Scully Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 (edited) Was looking for something else but found this! I used to take a bunch of kids to Lowther Show each year and we always had a great time. They loved the air rifle stand and out of three boys and a girl my daughter always came first, but this year I had entered the comp to win a brand new air rifle ( can’t recall the make or model ). After I’d shot on the Saturday I was told I’d posted the highest score yet, and if no one beat it by the end of play tomorrow the rifle would be mine. As luck would have it Sunday was cancelled due to the weather turning what was already a quagmire into the Somme, albeit without the constant artillery and machine gun fire. I never gave it another thought at the time, but a few months later received this in the post, stating that my score hadn’t been beaten and this 1st place trophy was mine, although I couldn’t receive the rifle as the Sunday didn’t go ahead. 2008! Seems like just a few months ago. Happy days! Edited February 14 by Scully Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sky gipsy Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 Well done you! I remember the weekend well. We went on the Friday and saw the deep ruts caused by the setting up of the show. Returned on the Saturday and thought we'd give the Sunday a miss because like you say it was turning into a quagmire. Those were the days when Lowther Show was a 3 day pilgrimage so that cup is a piece of Cumbrian history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 i had a good win on the village fete air rifle shoot.......and won the top prize of a big bottle of whiskey.... noooww......my ole man was a real nasty peice of work ...he hated me and i hated him....he took no interest in me whatsoever.....now....his best mate watched me shoot on the shoot out and offered to buy the bottle of whiskey off me for cash there and then....it was a good price considering i got 9p/week pocket money........so deal done........... then at the end of the day the ole man found out i had won and asked me where the whiskey was...i told him i sold it to his mate ken truelove... man ole man went bloody balistic....(he liked his whiskey)......i think it was the closest he came to beating me to death...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 Lovely to look back at times and now I tend to look back more than I do looking forward , although your day out at the show was ( only ) 17 years ago a lot of water have gone under the bridge since then with the Corvid virus as an example , at the time we didn't know weather we would all be wiped out or not , sadly some did and we lived to see another day Going back even a lot longer than your air rifle day , me and my mates went to a fete where they held a small down the line clay pigeon competition , this was only a 25 bird event , we all had a go and I was using a big ole heavy wildfowling gun with 32 inch full and full barrels , I can't remember what I got but it was over 20 and my name went on the black board as top gun and the small cup was donated by Jack Sears , whoever he was I haven't a clue , anyhow time we were ready to come away another chap had got the same score and we should have had a shoot off , as we all had very short pockets we couldn't even muster up enough money to buy another box of cartridges so we made some excuse where we had to go early we let the other chap have it , this was the nearest I ever got to winning anything in the world of clay pigeon shooting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted February 14 Author Report Share Posted February 14 13 minutes ago, sky gipsy said: Well done you! I remember the weekend well. We went on the Friday and saw the deep ruts caused by the setting up of the show. Returned on the Saturday and thought we'd give the Sunday a miss because like you say it was turning into a quagmire. Those were the days when Lowther Show was a 3 day pilgrimage so that cup is a piece of Cumbrian history. Thankyou. Yeah, it didn’t arf rain didn’t it! 🙂 Yes, when Lowther was part of the Horse Driving Trials circuit ( the D of E was a regular ) it was a grand old event, but as part of the ‘Countryman Fairs’ organisation it became a bit of a repetitive one size fits all fairground. Shame really. My kids have fond memories of Lowther as it was, as do I. A mate once won the fly fishing casting competition, which I was always **** at, despite his best efforts. 😬 14 minutes ago, ditchman said: i had a good win on the village fete air rifle shoot.......and won the top prize of a big bottle of whiskey.... noooww......my ole man was a real nasty peice of work ...he hated me and i hated him....he took no interest in me whatsoever.....now....his best mate watched me shoot on the shoot out and offered to buy the bottle of whiskey off me for cash there and then....it was a good price considering i got 9p/week pocket money........so deal done........... then at the end of the day the ole man found out i had won and asked me where the whiskey was...i told him i sold it to his mate ken truelove... man ole man went bloody balistic....(he liked his whiskey)......i think it was the closest he came to beating me to death...lol That sounds horrendous Ditchy, and sorry to hear that, but at least you can laugh about it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 15 minutes ago, Scully said: Thankyou. Yeah, it didn’t arf rain didn’t it! 🙂 Yes, when Lowther was part of the Horse Driving Trials circuit ( the D of E was a regular ) it was a grand old event, but as part of the ‘Countryman Fairs’ organisation it became a bit of a repetitive one size fits all fairground. Shame really. My kids have fond memories of Lowther as it was, as do I. A mate once won the fly fishing casting competition, which I was always **** at, despite his best efforts. 😬 That sounds horrendous Ditchy, and sorry to hear that, but at least you can laugh about it now. dont be sorry .......i was chucked in boarding skool at 7 years old......and that was horrific..... one of my classmates then is Jerermy Wade (he does them monster fishing programmes on TV).......ive mailed him a few times..he survived like i did but his younger brother was mentally scarred for life.......... i suppose it toughened us all up and learnt us to survive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matone Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 1 hour ago, Scully said: Was looking for something else but found this! I used to take a bunch of kids to Lowther Show each year and we always had a great time. They loved the air rifle stand and out of three boys and a girl my daughter always came first, but this year I had entered the comp to win a brand new air rifle ( can’t recall the make or model ). After I’d shot on the Saturday I was told I’d posted the highest score yet, and if no one beat it by the end of play tomorrow the rifle would be mine. As luck would have it Sunday was cancelled due to the weather turning what was already a quagmire into the Somme, albeit without the constant artillery and machine gun fire. I never gave it another thought at the time, but a few months later received this in the post, stating that my score hadn’t been beaten and this 1st place trophy was mine, although I couldn’t receive the rifle as the Sunday didn’t go ahead. 2008! Seems like just a few months ago. Happy days! A great memory to have !!! Lowther was a GREAT fair in years gone by,shame such events seem to have gone forever..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feltwad Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 It must be about 36 to 40 years since I attended Lowther game Fair with the muzzle loaders has one of the loaders on the Cumbria Branch Stand . It was well attended by the public for several years we had a stand on the hill top along with the clay shooting after two or three years the muzzleloaders were moved down to the bottom of the site among the the show wagons and the horse and cattle wagons The main attractions for the muzzle loaders was shooting the pig which closed late morning to allow the hound trail to come through this continued here for a few years till it was pointed out that a footpath came right through the muzzle loader stand, returning to the hill top with the clay shooters was not to be so that marked the end end of the muzzle loaders at Lowther game fair I did understand that the running of the fair changed hands and soon after closed Yes it was a good Fair for which my family and I had many good weekends Feltwad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pukka Bundook Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Nice to see you here Feltwad. Trust you are still getting amongst the crows! Best, R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feltwad Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 3 hours ago, Pukka Bundook said: Nice to see you here Feltwad. Trust you are still getting amongst the crows! Best, R. Hi Pukka Yes we are still here not has active hope you are OK keep your powder dry Feltwad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbob Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 We were at Lowther the year it was a swamp and they stopped it after that shame as it was a good show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mice! Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 22 hours ago, Scully said: They loved the air rifle stand and out of three boys and a girl my daughter always came first, but this year I had entered the comp to win a brand new air rifle I'm curious what you shot, open sights and highest score? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted February 15 Author Report Share Posted February 15 10 minutes ago, Mice! said: I'm curious what you shot, open sights and highest score? I really can’t recall. I know the rifle was another Webley and it was open sights, but I can’t recall what model ( possibly the same model as the prize 🤷♂️) nor my score. 19 hours ago, Feltwad said: It must be about 36 to 40 years since I attended Lowther game Fair with the muzzle loaders has one of the loaders on the Cumbria Branch Stand . It was well attended by the public for several years we had a stand on the hill top along with the clay shooting after two or three years the muzzleloaders were moved down to the bottom of the site among the the show wagons and the horse and cattle wagons The main attractions for the muzzle loaders was shooting the pig which closed late morning to allow the hound trail to come through this continued here for a few years till it was pointed out that a footpath came right through the muzzle loader stand, returning to the hill top with the clay shooters was not to be so that marked the end end of the muzzle loaders at Lowther game fair I did understand that the running of the fair changed hands and soon after closed Yes it was a good Fair for which my family and I had many good weekends Feltwad Indeed. It was a very good event in its day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mice! Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 33 minutes ago, Scully said: really can’t recall. I know the rifle was another Webley and it was open sights, but I can’t recall what model ( possibly the same model as the prize 🤷♂️) nor my score. Cheers 👍 Only time I've done similar is on holiday for a cocktail 🤣🤣 and it's amazing how bad most people are even shooting a springer at close range 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feltwad Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 One of the most interesting thing at these fairs was that most of the trade stands were family owned and supplied country clothes also boot and wellie stands plus shooting requirements not forgetting Barbour clothing. This did change with an increase in price of the pitches , there were still different stand but most you could see at any country town market day. but not of the same quality I still have a pair of shepherd hill boots that I Bought at one of the north fairs made by Rogerson of Roth bury Northumberland . . Feltwad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted February 15 Author Report Share Posted February 15 1 hour ago, Mice! said: Cheers 👍 Only time I've done similar is on holiday for a cocktail 🤣🤣 and it's amazing how bad most people are even shooting a springer at close range 😁 Ha! They all count! 😀👍 Unless snap shooting, the first rule of shooting has to be ‘ find a decent support’. Most people I watched shoot, were leaning on the bench type top on which the rifles were placed, which was too high to allow kneeling but too low to comfortably use as a support for two elbows without awkwardly semi squatting, which adds tension in your legs over time. I took advantage of one of the upright stanchions supporting the roof, which meant I could stand up straight, grip the upright with my left hand, stick out my thumb then rest the fore-end on the base of that thumb. Anyone, as you’ll know, who’s ever done a lot of rifle shooting knows it’s rock steady and means there is no tension anywhere. 🙂👍 Have never won anything on a fairground at all however, and only ever shot those little Winchester pumps at Morecambe because I loved the smell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mice! Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 2 hours ago, Scully said: Have never won anything on a fairground at all however, and only ever shot those little Winchester pumps at Morecambe because I loved the smell! I doubt anyone has 🤣🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feltwad Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 Yes those were the days when shooting in the cornfields for your next meal either a rabbit or a hare was a way of life ,then those stubbles were left till the spring and provided food for game birds such has the grey partridge plus wild birds Feltwad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pukka Bundook Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 Grand pictures Mr F. I recall Grandad once shooting 45 rabbits in 15 minutes as they bolted from the corn when bindering. His barrels were so hot he had his hankie around them. That was with his old Smythe, Stockton and Darlington gun. One made for C Arthur Head, of Head -Wrightson. (one of a pair) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feltwad Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 Yes J. F. Smythe who served his time under Alex Henry of Edinburgh better known has the gunmaker of the north and had shops at Darlington , Stockton , and Middlesbrough . Feltwad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted February 18 Author Report Share Posted February 18 On 16/02/2025 at 21:36, Feltwad said: Yes those were the days when shooting in the cornfields for your next meal either a rabbit or a hare was a way of life ,then those stubbles were left till the spring and provided food for game birds such has the grey partridge plus wild birds Feltwad I used to be asked to walk in front of the combine ( to the side obviously ) when they cut the barley and shoot any rabbits which bolted my way. Great fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 32 minutes ago, Scully said: I used to be asked to walk in front of the combine ( to the side obviously ) when they cut the barley and shoot any rabbits which bolted my way. Great fun! idid that as well.....it was next to a Class 500 draw combine...we all had .410's... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 (edited) This was the Marine at Freiston Shore that my late great grandmother was proprietor of. I have posted the picture before. I'll look out some other such from the family albums. Alas nobody wrote the two lads' names on the back. The lady in black is my great grandmother. Edited February 19 by enfieldspares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pukka Bundook Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 Combining. As a lad I remembe my dad finishing off a field of barley, and my grandad and Tony trying to nail a fox hiding in the standing corn. Dad kept pointing where he was. In the end he bolted and was hard hit but got into the next field. Dad started combining the next field and yes, yo might have guessed! Combined that fox! What a mess as bits of him were jammed in the concave, and the sacks (it was a M-Harris 21 bagger) were full of barley, blood and bits of bone. Sacks and contents were just dumped at the side of the field. Maybe appropriately, that field at Ormesby was called Hellhole! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted February 19 Author Report Share Posted February 19 12 hours ago, ditchman said: idid that as well.....it was next to a Class 500 draw combine...we all had .410's... Very very dusty, but great fun! 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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