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In 1986, locals and shooters of the Villages of East Tilbury and Linford were partaking in the local Public House ("The Ship") a conversation ensued on starting up a Clay Pigeon Club. No one had any idea how to start one up, let alone run one. Many discussions continued throughout 1986 and into 1987.
A local Clay Pigeon Club (Fenlands Gun Club) which has been running for years and had done terrific work for Charities etc sent along one of their Committee Members, Alan Salton. Alan Salton then explained all the legal requirements and formalities that must be done to run a successful club, to a gathered crowd of locals.
The landlord of "The Ship" at that time was William Byford, and had kindly opened up the pub early for this, which had nothing to do with the saloon bar being packed out for this private meeting. ????????
Within a few weeks, East Tilbury & Linford Gun Club, (E.T.L.) came into being in May 1987, by Twenty guys and gals chipping into a fund to the tune of Twenty Pounds each. Nowhere to shoot, no traps nothing, but a start had been made, we had a Club, with Four Hundred Pounds in the kitty.
A committee was formed, with Chairman George Hardcastle, Treasurer William Byford, and Secretary Barry Turner. Their main task was to find somewhere to shoot on a regular basis. In the meantime, every weekend Members visited other Clay Pigeon Clubs around Essex and Kent for a days shooting, and then meeting up in the "local" to discuss the days events.
The Committee at the time had done well, in tracing quite a few potential grounds, all that was needed was to trace the owners of the various grounds, and ask for permission, this was no easy task. It was one turn down after another, which just made the Committee spur on even harder.
In the meantime, a local club was forced to close down due to re-use of the land they was using. Their Committee had decided to call it a day, and sell off all their Farey traps, which were all manual, an offer was made for everything, traps, clays in stock, and some other items. This was accepted, so with a small Bank loan, we purchased everything. Traps we had, Members we had, ground we did not.
By 1989 all avenues had been exhausted, but everybody was still optimistic, and still kept visiting other shoots, when Club Member T. Spencer, suggested some land at Linford that belonged to a large local factory that he worked for. Everybody said waste of time, no chance, save your breath, dream on kiddo, etc, etc. Not to be outdone Spencer made an appointment to see his General Manager, to discuss the possibility of use of this land, as several other members also worked for this large Company.
Everybody stepped back in amazement, success, E.T.L. had somewhere to shoot, although there was some stringent stipulations, which have been enfolded into Club Rules. Fibre wad cartridges only, being the main demand, Membership increased to 35, we had land, E.T.L. Gun Club was on the move.
Essex Police sent a Member of the Firearms department to inspect the grounds as under the provisions of Section 11 (6) of the 1968 Firearms Acts we needed ground approval. Also the exemption certificate, as some Members did not have Shotgun Certificates. They had been waiting for the Committee to get grounds before applying for their Certificates. You can imagine the rush on Shotgun applications. This was followed by the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (C.P.S.A.) (weblink) http://www.cpsa.co.uk also inspecting the ground, Club Constitution, Rules and safety code etc, and approved of E.T.L. becoming affiliated (affiliation number C1305). It was not long before several members attended the CPSA safety officer's course.
An Account was opened with Essex Gun of Rush Green, Romford. (weblink) http://www.essexgun.com and they supplied all Clays, Fibre Wad cartridges etc, to E.T.L.
All traps and equipment was stored in various members homes, so as every shoot date was three weeks apart, it had to be made sure that these members brought along there bit. Sometimes the estimate on clays was wrong, so a quick foraging party had to go out for pickups, so the shoot could be completed. This was all part of the fun, and learning curve. Some members even carried some clays with them, so if we ran out, they would not have to forage in the stinging nettles for pick-ups.
Eventually permission was granted to have two containers on site to store the equipment in, and use the other as a Clubhouse. Two further manual traps by Bowman (weblink) http://www.bowmantraps.co.uk was purchased.
Due to domestic and work commitments, the Committee changed over the years with Terry Spencer becoming Chairman, Steve Turner as Secretary and Alan Knight, Treasurer. This continued for a few more years, and then another change with Secretary Steve Turner, leaving due to work commitments, being replaced by David Spencer. (no relation to the Chairman)
During these years, some Air Rifle Field Target lads who wanted somewhere to shoot had approached the Club. This request at the time was turned down.
In late 1994 the purchase of four Promatic traps, (weblink) http://www.promatic.co.uk brought the Club out from the dark age of manual traps, and by this time membership had risen to 50 with a waiting list.
Again a request from some Field Target shooters to use the land was made, and it was put to the Members. The Members agreed to let them join as affiliated to E.T.L.
They became known as E.T.L. Field Target Club. (weblink) http://www.etl-ftc.co.uk
They were free to form their own Committee, for the running of their discipline and to form a sub working committee. One shared Bank Account for the whole Club, with joint meetings. The working of the Field Target is explained fully on the link page.
Their arrival also saw the arrival of another container for storage.
The purchase of a second hand quad, and the making of some trailers for the traps, soon saw setting up and storing away of equipment nowhere near as arduous task as it had been. Two more Promatic http://www.promatic.co.uk Traps followed into the fold, bringing the Club to a fully automatic shoot. The odd manual was used occasionally to use up the pickups. By this time, membership had increased to 75, and still a waiting list remained.
Another change in Committee saw Carolyne Waghorn becoming Secretary, when David Spencer found that work commitments made it difficult for him to attend the shoots, and had to resign from his position.
Over the years various Sponsored Clay Pigeon Charity shoots was held, with proceeds going to worth while local causes, e.g. Four different Children's playgroups, Scouts, Girl Guides, Sport and Recreation for the Handicapped, St Johns Ambulance brigade, Airforce cadets, Linford wanderers football teams, East Tilbury Pensioners, St Margarets Church East Tilbury window appeal, to name just a few.
In 2002, the E.T.L. Clay Pigeon held it's first 100-bird shoot in aid of "Little Haven Children's Hospice" based in Hadleigh. This generated £1,200:00 pounds, and the following year £1,600:00 pounds, with the sum of £2,300:00 pounds being donated in 2004. These was organised and run mainly by the sub-committee of E.T.L.
Another change in Committee in 2002 with Terry Spencer remaining as Chairman, Alan Knight as Secretary, and Barry Turner as Treasurer. In 2003, the last change up until the present of the Committee stands as Terry Spencer, Chairman. Alan Knight, Secretary and Scott Greenfield Treasurer.
During all these years, there has been a sub-committee, which seemed to change so often, but for the last few years, it has remained the same. Without this sub-committee, past and present, ETL would not have survived the rigors of birth and up until the present day, as the unpaid and unsung hard work that these members do and have done.

Committee members;
Gordon Stevens
Derek Turner
Terence Greenfield
Terence Boyce
Stuart Sowells
Scott Grigsby
Richard Murphy
Pat Turner (Mrs)

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