The 120-year-old
Wandsworth Park Rifle Club
Training Olympic Athletes In Our Backyards
The Wimbledon Park Rifle Club (WPRC) was founded as the Southfields Miniature Rifle Club in 1902 as a direct result of Great Britain being "called to arms" by Field Marshal Lord Roberts of Kandahar VC (1832–1914).
The WPRC has been located at the current site in Wandsworth in southern London since 1904.
The "call to arms" by Lord Roberts was a call to the civilian population to learn how to shoot as a result of the dramatic losses in the Boer War.
WPRC President Jon Leech shows a historical shooting record made a century ago. Photo: Jeff Pao
WPRC President Jon Leech shows a historical shooting record made a century ago. Photo: Jeff Pao
Jon Leech, 72, president of the WPRC, said: “When we were doing very badly in the Boer war in South Africa, people were being recruited to go there but they could not shoot.
“Lord Roberts was in charge of the recruiting. He wanted new comers to learn shooting before they joining the army. Ups and downs a lot of small-bore rifle clubs including this one were set up in the nation.”
Leech, a British Pershing Team coach, said the small bore, with a diameter of 0.22 inch, or 5.6 mini-metres, used at that time is still being used today.
In the 1900s, small bore or miniature rifle clubs opened in every city all over the country. They formed the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs with Lord Roberts as president.
The Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs was presented by Queen Alexandra (1844-1925) with an enormous trophy in 1907 for rapid fire. The first firing of this trophy was at the Southfields range.
At that time the Borough of Wandsworth had some 30 rifle clubs, including the Wimbledon Park Rifle Club.
Currently, the WPRC and the The Borough of Wandsworth Rifle Club are the two remaining rifle clubs in Wandsworth.
Martin Honey, 69, a senior member at the WPRC, said he had been interested in target-shooting since he worked in the Natural History Museum, which has its own rifle club.
Honey said: “The museum’s rifle club can be originally dated back to 1864. Jon was also one of our members. We together shoot for the civil servants.
“Unfortunately, most of the small-bore rifle clubs in London have closed over the past 15 to 20 years. Very few people are still living in the counties where we used to be.”
Feel the distance
Former WPRC Captain Edwin Newitt (1866-1952) revolutionised the concept of aiming a rifle by inventing the “diopter” rearsight, effectively a disk with a pinhole in the centre which enabled the shooter to line up their eye much more accurately than with the military “open” sight.
Newitt also designed the targets of the day and he was important in the competition side of the National Rifle Association (NRA) of America in developing their competition targets.
A view of a target 50 yards away through a rifle scope Photo: Wikimedia Common, Amckinney907
A view of a target 50 yards away through a rifle scope Photo: Wikimedia Common, Amckinney907
Currently, members of the WPRC can choose to shoot on ranges at 25, 50 or 100 yards with 0.22 cartridges. They can also shoot on 10-meter air gun range with 0.177 inch pistols and rifles.
The WPRC remains one of the few 100-yard ranges in London.
Olympic Medals
William Pimm (1864-1952), William Styles (1874-1940) and Joseph Pepe (1881-1970), three members of the WPRC, won medals for small-bore rifle shooting in the London Olympics in 1908 and the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.
Mrs Jane Baker and Mrs Jeanette ‘Rusty’ Egan, two members of the WPRC, were the first women to shoot for Great Britain in a full International team of both men and women.
Over the past many years, numerous members have been British Champions to win the Earl Roberts Trophy and even more have qualified for the final 20 of the British Championship.
Honey said many members have represented each of the home Nations in the annual Home Countries International Matches over the years.
He said many members are accredited International Judges and referees, adjudicating at World, Olympic, Commonwealth, European and National Championships including Paralympic Games.
'We are a rifle club, not a gun club.'
Leech said: “In the countryside, if you say you got a gun, it means a shotgun. But people in town are not likely to understand the meaning of gun. They may say we are a gun club. No, we are a rifle club.
“It’s very unlike that you can join this club from the day you arrive. It could take about six months for you to apply.
Honey said it will take a minimum of eight to 10 weeks for a person to become of a probation member of the WPRC. He said police would have a basic check of an applicant’s criminal record.
He said then the probation member has to shoot regularly for six months and be signed over by a doctor to ensure that he or she is mentally fit to become a rifle club member or own a rifle.
He said: “This isn’t a way to get a gun. It goes through a long process. Criminals can buy a gun a lot quicker.”
Paralympic Games
‘There is no limit to who can shoot.’
Jon Leech, who joined the WPRC in 1972, is now a judge for the World Shooting Para Sport.
Leech said: “Target shooting is a sport completely open to disabilities of whatever nature, including visual impairment.
“Someone says you can't aim because you can’t see. But believe me, you can.”
He said visually impaired people can shoot acoustically as a censor on the rifle can allow them to aim at the very centre of the target.
Australian Paralympic team member Natalie Smith at the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games in London Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Laurenrobertson1
Australian Paralympic team member Natalie Smith at the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games in London Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Laurenrobertson1
He added that those with other disabilities, such as losing an arm or sitting on a wheelchair, can shoot with the tools they need.
Leech said although the WPRC's facilities are not designed for the training of disabled people, he and other members will keep supporting para sports.
Survival Campaign
In an auction 30 years ago, the WPRC failed to win the site where it had been located for nearly 90 years. It later obtained a 20-year lease from the landlord - Brian Peak of a property developer ISC Limited - but the lease expired last year.
In April this year, the landlord submitted to the Wandsworth Council a plan to build a nursery and tennis courts on the grounds of the site.
The WPRC opposed the plan. More than 25,000 people has so far signed a petition that calls for saving the club and its allotments.
Besides, more than 400 individuals have submitted their objection comments to the council.
Stuart Pearson, 53, an honorary secretary of the WPRC, said: "There is no demand for a further nursery in the area.
"Birth rate levels in Wandsworth have fallen year-on-year for the last 10 years. The pandemic has led to many young families moving out of London for greener environments which will only lessen the demand for nursery spaces in the future."
Pearson also said there are 20 tennis clubs within a 11 minute drive of Granville Road. He said the WPRC is environmentally friendly as it has a lot of green space, including some allotments for local residents to grow their produce.
Putney MP Fleur Anderson said the development plan on the grounds of the WPRC should be rejected as there is “no shortage” of nursery school places in the area.
Anderson said the new development threatens the existence of the historic WPRC and the surrounding allotments. She added that local residents in Wandsworth have been waiting for an allotment for about 10 years.
The landlord said the existing buildings and structures on site should be demoted and replaced by a building to be used as a children's day nursery and associated play area, landscaping, parking and servicing, together with mini tennis courts and a cabin to be used for children's coaching sessions.
A spokesperson of ISC Properties told the media that the redevelopment plan will open the site to more children and benefit the entire community in the area.
Pearson said the WPRC had tried to move to another place over the past many years but it could not find one.
He said: "There is nowhere for us to move to. I think it’s fair to assume that nobody necessarily wants a rifle club at the back of their gardens. You will meet a lot of opposition wherever you go.”
The WPRC's site is currently listed as an asset of community value by the council.
The Wandsworth Council has set an agenda to discuss the issue in November 2022.
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