Book hits the target

Working with an Olympic target shooter led Bunyip historian David Rapley into a sport that has a fascinating history.
After growing up in Mitcham, Mr Rapley’s Olympian colleague invited him to the Williamstown Rifle Club and, with no previous interest in the sport, Mr Rapley said he didn’t know what to expect.
“I can tell you by the time I left, I had forgotten all my work problems, I loved it,” he said.
Decades later, Mr Rapley has written an historical account of the rifle clubs in the Yarra Valley, a book that has received praise from the State Government.
The publication, Rifle Clubs of the Yarra Valley A Historical Perspective from 1885 2000, was commended in the Victorian Community Heritage Awards.
Mr Rapley spent three years researching and documenting the history of the 19 rifle clubs in the Yarra Valley in the past 115 years.
He said a quick look through the archives of the Upper Yarra Rifle Club quickly turned into an intertwining, whirlwind of broken history and defunct archives.
“It occurred to me quickly that a lot of sporting clubs are only interested in winning next week, and not who won the grand final last year,” he said.
Mr Rapley, who lived in The Patch and Monbulk for 35 years before moving to Bunyip three years ago, said the book project evolved out of his passion for sport and history.
“I started to write a brief history of Upper Yarra Rifle Club when I was a member there and quickly found that no one had collated the history of clubs in the area,” he said.
“As I made my way through the Upper Yarra club’s history I discovered the history of other clubs was intertwined and I found myself researching the history of 19 clubs.
“Collecting the data was good. Sitting down and writing the book was the hard part,” he said.
Luckily, Mr Rapley’s wife, Monica, is a professional archivist and played a crucial role in putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
“Monica was terrific, absolutely helpful,” he said.
Mr Rapley uncovered many fascinating stories and facts as he worked his way through the clubs’ histories.
“The Victorian Rifle Association, which was formed in 1860, is one of the oldest sporting bodies in the country,” he said.
“It grew out of moves by the State Government of the 1850s to build up its own defence force.
Every ablebodied man in Victoria was trained to use a military weapon and the government provided rifle ranges.”
Mr Rapley said a large number of ranges were built in the Upper Yarra area in places as far afield as Healesville, Yarra Glen, Lilydale, Olinda, Emerald and Christmas Hills.
“The sport of rifle shooting grew in popularity throughout the late 1800s and by 1914, when the sport was at its peak, there were over 56,000 rifle club members across the country,” Mr Rapley said.
“Pakenham, Bunyip and even Berwick all had rifle clubs once upon a time, and you don’t have to look very far back into history,” he said.
“The sport was so popular in Victoria that a rifle team represented the state in the UK well before a cricket team was ever sent overseas.”
Mr Rapley hopes the book, which will be placed in libraries across the Yarra Valley, will be a valuable resource for those interested in the sport.
“I hope some locals who have an interest in rifle clubs, or who had a family member who was involved in one, will get something out of the book,” he said.
“It tells the story of each of the Yarra Valley rifle clubs using a combination of historical records, photographs and descriptions of the life and achievements of each club.”
Mr Rapley, who paid the publishing costs, said he was delighted to receive the commendation from the Victorian Community Heritage Awards.
“When I was presented with the commendation at the Melbourne Town Hall earlier this year I just smiled. It made the hard work worthwhile,” he said.
Amazingly, during his research and writing of the book, Mr Rapley continued running his own business of 30 years, DRA Engines, in Bunyip.
The Bunyip business restores historic racing and sports cars, something that Mr Rapley has always had a passion for.
Servicing a niche market, Mr Rapley has worked on the restoration of vehicles from all over Australia, and the world.
“I’ve had cars from as far as Queensland, and even from the United States,” he said.
Restoring historic cars is a job that doesn’t take days, weeks or even months, but years and sometimes many.
“If a car is completely ruined, we call it a basketcase, it can take between eight and 10 years to complete a full restoration.
“If the condition of the car is average, it can take up to two years still,” he said.
Mr Rapley said the level of detail involved in restoring the car consumes the most time.
“If the engine in the car is from 1924, obviously there are no working parts available to put in, so every single component must be made from scratch, from nothing.”
But Mr Rapley said patience is the key.
“Patience is a useful tool, a good thing to have in this job,” he said.
Juggling his interest in rifle clubs and his restoration business, Mr Rapley said the target shooting sport is stagnant in its popularity.
“With the negative publicity surrounding firearms, the popularity is stable, but it is still there.
“It’s gone from a national sport, to a small sport,” he said.
But Mr Rapley is quick to point out that injuries and dangers do not play a part in his favourite sport.
“It is very organised, there hasn’t been an injury, let alone a death in rifle target shooting since 1901,” he said.
The book, Rifle Clubs of the Yarra Valley A Historical Perspective from 1885 – 2000 is available in libraries across the Yarra Valley, and people interested in obtaining their own copy can do so by contacting a library in the region.