Our warmest congratulations to Glenda Gurney and her partner, Caroline Davies, who came third in Norfolk's first ever Really Easy Congress.

The Really Easy Congress was one of the competitions played on the Friday of the Norfolk Congress and was supported by 18 pairs, all players with less than 1000 masterpoints.

Other Holt Bridge Club members were at the congress and enjoyed competing in the various competitons in this very friendly congress. The Wensum Valley Hotel is a very comfortable venue with welcoming and helpful staff.

Why not give it a try next year - 31 March, 1 and 2 April.  You can enter as many or as few competitions as you wish; Friday afternoon, Friday evening, Saturday Championship Pairs, Sunday Swiss Teams.  If you have any queries then please ask Maureen Kimbley.

In February Joy Woodrow passed away after a short illness and more recently Jean Marriott only a day or two after playing bridge with her regular partner at Holt Bridge Club.

Joy had been a member of Holt BC since it began and only a couple or so years ago was presented with a special teapot as our thanks for being our catering officer for 24 years. Ray Walker describes her as being great fun with a wicked sense of humour; a real gem.

Jean amazed us all by being so sprightly well into her nineties; in fact she was still playing golf and driving a car at 94 and maybe more. Jean's funeral is being held on Friday 22 April, 2.30pm at Wiveton Chuch.

Many of you will remember Brian Plunkett who although not recently a member of Holt BC he had been for many years in the past. Quite suddenly and unexpectedly Brian died last week.  Brian's funeral is on Tuesday 10 May, 9.30am at St Faith's Crematorium. After the service you are all invited to join the family at the Black Swan to remember Brian as we all knew him in the past.

Our thoughts are with the families of Joy, Jean and Brian; God bless them all.

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Twelve tables, good cakes, friendly atmosphere - a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Club trophies were presented at the club's Christmas party in December

by our President, Pat Purchese. 

Trophy winners during 2015 were:

Spring Pairs: Ray Walker

Championship teams: Maureen Kimbley & Bogdan Drobny

Treasurer's Cup: Mike Gurney & Nigel Baker

Championship teams: Maureen Kimbley, Tony Watson, Joseph Braka & Bogdan Drobny

Kimbley Cup: Jo & Malcolm Thompson, Tolly Cook & Dereck Smith

We were only five and a half tables on Wednesday 11 November

but still managed a donation of £150 to Children in Need after paying the entry fee.

Table meney on the night was the usual £2.50 and

everybody was very generous with the purchase of raffle tickets.

The result of the vote was announced at the NCBA AGM on 18 October

1. 157 in favour of an application to the Charities Commission; 40 against

2. 126 in favour of the proposal to develop a Norfolk County Bridge Centre; 67 against

There are a little over one thousand members of the NCBA; 199 votes were received

Next Step

The NCBA management committee will proceed with an applicationn to the Charities Commission

to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

It will discuss the way forward regarding the development of a Norfolk Bridge Centre.

NCBA members will be kept informed / consulted at all stages

Holt Bridge Club pair Maureen Kimbley & Bogdan Drobny had a good day on Sunday 13 September,

winning the EDP / John Harrison Cup.

Players qualify to play in this competition through their club championship pairs competitiions. 

22 pairs played on Sunday enjoying a good afternoon of bridge.

We were pleased to welcome the County President, Peter Pennington Smith (pictured right), his wife Jan, and many others to the Norfolk Contract Bridge Association's Open Pairs competition held at Holt on 1 July.  Our congratulations to the lucky winners of the Brenda Thomson Trophy, Gabriel and Giles Ip.

The Norfolk Congress was held last weekend at the Wensum Valley Hotel in Taverham.  Bridge players from as far afield as Bulgaria enjoyed various competitions over three days. 

Notable results as far as Holt Bridge Club is concerned are that the Men's Pairs was won by Malcolm Thompson and Peter Greaves and the Open Pairs was won by Maureen Kimbley and Bogdan Drobny.

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Trophies were presented at the Christmas Party by our President, Pat Purchese. Winners were:

Championship Trophy: Maureen Kimbley & Bogdan Drobny

Spring Competition: Elizabeth Brown

Treasurer's Cup: Maureen Kimbley & Bogdan Drobny

Thompson Shield: Cheryl Plunkett & Graeme Johnston

Kimbley Cup: Cheryl Plunkett, Graeme Johnston, Robert Smith & Derek Jamieson

Teams Championship: Ross Haddow, John Edwards, Robert Smith & Hildred Harman

Brenda Thomson Trophy: Brenda & Peter Howlett

As well as trophies, Elizabeth Brown & Dave Thompson were presented with their certificates as winners of the Children in Need heat played at Holt in November.

Bogdan is the new County Team Captain.  It will be his responsiblity to organise the A, B and C teams playing for Norfolk in the various matches against Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge University, Cambs & Hunts, Northants, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

Congratulations to Bogdan and good luck to the future Norfolk teams.

Holt Community Centre was in need of funds and Mike got busy.

He started giving bridge lessons at the Centre with all money going to Centre funds.

So far £7,000 has been raised from these classes.

Mike, we salute you.

27 ahead of the rest of us

a very good win for Robert, John, Hilldred and Ross

Congratulations to Brenda and Peter Howlett, the winners of the Brenda Thomson Trophy at the Holt Bridge Club Open Pairs event.

Congratulaltions to the winning team - Cheryl Plunkett, Graeme Johnston, Derek Jamieson and Robert Smith who won with a very convincing +77.

A total of £200 was raised from table money and a raffle to be split 50/50 between the Woodland Trust, a favourite charity of Anne Spencer, and the Community Neurology Nursing Team at Benjamin Court in Cromer.  Thanks to everyone for your support.

Congratulations to Elizabeth Brown who has won the Spring Pairs Competition with 59.29% overall; a really good average score.

Runner up is John Edwards with 56.21%, who early on in the competition looked as though he might walk away with the trophy, and third is Annabel Roff with 54.80%. 

Sadly Anne Spencer died last Friday, 11th April, after a long battle with cancer.  Anne's last game of bridge at Holt was not so long ago - on 19 March when she played with her usual partner, Bill Hudson.  Here they are pictured playing at the Christmas Party in December.  Rest in Peace.

Anne's funeral is on 9 May, 11am at St Faiths Crematorium.  No wake.  Collection for the Woodland Trust.

On 16 May the High Kelling villagers invite club members to join them for tea and cakes and to remember Anne; 2pm at High Kelling Village Hall.

Maureen Dewhurst thanked members for their generosity and help in raising over £75 on the Easter Tombola; all money raised going to the East Anglian Children's Hospice. 

Lots of you will already know that Maureen spends quite a bit of time raising money for EACH running tombolas and selling her knitting at various craft fayres.  She calculates that over the last twelve months she has raised somewhere in the region of £5,000; goodness knows what she has raised in total.

Come and join the fun on 16 April, our last evening before the Easter weekend. 

Maureen Dewhurst will be running an Easter Tombola in aid of EACH and at the break there will be some delicious Easter cup cakes with the usual cup of tea or coffee.  We look forward to seeing you all.

Holt Bridge Club members had seen mention of Maureen Kimbley's promotion to Life Master in the latest copy of the English Bridge magazine.  Before play commenced on Wednesday the Chairman made a surprise announcement and presented Maureen with a bottle of champagne to recognise this achievement.  Maureen was delighted thanking all the members for their kindness. 

Last year Derek Jamieson won the Holt Cup. 

Book your partners early

to have a chance of winning in 2014

The Competition runs from January to May, generally on the second week of the month.

Members play each round with a separate partner and results are handicapped according to each member's results from last year.  The winner is the member with the best four out of five results.

A list of the handicaps can be found on the club notice board.

Thanks to Liz Morgan who is our new scorer joining Nigel Baker, Anne Hallett and Maureen Kimbley.

Liz admits she is not a whiz on the computer but is happy to give it a go

Maybe Liz is not an expert on the computer but when I visited to help her get started with the scoring programme I discovered that she is a very talented artist with some beautiful pieces - paintings and needlework - around her home.

Congratulations to Maureen Dewhurst and Cheryl Plunkett whose team came 3rd out of 20 in the ABC Swiss Teams on Sunday 26 January.  They played a steady game with 6th position most of the afternoon before shooting up to 3rd on the last round.  Excellent Maureen and Cheryl.

Trophies were presented by Michael Whiting who will be Norfolk's President from April 2014

Teams Championship: Joy Woodrow, Ray Walker, Hildred Harman and Robert Smith 

Pairs  Championship: Maureen Kimbley and Bogdan Drobny

Spring Competition: Derek Jamieson

Kimbley Cup: Jo and Malcolm Thompson, Tolly Cook and Dereck Smith

Handicap Pairs: Margaret and John Flowerdew

Thompson Shield: Maureen Kimbley and Bogdan Drobny

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Forty members enjoyed a wonderful evening with great food, bridge and good company.

George looks very cheerful - is it the delicious food and good company, or has he just scored a top?

On 7 August we celebrated 25 years with a champagne and buffet supper and bridge. The actual start date of the club is unknown but it was two or three months before the inaugural committee meeting which was held 14 October 1988.

Founder members Pat Purchese, Jean Smith, Elizabeth Brown, Beulah Carr and Joy Woodrow were all there on the 7th as was the NCBA President, Mervyn Scutter. The Club Chairman, Nigel Baker, presented Pat Purchese, as the driving force in starting up the club, with a certificate making her Honorary President and Life Member.

A very enjoyable evening.