York Jubilee Air Rifle & Pistol Club
The Club
The club was formed initially when several local airgun enthusiasts got together and rented the shooting range at St Peter’s school. Most club members had sporting air rifles of one sort or another and the shooting was at informal targets. The group then began to be interested in more formal shooting at six yards and ten metres. This type of shooting was done from the standing position and St Peter’s School range was not suitable for this discipline.
Casting around for somewhere else to shoot, the members approached Fulford Parish Council to see whether they could hire the social hall one evening a week. The Parish Council agreed, provided that suitable safeguards were in place to protect the paintwork from accidental damage. In 1977 the Jubilee Air Rifle Club was born. Serious target shooting for air rifle and air pistol began at the international distance of ten metres and the national distance of six yards. The club entered individual and team competitions at local and national level, shooting in the Yorkshire Small Bore Rifle Association leagues and in the National Small Bore Rifle leagues.
In 1982 the chairman of the Parish Council approached the club secretary and suggested that the club might like to consider using the old wartime building to the rear of the social hall. It is actually an old wartime Air Raid Warden’s post. It was derelict and had become a source of considerable social problems for the council. As it was constructed to withstand Hitler’s bombs, the cost of demolishing it was very high and could not be afforded. The club readily agreed and work began immediately to take out three internal walls and replace them with RSJs to support the concrete roof. This provided a four firing point range and a small area to the rear of the firing points for a toilet. The club continued to use the Social Hall on Tuesday evenings, but the new range, which was equipped with electric target changers, was open to all adult members at any time they chose to come. Each member had his or her own key and were required only to sign the attendance book when they came. This 24/7 arrangement continues today and is one of the most attractive features of the club.
In 1986 the club purchased a small plot of land adjacent to the wartime building from the Scouts Association and with grants from York and Selby Sports Councils built a small club room and new 10 metre range in parallel to the existing range. This meant the club now had 8 firing points all with electric target changers. In addition, the old range was re-modelled and fitted out with a small kitchen and a toilet with access for people with disabilities. To the front of the range, a ramp and concrete apron were installed to ease access for wheelchairs. The range, though quite small, is now one of the best equipped in Yorkshire.
The club is situated opposite St Oswald’s Primary School in School Lane, Fulford. It is behind the Fulford Parish Social Hall and Library, a large blue and white painted building about 60 metres down School Lane from Heslington Lane. It is a white stucco-finished building with a blue door.