Chris has been shooting for about 20 years, finding that the sport was very good to him, he quickly become recognised as one of the better Bowhunter Compound shooters, and has travelled the world shooting IFAA. He has seen success through out his shooting career with the most significant achievements being a Gold at the world Bowhunter Championships and a Silver in the NFAS National Championships. Sadly an injury has prevented Chris from continuing his shooting; however he remains involved with the sport with which he feels so passionate. He remains deeply involved with running the club but latterly personal problems have seen him delegate more and more to others. He has ensured the club has a great reputation for serving excellent Archers food, and created the McChris as his “Signature dish”

The picture shows him shooting his favourite style B/H Compound a style not permited for the officianadoes of the NFAS. He is seen here shooting in Germany

He remains deeply frustrated by the lack of international ambition of the NFAS and their failure to recognise their own potential to take on the GNAS and become an internationally recognised body for the sport, equally the EFAA’s lack of commitment in the UK to unmarked shooting. Just as frustrating is the failure and stubbornness of all of these organisations to consider some level of integration.
There is no doubt that should the politics of society decide that Archery is a threat to one and all only the strongest will survive and a body that represented all of archery would have the best chance of assuring the long term future of our sport.

Chris (Mr Cool) or (The Dark Lord) was a founder member of Avalon, with Chris Cox. They were both founder members of Shuttleworth Bowmen. Everything he does is cool and precise. He sometimes gives the impression he is unconcerned, but this is not the case; he is very dedicated to this type of archery. His main style of shooing is Compound Unlimited, but has sometimes been seen with a flat bow, not very often I might add, because every time he is caught shooting something other than C/UL, everyone thinks he has had a sudden senior moment and tends to remind him to be careful because a bow other than a compound has a mind of its own.
His biggest rival is Tony Weston. When these two are shooting against each other you can guarantee there will be a tight competition going on. When he was a member of the EFAA he very often shot against some of the best in Europe and came out on top, so he is no slouch when it comes to shooting a Compound (poetic licence). The competitions he has won or been in the medals are too numerous to mention.
He spends so much time on the practice butts that I don’t know where he finds the time to plan and put on such good Open Shoots, which is his main position as the Chief Course Setter (Open Shoots).
The courses he sets are some of the best in the country. Archers come from miles away to shoot at a shoot he has set out. Some shots are really spectacular but not impossible to hit, which is a sign of a good course setter. Avalon Archers has a lot to thank Chris Lovelock for. The reputation Avalon Archers has gained over the last few years, as a good day out for food and shooting, a large part of this is due to Chris Lovelocks contribution to these clubs successes.

Nev first took up shooting in 1965 in the north of England. He was trained by Alf Johnson qualified GNAS & BFAA coach to a high standard. His Field Club was the Teucer Bowmen. Moved to Stevenage in 1970, and did not take up the bow again until 1992 where he rediscovered Bare Bow style at Bossard Bowmen.
Nev first joined the Cloth of Gold in 1996, after a year Dave Arnold the then currant Captain of Archers left. He took over this role for a year, then Andy Stroud took on the role, then it was back to him again. In 1998 he won the Victor Ladorum Trophy at the Devon Challenge in the men’s Bare Bow section He has won a Club Master Hunter Patch in the Bare Bow class twice in 1997 and 2003. In 1999 Nev took his Coaching course and passed successfully and was N. F .A .S. Coach until 2004, renewing in 2004 for a further 5 years. At this point the Captain of Archers was disbanded. During that time he was responsible for booking in archers attending Open Shoots, Shoot organisation and Shoot safety.
Nev won the UK’s 1st R 100 Bare Bow section in 2005. He has helped on numerous occasions with Course setting. Just recently Nev has tried his hand at Hunting Tackle with disastrous results. His period of Coaching has produced some of his proudest moments; the progress some of his pupils have made is very satisfying. One in particular stands out above all the rest Ethna Gillespie whose achievements have outstripped all expectations. His new job is writing the Shoot Reports and compiling Members Profiles for the Web Site and Newsletter.

John is very well trained in Archery. He represented the County at target archery. John is married with two daughters both who are trained in target archery as is his wife Sandra.
He joined Cloth of Gold in 1997. John’s style at the moment is shooting Longbow but has shot Compound Limited. He can shoot any style he chooses as his training allows him to do so. His commitment to field archery is unquestionable and was a very good member of the Cloth of Gold. Whenever he has represented the Club at Open Shoots he has always done his best with the Longbow with some reasonable success. He won Tony vouchers in the M P A Open Shoot 12th Feb 2006.He also won a Quail at the S P A T A shoot Dec 2005 with his trusty Longbow.
He attends local Open Shoots and has competed in the Devon Challenge and 3D Championships over several years with the Longbow and Compound. He won a Club Master Hunter Patch in 2000 C/L class.
He has been involved in the laying of a number of courses during his time at the Club. These were laid in conjunction with other members Andy Stroud, Dave Piercy and just recently Nev Wilson, but he has also been responsible for courses on his own. All of which were successful.
John is a nice easy going guy who works quietly behind the scenes and knows the woods very well indeed which makes him a superb course setter. John is another member who is always available for any task; but resents being taken advantage of. But in times of crisis is always a willing volunteer. Geoff Taylor resigned as Secretary due to work commitments after two years doing a superb job. John volunteered to be the next Secretary; this was a key post and vital to the success of the Club. Its members like these the Club needs. But in 2007/8 the Club elected a new Chairman and Secretary.John has now moved to Avalon, where I am sure he will give the same commitment as has done in the past. So far he has completed a full 36 Big Game 3d NFAS Friendly on the 29th March 2009 in conjunction with Nev Wilson, with a further commitment to complete another NFAS Friendly in August 2009.

Jim joined the Cloth of Gold June 1999 as a raw recruit armed with a 55lb Longbow which he had bought from mail order.
Mo Gibbons was the coach at the time and was asked to take him on for training. What a Challenge! Straight away the Longbow was binned. He started training with a 35 lb recurve training Bow and what a difference.
Within a few weeks he was merrily sailing round the course as if he had been born with a bow in his hands. He went and bought himself a Border Bow and now makes his own arrows and shoots Hunting Tackle style.
He has since shot lots of styles from Compound to Recurve and even tried out the longbow he binned all those years ago.
Jim has won lots of trophies in local field shoots. He has been to National Champs, Devon Challenge 3D Champs, and even the Scottish Champs. Jim has been a member of Avalon for a few years but when Cloth of Gold lost their woods he started to become involved in the work of running Avalon. Despite a number of issues he has become one of the members the Club relies on for help with the courses on our Open shoots and Admin.