A quiet revolution is happening in the Great British countryside. What used to be a pastime of the gentry and of City bankers is becoming popularised by the likes of builders and plumbers. Shooting, it seems, has become democratised with schools and associations reporting an increase in memberships for both men and, in stark contrast to the sports origins, women.
Shooting has been practised in many parts of rural-Britain for centuries and in some regions it is considered part of the culture. Today, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation say that over one million people a year participate in clay, target or game shooting.
To participate in the sport though has traditionally been expensive, with some group days costing as much as £20,000. Inevitably this all but ruled out working classes, establishing the stereotype that the sport was one for Edwardian, tweed-clad men. Well, not any more.
Simon Clarke from the British Association for Shooting and Conservation says shooting has transcended class boundaries and evolved into a 21st century sport.
“Shooting is much more open than many people think. It is stereotyped by the image of the Edwardian country house shoot. This style of shooting has now largely passed into history,” said Mr. Clarke.
Clarke describes modern shooting as being dominated by smaller syndicates who come together, rent land and shoot over it in the appropriate season.
As for the acceptance of women on shoots, Clarke adds: “There has been an increase in participation from women, and the most valid reason for this would be a more open attitude within shooting and society in general. As with salmon fishing many of the very best participants are, of course, women.”
In the last ten years there has been an increase of smaller syndicates and farmers diversifying to run shoots. Customers at these farms can now pay as little as £10-£15 a bird and it’s usually at these shoots where electricians rub shoulders with lawyers.
Someone who has noticed a change in demographic of those who shoot is Dylan Williams. As managing director of the Royal Berkshire Shooting School he witnessed a rise not just in female participants but also a more working class clientele.
He said: “I attended an event where thirty thousand tickets were sold and I would say that most of the people who were there were B1, B2, C1, C2.
“This week we will have builders, plumbers, accountants, surgeons and captains of industry. It’s a sport for people who want to be in an area of natural beauty and want to have that social experience too. There is no community that has not been here.”
Williams does however concede that the sport, specifically game shooting is aimed at the higher income shooter, something underlined by two of his schools’ sponsors: Aston Martin and Porsche.
Perhaps this realizes that for all the progress shooting has made in the past decade it is still a sport that attracts, above all else, wealthy people.
Henny Goddard works at Roxtons, a travel company that specialises in shooting breaks. She said that over the last few years they haven’t experienced the same rise in numbers as shooting clubs and schools.
“Over the last years it has remained quite level despite the recession. Our clients are high net worth so we haven’t offered any deals. We haven’t had to. What we offer is for the top end of the market,” said Ms. Goddard.
One of those high earners is farmer Ian Friend. He says he was brought up with a gun in his hand living in a traditional rural family. He shoots game all season long and says he works his life around shooting.
Friend says: “I went on 35 shooting days this season [September 1st 2009 – February 1st] and I go all over the country depending on what I want to shoot.
“I pay between £25 and £46 per bird but the norm is about £33 plus VAT. So a group day out can cost up to £10, 000. I usually spend between thirty and forty thousand pounds a year. It’s not cheap but it’s what I love doing,” said Mr. Friend.
With punters like Friend, a passionate shooter with expendable income, it’s easy to see how shooting is worth 1.6 billion to the UK economy. It’s also an industry that supports the equivalent of more than seventy thousand jobs.
Mr. Friend does however reiterate that class isn’t a pre-determining factor to shooting and his only concern for the sport isn’t that it is overrun with “obnoxious idiots” but that it is protected from those who oppose it.
Another sport that has traditionally attracted higher income participants is salmon fishing. Rivers, or beats, in parts of Scotland are thriving, particularly the ‘big four’: the Tay, Tweed, Spey and Dee.
Much like shooting, fishing for salmon, which can cost north of £1,000 a day on the busiest, consistent beats, wants to shrug off the image of it being elitist.
Pete McFishy (a legitimate name he assures me) is the general manager of a publishing company in the Midlands.
Mr. McFishy earns a salary of £75, 000 a year and fishes in Scotland and Ireland. He imagines that fishing “conjurs up images of people in tweeds” but says in reality this isn’t the case.
“It would be naïve to deny that salmon angling is associated with the country set. It appears elitist and has been portrayed as elitist – but in reality it is not,
“I would say that the vast majority of anglers that I share the bank with each year are working or middle class. The biggest issue in any form of angling, however, is not the class of angler, it is the ability of the angler to follow the rules."
Like Friend, Mr. McFishy see's the future of these two countryside sports lying in tradition and etiquette, not how much money you make.
The supposed era of social exclusivity is apparently over and the firing shot for the age of integrated participation has been sounded.
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