Melbourne Marksmen Airgun Fayre this summer

[pennineway.fswo]

The members of Melbourne Marksmen had a meeting tonight to discuss running an airgun fayre on our range at the RBL

The outcome is that we decided to run a fayre this summer and on the day also organise both bell target and paper target competitions.

The objectives are to generate interest in bell target shooting and in our club, to stimulate interest in the hobby of collecting and shooting old air guns and raise money for a very worthy cause.

All proceeds will be donated to the Royal British Legion


We will keep the costs low for those attending and prizes will be awarded to the top shooters in the competitions. Those attending can bring their own guns or use our club's guns in the competitions.

We will also stage a bring and buy sale for those attending who only have one or two items to sell


John

UPDATE:

The Melbourne Marksmen Airgun Fayre will take place on Sunday the 16th June at 11.30 am. (Also see post 36)

We will start the fayre at 11.30 am which will allow the really keen guys to attend the 9am start at the B.MC Museum and get to us in good time(it's 45 min journey down the M42)

Entry will be £2. The fayre will be in the Royal British Legions concert room
Plenty of parking space is available

A single table 4ft x 2ft is £10 (includes a free entry)

For those who only wish to sell a couple of items or so, then we will have a supervised 'bring and buy' stall where the items can be left. A small commission will be payable on items sold.

Very generous prizes have been provided by our sponsors for the various competitions to be held on the day

Entry to each bell target competition will be 50p so please bring a rifle or two and have a go. You can enter as many times as you wish.


The classes will be for;
1 Vintage (prewar rifles) peep/diopters or open sights
2 Classic open/diopter sighted rifles
3 Open class

We may also put on our fun/novelty duck shoot outside in a marquee next to the BBQ. Now this is really special. Our CO2 powered club rifle that was donated and modified for this discipline by Markmac is available for this competition.

We will have a computer to update everyone of the competition leaders scores during the day

A 3 man team competition on a bell target or our biathlon target may also be arranged


We are trying to keep the costs down to those attending as much as we can.

The door,table,comps and raffle takings will all be donated to the Royal British Legion

The bar will be open and there will be a BBQ arranged for lunchtime. Man sized cobs will be available at the bar


If anyone wishes to enjoy an overnight stay in Melbourne then Chris H will be only too pleased to entertain you in the various pubs and curryhouses

If you want to book a table, please pm me

John
Melbourne Marksmen Secretary

[Abasmajor]

The members of Melbourne Marksmen had a meeting tonight to discuss running an airgun fayre on our range at the RBL


[I]I am aware that other BBS members are investigating running another fayre this year and we will try to ensure they do not coincide.

John

Hello John,

Would it not make sense to try and combine your fayre with the other meeting already being planned here, since the ultimate aims are the same and the proposed dates would be close.

Regards

Brian

[wild dogman]

[/B]

Hello John,

Would it not make sense to try and combine your fayre with the other meeting already being planned here, since the ultimate aims are the same and the proposed dates would be close.

Regards

Brian

no Melbourne is very near me

[Abasmajor]

no Melbourne is very near me

Can't see any reason why Melbourne should not be considered for the venue, but I think it would be much nicer to have a single, better attended event rather than two similar events with consequently lower attendance. I am excited by the prospect of an annual event where like minded enthusiasts can meet and go on about old air guns for a day or so without the risk of boring anybody to death. The added bonus of a side shoot definitely increases the appeal.

Regards

Brian

[Grayling]

Thats brilliant news, Melbourne was one of the venues that had been mentioned to me as a real possible by various emails from a few different enthusiasts with links to that club. This is all good. I see no reason to run two fayres when the hobby only needs ONE well run, well supported, well attended fair with ample parking a Bell Target comp and a bar plus its in the Midlands .

I ASK THE ORGANISERS A BIG FAVOUR

We have a very important 870 mile fundraiser for the two weeks covering Sunday 21st July to Sunday 4th August to raise money for the Royal British Legion and ask the organisers of this vintage airgun event not to pick those weekends. I would hate to miss this. Chances are we will have achieved our goal by Sunday 4th August but may still be travelling back.

[edbear2]

[/B]

Hello John,

Would it not make sense to try and combine your fayre with the other meeting already being planned here, since the ultimate aims are the same and the proposed dates would be close.

Regards

Brian

HI Brian, reading back though the original thread, It was still very much a work in progress as I understand, with nothing decided, We had one offer of a hotel hall, and an expression of interest from a bell club, plus my intention to ask at my local venue. My place were O.K. with the idea, but space is quite limited as we had two targets and 20 odd people at Thursday practice and it was crowded. Also, as I delved more into it, although the owner was relaxed about shooting, there are many advantages an organised and established club has in doing an event like this, not least in workload!

I attended both the previous fairs mentioned, and you need a fair few people to set it all up, do the safety and catering etc. etc.

I heartily recommend the Melbourne venue, there is plenty of room to circulate, plenty of targets for shooting, and a great bunch of airgun enthusiasts to boot!

I personally think that this is the first fully thought out and discussed offer to host the fair that has been offered, and so should be "the one".

ATB, Ed

[Grayling]

HI Brian, reading back though the original thread, It was still very much a work in progress as I understand, with nothing decided, We had one offer of a hotel hall, and an expression of interest from a bell club, plus my intention to ask at my local venue. My place were O.K. with the idea, but space is quite limited as we had two targets and 20 odd people at Thursday practice and it was crowded. Also, as I delved more into it, although the owner was relaxed about shooting, there are many advantages an organised and established club has in doing an event like this, not least in workload!

I attended both the previous fairs mentioned, and you need a fair few people to set it all up, do the safety and catering etc. etc.

I heartily recommend the Melbourne venue, there is plenty of room to circulate, plenty of targets for shooting, and a great bunch of airgun enthusiasts to boot!

I personally think that this is the first fully thought out and discussed offer to host the fair that has been offered, and so should be "the one".

ATB, Ed

Seems the ideal place to me as well Ed and I have just spoken to Chris Hough via a few emails. He reckons MM have enough of their own members and don't need any outside help at all, although I'm sure its there if they need it. I'm glad this is in the bag now (well almost) and we can look forward to a vintage get together. Perhaps to become an annual event .

[Abasmajor]

Sounds like we are now well on the way to making this happen thanks to the very positive feedback from both BBS members and clubs interested in hosting the event.

Looking forward to everything being agreed and finalised.

Regards

Brian

[pennineway.fswo]

Thats brilliant news, Melbourne was one of the venues that had been mentioned to me as a real possible by various emails from a few different enthusiasts with links to that club. This is all good. I see no reason to run two fayres when the hobby only needs ONE well run, well supported, well attended fair with ample parking a Bell Target comp and a bar plus its in the Midlands .

I ASK THE ORGANISERS A BIG FAVOUR

We have a very important 870 mile fundraiser for the two weeks covering Sunday 21st July to Sunday 4th August to raise money for the Royal British Legion and ask the organisers of this vintage airgun event not to pick those weekends. I would hate to miss this. Chances are we will have achieved our goal by Sunday 4th August but may still be travelling back.

That should not be a problem Gary, we would like to see you at the fayre particularly if you are having a table on the day

As I stated in post 1, the first hurdle is the permissions.

I remember that Leics Police F.A. Dept did make life a little difficult for me when I organised the Leics/Groby fayre which prevented a number of collectors trading on the day.

Hopefully the Derbyshire Dept will not put obstacles in our way.

We have quite a number of willing members who will do their bit on the day to run this event smoothly and the RBL staff will provide food and drink. We may even be able to organise a BBQ in a tented area adjacent to the carpark

When we come up with the date, then what we would like from BBS members is for them to spread the word and promote the event to local clubs and gunsmiths etc

ATB
John

[Grayling]

That should not be a problem Gary, we would like to see you at the fayre particularly if you are having a table on the day

As I stated in post 1, the first hurdle is the permissions.

I remember that Leics Police F.A. Dept did make life a little difficult for me when I organised the Leics/Groby fayre which prevented a number of collectors trading on the day.

Hopefully the Derbyshire Dept will not put obstacles in our way.

We have quite a number of willing members who will do their bit on the day to run this event smoothly and the RBL staff will provide food and drink. We may even be able to organise a BBQ in a tented area adjacent to the carpark

When we come up with the date, then what we would like from BBS members is for them to spread the word and promote the event to local clubs and gunsmiths etc

ATB
John

Thanks John that's music to my ears, well eyes in this case . I'm already in contact with Chris H with regards this and he had an inspired idea last night. His idea was to double up with the Birmingham arms fayre. You one day, Brum the next. Which after Blackriders idea of a stop over at a local Premier inn to get the best out of the social side seemed an obvious, but brilliant idea. Certainly for people like myself who are travelling distance. A pre booked premier in costs £29 a room with on site bar/restaurant. Whereas the diesel (not to mention travelling time) it would cost me to drive back home and return to Brum on another date would be way over that price and we could arrive early at Brum, well fed and rested. Plus we get to spend some time during the stop over between Melbournes fayre and the Brum arms fayre with like minded people over a few beers and a decent meal .

The beauty of this idea is we can actually get to know our fellow vintage enthusiast better than you ever can on a forum as they already do in FT/HFT, WHY SHOULD VINTAGE COLLECTING/ BELL TARGET BE ANY DIFFERENT. Vintage airgun collectors are a niche part of an already minority hobby with some real characters as you would expect. Yet I honestly think if we could become a more cohesive better organised group like FT/HFT enthusiasts then the hobby mags would give us more mag space and who is to say then that an obvious follow on would be that Danny Garvins excellent vintage airgun mag idea would not become a proper paper publication instead of a PDF on line mag. Bell Target is after-all an already established discipline going back a century. Ron Gill's (an American Bell Target enthusiast from Idaho USA) email to me proved the borders of this hobby go way past middle England . I know I am proverbially running before I can walk here, but the more we eventually put in, the more we eventually get back out and we do have the calibre of people to make this possible if we can ''get it together''.

In my opinion John we do need this annual event in the ''vintage'' part of the hobby and an established club like you would be the ideal home for such a (eventually high profile) annual event (if it became possible). Please feel free to ask for any extra help within collect ables that you may need. After-all as said the more we all put into this, the more we will all ultimately get back out .

[Grayling]

Not much interest shown so far lads, thought this news would've been well received by all on here.

[harvey_s]

Not much interest shown so far lads, thought this news would've been well received by all on here.

I thought a fair bit of interest had already been shown on the other threads?

I would be definitely be interested in attending as a buyer/participant, but as yet I've not seen any dates...

[Prewar]

I am happy to help out on the day John, cheers & see you on Thursday

[Blackrider]

"Interested am I" !

(thought I'd reply in Yoda-eeze)

"rider-B"

[pennineway.fswo]

I am happy to help out on the day John, cheers & see you on Thursday

Thanks Scott

Can you bring the S200 along for the new member to have a look at. he does seem very keen

see you Thurs.
John