Remembering Bob Lloyd
Bob Lloyd
We're sad to announce that Bob Lloyd has passed away. Bob was a QO member for about 50 years, and did a huge amount for the club. He died peacefully on 8th March at the age of 86.
Mike Crockett remembers Bob from the early days:
Bob was one of those who was already there in the early 1970s when I was fairly new to it all. I recall an event at Sheepscombe where he showed me how to follow contours to find the control, and that was a bit of a breakthrough for me. I also remember him being the Controller at a great event at Worlebury, Weston-Super-Mare - yes, it was a QO area back then!
Roger & Judy remember Bob as a finish official:
In the early days, until the adoption of Joe Lee and SI timing systems, the finish was a very labour-intensive process. People had to be timed into a finish funnel (usually uphill to slow people down!) and given a numbered ticket. Their ticket was then married to a time recorded in the finish tent and this time was written on both their control card and their stub. The stub was then returned to the competitor. A gaggle of people then checked the pin punches in each box of the control card. The cards, before waterproof paper, were often wet, torn and muddy, so not always easy! After subtracting their finish from their start time to obtain a result, competitors could then hang their stubs on a line in time order to see how they had fared!
For Regional and National events the finish was a pressurised area as both accuracy and speed were important. Bob had developed this area as his speciality, he tended to use the same people doing the same aspect of the job each major event. He was the ultimate finish coordinator!
Richard got to know Bob in the late 1990s:
When I first became involved with QO, Bob was a regular competitor with solid mid-table results on the green courses. He made a big impact as a club official in several roles, such as being a frequent event organiser. As a "team leader" he organised two QOFLs per year for many years, and I gather he was an occasional event controller too. He was a long standing committee member, culminating with a stretch as QO club chairman from 2013 to 2016.
But above all many of us will remember Bob for his two-decade tenure as club permission secretary until as recently as 2019. In this role I witnessed him using charm and tact to persuade landowners to give us land access and keep our club in business. He did this critical and delicate role quietly, efficiently, and very successfully. He quite rightly won the Chairman's Trophy for this outstanding contribution.
Bob was also a strong supporter of JOG, helping juniors learn the ropes. He was a cheerful helper, and one you could absolutely rely on.
Thank you for your long service Bob.
His funeral will be at Taunton Crematorium on Maundy Thursday 2 April at 10.40, and afterwards at Sheppy's