LEARNING THE TRADE

When I started looking into the home-grown talent of British bowmaking, I quickly found that I was only scratching the surface of the wealth of expertise of the individuals out there. I discovered that – quietly – there are far more bowmakers out there than many people may realise, part of a loosely affiliated network of archery artisans around the UK and across the world.

Artisanal bowmaking has many hundreds of years of history and for the vast majority of that time it was learned in the same way as skilled trades everywhere – by apprenticeship to a master, continuing a long chain of skill passed down the generations.

I had the opportunity to speak with a couple of individuals who are well