Patcham Bridge Club History |
"On Tuesday afternoons at the Patcham Community Centre there used to be a strong solo whist afternoon (about 15 tables) until they all stayed away when table money was introduced (about 25p). I heard about bridge, called the number on the notice board and spoke to Ken Ingate. There were usually 3-4 tables playing Chicago. The numbers dropped and replacements were hard to find, so with help from Mavis Harris we ‘persuaded’ a change to duplicate on the first Wednesday of the month, then first and third Wednesdays, and so on. In the very early days Mavis tried to score, but none of us knew how to do it until Terry Kelly at the Excelsior gave Mavis a copy of a computer scoring program. We started to look like a real bridge club and numbers began steadily to increase. "
(John Burton, a club founder)
The PBC was formed in 1999, and is a well supported club with a membership of over 250. When our members join the PBC they are joining the Patcham Community Association, which accounts for our low table fees and joining fee. In 2003 the move to the new Community Centre with better facilities and space, the bridge club began to receive better recognition which increased membership currently approximately 270, culminating in extra sessions with up to 20 tables. Recently being home to some of the County's equipment, duplimated hands/records are now a regular format for all sessions. Some well known Sussex names also play reguarly at the club.
In 2016/2017 PBC was ranked 34th in the country for number of players as ranked by the EBU.
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