Many long standing members will, with affection, remember Bob who was the Club steward for many years before his death.  Recently Nicky, his daughter, was looking through some of her late father’s possessions when she came across a plaque which the Club had presented to Bob in 2011.  It commemorated  the 25 years that Bob had, at that point in time, been working at the bridge club.

Nicky kindly decided to donate the plaque to the bridge club and she recently presented it to former Chairman Elaine van Heel together with a large photograph of Bob. (See photo of Elaine and Nicky on the Home page of the website)

By Liz Brown

On Saturday 13 May Bradford Bridge Club were proud to host the Northern Region preliminary round of the Garden Cities Competition.

The Garden Cities Competition is an inter county championship for teams of eight, one from each county.  It started in 1987 in Hertfordshire in Welwyn Garden City - hence the name - before becoming a national competition run by the E.B.U.

This year six teams took part - North East, Lancashire, Manchester, Nottinghamshire, Merseyside & Cheshire and Yorkshire.  The Yorkshire team included one Bradford Club member - Alan Jarvis.  Stuart Davies was Director.

The competition was quite a jolly affair.  It was the first time that it had been held since Covid.  Players were renewing old friendships and several said how nice it was to be back in Bradford!

The catering went smoothly.  Compliments were given and views on the merits of Morrisons sandwiches were exchanged.  (Keighley Morrisons sandwiches are better than most).

Much to our delight, Yorkshire came first and will take part in the final at Coventry in June.  Then everyone went home except the Catering Committee who had to tidy up.  Two hours later when they finished they said they never wanted to do any table clearing and tidying away again.  Then it occurred to them that the ladies had already done their share by baking all those delicious cakes.  Perhaps it was time for the men to show willing by helping with the heavy lifting.  No skill is required and instruction will be given if needed.

Please think about it gentlemen.  Stuart would like to host the Garden Cities Competition again and the competitors would like to come to Bradford again.  It all depends on you.

The Davies Cup Swiss Pairs Competition was held on Wednesday 9th October.  

Congratulations got to Stuart Davies and George Bak who won the event.  Runners up were David Donaldson and Robert Eaton  and in third place were Oliver Cohen and Stephen Berson.

Very well done all three pairs.

The Giles Foster Teams Competition was held on Monday 21st October. 

Congratulations go to the winners who were George Bak, Steve Blackburn, Harry Hoyle and Alan Jarvis. 

In second place came Peter Smith, Mark Lewis, Lauri Andrews and Margaret Andrews.

Very well done both teams.

The Handicap Pairs competition was held on Wednesday 13th November.

Congratulations go to the winners, Liz Brown and Carol Swales with a score, after handicap, of 69.78%. They were closely followed by Maureen Robinson and Tony Marvin who had a handicapped score of 68.4%. In third place were Peter Smith and Morris Brown. 

Well done all three pairs! 

♥ The Flitch competition for married couples was held on Wednesday 12th February.♥ 

The final round was nip and tuck, but congratulations go to the winners, Liz and Morris Brown, who ended up with 53.13%.

They were very closely followed by Sharon and Stephen Halston with 52.78% and third were Susan and Harry Hoyle.  Very well done all three pairs.

Musing over the possibilities of a cause for celebration, we must have all wondered if it was  a special birthday, another accolade/promotion from the EBU perhaps.....

Consequently it came as a total surprise when Stuart divulged the reason for this special event.   Exactly 50 years ago to the day, he had played bridge at the Club for the very first time.   A student at the time, he waited until he had completed his course at Oxford, before coming back to Bradford, eventually becoming not only one of our top players but also a very extremely knowledgeable director, both locally and nationally.

It was a splendid way to start the New Year, with some gentle, sociable bridge and a generous selection of 'nibbles', and punch and wine all provided by Stuart..... and best of all it was a very appropriate occasion to celebrate that very important day -for all of us really - in 1975

Thank you so much Stuart.  It was a lovely evening.

The annual competition for the Men's Pairs and Ladies Pairs trophies was held on Wednesday 12th March.

Congratulations go to Stuart Davies and George Bak who won the Men's competition with 62.08%. In second place were Alan Jarvis and Mark Armitage.

More Congratulations go to Susan Hoyle and Margaret Andrews who came top in the Ladies section with 55.42% with Liz Brown and Carol Swales as runners up.

Very well done everyone!