Tag: Rugeley Rifle Club

Lord Lieutenant presents at Club Annual Prizegiving

by RichHin Club News

Rugeley was honoured to welcome the Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Professor Elizabeth Barnes CBE to the club’s annual prize-giving. Accompanied by Deputy Lieutenants Col. David Leigh DL and Sarah Elsom DL, the Lord-Lieutenant toured the club’s facilities before presenting the annual trophies and prizes. Club President Councillor Olivia Lyons also spoke. A cheque for £500 was presented to Rugeley and District Community First Responders. The prizegiving was followed by a buffet, where a toast was raised to the memory of long-standing member Will Morgan, who sadly passed during the week, and to Brian Tonks, who sadly passed in 2025.

Trophies

  • Short Range Champion – Richard Hemingway
  • Long Range (Dewar) Champion – Richard Hemingway
  • 50metre Frostbite Champion (Winter) – Martyn Buttery
  • 50M/ISSF Champion – Michelle Steel
  • 10M Air Pistol Champion – Paul Watkiss
  • 10M Air Rifle Champion – Oliver Hill
  • Benchrest Champion – Paul Watkiss
  • Young Gun Trophy – Sarah Evans
  • Through the Ranges Champion – Richard Hemingway
  • Through the Ranges Runner Up – David Glover
  • Junior Short Range Trophy – Phoebe Houghton
  • Junior Long Range Trophy – George Robinson
  • Junior Air Rifle Trophy – Oliver Hill
  • Junior Air Pistol Trophy – Abi Beech
  • Benchrest Top Scorer (Spring 25 Internal) – Andy Gould
  • Benchrest Junior Top Scorer (Spring 25 Internal) – Sarah Evans

Awards

  • Best Potential (Junior) – Phoebe Houghton
  • Best Potential (Senior) – Tony Board
  • Best Improver – Mark Williams
  • Captain’s Prize – Oliver Hill
  • Secretary’s Award – David Glover

Rugeley to host County Championships

by RichHin Club News

Rugeley Rifle Club will host the Staffordshire Smallbore Rifle Association’s County Short Range Prone Championship in April.

On Saturday 18th April, the club will open it’s doors to competitors from across the county to compete at 25yards. The Short Range Championship has not been contested since 2019. Amongst the trophies up for grabs are the Smith Cup for Overall Champion, Cliff Everall Memorial Cup for Junior Champion and Col. N.C. Joseph Cup for Ladies Champion. The Pidduck Shield will be awarded to the top club team of five.

Rugeley is uniquely positioned to host this match due to the unusual mezzanine construction of the indoor range, which can accommodate 14 shooters at a time.

Entry form is available below:

SSBRA-Short-Range-2026Download

Rugeley members support British Shooting Schools Final

by RichHin Club News

Rugeley volunteers were in action this week at the 2026 Finals of British Shooting’s Schools Championship.

Held at Chase Leisure Centre, this year’s National Final saw a move to a full 30 lanes of electronic targets, supporting 220 pistol and 160 rifle athletes who had qualified from over 1000 competitors at the regional heats last autumn.

As an event sponsor, Rugeley were present with a club stand and ran a raffle for our charity account.

Five people pose in a large hall. Four wear high vis jackets, one of whom is in a wheelchair. The fifth man is in the uniform of a Deputy Lord Lieutenant.
Rugeley volunteers pose with Deputy Lieutenant Col. David Leigh at the British Shooting Schools Championship Finals in Cannock Leisure Centre.
A man stands behind a table. He is flanked by two floor banners reading "Rugeley Rifle Club"
Lee on the club stand

GB presentations for Izzy, Helen and Alex

by RichHin Competitions

Three Rugeley juniors were honoured this evening with presentations of their GB colours following selection to the GB Team for the Drew International Postal Match.

Presented by Club Match Secretary Dave Glover, Alex Buttery and Izzy Ward received colours for selection to this year’s Mixed Drew team of 10. Alex was also a reserve for the Men’s team of 3.

Helen Robinson belatedly received her colours following her selection as a Reserve to the 2024 Drew Ladies team.

A young woman stands smiling with a man receiving a blue scarf emblazoned with crossed rifles. Behind them is a banner reading "Rugeley Rifle Club"
A young man stands smiling with a man receiving a blue tie emblazoned with crossed rifles. Behind them is a banner reading "Rugeley Rifle Club"
A young woman stands smiling with a man receiving a blue scarf emblazoned with crossed rifles. Behind them is a banner reading "Rugeley Rifle Club"

Fifth place for Richard at English Championships

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley Captain Richard Hemingway placed fifth at the ESSU Open Championship today, held at NSRA Aldersley near Wolverhampton.

After a slow start in elimination, he picked up the pace to score 616.2, placing third in his squad and qualifying fourth overall for the championship shoot.

After lunch, he opened strong, and shot consistently in a tightly fought contest. Shelbie Marsland of Appleton streaked ahead to win the Open and Ladies Championships with 620.1, but below her was a tight battle for the remaining medals with six athletes within a point of one another. Sean Bett took silver on 616.5, Kosta Loukas placed third in the Open category with 616.3, whilst Simon Green was third in the English Confined on 616.0. Richard placed fifth, a single tenth behind on 615.9 followed by Matt Dixon on 615.7 and Alun Evans on 615.5.

The ESSU Championships were held at Aldersley for the first time in decades following the closure of the Malcolm Cooper Range at Bisley. Although the reorganisation of the facilities in the Lord Roberts Centre do represent a loss of amenity at present, it has resulted in matches seeking new homes outside of Surrey. We look forward to seeing more opportunities for smallbore athletes to compete at a high standard in the West Midlands.

Wards medal at West Midlands Open

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley members Izzy Ward and mum Carla medalled at the West Midland Open Championship this weekend. On Saturday, Izzy set a new PB of 607.5. In aggregate with her Sunday score of 605.2 she became West Midland Junior Air Rifle Champion.

In the 10M Air Pistol, Carla also PB’d with a 529, winning a silver medal in C-Class. With her Sunday score she won the C-Class aggregate. Congratulations to both!

Two people stand in front of a table bearing trophies and medals. The man on the left is wearing a red jacket and presenting a trophy to the young woman on the right.
Two women stand smiling outdoors. One holds a trophy whilst the other holds two medals.
A table laden with trophies and medals. A flag behind reads "West MIdlands Regional Target Shooting Squad".

Rugeley Captain makes National Championship Final

by RichHin Competitions

Club Captain Richard Hemingway became the first Rugeley member to qualify in the top-20 for the British Long Range Smallbore Championship Final since Martyn Buttery in 2013. Shooting at 50metres and 100yards, Richard finished 9th in his first stage squad, comfortably qualifying for the second stage where he finished 12th, with the top 20 progressing to the final.

Richard started the final strong with a 199/200, placing him narrowly in the lead after his first card. Changeable winds caused a struggle in the middle with a pair of 191s, managing a 193 to finish joint 9th, ranked 10th on count-back.

Concurrent to the British Championship, Richard was also the highest ranking Welsh competitor, earning him the title of Welsh Long-Range Champion and the Western Mail & Echo Cup.

Richard had previously qualified for the final of the 100th Roberts Championship in 2023, when 40 finalists were taken forward as was the practice in 1923. He finished 27th.

Two smiling men take a selfie on a shooting range between details. A plotting board is visible where one of them will mark the fall of shot and estimate scores for the benefit of spectators.
Richard & Club Chair Martyn before the match
A man stands in front of a table and a row of flags holding a silver trophy. He is suited with a red and green tie and a black blazer bearing a gold, red and green badge. The badge reads "Welsh Target Shooting Federation" and is embroidered with the Prince of Wales Feathers.
Richard with the Western Mail & Echo cup for leading Welsh competitor
A man kneels next to a plotting board on a shooting range. He is holding an unloaded target rifle and wearing a red and green shooting jacket. The board is titled "Earl Roberts Final" and the shots on the target have been marked by a spotter along with estimated scores for the benefit of spectators.
Richard with plotting board after the match
A man lies on a blue shooting mat aiming a rifle on a shooting range. A row of targets are visible in the distance. He is wearing brown shorts and a red and white shooting jacket.

Martyn witnesses historic Roberts match at Bisley

by RichHin Club News

Rugeley Club Chairman Martyn Buttery saw history being made on Friday 15th August as official Team Witness for the victorious British team in the historic Roberts match. On a sweltering Century range where temperatures exceeded 28 degrees, teams from GB and the USA shot for the Roberts Trophy, contested once every 8 years.

Britain had pride to regain, having lost the previous Roberts Match in 2017, and also losing away during the reciprocal matches for the Pershing Trophy in 2022 (delayed from 2021) and 2013, hosted in the United States.

The United States brought score potential, with Sarah Beard dominating proceedings. Having already won the X-Class Aggregate during the week, Sarah shot an exceptional 396 across both distances, setting herself well ahead of GB’s top scorer Adam Fowler on 391. GB made up in depth though. Where the USA’s scores dipped rapidly through the 380s into the 370s, GB held steady to finished with a score of 3863 against USA’s 3821.

The Roberts and Pershing Matches are considered somewhat the Ryder Cup of shooting in their pagentry and alternating host continents. Canada also contests the Pershing Trophy. The next match will be 2029. Both Roberts and Pershing matches are a single dewar – twenty shots each at 50m/yd and 100yd – between teams of ten. As a team match, wind coaches are permitted. The only difference between Roberts and Pershing is the use of British vs American targets. The latter have a larger bull meaning it is common for top shooters to drop no points and be tie-broken on inner-tens.

A suited man is seated. He wears a sun hat, sunglasses and a blue blazer with a badge embroidered with the Union Flag and the words "Great Britain Dewar".
Martyn supervises proceedings
Two smiling men pose for a selfie. One is suited, wearing a white shirt and a tie bearing an emblem of crossed rifles. The other is wearing a thing blue t-shirt for the hot weather, has a green cooling towel around his neck and is carrying a Canon camera with a large lens.
Club Captain Richard is roped in on photography duties
A group of smiling people pose as a group on a shooting range. They all wear visors bearing the union flag or black caps bearing the word "eley". Their shirts read
GB Roberts Team 2025 Photo: Eleanor Shorey https://www.nsratheshorey.com/

Rugeley members recognised with Service Awards

by RichHin Club News

Four Rugeley members were recognised on Thursday night with NSRA Special Service Awards for their contributions to the club and sport. Presenting the awards was Cllr Olivia Lyons – the Club President.

Russell Barlow received a Special Service Award for his work instructing novices and for his promotion of disability sport. Russell has devoted huge amounts of time to coaching and promoting and encouraging participation both within the club and volunteering at events such as the British Schools Championship Finals.

Becky Andrews and Carl Kimberley both received Special Service Awards for their work on the marketing team, raising the profile of both the club and sport nationally through their work on the web and across social media.

Richard Hemingway received a Bronze Special Service Award for a variety of volunteering work at several levels. As well as contributing to the marketing team, Richard is the current Club Captain and has served as Staffordshire County Captain since 2022, also representing Staffordshire as the County Representative to the NSRA Shooting Council. He also volunteers as Membership Secretary with the Welsh Smallbore Rifle Association.

Two people smile at the camera. The woman on the left is presenting a Special Service Award to the volunteer on the right.
Two people smile at the camera. The woman on the left is presenting a Special Service Award to the volunteer on the right.
Two people smile at the camera. The woman on the left is presenting a Special Service Award to the volunteer on the right.
Two people smile at the camera. The woman on the left is presenting a Special Service Award to the volunteer on the right.

Retirement of Lord Lieutenant Sir Ian Dudson

by RichHin Club News

Rugeley Rifle Club was represented at Sunday’s civic service marking Sir Ian Dudson’s impending retirement as Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire. Graham Kershaw attended the service at Lichfield Cathedral with his wife Glenys. Sir Ian visited the club in March to present the King’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Sir Ian will formally leave office on July 15th – his 75th birthday. Lord Lieutenants must retire at 75. In Apil, Professor Liz Barnes, teachers and former Vice-Chancellor of Staffordshire University was named as Sir Ian’s successor.

A uniformed man speaks with a robed vicar at the entrance to a cathedral. They are backlit by the open doors to the outside.
Heavy wooden tables are placed down the centre of a cathedral with a high vaulted ceiling. On the tables, various silver and crystal ware are arranged representing civic awards.
Two men stand in a cathedral. The one on the left wears the uniform of the Lord Lieutenant. The other is suited.
Two people stand smiling during a trophy presentation
Sir Ian presents the King’s Award to Club Chair Martyn Buttery in March