CRC (Campaign for Real Coffee) and more

[Growl]

Is it me or are a number of us shooters wanting some 'nice to have's' when we are out trying to smash clays????

I like a nice cup of coffee and no matter where I seem to go all I get is a cruddy instant, now I'm not trying to knock any ground owners - I know you are busy and queues at the catering hatch can be a pain.

also I am not asking for something for nothing, I am quite prepared to pay for quality, hell if you are rushed just sell me a 'pod' and point me to the machine!

Our sport is by no means cheap, some shooter have a LOT of money (not me) some don't, but we do one way or another get our hard earned readies out for our sport, what I am trying to find out is - how many of us would pay a little more (so not increasing any hardship for our wonderful shoot organisers) for some of lifes luxuries???

I would be happy to extra for:

Good Coffee

Decent Sausages (locally sourced) not mushy cr*p full of padding ie: cheapo

Decent Bacon

Decent Sauces

what do you think???

Please feel free to add to this list or to tell me I'm being a prat - I have broad shoulders (and a belly full of nice things!)

happy discussing all, cheers, Growl.

 

[Mike]

Kelbrook supply genuine coffee all week and locally sourced food at the weekend. I think a full English is about a fiver, an excellent bacon and egg bun, in a choice of bakery bun plus all the coffee you can drink is about £4.50.

I forgot to mention that all weekdays the coffee and tea is free.

 

[DAG]

50p for tiffin where I shoot growl and it goes down a treat !!!

 

[VicW]

I can recommend Orston for good coffee and excellent food.

The shooting is very good too.

Vic.

 

[Bob_P]

Spot on growl, hate the coffee at most grounds, especially when you pay £1.00 and are given a cup with a teaspoon of instant in the bottom that you then go and fill up yourself. Appalling value at £1.00 and I kick myself every time for not taking a flask of decent stuff.

 

[Andy S]

A1 Shooting Ground serve good Italian coffee, although a bit of away for you to go to sample it though!

 

[Skeet UK]

There certainly should be  a minimum standard.  

If it is instant, it should be decent Instant, such as Alta Rica, Carte Noir or at a push, Gold Blend etc.

A pot of decent percolated coffee is not really difficult to achieve.

I suppose some of the larger clubs, could go to the expense of a Bean to Cup machine.

Do we expect Latte Art though?

Sausages are really good at Dartford!

 

[alflan]

Is this for real? Go to Starbucks !!

 

[Lock Stock & Barrel]

Whilst I agree with Growler's theme - certainly as it pertains to some grounds - I suspect, like most things, for a lot of shooting grounds it'll come down to costs - even though (being typically British, pecksniff and downright parsimonious about these things) the owners of some grounds still don't understand that what you pay out for in initial payment for a decent filter machine, sachets and decent menu choice, you get back tenfold in good will, shooter satisfaction and repeat business. Alas, having shot in the US, Italy, South Africa, Israel, Oman, Australia and New Zealand, amongst others, this is a particularly British disease, and one I would gladly see irradiated.

That said, maybe I'm spoilt. At my local ground, Worsley in Manchester, the food's top drawer - e.g. burger, bacon, egg & onions on a bap and a filter coffee or tea, is only £5. A whole range of other quality nosebag is on offer there too, from chicken sandwiches, hot roast beef and onions sarnies, turkey and stuffing, steak pie, peas and gravy, chilli and chips, an all-day full English breakfast, cheeseburger and chips, meat and potato pies, cold pork pies, cold drinks... you get the picture. And it's not dear, either, regardless of the predictable whines you hear from the usual suspects who'll insist that anything over a quid for a 4 course banquet is daylight robbery. To put it into perspective, last time I shot Hodnet, 25th January this year, the only thing the kitchen had on (or was prepared to offer) was either tea or coffee. No food. Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it, especially as all three of us were ravenous.

I suspect it'd be more accurate/useful to delineate at which grounds we'd prefer to see a better scoff-offering (i.e. any première grounds that you might feel are falling short of the mark), as at straw-balers, you're never gonna anything more than a good pie or a bacon sarnie and an instant coffee - but that's simply down to cost, and they'd never be able to afford a grander menu (although they invariably make up for it with the high standard of the shoots they set).

Edited to add: just dawned on me, a 'Growler' has its own definition (although be careful!) in both Yorkshire and the British Army

 

[Skeet UK]

I have one of these at home;

If we can't get one into most decent Clay Grounds, we should all buy one of these:

 

[Lock Stock & Barrel]

I have one of these at home;

If we can't get one into most decent Clay Grounds, we should all buy one of these:

All round to yours for a swift 100 then

 

[Skeet UK]

All round to yours for a swift 100 then

Sadly, I spent all my money on guns and coffee, so my garden is too small!

For the Shooter who has everything; Espresso, anywhere.

http://www.handpresso.co.uk/products/handpresso-wild-ese-outdoor-set.aspx

 

[Growl]

Whilst I agree with Growler's theme - certainly as it pertains to some grounds - I suspect, like most things, for a lot of shooting grounds it'll come down to costs - even though (being typically British, pecksniff and downright parsimonious about these things) the owners of some grounds still don't understand that what you pay out for in initial payment for a decent filter machine, sachets and decent menu choice, you get back tenfold in good will, shooter satisfaction and repeat business. Alas, having shot in the US, Italy, South Africa, Israel, Oman, Australia and New Zealand, amongst others, this is a particularly British disease, and one I would gladly see irradiated.

That said, maybe I'm spoilt. At my local ground, Worsley in Manchester, the food's top drawer - e.g. burger, bacon, egg & onions on a bap and a filter coffee or tea, is only £5. A whole range of other quality nosebag is on offer there too, from chicken sandwiches, hot roast beef and onions sarnies, turkey and stuffing, steak pie, peas and gravy, chilli and chips, an all-day full English breakfast, cheeseburger and chips, meat and potato pies, cold pork pies, cold drinks... you get the picture. And it's not dear, either, regardless of the predictable whines you hear from the usual suspects who'll insist that anything over a quid for a 4 course banquet is daylight robbery. To put it into perspective, last time I shot Hodnet, 25th January this year, the only thing the kitchen had on (or was prepared to offer) was either tea or coffee. No food. Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it, especially as all three of us were ravenous.

I suspect it'd be more accurate/useful to delineate at which grounds we'd prefer to see a better scoff-offering (i.e. any première grounds that you might feel are falling short of the mark), as at straw-balers, you're never gonna anything more than a good pie or a bacon sarnie and an instant coffee - but that's simply down to cost, and they'd never be able to afford a grander menu (although they invariably make up for it with the high standard of the shoots they set).

Edited to add: just dawned on me, a 'Growler' has its own definition (although be careful!) in both Yorkshire and the British Army

That's just what I was trying to say (apart from the 'Growler' but far more eloquently put by Lock Stock & Barrel.

We should expect (and get {if at a cost} ) more from our grounds, we need to do this to attract more shooters, helping them to have a high quality day would pay massive dividends for the future of our sport.

big thing is - how do we do this without applying undue pressure on the shoot operators/ground owners?

 

[Nick Selby]

Just a thought and correct me if I am wrong but somewhere along the line this investment would have to be paid for and it'll probably be in the form of higher price per clay etc...as a newbie, I'm more interested in keeping the cost of shooting to minimum, so I can shoot more....

 

[Nick Selby]

However, it is nice to have decent facilities....

 

[Growl]

No, I was thinking the coffee/food would have a structured price, but at least we would then have a choice, instead of most of the time just having el cheapo offered up, this should not affect price per clay, catering in general is a separate issue.

 

[Nick Selby]

I guess I should visit a few more grounds though to get an idea of what is on offer...only been to two so far.

 

[Growl]

Hope you have tried Ian Coleys it's a great layout

 

[Michael]

Agree with most comments so far, what winds me up a bit is peeing in a dirty bucket in a dirty shed. Wallers Ash give yourself a Gold your WCs are awesome.