Tom Rylands

Having now, reluctantly, accepted he will always be in the ‘Senior’ section of any team he tours with, on this occasion Tom is delighted not to be the oldest and is determined to show that the competitive spirit is alive and well!

Tom’s first Bisley was in 1978 and he hasn’t missed one since – his first visit to Canada was in 1988, on his first GB Tour, and he has represented GB in 5 Palma Teams and 6 Australia Matches as well as returning to Canada in 1998, 2017, 2018 (as Commandant of the Athelings) and 2019 as England Team Captain. This year has already been busy with trips to USA and The Channel Islands, where Tom coached the NRA team to success in both Jersey and Guernsey.

After an initial career in the agricultural industry, Tom is now a gunsmith and shooting coach, is heavily involved with Cadet Shooting as National Chief Coach, Army Cadets and coaches 2 schools in the Bisley Schools meeting – he was particularly proud to see one of those, Ellesmere College, win the Ashburton for the first time in 2015.

Tom looks forward to catching up with his many Canadian friends post pandemic and hopes the ‘Corn Boil’ is still on the programme!!