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This week, Taylor's Travels meets Hello! Magazine. I'm visiting Olympic shooter Peter Wilson
at his home in Dorset.
The Dad moment was one of the most memorable that the Olympics produced. And here is that
Dad.
Definitely a Dad moment ... and Mum. Just because Mum wasn't there, Dad was a little
quicker, Mum's knees didn't quite manage to make it down those flight of stairs, it is
very special to share those moments with your parents and it just happened that Dad was
there first. It was great to be able to give him a hug and of course I wouldn't want to
do it again on national TV if I could help it, because everyone remembers that moment
and I think Dad is a great deal more famous than I am because of it, but he is an integral
part of my journey and without him I wouldn't be where I am today and so it was great to
be able to give him a hug and thank him.
I didn't do anything. I just helped him fulfil his ambition. It was him who decided that
that was what he wanted to do. At the time it seemed like a very far fetched dream, but
to his internal credit he made it happen. With the help of Al Maktoum I think without
him he would never have got to where he did.
Since the Olympics Peter has been showered with sponsorship opportunities. He has carefully
chosen quality British merchandise. Here he is shooting the new Holland & Holland Sporter.
It is a real thing of beauty. I have never held such a beautiful gun in my life. So I
feel I am really privileged. I feel as though I am holding a piece of history. And that
is what is really nice about it. I have never felt so proud to hold a gun before. All the
guns I have ever used have been real tools of the trade. They have been a tool, they
have never been cleaned. They have never been looked after. I shoot them every single day
and this is a little different. This is beautiful. So, as I say I feel, it is quite nice, it
makes you smile while you hold it.
The gun you used in the Olympics that you won gold with, what has happened to that?
It is at home. It has actually gone for a service. Every year it gets serviced. In fact
it gets serviced twice a year. It gets a pretty big battering. It gets heavily used. I shoot
anything up to 60,000 cartridges a year through it.
Peter and Holland & Holland are both at the top end of shooting. What does it take to
join the bottom end?
I don't think there is any need to worry about becoming a professional clay pigeon shot.
I think that all that matters is enjoying the sport and what it has to offer. Be safe
and have an amazing time. Get involved and have as much fun as you possibly can and keep
smiling because it is the most incredible sport and it can offer so much. So immerse
yourself in it. As I said of course be safe and have fun.
Shooting is one part of country life and hunting is another. The Wilsons live in the heart
of the South Dorset hunt. Since the weather is closing in, Pete's girlfriend Michelle
decides that now's a good time to watch the hunt in action.
To start with, we can't find them. A few calls and a few wrong directions later, we reckon
we know where they are.
At the top of the hill we're in the perfect place
What is the weather like?
Horrendous.
As well as dad, or ĹDAD' as he is now known, and mum, Pete's other great rock is his girlfriend
the sporting artist Michelle McCullagh
Yes, I have been shooting and had a go. But I haven't succeeded in doing very well at
the moment, but I enjoy doing the clay pigeon shooting. I have quite enjoyed doing that
and I have been coached by the best, but I have only been out a few times and I do enjoy
it. I love beating, so I thoroughly enjoy doing that.
Getting involved.
Yes, I love getting involved and being outside and going through countryside I wouldn't necessarily
go through.
Pete is not just the golden boy of shooting. He is an ambassador for all country sports.
Winning the Olympics in London was just amazing, but being able to shoot a pigeon or even a
brace and just come home and dress them and cook them is just as exciting just in a different
way. So I am very fortunate at the age of 26 I have won the Olympic Games in London.
And I am also fortunate enough to be able to come back here to Dorset and and be given
the option to go out and shoot the odd pigeon or two and cook it of an evening. So I know
that sounds so simple, so basic so sort of prehistoric, but it is just wonderful. It
is a wonderful thing and I am so lucky and don't want to take it for granted.
On behalf of the Countryside Alliance, we ask him to make this appeal.
My name is Peter Wilson and I am really looking forward to the national shooting week between
the 25th May and the 2nd of June.
Thank you Pete. For more information, visit Countryside-Alliance.org
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