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 Alencon visit 2016 |
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Back in 1982 bridge players were suddenly invited to participate in the annual Basingstoke/Alencon twinning Festival of Sport. Two Alencon players arrived for the weekend to stay with Chris & Helen Kinloch. Since then firm friendships have been made.
Although the other twinning visits have fallen away, the exchange between the Bridge clubs has grown and every year, each club has hosted the Bridge match along with social visits.
This year it was the French hosting the visit and although it normally takes place in May, it was an Autumn weekend this time.
The Basingstoke team, Chris & Helen Kinloch, John & Barbara Glasscock, Andrew & Mary Ferguson, Graham & Liz Bragg, David Walton & Anne James and May Lawn & Danielle Sissingh, arrived in bright sunshine in Alençon to the usual warm welcome from French friends, old and new. There were nine tables for the bridge tournament in the afternoon. Unfortunately none of our pairs came top, so we had to relinquish the Raymond Guérin trophy which we won in Basingstoke last year. However, as usual, the bridge competition was only one small part of the weekend and it was followed by several apperitifs and a delicious meal at the club.
On Sunday we visited Le Perche, an area of natural beauty situated around the town of Belleme in the south-east of the Orne department of southern Normandy. Despite the light rain and mist which continued throughout the day, everyone really enjoyed looking round the picturesque villages and trying to find answers to quiz questions about the area. After lunch at the golf club some brave souls took part in a two hole putting competition, the scores for which were added to our team's quiz totals.
Anne & David were the worthy winners of the Sunday events. Back at the Alençon bridge Club there were more apperitifs and another beautiful meal. We did manage to sing an adaptation of the well known French song "Ma Normandie" as a thank you to our hosts.
Dates are still to be arranged, but we look forward to welcoming our French friends in Basingstoke again next year.
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| Charity Walk in aid of Wessex Heartbeat 2021 |
♠ ♥ ♥ ♣ Charity Walk in aid of Wessex Heartbeat (Robbie Burns) ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
On Sunday 12 September Robbie and others including several club members completed a half marathon walk in aid of Wessex Heartbeat who support the work of the cardiac unit at Southampton General Hospital. It was from his house in Twyford to Southampton General Hospital. Robbie's fundraising account is still open if anyone else wants to contribute: Click here to donate
Well done everyone!!
Thanks to Charmaine for the photos below.
Read Charmaine's account of the event and see more photos by clicking here
Bridge club photo - back row, Charmaine Hoey, Sue Peel, Peter Kelly, Ivor Cobbold
Middle - Sally Cobbold
Front - Caroline Sutton, Robbie, Annette Kelly
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 Club Hosts Corn Cairdis 2019 |
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Corn Cairdis - an annual match between teams representing the County, Club, and Officials of the English Bridge Union (EBU) and Contract Bridge Association of Ireland (CBAI). The EBU team were:
Jeremy Dhondy & Andy Hughes; Philip Mason & Peter Stocken.
Club representatives who played over the weekend: Helen & Chris Kinloch, Iain Climie, Andrew & Mary Ferguson, Tracey Adams, Steve Tearle, Richard Ray, Ann Goss.
Basingstoke Bridge Club agreed to host the 2019 Corn Cairdis match for Hampshire.
It was a successful weekend. The actual competition did not begin until Saturday, but the club hosted a social evening on the Friday in which all the Irish attended. Although the Irish took 1st & 2nd place, Richard & Christine Ray were the top club players closely followed by Tracey Adams and Steve Tearle.
There was a really lovely friendly atmosphere throughout the weekend with good food organised by Sam, Stan and Jean. Sam organised the purchasing of the food, Jean and Stan picked it up at M&S, and Jean cooked it and laid it all out.
The Tournament was opened by the Mayor of Basingstoke and a reporter from the Basingstoke Gazette took pictures. The Irish were taken to Milestones museum and had dinner on Saturday evening.
The Irish team prevailed and won back the Trophy this year which was probably fitting as they have lost in the last 2 years but the most important thing about the weekend was the firm friendships established among the competitors.
The name, Corn Cairdis, translates most appropriately as Cup of Friendship.
Our thanks to Helen who single handedly organised the event for the County and the EBU.
Also to Chris Kinloch and Keith Bennet for directing.
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| Club regains the Teams of 8 Simmons Cup 2019 |
 Our annual match against Newbury (Simmons Cup for Mixed pairs) took place recently. This year we were successful in reclaiming the trophy after it had been in Newbury's possession for the last 2 years!
Well done to our team of Chris & Helen Kinloch, Manny & Fil Navarro, Tracey Adams & Steve Tearle, Mary and Andrew Ferguson, Sandra Ruffell and Keith Bennett,
Viv Morris & George Collins and Ann Goss & Keith Williams and Jane Rutherford and John Fairhurst.
Special thanks to Newbury for again playing the match in such a friendly manner, an enjoyable day for all!
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| Club Weekend Away 2022 |
♠ ♥ Club Weekend Away in Bournemouth ♦ ♣
56 club members and some partners enjoyed a recent weekend of fun bridge at the Connaught Hotel, Bournemouth. It was great to meet up with so many and also enjoy the seaside town and surrounding area!
A full report of the event will be coming in the next newsletter but in the meantime thanks go to
John F, Jean, Stan, Malcolm, John G, Judi, Anne T, Ivor, Sally and Heather
who all had a hand in organising or helping towards the various events.
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| Club Weekend Away Oct 2021 |
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ Club Weekend Away - October 2021 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
I am glad to say that the club weekend away in Bournemouth appeared to be a great success. A measure of this was the noise in the bridge room and the many smiling faces. How good it felt to be back in the real world. Wall to wall duplicate, relaxed, teams and a session of military bridge run by Jean, was interspersed with a quiz by ringmaster Robbie.
We were very well looked after by the Connaught Hotel with marvellous food. Many thanks go to Ann Welch and Anne Todd for putting the weekend together but mainly to all those who supported the club by attending. Well done everyone! John F
Thank you to Barbara Seymour, John Glasscock and John Fairhurst for the pictures.
 
 
 
Not all of the weekend was spent playing bridge!
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| Fun Bridge at the Club 2018 |
This year we again held our party at the Chute Pavilion so we could all mix up together.It was good company, food, drinks and prizes.
Were these the smartest men in town?
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| Jubilee Celebration 2022 |
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ Queen's Jubilee Celebration ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
Members enjoyed an excellent day of bridge with lunch and celebratory drink on 1st June at Sherborne St John to celebrate 70 years of the Queen's reign.
Winners were:
Pairs - North and South - John Fairhurst and Phil Brown. East and West - David Bates and Lindsay McDougall
Teams - Barbara & John Glasscock, Evelyn & Ken Jones.
A huge thank you goes to Vera Watts for organising the hall and the catering, to Jean and Stan Babb for the loan of the U3A equipment and to all who helped on the day.
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| Mixed Pairs Championship 2022 |
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ Mixed Pairs Championship 2022 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
The Mixed Pairs Championship took place over two Thursday evenings in February.
The result of the competition is below. The results are based on the best average score.
Congratulations to Cathi Low & George Collins!
| Position |
Pairs |
Rd 1 |
Rd 2 |
Avg |
| 1 |
Cathi Low & George Collins |
65.56 |
62.50 |
64.03 |
| 2 |
Judi Coady & Nicholas Browne |
57.91 |
59.50 |
58.70 |
| 3 |
Lorraine & Farid Motamed |
55.31 |
61.50 |
58.40 |
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| Mollie Simmons Swiss Pairs 2022 |
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ Mollie Simmons Swiss Pairs Results ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
Congratulations to John Fairhurst & Phil Brown who came top and Graham Ledger and Lindsay McDougall who were runners up in the Mollie Simmons Swiss Pairs Charity event held on Monday 29th June.
The club raised £117 for the Samaritans.
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| Teams of 8 Basingstoke Cup 2022 |
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ Final of 'Teams of 8' Basingstoke Cup ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
Congratulations to Basingstoke 'Nixon' team (John Glasscock, Sam Golding, Stan & Jean Babb, Charles Nixon, Cathi Low, Julia Rowlands & Helen Gault)
who have won the final of the Teams of 8 Basingstoke Cup beating Robbie's team (Robert Burns, Vera Watts, Richard & Judy Bungey, Sean & Colleen Haffey, Abha Patel and Danielle Sissingh) who were the current holders.
Well done everyone!
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