My idea of paintballing was running around some cosy undercover venue - how naive was I?

That image slowly dissipated when I was given the location for the Powerplay Paintball site deep in dense woodland in Brighouse.

Suddenly paintballing didn't seem so appealing - even less so as I made my way to the site in the chilly drizzle.

Fear not, I thought, as my car ambled over a bumpy dirt track heading into the woods. There I was greeted by the sight of wooden fancing. It reminded me of a fort - well, I was going into combat after all! Entering what I discovered to be the safe area' dotted with wooden picnic-style benches, I spotted piles of camouflage suits, hoods and masks. Now that was scary!

Following a health and safety chat with site owner Steve Bull, I was eagerly pulling on my own floral wellies (and there's me thinking we'd be issued with steel toe-cap boots!) and camouflage suit. I'm ready for combat. Well maybe not, I suspect, looking at Steve's concerned expression.

As you'd expect, Steve is a stickler for health and safety. It comes with the territory. He tells me that hoods, and more importantly masks, have to be worn at all times within the playing area. It is imperative to the safety of all players.

Paint balls come out of the markers' - for obvious reasons they're not referred to as guns - at an astonishing 200 miles per hour. I'd been warned of the bruising this coloured splattering can cause, and if not used correctly these things have the potential to blind.

I hastily pulled my claustrophobic headgear on. I'd just seen two minibuses pull into the car park, each carrying the 25 students Steve told me were due to arrive for a day's paintballing.

I joked to Steve not to tell them that the photographer and I were from the Press. "They may be eager to take a pop at me!" I quipped.

Steve smiled but, having just met this guy, I wasn't confident he'd keep that a secret. As he retreated back into the safe area to meet his students our photographer, Mike, and I headed off to the site where I gleefully ran through the leaves cocking my marker around trees pretending to look for my targets. Happily, those targets' were getting their all-important health and safety briefing back at the ranch.

Half an hour in and I was heading off to the bridge lined with barrels - handy objects to duck behind when you're stalking your prey.

Then it was off to the makeshift Western-style wooden village with its peep holes and hiding places where you can really test those attacking and defending techniques.

This was all very well, but I hadn't even had a pop at a target yet. In came Tracy Andrew, a marshal on the site. Her interest developed through her husband Stuart. She's done paintballing but prefers looking after the players.

Being a marshal, she explains, involves starting the games and making sure health and safety is adhered to at all times. I asked whether she has ever been hit. "They daren't!" she laughed. I can believe it.

Handing me my marker she explained a little about how it's used - a ball drops into the barrel from the hopper' where they are stored and gas from the canister propels the paintball.

For those concerned with the environmental impact paintballing may have, I was told the balls are bio-degradable and filled with watered-down food colouring.

"So it washes out?" I asked. Tracy told me it did "although the blue stains are the worst" she advised, looking forlornly at Mike the photogra pher's cream trouser leg decorated with the sky-coloured dye from the stray ball he had trodden on!

Tracy poured a pot of orange balls into the hopper, the canister attached to the marker. Within seconds I was ready for target practice.

Ducking behind some pallets, I aimed at an area packed with targets to practise on. Road signs, upturned buckets slung over a couple of fencing panel posts and even a satellite dish - and they didn't move! How could I miss? I asked through gritted teeth when I dispensed the last of my balls at the can Tracy had asked me to aim at.

I managed to splat the road sign, a few stray orange spots could be seen on a couple of trees and a fair few blasted a pathway through the leaf-strewn floor but I couldn't get the can I was aiming at. Then it dawned on both Tracy and I.

"Which can are you aiming at?" asked Tracy. I'd thought she meant me to go for the rather advanced long-range bean can. "Even I couldn't hit that!" she laughed.

Then I realised she meant the much larger, closer can. I took up my position, (you'd think I'd had army training), pulled the marker up to my shoulder and fired. It bounced off the fencing but I was undeterred.

With one ball left to dispense I was determined I'd hit the target - and it did! "Yippee!" I yelled. What must those students have thought?

Being the wuss that I am I decided I didn't really want to hang around to find out and retreated into the safe area where all 25 of them were gathering camouflaged and masked up in rather menacing fashion. "They're keen to take you on - 25 on one!" laughed Steve. I knew he couldn't keep a secret!

Before buying into a paintball site, Steve worked in textiles. The connection between textiles and paintballing is camouflage. At one time he was involved in manufacturing camouflage suits. Exploring that niche introduced him to the wonderful world of paintballing and he ended up buying a business.

The beautiful woodland off Coal Pit Lane in Clifton, near Brighouse, where companies bring their staff for fun and team-building or clients come to mark a special celebration (Steve tells me paintballing is popular with stag and hen parties), is part of the huge estate owned by landowner Lady Armytage.

Apparently she pops in from time to time although I'm told she isn't tempted to play!

"We're not doing any harm to the woods, if anything we're managing them because if anything needs tidying or cleaning we look after it," said Steve.

The 53-year-old is too busy running the site to have a go himself. He has previously done paintballing for fun but not at the competitive level you can work your way up to. "In America they play for thousands of dollars," said Steve.

Not surprisingly, paintballing originated from across the Atlantic around the mid to late 1980s. "There are two thoughts as to how the game developed; one was using gloss paint to mark trees which were being cut down so you didn't have to get off your vehicle, or from marking cattle. I tend to think it developed from marking trees," said Steve.

Whether you want to play for fun or pursue it to competition level, paintballing is fantastic. "Anyone can play at this level, grandmothers and grandfathers can play," said Steve.

Working out your game plan and ducking and diving from your opponents tests your mental agility and physical ability so it's great for health and well-being too.

"It's also a great stress reliever!" laughed Steve.

Power Play is one of the UK's accredited paint ball venues. It is a member of the UK Paint Ball Sports Federation, of which Steve is the chairman.

Equipment is supplied and refreshments are available. It's worth mentioning this site offers laser tag' too. Watch this space for my verdict on that

  • For more information ring 0845 1306258 or visit www.playpaintball.co.uk