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.

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.

In 2023 the competition took place on 6 September, followed by our Summer Buffet Lunch. The joint winners, sharing a score of 60.94%, were Linda Boadle with Gill Rebaudi and Audrey Foster with Peter Dawson.

This year's competition will be held on Wednesday June 26th, also to be followed by a buffet lunch.

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.

28 members attended our Cober Hill break, commencing on Monday, 2 October, with a mid-afternoon welcome and the first playing session.

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 all enjoyed three exciting, nail-biting playing sessions on Monday and Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday morning.  Tuesday morning was free for rest and recuperation and to take full advantage of the local area.  For those of a more energetic disposition, this included two walks – a ‘long’ and a ‘short’ – and a round of golf at the lovely Filey course.  In the event, the ‘short’ walk turned out to be longer than the ‘long’. On Wednesday morning, the excitement steadily grew as the playing session progressed to its shattering conclusion.  The tension was only eased when the overall winners of three sessions were announced over lunch: N/S - Chris and John Barnes (59%) and E/W – Sue Wyatt and Janet Green.  Very worthy winners who justifiably received a standing ovation.

A most enjoyable time was had by all participants.   Particular thanks to Sue Wyatt for her considerable efforts in organising the event for us all.

Note: We will be visiting Cober Hill again in 2024, from Oct 9th - 11th. Please contact Sue Wyatt for more details