ONE of Coniston Hotel Shooting Ground’s most popular members, Harley Preston, recently celebrated his 94th birthday - proving that you are never too old to pursue an active hobby.

Harley has seldom missed his weekly appearance at Coniston Hotel to meet up with his pals Doug, Brian, Mick, Hugh and Chris for a morning of clay pigeon shooting. This is followed by a good lunch where he is known to the friendly catering staff as “Mr Crispy” owing to his particular fondness for a well cooked bacon sandwich.

His friends describe him as a very good shot who is still a serious danger to clay pigeons and has a remarkable talent for missing the easy ones and spectacularly smashing the difficult ones.

For his birthday,  he was presented with a cake by the staff at the shooting ground and was also given presents by his shooting pals. Harley is still a fine figure of a man keeping very trim with a straight back and he attributes his good health to avoiding alcohol, which he says is pure poison, and not overeating.

The nurses at Royal Blackburn Hospital, when he has had occasion to visit, have said it is very rare that a 90-plus year-old walks through the doors standing ramrod straight and without a walking stick. This military bearing can perhaps be traced back to his National Service days when he was posted to Sierra Leone where he managed to quell a riot armed solely with a heavy blast of Yorkshire invective.

Although he was only a teenager at the time he was quickly promoted over much older men to be in charge of repairing the regiment’s trucks and keep their wheels turning often in very difficult conditions.

Harley was mostly brought up in Hellifield but spent a great deal of time with his grandma, in Gargrave, where he recalls many very happy adventures and scrapes. At the tender age of three or four his mother would put him on the bus at Hellifield and the kindly conductor would not only help him up the steps, assist him with his bag but also make an unscheduled stop right outside his grandma’s door.

During the Second World War and at the very young age of 15 he was put in charge of a lathe turning fuses for bomb cases. Due to his diminutive height at that time he was barely able to reach the controls and had to stand on a wooden box but still managed to produce his quota and with considerable accuracy. His Manager commented at that time: “I only need to tell yon little blighter once!"

After National Service he ran a haulage and garage repair business for many years and then later worked as an engineer with a local company until well-earned retirement finally beckoned.

With his beloved wife, Betty, they enjoyed many long and spectacular holidays touring Canada and North America. Harley was no slouch where golf was concerned and was a very competitive member of Clitheroe Golf Club which he joined in 1965 and where he is still a life member.

Harley takes great interest in the wildlife and birds around his home, now over the border in Lancashire, and is a great exponent of taking a nice walk every day to keep as fit as possible.

Although Harley has now handed his guns in and has decided not renewing his gun licence, friends hope they will continue to be entertained for many years to come by his ready wit, wisdom and inexhaustible supply of tales from years gone by.