Clay target shooting club goes up in smoke
A clay target shooting club owner refuses to be beaten after the club he spent 20 years building up went up in smoke in the early hours of yesterday.
John Nightingale, aged 68, who owns the Rugby and District Trap Club at Crick Lodge Farm in Crick, said he got a call from the fire brigade in Northampton at 4am to tell him his timber clubhouse and toilet block were on fire.
He said the club, which has about 60 members, contained clay target traps and TV monitors for his CCTV system, and the damage would probably cost more than 20,000.
Mr Nightingale, who owns the club with his wife, Pauline, said: "I started the club 20 years ago, it was just a green field. But we aren't going to let a little thing like a fire to kick us down. I won't be beaten, I have been a stubborn so-and-so all my life."
He added: "We host national and county events, we are quite an important club and we have got to start it again as soon as we possibly can."
Mr Nightingale said he did not have a clue how the fire started, but guessed that one of the fan heaters may have overheated or had an electrical fault.
A spokesman for Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue said 32 firefighters from Daventry, Rugby and Long Buckby went out to tackle the blaze, just off the A428 at Crick, when the fire was reported at about 3.10am, and a water carrier was brought in from Towcester.
Four gas cylinders were also severely damaged in the fire.
He said it took more than two hours to put out the fire.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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