W.A.R.R. On Covid!

Peter Yeats reflects on how times are changing for our beloved sport due to Coronavirus

Peter Yeats

“Never go back,” they say. “It’s never the same.”Hmmm, but what if you’d had a great time? Or even if you’re just curious? Covid 19 has wreaked havoc since its arrival, and is likely to do so for the foreseeable future, at least until effective vaccination is a realistic prospect. For now, it’s all about adapting to regulations, guidelines and circumstances.

Way back, in a different lifetime it almost seems, in the May issue of ‘Air Gunner’, I wrote about Soggy Solutions – or what I decided to do, in order to get shooting in the face of interminable rain that rendered my permission virtually impassible. So I went to Washington Air Rifle Range (W.A.R.R.), in Tyne and Wear, to meet Ian and Michael and to sample what their range had to offer. Needless to say, I enjoyed a fantastic visit, trying the well-designed challenges of the long and short ranges.

I was also delighted to see the great work done by our editor and art director for my article, knowing that it would do a fair job of promoting this range and airgun ranges in general, but that satisfaction was very short-lived, overtaken by this global pandemic and the unprecedented lockdown. Months of forced inactivity later, I was able to make a return visit to see how Ian and Michael were dealing with the difficulties posed to their business.

Firstly, they had survived, but would not have done so without the Government’s small business support scheme. The struggle to recognise the terms of their Business Interruption Insurance is ongoing – an experience shared by very many businesses, I believe, but this is where the doom and gloom ends. This range is pushing forward with improvements, accelerated during lockdown, and in part, available to shooters using the range’s Covid management arrangements.

CHANGING TIMES