Bradgate Bridge Club
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Old News
BRONZE FOR BRADGATE

Our last representatives in the Samani Salver (the LCBA summer competition for league teams) were Pauline Dignan's Bradgate B team (Pauline, Val Rees, Sue Tyler, Gilly Walton).  They faced Clarendon North in the semi-final last night and received a good handicap.  Not good enough, though, as they came 2nd, leaving Clarendon North to face Clarendon South in the final.  

Still, as losing semi-finalists, I think they should be awarded a bronze medal for carrying Bradgate's hopes so far into the competition!


Richard Rees - League Secretary - 19 August 2016

BOB MUDDIMER

I am sorry to announce the sad news that Bob Muddimer has passed away.

The afternoon regulars will remember Bob partnering Shirley Sturgess on a Wednesday until his recent illness.  Our sympathies are with his wife Rita and the family.

Shirley tells me that the funeral will be held on Thursday 21st November at 11.30 at St John the Baptist's Church, Billesdon and thereafter at the Queens Head, Billesdon.


Margaret Butterworth - Chairman - 6th November 2019

THOMPSON TROPHY

Congratulations to Peter Wells and Graham Conway, who were winners of the Thompson Trophy, the last competition of the season. 

This is a handicapped competition, and Peter and Graham (who had the best gross score on the night) stayed top even after their handicap was deducted.


Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 29 October 2019

LEICESTERSHIRE LEAGUE

Bradgate has entered a fourth team in the Leicestershire League, which starts on 21 September.  The A team (Captain Richard Rees) is in Division 2, and the B Team (Pauline Dignan), C Red Team (Jim Wilkinson) and C Blue Team (Andy Satterthwaite) will all start the season in Division 4.


Richard Rees - League Secretary - 19th August 2016

Christmas Quiz
Christmas Quiz

As requested, here are the questions and answers form this year's Christmas Quiz.

  1. What was Nicky Morgan replaced with on ‘Have I got news for you’? - Leather Handbag
  2. Red Rose had a famous sister. What is her name? - Snow White
  3. Which actress was presented with an honorary Damehood by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014 for her anti-war campaigns? - Angelina Jolie
  4. Because of its equal size, which planet is often referred to as Earth’s sister planet? - Venus
  5. What is the lightest element? - Hydrogen
  6. Which country was created early in the 20th century and calls its Prime Minister ‘Taoiseach’ - Republic of Ireland
  7. GUM is the world famous department store in which city? - Moscow
  8. In which city can you visit the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the historic neighbourhood of Georgetown? - Washington DC
  9. Complete the name of a famous Vincent Van Gogh painting – “The ... Eaters” - Potato
  10. How many feet in a fathom? - 6
  11. Pip and Estella feature in which Dickens novel? - Great Expectations
  12. What century was Shakespeare born? - 16th
  13. The members of which blood group are known as Universal donors? - O
  14. How is Acetic Acid commonly known? - Vinegar
  15. Who was backed by the Crickets?- Buddy Holly
  16. Where is the Yucatan peninsula located? - Mexico
  17. Which US state was the title of a Bee Gees number 1 hot, released in 1967? - Massachusetts

...and the tiebreaker...

When did the world’s population first reach one billion? - 1804


Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 25th December 2016

SAMANI SALVER 2017

Bradgate has launched its assault on the Samani Salver this summer by entering FIVE teams, nearly 25% of the field.

The Samani Salver is a Handicapped Knockout Teams of Four competition played by the league teams over the summer. The captains are:

Bradgate A Richard Rees
Bradgate B1 Pauline Dignan
Bradgate B2 Gail Tillen
Bradgate C (Red) Jim Wilkinson
Bradgate C (Blue) Julie Jones

You can follow their progress by clicking on Samani Salver in the left-hand menu


Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 15th April 2017

DAILY TELEGRAPH ARTICLE

It's not often that one of our members makes the national press, but those of you who get the Telegraph may have noticed today's Bridge column article by Tom Townsend.  He sets out a hand where he got soundly trounced by Mark Wiggins and his partner at the recent London Easter Festival - well done Mark!


Richard Rees - 21st April 2017

 

HYMAN CRAMMER TROPHY

Congratulations to Margaret Butterworth & Gary Jones, who have won the Hyman Crammer Trophy, Leicestershire's premier inter-club competition.  This is only the second time in over thirty years that it has been won by a Bradgate pair - a tremendous achievement! 


David Twells - Chairman - 8th May 2017

70% Club / County Bridge Club Sims

Congratulations to Anne Wright and Linda Stone for scoring over 70% at the Club in the County Bridge Club Sim Pairs. They will now hold the Pam Leeson Trophy until another pair scores over 70%.

Unfortuately, their good scores at the club weren't as good when compared with the results at other clubs. This meant that they slipped to 68% when the results were merged and into the runners-up spot.

Bradgate was well represented as we provided 26 out of the 79 pairs - nearly 1 in 3 players. The full results and commentary can be found on the Ecats Bridge website


Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 13th June 2017

Ray Alexander

It is sad to report that Ray Alexander, a long-time member of the club, died on Saturday 5th August.

The funeral will take place on 25th August, full details available on the Leicester Mercury website.

Ray played originally with Ron Parker and then for many years with Dick Howard, where together they represented the club in the League.

Ray won the Thompson Trophy in 2002, the Chicago Knockout in 2011 and the Davis Gentlemen's Pairs in 2012.


Diana Bowden - Secretary - 7th August 2017

Samani Finals

The Summer Knockout has now reached the finals and we have TWO Bradgate teams, one in the Samani Salver Final and one in the Silver Plate Final. The Silver Plate is for those teams who got knocked out in the first round.

Richard Rees has led his Bradgate A team of Margaret B., Phil, Nick and Diana B. with wins over County A, Grantham B2 and Golf. They face Glenfield A in the Samani Salver final. Glenfield reached the final by overturning a 1600 point deficit in the last 6 boards against Westcotes A in the semi-final.

Jim Wilkinson has led his Bradgate C (Red) team of Judith, Penny, Ray and Lesley with wins over Melton and Bradgate B2 having been knocked out of the Salver by Ashby B. They face County A in the Silver Plate final. County A reached the final with a mere 10 point win over Clarendon South in the quarter-final.

There could be 11 Bradgate players in the final with Chairman David Twells and his regular partner David Potter in the Glenfield squad and Lucy Pathan in the County squad - will they get picked.

This is a handicapped competition with our teams receiving handicaps of 360 and 2760 respectively. The stronger team have overcome the handicap and won in 44% of the matches and the weaker team have won 30% of the matches without even needing a handicap. So everything to play for! 


Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 7th August 2017

Proposed Change To The Constitution

At present, the Club’s constitution recognises two categories of member, ‘full member’ and ‘afternoon member’.

It was appropriate to create a separate afternoon membership when Wednesday afternoon sessions were introduced back in 2013, as they were run once a month over the winter only (ie 6 sessions a year).  The Wednesday sessions have grown in popularity to the extent that we now run weekly sessions 9 months a year, and twice a month in June, July, August (ie over 40 sessions a year).   This has been made possible by organising a team of directors who manage those sessions.

A number of afternoon members also represent the Club in the Leicestershire league matches.

As a result, the ‘afternoon membership’ has developed into a core part of our Club, rather than a peripheral activity.

In recognition of this, your Committee will be recommending at the AGM that we return to having only one category of member.  This would mean all members paying the same annual subscription (currently £5, which we will recommend remains unchanged for next year).

We will retain the differential in table money for Wednesday sessions (£2 for Wednesdays and £3 for Mondays) as the afternoon room hire is cheaper.  We will also retain the ‘Christmas sherry & mince pie’ Wednesday afternoon session (set this year for 20 December).

If the proposed change is approved, those who play on a Wednesday afternoon would be full members of the Club, entitled to play in any Monday night session or competition paying the normal £3 table money, and to attend the annual Monday night Christmas party on 18 December.  They would also be fully involved in the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the Club being planned for 2018.

We also expect, in the fullness of time, to move to computer-dealt hands (with hand records available online) and Bridgemate scoring for Wednesday afternoon sessions.

We hope that afternoon members will approve of this proposed change.

I have asked Richard Rees to review the precise wording of the changes needed to the constitution, which will need to be voted on by all members attending the AGM on 30 October.  I hope to see many of you who play on a Wednesday afternoon there (and for the free bridge session afterwards).

Please contact any of your Committee members if you would like any further details about this proposal.


David Twells – Chairman - 7th October 2017

TOM

Tom is scheduled to come home from hospital today. He still several months of recovery ahead of him, but at least he will be able to sleep in his own bed.

Visitors are welcome. We hope that his recovery programme includes a game of bridge at the club in the near future.


Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 1st May 2018