Wrekin Rifle Range

Doesn't this look deliciously ominous? Am I about to be shot to death? 

Nope! Sorry to ruin your dreams and leave you blue balled. 

This firing range hasn't been used since, allegedly, the 1980s, although there are conflicting stories there. The sign, which had curiously had the word "military" censored, is just a remnant of an era that feels very far away but actually makes up the last century of the Wrekin's history.  

This is the remains of the target trench, where operators would raise the targets for the shooters using some old mechanisms that are still in the firing trench, and still in reasonably good condition. 

So obviously I came up here on two separate days. I know this is the UK but the weather still doesn't change this rapidly. 

 

The rifle range can actually be seen on old maps as far back as the 1880s, which is pretty cool. Prior to that it was allegedly a horse race track, but the ground doesn't really seem suitable for it.

While these mechanisms are pretty much the most interesting remnant of the firing range, the range itself went all the way down the field, with some firing spots being on the other side of the road. Needless to say, when the firing range was active the road was closed, as were the public footpaths. There were red flags warning people, as well as friendly sentries who had the pleasure of standing around in all manner of weather turning people away, while their mates blasted plywood targets to bits. 

Today the area is pretty calm. The area really doesn't look like a firing range at all, at least not as they're portrayed by modern media. For starters, there's no school full of children.

But if it wasn't for these contraptions, we'd never guess that a century ago this area would have been a hive of military activity. Bullets would be whizzing by, and people would be down among the mechanisms, raising the targets. People hundreds of yards away would be opening fire, and the gunshots could be heard for miles. Often the chaps operating these mechanisms would use a stick to indicate on the target where the shot had hit, so that the shooters could make improvements, and it was a common sport to then try to shoot the stick from the operators hand as a bit of a joke. They sound like fun times.

 

The firing range was originally used by the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry, a regiment who apparently marched here all the way from their barracks in Shrewsbury. The three best shooters were then allowed to ride home on a truck.

The regiment was formed in 1881 and they were active in the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882, Sudan in 1885, the Ashanti War in what is now Ghana in 1895 and the more famous Boer War from 1899 to 1902. It's pretty cool to think that people who were active in these conflicts actually trained on this firing range, although I doubt the target mechanisms were the same. They will have been upgraded over the years.

Here's a photo of the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry in 1898!

(Photo not mine, obviously)

So every man in this image has been here. Each man pictured has probably stood several hundred yards down the field, and pointed a gun at where I'm taking my photos. It's pretty cool. 

One notable member of this regiment is Private Arthur Nick Carter, who served with it from 1901 to 1951, serving in both the Boer War and the First World War. When he retired he was the oldest serving member of the British Army. He also holds the record for the most stripes for good conduct, awarded more than any other member of the British Army ever. They're visible in this image of him. 

(Photo not mine, obviously)

The Kings Shropshire Light Infantry fought in the first world war, and some went to Ireland for their war of independence in 1919. They also occupied Germany for a bit in 1924. And this was where they trained, and blasted the shit out of targets, bantered, and had a jolly old time.

Down here in the target trench, there are some steps leading down to a corrugated iron shed that looks like one fart could bring it toppling down. This was apparently where the targets were stored when the range wasn't in use. 

The firing range was apparently extended in 1928, and at some point it started also being used by the Shropshire Yeomanry. This was a volunteer regiment, usually consisting of regular workmen who took up a number of days training each year to learn how to act in concert with regular military forces. They weren't really meant for foreign service, being more of a home guard, but in 1900 a royal warrant was issued to get them serving in Africa during the Boer War. 

Here's a photo of the Shropshire Yeomanry in 1916!

(Photo not mine, obviously)

So in all likelihood, everyone in this photo has used this target range, and that just blows my mind. There's nearly twenty years between this lot and the photo of the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry. This lot could be that lots children. That's not to be taken literally, but to say that there is a generations difference here. 

The firing range opened itself up to the wider military community too. The Territorial Army were using it by 1937. I'm not a military nerd expert. I don't know the difference between the Yeomanry and the TA, although I'm sure someone will tell me at great length if I get it wrong. The TA is what we now refer to as the Army Reserve. 

The Home Guard also used the firing range between 1940 and 1944. These guys did vary from the Territorial Army, in that the TA were volunteers who supported the British Army whereas the Home Guard was a citizen militia consisting of people too old or too young to serve in the regular army. 

The firing range was also used by any units who were tasked with defending the various local RAF bases. And as my blogs have shown us, Shropshire has plenty of them! 

 

After the second world war, the firing range opened itself up to local cadet forces as well as the local "Wrekin Rifle Club." The territorial army continued to use it and so did military folks from the nearby Donnington base. The site remained popular with numerous groups from the 1950s right up to the 1980s. If I listed all of the acronyms that have used this firing range, this blog would just look like letter salad. It would look like I'd collapsed and faceplanted the keyboard. The military love their acronyms. 

 

Interestingly, I did manage to find the old 1966 byelaws relating to this firing range. It had some fairly interesting points, basically outlining that people should not pass through the "danger area" when the red flag was flying, or "cause or permit or suffer any vehicle, animal, aircraft or thing to enter into the danger area."

I kinda love their use of the word "Thing" in there. It's like they were trying to list everything possible that could be caused to pass through the firing range, and then just settled for "thing." The byelaws do go on to specify that any aircraft must stay above 1,700 feet. 

It also mentions that the road that passes between the 300 and 400 yard mark was closed to the public when the range was active, and that anyone caught on the firing range while shooting was in process could be removed, taken into custody or fined up a whopping five pounds, according to the Military Lands Act 1892.

In their defence, £5 went a bit further in 1892, and even in 1966, but it does look rather farcical by today's standards. 

 

Despite the threat of detainment and losing their pocket money, pretty much everyone who has ever shot here will have a story of having to stop shooting because a cyclist, dog walker, or idiot teenager ventured onto the range. It seems a good chunk of Telford's population believe themselves to be bulletproof. 

But the firing range was not without incidents either. According to rumour, a sentry lost his life in the 1950s when a bullet ricocheted off a tree and hit him, although I've not been able to verify that. Add it to the list of Wrekin-related legends, along with giants and big cats. How tragic, though. The perpetrator must have felt awful. 

A short walk away is another shed, completely collapsed and being engulfed by nature. 

And from the target trench, that seems to be it. But I missed a bit, so I returned with my partner on a foggier day.

As a quick tangent, one thing I've found amusingly weird is how many people on Facebook get offended by the word "partner." And it's always the so-called tougher generation, the same ones who are also offended by black mermaids, vegan sausage rolls and English grammar while accusing everyone else of being easily offended. Is "partner" woke now? Have I missed something? So much anger and hatred has been thrown at me for it, I can't help but be mildly amused and slightly horrified by the state of humanity. This is what too much social media will do to you, folks. 

But I digress! 

Towards the bottom of the firing range is this shack. It might not look like much, but it has an old sign on the front, almost completely swallowed by ivy. 

 

It's very difficult to get a good shot of it from down here, so I had to boost my partner up to it in order to get a good angle. Let's see if we can figure out what it says. 

 

Along the top, it clearly says "Wrekin Range," and at the bottom there's the acronym "RLC" for Royal Logistics Corps. The RLC support army operations with supplying, storage, maintenance, and in this case I guess they are the ones who ran the firing range. It is curious that the sign has been censored though. This hasn't just been obstructed by ivy. Someone has also painted over the text, in much the same way the word "military" was removed from the sign in the woods.

But given that this is situated right next to the road, I figured it would be relatively easy to go onto historic streetview and see the sign from a decade or so ago. 

(Image credit: Google Streetview)

Well the shed is in better condition but the sign is still obstructed. So I decided to ask a local Facebook group to see if anyone remembered what it said. 

Someone claims that from memory it says "Warning. When red flags are flying shooting is taking place. Paths are closed."

And straight away, I gave up trying to get any answers out of people. Just looking at that sign, it's fairly obvious that it doesn't say that. There's clearly just five words here, followed by the RLC acronym. And looking at my partners shot, it's fairly obvious that there's another acronym in there too. It's BOD or BOC, or something. Each one has a variety of military meaning, but I think it says "BOC," because that can stand for "Basic Officer Course." That seems like a good possibility. 

I can honestly confirm that foggy weather is the best time to see the Wrekin. It's deliciously eerie, and definitely gave me Slender Man vibes. But it's time to slip inside the shack. 

 

It is just a hollowed out shell now, but I presume back in the day this was where all the shooters could pick up their guns, load up, maybe have some refreshments, and natter before heading across the field to open fire on the target range. It's certainly seen better days.

 

Despite some claims that the rifle range closed in the 1980s, there are former TA members who claim that they were shooting here as late as 1994. I was told that the firing range closed due to the collapse of the soviet union, but since that had happened some years prior, I took it with a pinch of salt. But someone else has told me that in the mid 1990s, shooting was once again interrupted by people strolling onto the firing range, and this time someone contacted the MOD who realised that this was always going to be an issue and closed the range for safety reasons. A "feasibility study" was carried out by an independent rifle club, but the crown indemnity that enabled the MOD to close the footpaths and roads could not be granted to civilian clubs.

So it's the civilians fault, really. They had red flags and everything but people just can't help being idiots. What is it about Telford people and just wandering into the sound of gunfire?

But it must have been odd for the locals when the range closed. By all accounts, people were accustomed to the military presence here. People could hear the gunfire for miles around. When it stopped, the entire vibe of the area must have changed. But it did bring about a new hobby for the local kids, who would scour the now lifeless fields looking for old bullet casings and other remnants, which is kinda funny because the byelaws from 1966 explicitly forbade this. But hey-ho. 

The target mechanisms became a Grade II listed structure as of 2017, which is pretty cool. This shed? It kinda has crack den vibes now, but I do love how the ivy is slowly taking it back. 

That's all I've got for this. The Wrekin Rifle Range is an effortless explore. Anyone can stroll up here to see these remnants of the past military presence, although it does help to know where you're going. I've heard some people say that they had no idea these things were even here, despite living in the area. 

It makes for a good little adventure, and the area absolutely deserves more love and appreciation.

I'll be back in Telford in about eight blogs time, after I do some more European urbex over on the travel blog. 

In the meantime, the best way to stay updated on my blogs is to follow my social medias. I actually hate what social media is becoming, so I'm definitely going to use this opportunity to mention Bluesky, Vero, and Cara, which are all trying to be what the main platforms used to be back when social media was fun. I am on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Threads, but I do hope that the emergence of new social media heralds the gradual decline of these algorithmic cesspits. And I'm not just saying that because Zuckerberg is sucking Trumps cock now. I don't care about that. Zuck's a businessman and Trump's just banned Tiktok, so Zuck is doing what he needs to do from a business perspective. Everyone is saying that Facebook will become a cesspit now. Look, I was once banned for "cyber crime" for posting photos of a church. My reach hasn't been the same since I got banned for my blog on the 1936 olympics. Meanwhile pedophiles and bigots are proudly proclaiming what they are, and people are getting banned for standing up to them, and it's always been that way. Can we stop pretending Facebook is a hub of integrity that needs to be protected? It's the toilet cubicle wall of the modern life, and it always was and always will be. Find me there, but please also find me anywhere else. The more reasons I have to post elsewhere, the less time I'm spending there. We all win.

Thanks for reading!