The annual dinner and prizegiving – a joint celebration for Watsonian Rifle Club and for George Watson’s College Target Rifle Club – was held on Wednesday 5th June 2024.
There was much to celebrate. Amongst the fifty-seven attendees at Myreside Pavilion were our guests: Melvyn Rolfe (Principal, George Watson’s College) and Ben di Rollo (President of the Watsonian Club) both of whom have been very supportive of our club’s activities. The remainder of the attendees made up a good mix of “senior” club and “junior” club members, along with parents of many of the pupils.
After an excellent meal, the prizegiving lasted about an hour. Of the many trophies and medals presented perhaps the most impressive was the NSRA “Scottish Cup” awarded to the leading Scottish team of six each year for short range shooting. This year’s team included (L to R in the photo) Ronnie Sellar, Adam Dove, Graham Rudd, Jonty Barron, James Brown and Ollie Barron.
The most impressive trophy not presented was the “Burroughes and Watts trophy” for the winning British Team of Four against the top teams in the UK (Ollie, Jonty, Graham and Adam). This is even more remarkable, given that Watsonians have won this event for three consecutive years. Unfortunately, the NSRA are unable to allow this trophy to leave their head office. It’s quite large, very detailed in solid silver, and worth a substantial amount of money!
In another outstanding performance, Jonty Barron won the Scottish Short Range Individual Championship with a maximum 400 points. Jonty has also qualified for, and shot, the final of the British Short Range Individual Championship. Results for this event have yet to be published.
These trophies apart, prizes were well distributed amongst those present although it seemed that the Junior club gained the larger share. This reflected another very successful year of competition by members of both clubs!
Robin Thomson
For Watsonian Rifle Club