Sadly, a popular, longstanding  member of NBC, Mary Sutton, passed away on Saturday evening (28th December). She had a significant stroke shortly before Christmas from which she was unable to recover. Mary was a member of the club from the very early 70s and possibly before that. Paul her son remembers her and his father Reg going to club nights at the Tudor Café.  

The funeral will be at 11:00 on 20th January at West Berkshire Crematorium and then afterwards at the Angel pub in Woolhampton. Paul and his sisters are inviting everyone to wear colours rather than black if they would prefer. Everyone will be very welcome at the Angel.

It is with great sadness that we have to inform all at NBC of the death of Michael Gowlett, who passed away, peacefully, on 4^th December 2019 in St Michael’s Hospice, Basingstoke Hospital.
Mike had been a member of NBC for many years and he will be sadly missed by his friends and bridge partners. The funeral service will be at St Michael's Church,  Highclere on 23rd December at 2pm followed by a cremation at West Berkshire Crematorium.  Written condolences to Pauline, Mike’s wife at: 17, Cary Close, Newbury RG14 6QT

Ann McMahon, the President of Newbury Bridge Club presents John Holt with £4721 raised for the West Berks Therapy Centre at the Club's Annual General Meeting.

Janet Osgood has stepped down from the Committee and we thank her for all her contributions to the smooth running of the club. We welcome one of our newer members John Chelliah to the Committee.

Last night 27th November  a Newbury Team played an experienced Winchester Team and although they lost narrowly  63-49 it was an impressive introduction into inter club Team Bridge for Derek, Sallie and Steve.The Newbury Team was Richard and Judy, Frans and Brenda, Derek and Sallie and Steve Martin and David Barratt.

 Newbury Bridge Club raised £222 for Children in Need. You can still make a donation if you'd like to. Please contact David Barratt at djbbridge@gmail.com Bridge clubs across the country have so far raised £22,000. It is hoped the final total might reach £100,000

Congratulations to the Foster team (John & Nicola Foster, John Harland, Keith Terrell and John Hawkins) who came first in both the "No Handicap " and the "Handicap" leagues winning all their matches. The runners-up again in both leagues was the Turpin team (Sula Turpin, David Richardson, Madeline Lawson, Jill Vaughan, Phil Hickman and Evelyn Archer) 

The Newbury Bridge charity evening went very well with an excellent meal. David Barratt was our host and also proved to be a first-class auctioneer when it came to the charity auction. There was a high attendance and  provisionally the evening raised an amazing £4000 for the West Berkshire Therapy Centre -so well done everybody! Our thanks go to all those who helped to make this such a successful evening.

Photo by John Foster.

For more photos see News 2019 (click NEWS first)

Eleanor Rice, Madeline Lawson, Jill Vaughan and their friend Emma won last year's charity auction for  a day at the races.

Here they are presenting trainer Richard Hannon with his trophy! 

TRAINING COURSE FOR BEGINNERS - NO PARTNER or PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE NEEDED

The Club will be running a comprehensive course starting in September 2019 and consisting of 3 terms of a minimum of 10 weeks (it usually works out at 11 or 12 weeks). The course will be held on Friday evenings from 7:15 pm to 9:45 pm at Chieveley Village Hall, High Street, Chieveley, RG20 8TE.

The course will cost £75 per term which includes provision of the EBU training book (normal cost £25) plus extensive course notes.

The second lesson of this course will be this Friday 20th September officially starting at 7.15pm. but it would help with our admin if you could arrive by 7 pm.

If you have any questions, please contact Richard Bungey by emailing richard.bungey@gmail.com or by phone on 07788 976066.

The Simmons Cup is an annual competition between Newbury and Basingstoke Bridge Clubs for mixed pairs. This year’s event was played last Saturday at Basingstoke. It was a good-natured match with Basingstoke providing an excellent tea at halftime. Newbury have won the competition for the last three years but Basingstoke got their revenge this time and won comfortably.

Team: Eleanor Rice & Stuart Strachan, Madeline Lawson & Mahmoud Nurmohamed, Sue Oliver & Bill Wells, Janet Fuller & David Barratt (capt), Eileen Barratt & Brian Medhurst, Nicola & John Foster, Brenda & Frans Vas Nunes, Ann McMahon & Steve Martin.

Congratulations to Eleanor Rice And Stuart Strachan who have won this year's competition. Full Results in Competition Tables 2019

Very Well Done to Newbury who beat Basingstoke in the final of the Solent Trophy by 7 Imps. This is the first time we have won this trophy (in the last 12 years at least) so it is an outstanding achievement. Newbury now qualify to play in the Garden Cities regional finals at Richmond (or Bristol) on April 27th.

Team playing in final: Claire & Martin Bevan,Sula Turpin  & Ann McMahon, Eleanor Rice &Stuart Strachan, Keith Terrell & Michael Kaye.
Madeline Lawson(Capt) & Mahmoud Nurmohamed also played in an earlier round.

Congratulations to  Eleanor Rice & Madeline Lawson, who together with John Fairhurst and Philip Browm won the Teams competition at the Oxford Bridge Association Congress on Sunday 9th June.

Liz Madeley has informed us that sadly Mary Fennell passed away in the early hours of 19^th February in hospital in Edinburgh after heart surgery. A  few of us will remember her from the early days at Newbury College evening classes, under the guidance of Jeanne Whitehorn and Emily Southern. Mary enjoyed over twenty years playing Rubber Bridge at the Club and hosted the most social and alcoholic Bridge luncheons at her home in Speen.

There will be a Memorial service in memory of Mary Fennell at 10am at St Josephs Church Newbury on Friday 1^st March.

Southern Salver - Sunday 3rd March 2019 at Chieveley Village Hall
The Southern Salver afternoon went very well. It was greatly enjoyed by all and our thanks go to all those involved in its organisation and in particular to John Harland , Richard and Judy Bungey, David and Eileen Barratt, Ann McMahon (director) and John Foster (scorer)
The event was won by Madeline Lawson. Well done Maddy! Frans Vas Nunes was the runner-up. The other prizewinners were David Barratt  who was 3rd,  Susan Kay 4th, John Spencer 5th, Sue Oliver 6th, Alan Oliver 7th and Mike Gowlett 8th.

The annual New Year Party and Prizegiving at the Newbury & Crookham Golf Club went very well.
Richard Bungey was our Master of  Ceremonies, Ann McMahon our President presented the prizes. Our thanks go to them and to all those who helped with the organisation. 

For photos click on NEWS and then News 2019. Photos by John Foster

We have been asked by the EBU to warn members to beware e-mails purporting to come from them asking for bank details. At least one of our members did indeed receive such an e-mail saying they were owed £30 and could they send their bank details. Fortunately they were wise enough to ignore it.

Monday 7th January Newbury beat Eastleigh 108-26 in the semifinal and will now meet Basingstoke in the final. Newbury are currently the holders of The Basingstoke Cup

Team: Frans & Brenda Vas Nunes, Brian Medhurst & David Barratt, Eileen Barratt & John Harland, Keith Terrell & John Foster