club history

A public meeting was held in Forfar in the Meffan Hall in the evening of Monday 24 October 1937 to propose the formation of a miniature rifle club in the town. The meeting chairman was the local Chief Constable D. C. Christie. The resolution was unanimously adopted and a committee was appointed to look into premises, finances etc.[Forfar Herald 28/10/37]

By December that year the club had been formed as the Forfar and District Small Bore Rifle Club and had raised the necessary finance through a loan of £350 from James Lindsay who was the Postmaster at Letham, Angus at a very reasonable interest rate of 4%. This interest was paid annually to Mr Lindsay (after deducting tax!) until September 1951 when £150 of the loan was paid off with the balance being paid off in November 1953. The club was also paying £2 10/- half annually in ground rent to a Mr. Bowen and in January 1955 the ground was purchased (very cheaply) for £100.

It was reported that the original committee appointed in October 1937 were unable to find suitable premises and had made the decision to build a new range with the finances as explained above. There had been a previous miniature rifle club (Forfar and District Miniature Rifle Club) which had been formed in 1911 and had utilised a disused factory in Chapel Street. The present range in Myre Road (although the address is officially 26½ West High Street) was under construction in the spring of 1938.

The range was constructed using local contractors many of which are still in operation in the town

   
£
s
d
Joinery J.C. Samson
179
14
2
Builder Liddle & Calder
106
11
-
Heating and Light Milne & Sons
17
2
10
Plumbing D. Langlands & Son
30
16
9
Furnishings D. Irons & Sons
16
12
4
Garden  
1
14
6
  Total
352
11
7

The range construction was of simple design with a single brick walled range with a wooden clubhouse attached to the firing point end. The range has been little altered except in 1988 when the clubroom was extended to the east to add a secure gunroom and armoury along with a pair of large storage areas which now form the 6 yard air pistol range. The clubroom and range was re-roofed in 1997 as the original corrugated iron roof had rusted around the securing nails and was letting in water.