Are there any lapsed or would-be bridge players out there? Abergavenny Bridge Club welcomes new members who would like to join us from 7.00 pm to 10.00 pm on Thursdays to hone their bridge skills and meet other bridge players. Bridge is a game for all ages and abilities; it provides both mental stimulation and social engagement and research has shown that it improves both reasoning skills and long- and short-term memory.        

Abergavenny Bridge Club was founded by Rex Acton in 1989. In the early years the bridge sessions were held at the Hill Residential College. The club later moved to the Angel Hotel, where it played for many years, and now plays in one of the old classrooms at the Abergavenny Community Centre in Park Street.

The club plays duplicate bridge with computer generated hands and uses small hand-held devices to record the score to a computer. The results are published on the club website soon after each session. We enjoy competitive bridge in a friendly and social setting every Thursday evening. The club also organizes online bridge sessions in conjunction with Brecon Bridge Club on Wednesday evenings. On some occasions we play in simultaneous charity competitions, where our scores are compared with players playing the same hands throughout the UK and even beyond. Annually, we run a competition for the club championship and Claret Jug, and also a handicap event for the Olive Hayes Shield to give less experienced players a chance of some silverware. Our final event of the year is the Christmas party where players partner different players for each hand, but it wouldn't be Christmas without food and wine from the excellent buffet.

If you are new to bridge, feel rusty after a long gap or wish to improve your game, advice and help are on hand from the club’s chairman and secretary. If you are interested, please contact John Dewsnap on 01873 880372 or Iain Brisbane on 01873 881079.