Welcome to the Matlock Area U3A (MAU3A) Bridge Group, our aim is to play competitive, social bridge in a relaxed and enjoyable environment. We play "Basic Acol" at an intermediate level and meet at Matlock Town Social Club on most Wednesdays from 9.15am to around 12.15pm. Table money is £3.00 per player, inclusive of tea, coffee and biscuits.

Although most Members attend weekly sessions with a regular partner, we appreciate that this is not always possible. To avoid a potentially wasted journey to the Football Club, Janet Green has kindly agreed to act as a contact to match players who do not have a partner. Should you need a partner, please call Janet on 07734 347080, BEFORE 6.00pm ON TUESDAY. Members, without a partner, may, of course, come to a session (before 9.00), but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to accommodate them.

In 2024, we will play every Wednesday morning, with the exception of May 8th, October 9th, December 25th and January 1st 2025 - any changes to our programme will be published here.

This year our Cober Hill break ran for three days from Wednesday 9th October and was attended by 28 club members. Cober Hill, now a conference centre, is a beautiful Victorian mansion, situated on the glorious north Yorkshire coast, just 6 miles north of Scarborough. We have been visiting Cober Hill for our annual ‘away days’ for over a decade.

We kicked off with a mid-afternoon welcome and drinks get-together, followed by the first playing session. In total we all enjoyed three exciting, nail-biting playing sessions on Monday and Tuesday afternoon/evenings and Wednesday morning. 

Tuesday morning was “bridge free” to take full advantage of the local area’s attractions. The weather was a little problematic, but despite that everyone made good use of the day walking, golfing, sight-seeing or just relaxing. We then all got together for a further bridge session, either side of dinner.

On Wednesday morning, the final bridge session was completed, leading to the overall winners being decided and announced over lunch: N/S – Liz Walker and Angela Elkins and E/W – Jane and Lionel Stout.  All very worthy winners!

The few days together were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone there, so particular thanks are due to Sue Wyatt for her considerable efforts in organising the whole event.

Next year’s trip will be on October 6 – 8, but we will be breaking with tradition and moving to a new location in Llandudno.

Along with John Boadle, Frank Hemming was a founder of our Bridge Group some thirteen years ago.  In 2017, Frank donated a silver salver to the Group which has been competed for each year since.

This year's competition took place on 16th June 2024, with 18 pairs taking part. It was an great session, with some challenging hands and was followed by an excellent Summer Buffet Lunch. 

The winners, with a score of 64.2%, were Hilary Vardy and Jean Wheatcroft. Many congratulations to you both.

This year the club again participated in the national U3A Spring Bridge Festival, along with other U3A bridge clubs from around the country. The competition ran from April 8th - 12th, so we played the pre-prepared hands at our usual Wednesday morning session on April 10th. In theory, the results were collated across all the groups playing that day and the overall winners determined. However, we were the only club playing on Wednesday! Notwithstanding that, it was a very enjoyable morning with some very challenging hands, so many congratulations to Linda Boadle and Gill Rebaudi for winning with an impressive score of 65.28%! 

The event was raising money for two charities - Parkinsons UK and Cruse - and we collected £140.