| Roy Martin |
It is with great regret that we report Roy died on 28th January. Roy had been poorly for some time and had been in hospital shortly before Christmas; but he returned to the bridge table in the New Year and had been playing recently at his beloved Newcastle Bridge Club.
Over the years Roy has made an outstanding contribution to bridge at both county and Club level. On the County front he had undertaken many roles. Until recently [it's now done under P2P] Roy had been the County's master points secretary. He was also the County's Bulletin editor [good old days] from the mid 80's for very many years. He himself also contributed a lot of articles for publication in the Bulletin. Many of these were highly amusing. Not least the pen names he gave to his team-mates,the Welsh Pedlar, the Headmaster, Captain Turf, the Blue Stocking, the Detective, Belapel and the Austrian Princess with Roy himself going under the Muggins pseudonym. In recent times he had archived the majority of the bulletins. Thanks to him and our webmaster Ann Sleightholme they are now on our website under ''As we once were.'' A brilliant job indeed and well worth a read if you haven't already done so.
On the playing front Roy has been a frequent winner of the County's premier competitions with many successes in the Bearn[Pairs], Mens Pairs, County League and KO.
Roy has of course also been an amazing stalwart at Newcastle Bridge Club where over many years he has made an even greater contribution in helping to run the Club. He was also an EBU qualified teacher and held many teaching sessions at the Club. He was also Newcastle's County rep for many years.
Roy will be sadly missed by all who knew him. |
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| Congratulations |
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The Staffs Cup was won by Paul Hackett's team (Paul, Dan Crofts, Ed Levy, Mike Goldsmith & Justin Hackett) beating Geoff Davies's team.
Mixed Pairs
16 pairs took part in the mixed/flitch pairs played on 12th June 2013. The winners were Jane Perrins & Tony Togneri with 66.07%, second were Anne Jones & John Seymour with 63.39% and Gillian Allsop & David Clarke with 57.74% came third narrowly beating the fourth and fifth pairs.
Three pairs from the Bearn Final represented the county at the Corwen earlier this month. Roger Keane and David Beavon (from Wolverhampton Bridge Club) came 6th in a very strong field. The other two pairs were Keith Shuttleworth & Brian Nicholls and Paul Cutler and David Moir.
The League matches have been completed and winners were Paul Hackett's team, who were unbeaten over the season, with 8 wins out of 8 matches. Geoff Davies's team came second with 6 wins.
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| Midlands Counties Congress |
Several members of the County did well over 4th - 6th January 2013, notably:
Swiss Teams Jane Stirton & Judi Stevenson, David Clarke & Celia Day
Championship Pairs Mike Cornes & Annette Lucas
Men's Pairs Dan Crofts & Andrew Thompson
Hayward Bowl Andrew Thompson & Dan Crofts, Nigel Wolfendale & Cathy Rowland
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| Shrewsbury Open Swiss Pairs - 2nd March 2014 |
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Shrewsbury Open Swiss Pairs, a Blue Pointed event, were played on March 2nd. Winners were Cliff Tayer & John Hartley, second - Brian Nicholls & Keith Shuttleworth, third - Peter & Helen Lees, fourth - Linda Curtis & Alma Richards.
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| Ladies' Championship Pairs |
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Men's and Ladies' Championship Pairs - 8th May 2013
The ladies' pairs were played at Stafford on Wednesday 8th May. The winners were Pat Martin and Ann Sleightholme with joint second Pat Poxon & Gillian Allsop and Jenny Matthews & Anne Jones.
Unfortunately the men's pairs event had to be cancelled.
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| Our New Chairman |
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Linda Curtis was elected Chairman of the Staffordshire & Shropshire Contract Bridge Association at the AGM on 1st September. Linda is presently the Wolverhampton Bridge Club Captain and was Chairman of Newcastle Bridge Club some years ago. Linda regularly represents the County at Dawes matches so is known to many within the County. Geoff Davies, the retiring Chairman, welcomed Linda and wished her well in her new role.
The meeting was followed by bridge playing for the Phoenix Trophy. Winners were Pat Poxon, the County Secretary, and Mike Beach.
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| No Fear Teams of Four |
 No Fear Teams of Four - Played at Wolverhampton on Thursday 12th June 2014
The No Fear Teams of Four, attracting 12 teams, was organised as a Swiss Teams event and run by Roy Edwards with help from Linda, Judy and Alma. Each team played four 6 board matches, 2 matches before lunch and another 2 after lunch. Linda and her team of ladies from Wolverhampton provided the excellent lunch. The winners, shown above, were John Withers, Val Lupton, Paul Keightley and Barrie Tykiff. Shown below, are the runners up Geoff Thomas, Stan Jarvis, Sally & Gerald Griffin with Pauline Campbell, Audrey Clarke, Rose Jessop & Ann Sleightholme in third place. Click for full results or click here for the simple grid result
This follows on from the success of the No Fear Pairs in February and plans are afoot for more of these in the not too distant future.
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| Shropshire Congress - 25th/26th April 2014 |
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The Shropshire Congress was held at a new venue this year, The Park Inn in Telford. Pictured above are the winners of the Swiss Teams and below the winners of the Swiss Pairs.
Swiss Teams played on Sunday 27th April
The winners were Dan Crofts & Gary Hyett, Barbara Hackett & Ed Levy, second Paul Hackett & Darren Evetts, Martin Taylor & Justin Hackett and third Dave Weller & Ben Britton, George Barrett & Mike Ralph.
Swiss Pairs played on Saturday 26th April
The winners of the were Stuart Matthews & Mark Weeks, with Martin Jones & Alastair Gidman second only one VP ahead of third placed Tracy Capal & Mike Pownall.
Congratulations to you all.
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| No Fear Bridge Event Success |
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No Fear Bridge - Played Thursday 20th February 2014
This pairs event, intended for players who do not attend Congress events, took place during the day at Wolverhampton Bridge Club. It proved very popular and plans are afoot to hold more such events, perhaps teams next time (put June 12th in your diary). The winners were Joan Butler & Margaret Revell, second Norman Jones & Trevor Adams, third Jonathan Emmerson & Jackie Bannister and fourth (only 0.02 match points behind) Ron Jones and Eileen Pinches.
Thanks must go to Linda and her team for putting on such a wonderful lunch, Alma for directing, John for scoring and Judy for much of the organisation.
The results are shown on http://www.bridgewebs.com/cgi-bin/bwoi/rank.cgi?pid=display_rank&msec=1&event=20140220_1&wd=1&club=staffsshrops in various forms, ranking, scorecards, matrix, travellers and hands, just click the options at the top. For those not accustomed to looking at the these the travellers show the contracts the computer thought possible with the hands.
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| Andrew Robson Masterclass |
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Andrew Robson, renowned teacher, Times and Sunday Times bridge columnist, held a sell out Bridge Masterclass on Thursday 21st November 2013 at Stone.
Participants were treated to several topics during the afternoon and evening sessions, Four Key Rules, Bidding Big Hands, Jacoby 2NT, Tricky Leads, Elimination and Throw-in. Despite the large number of tables, 40 at each session, Andrew managed to keep an eye on everyone from his high vantage point and was on hand to give guidance wherever needed. S&SCBA members were given a great day - thank you Andrew.
Stone Bridge Club hosted the interval buffet between the two sessions - many thanks are due to all those who laid the meal on there.
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| Shropshire Congress, 20th & 21st April 2013 |
The 20th Shropshire Congress - Results
Pictures courtesy of James Vickers
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| County Mixed Championship Pairs |
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This event was won by Monica Scott & James Vickers from Mike Cornes & Annette Lucus with Sue Yardley & John Pugh third. Only 1.51 percentage points separated first from third place in this very keenly fought competition.
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| Ladies' and Men's Pairs 2014 |
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Winners of the Ladies' Pairs were Annette Lucas & Roma Smith, winners of the Men's Pairs were Trevor Freeman & Ron Stevenson. These events, both played on Wednesday 14th May, proved very popular this year, Wolverhampton Bridge Club was almost filled to capacity! Apologies for the initial slight delay in uploading the results.
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| Bearn Final - Played on Sunday 7th April 2013, |
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The leading pairs qualify to represent the County in the Corwen on Saturday and Sunday, 1st & 2nd June 2013 at Daventry.
Four Pairs from the Final will be eligible to play in the Edgar Foster Cups in Solihull in September 2013. This is a 6-county invitation event.
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| National Success - Congratulations Paul's Team |
Paul Hackett's Team won the Senior European Trials, played on January 4th and 5th at Richmond Bridge Club. Paul's team will be representing England at the Senior European Championships to be held in Opatija, Croatia, from June 21st to June 28th 2014.
On a more local level Paul's team has reached the final of the Staffs Cup.
Jason & Justin Hackett have also been selected to represent England in Opatija in June as members of the Open Team.
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| Midland Teams Challenge Bowl 2013 |
The winning team in this event again were Staffs and Shrops players, Dan Crofts & Barbara Hackett, Mike Goldsmith & Ed Levy. Fourth placed were another Staffs and Shrops team, last year's winners, John Day & Geoff Feltbower with Geoff Davies & Robin Adey. Congratulations all.
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| New Chairman's Message |
 Further to my plan to visit the County clubs and meet the members over the card table I am trying to arrange mutually convenient dates with the various club contacts. Anyone who would like to suggest a suitable date for my visit to your club please get in touch. So far I have visited Chasetown, Newcastle, Stafford and Tettenhall.
My aim is to encourage County members to enter a team in the winter league next year and to take part in County competitions including the new No Fear Bridge event at Wolverhampton on February 20th. Please take the opportunity to give me your ideas for the way forward for the County.
Linda Curtis
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| Edgar Foster Cups |
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Staffs & Shrops pair win the Edgar Foster Cups
The Edgar Foster competition, played on 21st September at Wolverhampton, is a pairs event with 4 pairs invited to take part from six counties in the region. The four pairs selected to represent Staffs and Shrops were chosen from those that played in the Bearn final played on 6th April. Congratulations to Mike Cornes and Annette Lucas (S&SCBA and members Newport and Wolverhampton Bridge Clubs) who were the winners, with pairs from Warwickshire Herefordshire coming 2nd and 3rd. Dave Clarke & Gillian Allsop from Wolverhampton Bridge Club came 7th and Dave Rowley & Peter Collier from Stafford Bridge Club came 12th (24 pairs). The team trophy was won by Warwickshire.
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| Summer County Simultaneous Pairs |
In the County Simultaneous Pairs played at clubs on August 20th the top two pairs were the same this year as last!!! First, Robin Adey & Geoff Davies, second Barry Marsh & Claude Wilkinson and third Sue Cope & Roy Edwards. Congratulations to you all.
Five clubs took part this year, Eccleshall, Newport, Shrewsbury, Tettenhall and Wolverhampton, with a total of 38½ tables. Last year there were four clubs and 27 tables. Good to see the increased participation in this County event.
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| Midland Teams Challenge Bowl |
The Midland Teams Challenge Bowl, an event for the counties of Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and ourselves, was played on Sunday 8th July. Two teams represented each County. Playing for Staffordshire and Shropshire were:
- Robin Adey & Geoff Davies and John Day & Geoff Feltblower (event winners)
- Anne Jones & John Seymour and Nicholas Thorne & Kath Adams
Many congratulations to the winners, Robin, Geoff D, John and Geoff F. Sadly no one took a photograph of the winning team being presented with the trophy. However Anne, John, Nicholas and Kath played in the Northern Counties President's Cup competition, coming 6th out of 9 Counties, at Birkenhead the week before together with John, Annette, Mike and Ed where a very good picture was taken! |
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| Summer Simultaneous Pairs |
54 pairs took part in the S&SCBA Summer Simultaneous Pairs played on Thursday, 23rd August 2012, at Newcastle, Stafford, Tettenhall and Wolverhampton. The winners, by a short head, were Geoff Davies & Robin Adey (at Stafford) from runners up Barry Marsh & Claude Wilkinson (at Tettenhall) with third Pam Booth-Jones & Sue Yardley (at Wolverhampton). Congratulations to you all. |
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| AGM |
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DOUBLE CONGRATULATIONS TO JUDY MITCHELL 
Congratulations to Judy on becoming the County's most recent grand Master. Very well done. Further congratulations go to Judy. This follows EBU recently accepting a joint recommendation from the County and Shrewsbury Bridge Club that Judy be nominated for the prestigious Dimmie Fleming award. This award is to recognise publicly those people who have made a significant contribution to bridge at Club and/or County level over many years, say 20+. It is marvellous news which fully reflects Judy's outstanding contribution. From County's perspective Judy has been a very active and enthusiastic Committee member for many years. Amongst her most valuable contributions have been, firstly, organisation of the County's annual congress and secondly as the League and Tournament secretary. She carries out these responsibilities most efficiently, almost single-handedly, and everything runs most smoothly. Without her enormous contribution, County bridge would be much less enjoyable for many members. Shrewsbury Bridge Club are equally thrilled with the news. She was their secretary from 1980 to 2004 and more or less ran the club, making life very easy for other Committee members. In 2010 Judy became Treasurer and again shouldered extra responsibility with the recent indisposition of the secretary. She has also found time to be the Club's county rep for many years. Judy has been a vital cog in the bridge world at both Club and county level for very many years. The award is very richly deserved. Judy could have received the award at the EBU's AGM in early October but, as her contribution has been at local level, she opted to receive the award at the recent County AGM on 2nd September. Geoff Davies, our Chairman, was delighted to present the certificate and offered Judy our warmest congratulations. Shrewsbury Bridge Club will be expressing their appreciation at their Club evening on Tuesday 11th September. |
Following the AGM some attendees stayed on to play for the Phoenix Trophy. The Trophy was won by Paul Cutler and Geoff Davies with runners up Laurence Haynes and Jeff Jones. | |
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| Mixed/Flitch Pairs - 13th June 2012 |
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Congratulations to the winners:
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Dave Clarke and Gillian Allsop winners of the Mixed Pairs
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David and Janet Drinkwater winners of the Flitch Pairs
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Michael Metcalf and Ann Stevenson won the non-expert prize! | |
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| Staffs Cup 2011/12 |
The final was played on May 15th. Paul Hackett, Dan Crofts, Ed Levy and John Parsons beat Kath Adam's team - Kath,Nick Thorne, John Seymour & Ann Jones. A mixture of the teams will represent the county in thePachabo cup: Ed Levey and John Parsons, and Kath's team. (Paul is notavailable). |
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| Shropshire Congress - 21st/22nd April |
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The winners of the Swiss Pairs were David Stevenson & Liz Commins with Julian Merrill & Paul Roberts 2nd and David Strawbridge & Babs Matthews 3rd. 68 pairs took part in the event
27 teams entered the Swiss Teams event that was won by a team from Shrewsbury, Keith Shuttleworth, Brian Nicholls, Roger Bowles & John Waller with another local team joint 3rd being Sue Cope, Jon Downing, Gillian Allsop & Dave Clarke from Wolverhampton Bridge Club. |
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| League Final Results 2011/12 |
The final league results are:
Division One: 1st Geoff Davies's team, runner-up is Paul Hackett's team.
Division Two: 1st is Jenny Matthews's team, runner-up is Tony Brian's team |
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| Sue Anslow |
The County is sad to hear of the recent death of Sue Anslow. Sue has been poorly for some time and for a few years has not been very active on the bridge scene.
For many years Sue was a County Committee member, including County Membership Secretary with responsibility for collecting County subs - trying to collect EBU/county subs from county members in the days when it was all done locally! She was a very supportive member of the committee and the County. Committee meetings were often held at her house! Fellow Committee members will remember her generous helpings of chocolate biscuits and home-made cake.
Sue enjoyed success at the bridge table including winning the County Mixed Pairs.
Before her illness Sue played regularly at Stafford, Chasetown and Wolverhampton. She also arranged regular bridge lessons in Penkridge and a number of her former pupils are now playing duplicate bridge.
Sue will be very fondly remembered by all who knew her. |
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| 9th May - Men’s Pairs and Ladies’ Pairs |
Men's Pairs winners Robin Adey & Geoff Davies with joint 2nd placed Dan Crofts & Paul Hackett and Clifford Tayar & John Hartley.
Ladies' Pairs winners were Pat Poxon & Gillian Allsop with 2nd Jenny Mathews & Anne Jones and 3rd Shirley Elphick & Deirdre Newsome.
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| Winter Simulaneous Pairs |
| Congratulations to Geoff Davies & Geoff Feltbower on their win the County Winter Simultaneous Pairs played on January 30th. Runners up were Lawrence Haynes & Dan Crofts and third were Peggy Grocott & Albert Pankhurst. |
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| Midland Counties Congress |
Congratulations to S&SCBA members who did so well at the Midlands Counties Congress, held on January 5th, 6th and 7th 2012.
Noteably:
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| Shrewsbury Open Swiss Pairs |
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Held on Sunday March 4th
1st Geoff Feltbower & John Day (Newcastle)
2nd Roger Bowles and Keith Shuttleworth (Shrewsbury)
3rd Pam Booth-Jones & Tony Leech (Shrewsbury/Wolverhampton).
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| Bearn Final - Sunday 1st April 2012 |
The winners of the Bearn Final, played at Stafford on April 1st, were Roy Martin & Peter Cartwright by a single point from Mike Cornes & Annette Lucas with Pat Poxon & Norman Jones in 3rd place. Four pairs represented the County at the Corwen event for the region on the 26th & 27th of May, one pair won a prize coming 11th out of 110 pairs. |
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| Garden Cities |
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Shrewsbury's team of 8 were the winning team on March 3rd 2012 at Wolverhampton competing against Wolverhampton and Stafford. Shrewsbury was represented by Judy Mitchell & James Vickers, Helen & Peter Lees, Keith Shuttleworth & Roger Bowles, David Small & John Waller, picture courtesy of David Drinkwater. Shrewsbury's team will go on to represent the County in the reginal finals to be held on Saturday 19th May 2012. |
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| Andrew Robson's Masterclass 30th September 2011 |
 Andrew Robson gave members a master class in "Signalling in Defence" and "Competitive Bidding Tactics" . The event, largely organsied by Cath Adams, was greatly enjoyed by some 120 players at each of the two sessions. |
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| Staffs Cup |
| Congratulations to Roy Martin's team for winning this year's Staffs Cup in the final against Paul Hackett's team. Roy Martin's team will represent the County in the Pachabo Cup next month. |
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| Important Notice - County Headquarters |
After months of deliberation the County Committee, and following the decision of the Committee of Wolverhampton Bridge Club to offer its premises for County use, the County Committee decided at a recent Committee Meeting that the headquarters should re-locate to Wolverhampton Bridge Club.
The move of the playing headquarters of S&SCBA to Wolverhampton Bridge Club became effective on 1st December 2013.
The address is:
4 Shaw Park,
Shaw Road,
Wolverhampton, WV10 9LE.
tel: 01902 424422
The headquarters has been at Stafford since 1978 or possibly earlier see "As We Once Were". Even the fire at The Swan in 1968 gets a mention in County archives indicating the connection of the HQ with Stafford! The new extension at Wolverhampton now offers more room for County events such as the Dawes matches.
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| Shrewsbury Swiss Pairs |
Jenny Matthews and Celia Day winners of the 2009 Shrewsbury Swiss Pairs |
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