LNER (Chesterfield) Rifle Association Blazer-badge.

London & North-Eastern Railway (Chesterfield) Rifle Association vintage blazer-badge, machine-embroidered on navy-blue shield, 95mm wide x 110mm high. The design includes the crooked church-spire of St Mary & All Angels Church in Chesterfield.
Very good condition.
Note : In 1859, as a result of the perceived threat to the United Kingdom from the growing conscript armies on the Continent especially that of France and, given further impetus driven by a public outcry for improvements in the country’s defence, a new Rifle Volunteer Movement, based on that of the Napoleonic Wars, was rapidly formed to great popular acclaim.
In the same year this led to the formation of the National Rifle Association (NRA) designed to encourage rifle shooting by the introduction of a great annual National Rifle Meeting open to both Volunteers and all-comers. There marksmen could compete for valuable prizes. To achieve this it was necessary to ensure that the ranges, initially on Wimbledon Common and later at Bisley, were readily accessible by train.
As a result a special relationship developed between the Association and the London & North Eastern Railway in fulfilling these aims.

Code: 52239