Roger bags the Rioja:  Congratulations also to Roger Gamage who took the Slammer of the Year title, just ahead of Maggie, and collected a bottle of Rioja at the Christmas party.  Both finished with 11pts, but Roger and his partners went down just three times in slams bid, whereas Maggie and partners went down in four.  Maggie finished ahead of Colin by virtue of playing more of the slams herself.  Pauline, Michael, Gill and Wynne also collected free night prizes for the fabulous Bredon Bridge Club by winning the Christmas quiz.

Our absent friend:  Meanwhile at the same time as members were enjoying the magnificent spread of mince and apple goodies and mulled wine prepared by Bernie and Di, Adam was planning to enjoy his own portion, taken from our reception by Jenny S.  He particularly asked that his "heartfelt thanks" should be passed on for having been included.

NZ thanks for appeal cash:  An appeal organiser for the Christchurch earthquake relief fund has priased Bredon's contribution of 680 New Zealand dollars, following the amazing success of the car boot sale organised by Jenny and Di.

After receiving the cheque, equivalent to £338, Jill Bennett emailed Jenny to thank her, Di and members, many of whom contributed items, made donations, or helped on the day.  The total included £50 from club funds, given in recognition of members' efforts.  The money will help brighten Christmas for some in Christchurch, which has still not recovered from February's devastating earthquakes.

Awesome 2some's 4some 2some:  Hilary and Thayer repeated their 2010 triumph in the annual Teams of Four event by taking the 2011 title, this time in partnership with Lyndsey and Howard.  Previous partners Pauline and Michael did well again, coming second with Jenny and Richard.  Trophies were collected at the Christmas party - with Hilary taking that for Thayer (inset) who was unable to attend.

Watson performance!  The hot just got hotter.  It wasn't enough for Anne and Clive to win the Anniversary Cup for the first time on 19 August with a score of 60.7% - a clear 1.5% ahead of closest challengers Jenny and Richard.  For on the following week, when they collected their trophy, they stormed to one of the best scores of the year, nearly 68%, and were the only pair, apart from Liz and Jennifer, to bid and make the slam on hand 27.

(See Results/Hands of Weeks Past).

Members change the rules: Members voted by 2-1 at the AGM to decide the Championship Pairs on yearly average scores, provided at least 15 games are played.  The latest standings can now be seen by clicking the button on the left of this page, where Roger and Ann have edged into 3rd place behind leaders Chris and Wilf, Gill and Wynne. 

The Individual and Team events will continue, after members voted 37-8 and 36-9 in favour, with nine recorded abstentions in each ballot.  Both will be held when table numbers allow, eg for static Norths.

Subscriptions are due now, and Howard will issue membership cards.  At the meeting, Richard Booth was admitted as the latest member. 

Colin paid tribute to all who help during the year, including those who give lifts to others, and particularly thanked Laurence who was standing down from the committee after many years.  There being no other nominations, the committee will otherwise continue for a further year, plus Mike Barrett who was nominated to succeed Laurence.

Bernie is recovering well from an eye operation, so was represented by her delicious flapjacks at the following week's splendid buffet (right), contributed by members, and organised by her and Di, with a little extra help on the night by Jenny.

Some highlights of the Year:

• Membership and attendance have increased slightly - a welcome reversal of trends.
• In response to members' calls, directors will try to complete play by 10.15pm if possible, 10.30pm at the latest.
• It was decided to hold no more than 2 SimPairs, one being that for Children in Need in November.
• Score corrections have been limited to one week after the start of play.

Bredon Cup glory: Margaret and Peter collected the Bredon Cup after their clear victory with five clear tops.  Their 62% was more than 6% ahead of the field with the unfamiliar partnership of Patricia and Muriel doing splendidly to come joint second with Maggie and Colin.  The Joneses previously took the trophy in 2009, with Laurence and Jessie taking it on temporary loan last year.

Pair in top 20:  Well done Roger and Daniel who collected their certificates for finishing in the UK's top 20 in the World sim pairs of 2 June.  Their 64% was over 7% ahead of any other Bredon pair.

Wynne win situations: Congratulations to Gill and Wynne for beating the experts, and winning a free night at the club.  Bernie and Di also qualify for their maximum against the visitors.

On 4 April, a memorable night, Gill and Wynne scored an excellent 62.86% to push Sue Evans, county asst-sec, and Linda Gervis into second place among North-Souths.

WCBA chairman Richard Jephcott and Dennis Loynes proved almost unstoppable East-Wests.  Their 72.5% was nearly 23% ahead of their nearest challengers and so earned them a place as visitors on the new Seventy Somethings honour board (see Results/70 Somethings).

As no-one beat them, the East-West prize goes to Bernie and Di, the only pair to score a maximum against visitors Sue and Linda.

Our thanks for a terrific evening go to our guests, Dennis, Linda, Sue and Richard - pictured from left - and to Paul Hammond for providing the boards and John Turner the detailed summary for every hand.  Read and learn.  The hands can also be seen in the online results section.

Three in a row for Wilf and Chris:  Congratulations to Wilf and Chris who retained the Scorer's Cup for the third successive year since it was donated by Laurence.  Their 15 best scores for the year averaged just over 62%, with Wynne and Gill again second at just under 61%, and Helen and Laurence finishing third on 60.5%.  The top three pairs would have finished in the same positions had all results in the year been counted.

By making the only slam of the final championship night, Wilf consolidated his position as as Bredon Slammer of the Year for the second year running.  They received their awards at the Christmas party night.

Later Bernie, helped by Di, served their customary, delicious mulled wine and a selection of mince pies.  During the interval, Hilary, Thayer, Laurence and Helen won the bridge quiz and a fabulous prize each of one free entry to - Bredon Bridge Club. 

Club raises a ton for Children in Need:

A splendid turn-out of eight full tables for the Children in Need simultaneous pairs on 12 November raised £100 for the charity.  Thanks go to Lyndsey for making up the hands, which can all be seen in the Results section.  Hilary and Thayer are seen collecting their certificates for winning the event.

Thayer joins the teamsters:  Congratulations to Hilary, Thayer, Pauline and Michael who finally collected their trophies for winning the annual teams of 4 event on 17 September, narrowly defeating Eileen, Jean, Bernie and Di.  It was a first in this particular competition for Thayer, each of her team members having shared the trophy once before.

Roy gets big send-off:  Pershore Abbey was crowded on Wednesday 27 October for the funeral of Roy Daniels, 76, who died following a long illness.  He joined the club in its first year and became its treasurer soon after.  Former chairman Jenny said: "Roy was a truly lovely man, very highly thought of by all members who knew him.  He and Janet contributed a great deal in the formation of the club."  The club made a donation to Dementia UK in Roy's memory.

Goodbye to well-loved June:  Members were greatly saddened to hear of the death of June Warner, one of the club's founding members, after a short illness.  Her funeral service was held at Worcester crematorium on Tuesday 4 May.

Club shares out cups: Chris and Wilf handed over the Anniversary Cup, which they had held for the previous three years, to 2010 winners Maggie and Colin.  Their first-time victory continued the trend for trophies to be widely spread around the membership.

It meant that 33 of our 55 current members - exactly 60% - have now won a club competition. 

Bouquets for Di and Gayle:  Members applauded the work of two long servants of Bredon BC at the 20 August annual meeting.  Di, its former secretary, left the committee of which she has been a part since its formation, and Gayle stood down as current secretary but will remain a committee member.  The chairman paid tribute to both, and presented bouquets.  Di, who was away, had hers delivered by interfloral Bernie.

In response to comments on the chairman's annual report, Colin said it would be wrong for the club not to look at digital scoring, but that no recommendation for its introduction was likely this year.  He pledged that if it was considered a good idea, the proposal would be put to members, and the system would not be brought in unless members were properly trained in advance.

Howard reported that table money was likely to rise to £2 from April 2011, in line with what was already charged elsewhere.  He asked members to pay subscriptions now - and many responded on the night.

Members elected Gill as secretary in succession to Gayle.  Other committee members elected were Colin, Howard, Michael, Laurence and Bernie.

This time Jessie shares the glory:  Jessie became the 35th member of Bredon to get her name on a club trophy when she and husband Laurence stormed to victory in the Bredon Pairs Cup, presented by Eve.  They won the event with a commanding margin of nearly 5% over Chris and Wilf, Bernie and Di.  Laurence had previously won trophies with Helen, and in teams with Gayle, Bernie, Di, Roger and Adam, but never before with his wife.

Unintended bids - what to do?  An unintended bid or mechanical error can be corrected if done "without pause for thought" and if your partner has not bid.  Your left-hand opponent obviously has the option to withdraw any call made over the first unintended bid.

Law 25: "Until his partner makes a call, a player may substitute his intended call for an unintended call but only if he does so, or attempts to do so, without pause for thought. ... No substitution of call may be made when his partner has made a subsequent call."

Even then, there may still be options, or complications.  To avoid uncertainty, it's best to call the director as soon as possible.

Bredon pairs in world top 50:  Gill and Wynne achieved 67.02% - a magnificent 48th position in the world - in the 24th World Wide Sim Pairs held at the club on June 4.  Chris and Wilf were just behind in 50th place with 66.75%.

The competition was contested by nearly 5,000 pairs in 32 countries.  In England alone there were 730 pairs, among whom our stars finished 6th and 7th.  The result also meant that Bredon was the only British club with two finishers in the top 50.  Fantastic.

Entente cordiale wins top ten spot:

Ann and Daniel achieved a great result in the sim pairs held on 29 January 2010 for the Unicef Haiti Relief Fund, with 8th place among 484 players at 27 clubs in 12 countries.  Their 66.07% at Bredon, upgraded to 66.59% globally, was beaten by only four UK-based pairs, two in Canada and one in Thailand.  To see your world standing, see Results and click on Ecats.  The week-long event raised £27,000.

Thanks a ton for help to Haiti:  A cheque for £100 has gone to the Unicef Haiti relief fund following members' generous contributions at the simpairs event on Friday 29 January.  Despite another chilly evening, the event was fairly well supported.  Many members had already contributed to the relief appeal so it was pleasing to see the extra put into the pot.  Thanks to all who helped, including Gayle who made up the boards and Di who scored the event.

Master points - an update:  Every member can still register master points by sending the vouchers to the EBU for as long as they are valid - usually three years.  All club members automatically became EBU members on 1 April 2010, and they can still send vouchers to the EBU, even if they were not EBU members at the time the points were issued.  Scores now feed into a central database, so paper vouchers for master points are no longer needed.  

Michael joins the Bredon book club:  Michael Hill has become the third Bredon member to have a book published - a remarkable record in a small club.  His charming volume of poetry, Recollections, recounts an eventful life as an evacuee and physicist, and is obtainable from him for just £5.95.  His success follows publication of wife Jean's second novel, The Twisted Way, £7.95, a tale of murder, intrigue - and a little bridge, on sale at local bookshops.

Jenny Steel's award-winning short story The Handyman was included in the anthology The Book Lovers' Appreciation Society, Orion £6.99, with £1 going to Breast Cancer Care.  The collection, which also features work by best-selling novelists Meave Binchy, Alexander McCall Smith and Sophie Kinsella, was highly praised by the Daily Mail and Daily Record.

Club happy to get new direction

Pauline and Michael have generously donated a handsome carved oak North sign for the club to display.  The beautiful piece of craftsmanship was made by their son Adam, and given by his parents to mark their Golden Wedding anniversary earlier in the year.

Going out with a bang

2009 finished in fine style, thanks to the splendid mulled wine and Christmas treats prepared by Bernie with help from Di, which members greatly enjoyed.  There then followed another exceptional night of slams, 15 this time, but all of them in East-West - recompense for the opposite situation a fortnight before.

Chris and Wilf jitter but retain title, then cause for Mrs Wilf to celebrate

Congratulations to champions Chris and Wilf who retained the Scorer's Cup in 2009 with 61.7%, despite a nervy final round that saw them record just under 41%, their lowest score of the year.  With Gill and Wynne just behind on 61.4%, they opened the door to their closest challengers, but they too were unable to improve on their best scores, with just 49% on the night.  The Scorer's Cup, donated by Laurence, goes to the pair with the best 15 results during the year.  Maggie and Colin finished third.  Wilf thought of wife Betty after also taking the award for Slammer of the Year, with 22 points, followed by Chris 17, Roger 14, and Di 13.  After choosing a prize, tee-totaller Wilf took home on 1 January a box of chocolates and a bottle of fine Cote du Rhone red.

Other highlights of 2009:  The best score was by Jennifer and Liz with 74.8% on 4 September.  If all scores throughout 2009 were averaged, with a minimum of six games to qualify, they would have finished top, ahead of Helen and Laurence.  Gill had the best individual average throughout the year with 55.3%.  Best score by newcomers was 59.7% by Sheena and Shirley also on 4 September.

Comparing pairs scores with the previous year, Jean and Michael achieved the greatest improvement, up exactly 4% to 55.1%, 9th overall while Margaret and Peter rose by 3.8% to finish 7th with 56.2%.

Wilf and Gill independently scored 6276 and 4126 Masterpoints - the highest tallies in Worcestershire during 2009.  

Clive collects first trophy

Clive won the Autumn Individual Cup, presented by Hilary, with a splendid score of 64.6%.  It was the first time that Clive had received a club trophy when it was handed over by last year's winner Roger on November 6.  Maurice at first came second, but unfortunately he and others suffered a later penalty as his table failed to play all five boards in the final round.  As a result he still came a strong third.

Club helps fund heart machines:  Following a charity donation by the club two years ago, defibrillators - which can restart the heart after cardiac arrest - have been fitted at Bishops Cleeve school and sports centre.  The club's gift went toward the £1,500 cost of the machines and of training ten people between the two sites.   

Coming up trumps at Highgrove: It was officially Bloody Marvellous.  That was the name of a magnificent deep red hydrangea that many Bredon Bridge Club members admired as they strolled through the beautiful carpet garden at the end of their visit to the grounds of Highgrove House.  It also summed up a splendid day, first proposed by Bernie, and made to run with typical efficiency by Gayle.  The tour, starting from the Victorian-style Orchard Room, included many distinctive styles, including the Prince of Wales' national collections of ferns and large-leaved hostas, through areas of naturalised indigenous plants, and culminating in the magnificent herbaceous borders near the house.

The visit took place on 22 September, officially the first day of autumn, with the maples starting to change colour along the Autumn Walk.  Members and a few guests are pictured on the way home.

Michael and Pauline's Golden days:

Members extended their best wishes to a lovely couple, Michael and Pauline, celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary on 29 August 2010.  The previous week, Michael, appropriately wearing a gold tie, and Pauline shared the occasion by bringing a cake for members to enjoy, and were in turn surprised by being presented with a bouquet of golden roses and lilies.

Duo trio in Anniversary Cup:  Chris and Wilf made it a remarkable three consecutive wins in the 2009 Anniversary Cup traditionally played on the night of the AGM.  The pair scored a commanding 66.4% to retain the trophy, ahead of Sheila and Jennifer, with Eve and Bob in third place.  It was a remarkable performance, given that Chris's attention on the night was diverted by having to act as director, and sorting out a troublesome fire alarm.  (See picture, Competitons/All past winners).

Fearsome foursome:  Adam, Roger, Laurence and Helen were presented with shields for winning the teams of four event on 10 July 2009.  It is the second successive victory for Helen who shared the award in 2008 with sponsor Michael, Jean and Di.

Joneses get cup at last:

The Bredon Pairs Cup, first presented by Eve Randsley ten years ago, has proved an enormous success, with yet more names inscribed on the winners' plaque.

Margaret and Peter Jones stormed to victory with 66% to become the tenth pair in eleven years to win the trophy.  Only Jenny and Richard Steel have won the cup twice, and with no-one ever repeating victory in a different partnership, that means that twenty members have shared the glory since 1999.  Wynne Brelsford and Gill Young, who have still to win the Bredon Pairs, finished second on 62%.

The Joneses are pictured receiving their cup from Eve - after a false start when the press photographer forgot to put a battery in his camera.  For previous winners, see Competitions section.

Wee dram helps Adam to top spot:  When Adam Tulloch, senior member of the club, spent his 94th birthday at the club, he celebrated with a small tot of an island malt in his coffee - and went on to claim top North-South score of 59% with partner Roger Gamage.

After receiving a card signed by most members, he made a typically gracious response.  "When you get to my age you have lost so many friends, so I very much appreciate the friendship of everyone here," he said.

Good news - no extra fees when Pay-to-Play starts:  Bredon members will pay nothing extra - in subs or table money - when new pay-to-play arrangements start in 2010.  That is the likely recommendation of your committee following a financial review.

Non-members of the EBU need do nothing.  Everything will carry on as before.  They will get added benefits, but if they do not wish to receive the free diary and bi-monthly magazine, they can tell the secretary.

Your committee believes that the EBU plan will help the game, and improve services to clubs like ours.  For a full report of what the plan means to you, see "Bredon and pay-to-play" in the Club information section of this site.  

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Bredon roll of honour for 2008

2008 saw the introduction of The Scorer's Cup for the winners of the new pairs competition running throughout the calendar year.  The trophy was kindly donated by Laurence Alexander and is named to thank the scorer, Michael Wilkes, for his terrific work each week after most of us have gone to bed.  He was on hand to present it to our first winners, Wilf Atkinson and Chris Enticknap.

With the Slammer of the Year being rescheduled from August-August to run through the calendar year, there were two winners, Laurence Alexander's reign being short as he handed over to Adam Tulloch who came top on a January-December basis.

Roger Gammage received the Autumn Individual Cup, donated by Hilary Morgan, from the previous year's victor Rita Hazledine. 

Jenny and Richard Steel became the first members in ten years of the competition to regain the Bredon Pairs Cup, presented by Eve Randsley.  The Anniversary Cup, played on the first Friday after the AGM and originally presented by Paul Fearnside, also had its first repeat winners when Wilf Atkinson and Chris Enticknap retained the trophy won in 2007.

Jean and Michael Hill, Di Davies and Helen Farmer won the Teams of Four Competition.

Unicef donation in memory of Audrey Allen:  Members generously helped raise £125 in memory of Audrey Allen for the children's charity Unicef at the Sim Pairs evening on 30 January.  Audrey, who was known for her care for others, privately and as a medical social worker, was always concerned about the welfare of children, so the work of charities like Unicef, which provides for those in desperate need, was close to her heart.  One of the club's longest and dearest members, she died the previous week aged 89 in hospital close to her new home at Crediton. Several members and many villagers from Bredon's Norton attended the funeral.  Her husband John, a former club chairman, said  he was very touched by people's kindness and thanked them for their thoughts and generosity.   "It was most kind to arrange this tribute to Audrey, which was a great honour for her," he said.