Girl power and gun powder make for an explosive National Shooting Week at Crynant

Crynant Shooting Ground in the Neath Valley hosted seven ladies on 28 May as part of National Shooting Week – the national campaign to introduce new people to clay pigeon and target shooting.

The ladies, who are all members of the Banwen Miners hunt, thoroughly enjoyed their evening despite the majority of them having never shot before.

Rachel Evans Countryside Alliance director for Wales, who had organised the event, said: "Nerves were evident for the first round with young Lowri Smart and Danielle Green who were slightly wary of the re-coil but after one attempt at shooting a clay they were hooked, confidence grew with every shot and a friendly competition to end the evening saw Lowri winning the title of High Gun with Danielle a very close second. Not bad for beginners!"

Chris Hughes who owns Crynant Shooting Ground was very impressed with their ability and said that they had great potential.

Organised by the Countryside Alliance with the backing of the British Shooting Sports Council, this year was the seventh National Shooting Week (NSW) and 60 shooting grounds around the country took part.

For more information, contact Rachel Evans on 01550 777997 or 07825 337978 or contact Chris Hughes on 07855 828167or www.crynant-shooting-ground.co.uk

Picture caption: Steve Pullen, Claire Lloyd, Nia Godsmark, Krystianne Jenkins, Laura Morell, Deborah Smart, Lowri Smart, Danielle Green and Chris Hughes (owner)

FACTS ABOUT TARGET SHOOTING
Shooting Overview:
Shooting contributes more than £1.6 billion to the UK economy each year and supports the equivalent of 70,000 full time jobs (PACEC report 2006)
There are over 1,000 shooting clubs in the UK
Shooting is worth £73m to the economy in Wales and provides the equivalent of 2,600 full time jobs.

Shooting Participation: 150,000 people shoot clay targets on a regular basis (PACEC 2006)
50,000 people enjoy target shooting at ranges every year (PACEC 2006)

Target Shooting as a Sport: Shooting has a big history in the Olympics, with London 2012 hosting 15 events in total - nine events for men and six for women, plus the Winter Olympics' biathlon events.

Recent successes include Peter Wilson winning gold at London 2012 and World Class skeet shooter Amber Hill winning the 2013 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
There is great expectation of success from British shots at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

National Shooting Week: More than 20,000 newcomers have tried shooting over the previous six National Shooting Weeks, with an estimated 12,000 staying on within the sport.