Altcar Training Camp is located in Hightown,

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The estate is composed of beaches, marshland, fields and small woods. The range is run by the North West Reserve Forces & Cadets Association.

History

William Molyneux, 4th Earl of Sefton William Philip Molyneux, 4th Earl of Sefton, (14 October 1835 – 27 June 1897) was a British peer. Born Viscount Molyneux, he was the eldest son of Charles Molyneux, 3rd Earl of Sefton and his wife, Mary. He was educated at Eton College, Ber ...

first made the site available for the Grand Lancashire Rifle Contest on 29 October 1860. He donated the land to the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

s two years later. A

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

was established near the site in 1862 but closed in 1921. The site, which had been known as Altcar Rifle Range, was renamed Altcar Training Camp in 1970. In February 2016 a pavilion was burnt to the ground in a controlled fire to make way for new facilities.

Gallery

File:Altcar rifle range - geograph.org.uk - 96902.jpg, Altcar Rifle Range File:Altcar army camp 1981 - geograph.org.uk - 98387.jpg, Altcar camp 1981 File:Little Altcar - Rifle Club Huts.jpg, Little Altcar; the Club Huts File:Alt Pumping Station - geograph.org.uk - 1227336.jpg, Alt Pumping Station File:Entrance to "Training Area 6" - geograph.org.uk - 1226015.jpg, Entrance to "Training Area 6" File:Phragmites - geograph.org.uk - 1227337.jpg, Phragmites File:Nissen Huts - geograph.org.uk - 1225997.jpg,

Nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure for military use, especially as barracks, made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. Designed during the First World War by the American-born, Canadian-British engineer and inventor Majo ...

s File:Range Control - geograph.org.uk - 1227356.jpg, Range Control File:Firing range danger flag by Alt estuary - geograph.org.uk - 420396.jpg, Range danger flag at Alt Estuary

References

{{Authority control Shooting ranges in the United Kingdom Rifle ranges Metropolitan Borough of Sefton Military history of Merseyside Shooting sports in England Barracks in England