26TH ANNUAL INTER-LIVERY CHARITY CLAY SHOOTING COMPETITION - 8 SEPTEMBER 2020

Sun was slowly starting to break through the clouds on Tuesday morning as we enjoyed our breakfast with our fellow liverymen and awaited the start of the briefing of the 26th Annual Inter-Livery Charity Clay Shooting Competition at the prestigious Holland & Holland Shooting Grounds on the outskirts of London.
 
With 85 teams across 55 Livery Companies taking part this year over the two day competition, the event showcased some excellent marksmanship and friendly competition. The organising team (and the local council) had worked incredibly hard to make the event happen given the current circumstances, and it paid off. The day was very well organised and the Holland & Holland team looked after us immaculately well, with elevenses delivered by buggy to stands and delicious lunch served 'in the field' to aid social distancing.  (There was noticeable improvement on team scores following the arrival of succulent sausage rolls. How sausage rolls and marksmanship is related remains a mystery, but the theory was tested twice!)
 
The event was primarily about charity and philanthropy, so discussing the scores could be considered rather unsporting. That said, the winning team from the first day was the Mercers. There were, of course, prizes from everything from the best individual team to the “Wooden Spoon” for  the lowest scoring team. Rest assured the Stationers’ team didn’t let the side down, posting some excellent scores throughout the day to end up in the shooting equivalent of the Goldilocks zone, not too high, not too low, but somewhere just right in the middle.
 

What an excellent day of friendly inter-livery competition in superb settings! 

Our thanks to Jani for this report and for captaining the team so efficiently

Team photo: 

The Stationers' team 2020 from left: Liveryman Phil Elder, Dino Burbidge (guest gun), Court Assistant Jani Levanen and Liveryman Brian Homersham.