the diarist who obviously didn’t get the memo – my apologies Captain!). For a starter there was Parma ham and melon and then the main course was beef bourguignon with mashed potatoes and vegetables, which was delightful. All throughout the dinner the wine was flowing and by desert some of the team had become slightly merrier than when the started. Desert was a chocolate roulade and meringue with strawberries and other assorted berries but it was the cheese course that had people excited (especially at this diarists table).
The crackers were brought out before the cheese and during the wait there were some, slightly one sided, cracker eating competitions held between Al and Birty although it was only really Al playing on his own. Needless to say he was very happy with his win. Coffee and tea was brought out along with the cheese course and one member of the team, being slightly red in the face from an undisclosed amount of wine, wanted to show off his chocolate eating prowess. This consisted of him placing the chocolate on his forehead and then making it work its way down his face until it reached his mouth, all without using his hands. The ladies were swooning when they saw this spectacle.
After a few more bottles of wine and an amount of port (which caused a number of the team to suffer forfeits for putting the bottle down) the team moved on to the Surrey to continue their debauchery, minus a few of the more sensible members who decided enough was enough and bed was calling.
The next morning saw the team assemble for a briefing at the BCRC at 10am and very surprisingly everyone was on time (give or take a few minutes). There was, however, one person that was assisted to the veranda of the BCRC as he had gained a UDI (unidentified drinking injury) to his ankle resulting in it being excruciatingly painful to walk on. Once this team member was carefully placed in a strategic location so that he could be as comfortable as possible but still embarrassed for being in such a state the team kit was distributed. The briefing progressed and Hockley began talking about rifle transportation and weight limits etc to which the Captain said “ don’t bring a coffin as your rifle box” as it would exceed the weight limit.
Having completed the final official team debrief of our training schedule, it was time to prepare for 60 guests to attend the Friends and Family day.