Boer War

Robert Stevenson Smyth Baden-Powell may be most famous nationally as the father of the Scout movement, but in Worcestershire his impact was on an altogether different level. Lord Baden-Powell, as he later became, had been impressed by the marksmanship of the Afrikaans farmers he had fought during the Boer war.
Back home, he enthused about their sharpshooting skills to one of his friends, Lord Ednam, the eldest son of the Earl of Dudley, who lived in the magnificent surroundings of Witley Court, the country mansion about eight miles west of Worcester. The Witley estate employed hundreds of people, and Lord Ednam saw the Boers’ example as a way to encourage the local men to become more familiar with firearms. After all, the only people to have regular contact with guns then were the landed gentry, and their hunting and shooting guests.

Lord Ednam suggested forming an air rifle league. Although, as I will explain shortly, this did have a degree of self-interest. The league consisted of 10 villages, all located within a 10-mile radius of the Hundred House Inn at Great Witley, its HQ. Lord Dudley’s solicitor drew up the rules, and the permanent secretary was Great Witley’s vicar.

The basic rules were the use of .177 BSA air rifles, shooting over a range of five yards at a bell target. A bell target consists of a four inch steel plate drilled through the centre to create a “bull” and enclosed in an illuminated box, the early illuminations being candles or oil lamps. If a pellet shoots through the bull, it rings a bell that indicates to everyone a score of five points has been registered. Five practice shots were allowed before the match and five in the match itself. So if five bulls were scored this would give a total of twenty five points, which in the early days apparently didn’t happen very often.

Even good marksmen found it difficult to keep shots within the first circle, which counts as four points. The next circle counts three, and the outer counts two. The choice of .177 BSA air rifles was no coincidence. It came about because Lord Dudley and Lord Ednam were major shareholders in the Birmingham Small Arms Company – or BSA as it was better known – and usually all 10 members of one team shot with one BSA rifle with fixed sights. It was only in the 1920’s that air rifles of a rival manufacturer, Webley, were allowed.

The founding teams or clubs of the Lord Ednam Air Rifle League were Abberley, Stamford, The Shelsleys, Martley, Wichenford, Holt, Shrawley, Astley, Little Witley, and Great Witley. Over the years some have dropped out and been replaced by others, and the defining radius has been increased. Currently teams represented are: Shrawley at the Lenchford, Whitbourne at The Talbot in Knightwick, Astley at Astley Village Hall, Martley at the New Inn in Clifton upon Teme, Rodney Men at The Admiral Rodney in Berrow Green, The Fox at Monkwood, Alfrick, who shoot at the Cross Keys in Suckley, Wichenford, who shoot at the Camp Inn in Grimley, Upper Sapey who shoot from the Fox at Hanley Broadheath, Holt at the Red Lion in Holt Heath, and not forgetting the Rodney Ladies also at The Admiral Rodney. All teams consist of 10 members, but reserves are allowed.

The number of pub teams is no coincidence. In the early days, the venues for the shooting matches had to be at a central point in a village, so it was logical the local public house was chosen. Transport from one village to another was by horse and cart, bicycle, or shanks’s pony. But all modes of transport could be fraught with difficulty, especially when all the matches were held at night during the winter months from October to March. Most didn’t finish until after 10 o’clock, and with three or four pints of cider to warm them, and still eight or ten miles to go home in rain, sleet or snow, it was sometimes a merry return journey for the shooters. Although some shooting ranges are in skittle alleys, others employ rather more ingenious settings. When the Alfrick team was based at The Old Swan Inn, teams shot from the bar, across a passageway, and into an outhouse.

The earliest trophy to be competed for was, naturally, the Lord Ednam Cup, presented to the team with the highest number of wins or points over the season. Since then, many others have been added, including trophies for ladies, seniors, and young shooters. Sir Gerald Nabarro, the colourful, but late MP for South Worcestershire, presented the Nabarro Shield for a team knockout competition that takes place over the season, with the Webley Shield for the runners up. A doubles knockout competition is held for a cup presented by Don Taylor and Arthur Dennis, two members who shot in the league for many years, and two shields, the Banks’s Shields, are awarded to the individual knockout winners, Banks’s Brewery being the donors. Shrawley donated a cup to the league when Peter Westwood discovered one in his attic prior to moving house. This cup was originally competed for in the 1920’s at Shrawley Working Men’s Club. The league has yet to decide what it will be awarded for.

And it all began on the South African Veldt