A splendid Club Christmas Party took place at Kirk Merrington on Thursday 21st December 2017.  Fantastic food provided by members, fun entertainment provided by Marilyn Dexter with the asistance of Jane Oxenham and Michael Crowe and 16 boards of duplicate all made for a wonderful night.  Winners of the bridge were N/S Denise Barham-Hall and Joy Pallister and E/W Allan and John Blackett. Leading scores :-
     North/South
     1     65.18 %     Denise Barham-Hall & Joy Pallister
     2     64.73 %     Jane Pringle & Irene Burns
     3     54.45 %     Audrey Bainbridge & Brian Myers
     East/West
     1     64.29 %     Allan Blackett & John Blackett
     2     63.84 %     Louise Badcock & Michael Crowe
     3     55.36 %     Tony Mawston &  Gordon Jefferson

Sadly we report the death of former member Ena Wilkinson peacefully at home on 3rd December 2017.  Ena had not played at the Club for several years but we remember her as a most competent player and a witty fungoing personality in the bridge room.  The funeral, attended by many family and friends, took place at Wear Valley Crematorium on 12th December 2017 at 11.00 am.

We extend hearty congratulations to our Club President David Latner on the occasion of his 98th Birthday on 27th November 2017.  Every good wish from everyone at the Club.

An exciting finish to league match No 2 resulted in victory over St George's BC on Sunday 3rd December 2017.  Having got off to a slow start with deficits of 8 Imps and 4 Imps in the first two stanzas, a victory by 12 Imps in the third made the scores all level at the tea break.  The final stanza saw some large swings but the home team came through to win by 14 Imps giving a victory points match score of :-

                    Bishop Auckland BC    13  -  7     St George's BC

                   Team :-
          Roger Carpenter (Capt) & John Gray
          Audrey Bainbridge & Michael Crowe
          Brian Myers & Denise Barham-Hall
          Louise Badcock & Allan Blackett

Well done to Bishop Auckland Bridge Club Quiz Team for finishing in a very creditable 3rd place in the Bishop Auckland Annual Civic Quiz in a field of 26 extremely competetive teams.  The team actually won the rounds on Sport, Science, Food & Drink and were joint winners of the Music round.  Team members were Claudette & Peter Whitton, Brian Myers, David Emerson, Ann Squires and George Gwilliam.

32 members and guests enjoyed a super carvery and 18 boards of duplicate at the Annual Dinner and Prize Presentation held at the Golf Club on Thursday 9th November 2017.  Club Chair Louise Badcock presented trophies won by members throughout the year and Secretary John Gray gave congratulation to members who had achieved good results in recent regional competitions.

          Trophy Winners
          LATNER SALVER                  -     Godfrey Young & Alison Young
          CARPENTER TROPHY            -     Audrey Bainbridge & Brian Myers
          WALKER BOWL                    -     John Dobson & Iain Gordon
          MASTER POINTS TROPHY     -     Audrey Bainbridge 

          Recent Regional Winners
          NEBA GAZETTE CUP            -     John Portwood & Wojtec Zakrzewski
          NEBA GAZETTE SHIELD       -     Audrey Bainbridge & John Dobson

          Presentation Night Duplicate Result
          1     69.44 %     -     David Emerson & John Dobson
          2     62.70 %     -     John Little & Alan Race
          3     59.92 %     -     Peter Lisle & Roger Carpenter
          4     57.54 %     -     David Thompson & John Gray

In the closest finish for many years, Audrey Bainbridge rounded off the club year (ending 31st October 2017) by taking the Master Points Trophy 2017.  Full results can be viewed under the Competitions Section but in summary the leading places were as follows:-

   MPs 2016-17
          578         Audrey Bainbridge
          554          John Dobson
          519          Iain Gordon
          517          Louise Badcock

(These Master Point totals relate only to those points earned during play on normal Club Nights at Bishop Auckland.  Points earned at other clubs, regional events, congresses and simultaneous pairs events are excluded).

A wonderful day for the Bishop Auckland Club when members took both top honours at the NEBA Gazette Finals Day at Darlington on Sunday15th October 2017.  New members to the Club this year, Wojtek Zakrzewski and John Portwood, scored well in both afternoon and evenig sessions to win the 2017 Gazette Cups with a score 3.83% clear of second place. Then further success when Audrey Bainbridge and John Dobson finished 4.29% clear of the field to take the 2017 Gazette Shield.   Congratulations are also due to Joan Crompton and Margaret Thompson who finished in second place in the Gazette Shield.

2017 GAZETTE CUPS - Leading Scores :-
1          62.07 %         Wojtec Zakrzewski & John Portwood
2          58.24 %          Frank Springett & Brenda Osborne
3          58.12 %          John Gladders & David Morrison
4          56.53 %          Peter Li Ping & Charles Waine
5          55.60 %          Colin Mitchell & Don Benison

2017 GAZETTE SHIELD - Leading Scores :-
1          68.18 %         Audrey Bainbridge & John Dobson
2          63.89 %          Joan Crompton & Margaret Thompson
3          61.57 %          Nichola Cockerill-Smith & Jenny Grist
4          60.51 %          Ann Rooke & HeatherMcCarthy
5          56.48 %          Chris Owen & Margaret Owen

The Club Team lost heavily in the first match of the 2017-18 Season.  Played against Darlington 'B' at St George’s Bridge Centre on Sunday 8th October 2017, a lead of 18 Imps established in Set 1 was countered significantly over the remaining three sets by deficits of 8, 21 and 33 Imps respectively.  The overall final deficit was 44 Imps which converted to a final match result of :-

           Darlington B      17  -  3      Bishop Auckland

Team :-

Roger Carpenter (Capt)  &  Tony Mawston
John Gray  &  Louise Badcock
Brian Myers  &  Denise Barham-Hall
Audrey Bainbridge  &  John Dobson

Sadly we report the death of Mike Pitt on Friday 1st September 2017.  Mike, who was a jovial outgoing personality, had not played bridge for some time now but formerly was a member of our club for many years (partnered by Adrian Darnell).  A service of remembrance was held at St Bede's Chapel in the college of St Hild and St Bede in Durham on Thursday 21st September 2017 at 12.00 noon.  More than 100 family and friends were in attendance.  We pass sincere condolences to his family.

Starting on 2nd Spetember 2017 members can play EBU Competitons on Funbridge.  In these competitions you will partner a computerised robot and play against two other robots and so no human partner is required.  Master Points will be awarded, competitions consisting of 20 boards which may be played at any time during the competition day, stopping and re-starting aa often as wished.  The games will take place on Saturdays and Sundays between midnight and 10.00 pm.   More details of the system can be accessed via EBU Information/EBU News near the bottom of the main left hand menu

Thursday 24th August saw the holding of the 2017 BABC Walker Rose Bowl competition.   On this occasion Iain Gordon and John Dobson headed the relatively small field by the clear margin of 7% to take the trophy with Wojtec Zakrzewski and David Wooff in second place.    Leading places were as follows :-

          1          64.58 %          Iain Gordon & John Dobson
          2          57.29 %          Wojtek Zakrzewski & David Wooff
          3          56.25 %          Ann Squires & Malcolm Dawson
          4=        55.21 %          Louise Badcock & Allan Blackett
          4=        55.21 %          Joan Crompton & John Gray

A full listing of all scores is set out in the Results Section.

Congratulations go to Denise Barham-Hall and Audrey Bainbridge for their success in winning the NEBA Northern Open Pairs on 23rd July 2017.  Denise and Audrey headed a field of 22 pairs finishing 1.4% clear.
Leading positions :-

          1          60.14 %         Denise Barham-Hall & Audrey Bainbridge
          2          58.75 %          Charlie Singh & Pauline Boardman
          3          57.36 %          Marion Curran & Margaret McCabe
          4          56.11 %          Dorothy James & Brenda Mueller

(Full details and scores are available on the NEBA website).

Sadly Oswald Brown passed away on 6th July 2017 at the age of 89 years.  Oswald was a very long standing member of the Club although his attendances had been limited in recent months.  His jovial character and tremendous wit will be much missed by all his friends.  The condolences of all members are passed to his dear wife Mary. 

His funeral took place at Wear Valley Crematorium (and afterwards at Bishop Auckland Golf Club) on Friday 14th July at 1.00 pm.  Many family and friends were present to pay their respects.

Thursday 13th July saw the playng of Round 6 and the completion of the Carpenter Trophy 2017.  Two pairs were well clear of the field of nine pairs that managed to qualify by playing in the minimum of four rounds.  Succes for the second year running went to Audrey Bainbridge and Brian Myers with John Gray and David Thompson in second place.  The leading pairs in the final placings were :-

           1          62.12 %         Audrey Bainbridge & Brian Myers
           2          58.20 %          John Gray & David Thompson
           3          53.18 %          Godfrey Young & Alison Young

The full listing of final places may be accesssed from the main menu  'Competitions/Current'  -  'Carpenter Trophy 2017' .
The full listiing of previous winners may be accessed from the main menu . 'Trophy Honours Boards'  -  'Carpenter Trophy' .

Congratulations go to Alison and Godfrey Young, Winners of the Latner Salver 2017.  In a close result they finished 0.70% ahead of David Emerson and Louise Badcock with John Dobson and Iain Gordon in third place.   Note that for 22nd June there are two sets of results, the first being the normal Club Night Gross Scores and the second being the Latner Salver Scores (after the application of handicaps) which are as follows :-.

          Latner Salver 2017

               1          61.90  +  8.90         70.80 %         Alison Young & Godfrey Young
               2          62.50  +  7.60          70.10 %          David Emerson & Louise Badcock
               3          58.33  +  5.55          63.88 %          John Dobson & Iain Gordon
               4          45.83  +  17.70        63.53 %          Margaret Wiles & Maureen Hook
               5          54.76  +  8.34          63.10 %          Alan Race & Tony Mawston
               6          57.74  +  5.24          62.98 %          Brian Myers & Audrey Bainbridge
               7          42.26  +  17.38        59.64 %          Jane Oxenham & Barbara Laurie
               8          53.13  +  5.60          58.73 %          Michael Crowe & Malcolm Dawson
               9          35.94  +  22.06        58.00 %          Jean Milne & Joan Burrell
              10         47.40  +  6.84          54.24 %          Ann Squires & Richard Cottrell
              11         32.14  +  14.47        46.61 %          Peter Whitton & Claudette Whitton

Well done to Dave Thompson and John Dobson for finishing 2nd in the York Mount Group Trophy at the Yorkshire Congress in Harrogate (Saturday 3rd June 2017).  
Leading scores were as follows :-

Pos              Score %

  1                 67.66              Nick Woolven & Tony Cohen
  2                 62.47             Dave Thompson & John Dobson
  3                 57.18              Robin Jepson & Alan Brosgill
  4                 56.44              Cathy Rowland & Dinesh Gudko
  5                 56.22              Tim Emmott & Janet Leach

The Club Team achieved a tremendous success on Sunday 14th May 2017 at Darlington in winning the NEBA 2017 CLUB CHAMPION TEAMS event.  The team of Audrey Bainbridge, John Dobson, Brian Myers and Denise Barham-Hall finished level with Wearside BC in the final tabulations but were declared winners on a split tie because they had beaten Wearside BC in their particular match.

The team are shown being presented with the trophy by NEBA Chief Tournament Secretary David Gold.
 

Top Scores

Pos       VPs
  1          87          Bishop Auckland
                                 Audrey Bainbridge - John Dobson - Brian Myers - Denise Barham-Hall

  2          87          Wearside
                                 Pat Barton - John Moor - Graham Cox - Alleyn Erskine

  3          85          Brunton
                                 David Gold - Irene Sharff - Inga Aiston - Neil Aiston 

  4          83          Morpeth
                                 Sue Davies - Dick Davies - Alistair Kemp - Clive Ringrose

  5          81          Hurworth
                                 Liz Reese - Hayden Dando - Chris Owen - Robert Watts 

Well done to Margaret and David Thompson who led the way of all pairs from Bishop Auckland in the EBED Spring Simultaneous Pairs held Thursday 11th May 2017.   Leading scorers from the Club in the national listings (36 Clubs - 540 Pairs) were:-
              Pos           Score               Pair

               38     -     61.08 %    -     Margaret & David Thompson
               68     -     58.72 %     -     Joy Pallister & Denise Barham-Hall
               69     -     58.71 %     -     Brian Myers & Audrey Bainbridge

(Full listings are available on the EBU Website).

A fine meal followed by 18 boards of duplicate was enjoyed by 36 members and guests at the Spring Dinner held at the golf club on Thursday 4th May 2017.  Joy Pallister and Denise Barham-Hall were clear winners of the bridge with second prize going to Jane Pringle and Irene Burns.  In the feature presentation of the evening Secretary John Gray presented the Anniversary Trophy 2017 to Louise Badcock and Allan Blackett.  (Allan not pictured). 

The 2017 competition for the Anniversary Trophy was won by Allan Blackett and Louise Badcock by the clear margin of almost 7.5%.  Congratulations to them for their score of 63.10% which gave them the trophy on this second runnig of the event following its institution in 2016 upon the 40th anniversary of the Club.  A full list of scores appears in the results section.

A valiant late season rally by the Club Team proved just insufficient to retain Division B  statuus.  In the final league match a defeat by  8 - 12  away to Wearside 'A' left the team 2 points short (having beaten Cramlington 'A' in the league fixture a tie on points with this team would have been sufficient).

     Division B Final Table:-
          1          74          Durham 'A'
          2          64          South Shields
          3          51          Wearside 'A'
          4          42          Cramlington 'A'
          5          40          Bishop Auckland
          6          23          Morpeth 'B'

A number of members have expressed concern about the lack of fairness with the alternation of the sit-out direction on Club Night.  A record of the situation since 1st January 2017 is given below:-

                2017               Sit-Out
             January           Direction
                  05                    E/W
                  12                      --
                  19                    N/S
                  26                      --
             February
                  02                      --
                  09                      --
                  16                    E/W
                  23                    N/S
               March
                  02                      --
                  09                    E/W
                  16                    N/S
                  23                    E/W
                  30                      --
On Club Night the Club Scorer will have a record availble to ensure the correct alternation.

Analysis of the situation throughout 2016 shows that both N/S and E/W sat out on 11 occasions.

At the AGM held on Thursday 2nd March 2017, Secretary Malcolm Dawson stood down and was replaced in this key role by John Gray.  All other Officers were re-elected.  Allan Blackett stood down from Committee and was replaced by Malcolm Dawson.
 

         Committee :-
               Chair                  -     Louise Badcock
               Treasurer            -     Peter Whitton
               Secretary            -     John Gray
               Scorer                 -     John Dobson
               Match Captain      -     Roger Carpenter
               Members             -     John Little   -   David Wilkinson   -   Jane Pringle  
                                         -     Brian Myers   -   Malcolm Dawson

Following special proposals the following were agreed and adopted:-
               1  -  The use of Pre-Dealt Boatds would be increased from
                      once per month to twice per month.
               2  -  Upon arrival at the Club, before taking seats players would draw for table
                      and direction.

The above points are simply a summary of the main topics.  The full AGM Minutes can be accessed via the main menu
 

The Club Team battled strongly against the odds to gain an unlikely victory against Morpeth 'B' at home in the fourth match of the season on Sunday 5th March 2017.  Starting poorly and going down by 32 Imps in the first stanza a gain of 12 Imps in Stanza 2 reduced the deficit.   However a further reverse of 10 Imps in Stanza 3 increased the deficit to 30 Imps at the tea break.  A fighting performance in an incredible final stanza led to a gain of 36 Imps and an overall match score of +6 Imps. This converted to a match result of :-
          Bishop Auckland     11 - 9     Morpeth 'B'

          Team :-
               Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Godfrey Young
               Louise Badcock & Denise Barham-Hall
               Malcolm Dawson & Michael Crowe
               Audrey Bainbridge & John Dobson

At the end of February, one third thirough the 2016-2017 Club Competition Year (1st Nov 2016 to 31st Oct 2017) Allan Blackett and Michael Crowe lead on the number of club night victories achieved so far.  The full table of winners to date is as follows:-

Club Night
Victories
     5          Allan Blackett - Michael Crowe
     4          Louise Badcock - Malcolm Dawson
     3          Iain Gordon - John Dobson
     2          Audrey Bainbridge - John Blackett - Irene Burns
                 Richard Cottrelll - Joan Crompton - Marilyn Dexter
                 John Little - Brian Myers - Jackie Price - Jane Pringle
                 Ann Squires - Barbara Stott
     1          Denise Barham-Hall - Roger Carpenter - Peter Lisle
                 Tony Mawston - Alan Race - David Thompson
                 Margaret Thompson - David Wilkinson - Mary Winter

Congratulations go to Joan Crompton, winner of the prize for earning most Master Points in 2016 for Category 5 ranks (County Masters, Masters, etc.) within the NEBA Region.  Also well done Malcolm Dawson who finished 4th in Category 4 (Star Masters, Tournament Masters, etc.).  Full details of all winners are given on the EBU Website whilst details of Masterpoint Rankings for all Bishop Auckland members are given via the main left hand menu of this site under 'MP Ranks to 2016'.

In an excitung close encounter, the Club Team won league match No 3 away to Cramlington 'A' on Sunday 29th January 2017.  A 15 Imp lead in stanza 1 was immediately nullified by a 14 Imp reverse in stanza 2.  The third stanza was again won by the home side by 3 Imps before the Bishop Auckand team came through to win Stanza 4 by 7 Imps.  The final favourable margin was 5 Imps which translated to a match score of:-

               Cramlington 'A'       9 - 11       Bishop Auckland

Team:-
Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Michael Crowe
Audrey Bainbridge & John Dobson
Brian Myers & Denise Barham-Hall
Louise badcock & Allan Blackett

Allan and John Blackett were the highest scoring pair from Bishop Auckland in the EBU Winter Simultaneous Pairs held on 12th January 2017.   Out of a field of 318 pairs the leading scorers from Bishop Aucklamd in the Nationl Tabulations were :-

National        National       Players
Position         Score
----------       ----------      --------------------------------------------------

     5              65.23          Allan Blackett & John Blackett
    46             58.09          John Dobson & Iain Gordon
    59             56.25          Brian Myers & Audrey Bainbridge
    65             56.03          Peter Whitton & David Thompson
    91             55.00          Joan Crompton & Margaret Thompson
----------       ----------      --------------------------------------------------
A full listing of all scores can be accessed via the EBU Website

Club Members were well represented (11 players in attendance) in the NEBA Niman-Israel Pivotal Teams Tournament held at Stannington on Saturday 7th January 2017.  The leading foursome from Bishop Auckland were Team Crompton who finished in a very creditable 4th position.  The winners of the event (Team Avery) were in formidable form finishing well clear of the field with 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions more closely contested.   Team Myers also performed well and followed up in 5th position.

                            Leading final positions were :-

     1      + 93  Imps      Peter Avery, Brenda Osborne, Guy Herzmark, Frank Springett
     2      + 54  Imps      Norman Gray, Rosemary Gray, Simon Hadley, Stephen Reay
     3      + 46  Imps      Don Reid, David Brickland, Steve Ray, Georgia Ray
     4      + 44  Imps     Joan Crompton, Margaret Thompson, Daivid Thompson, John Dobson
     5      + 26  Imps     Denise Barham-Hall, Brian Myers, Audrey Bainbridge, Louise Badcock

                              Other places -:

    12     - 57 Imps       Ann Squires, Richard Cottrell, David Emerson, Jill Hancock

Another brilliant Christmas Party at Kirk Merrington.  Entertainment and games superbly organised by Marilyn and Jackie, tremendous buffet supper and 18 boards of fun duplicate.  Poems and monologues ably presented by Marilyn and Jackie together with two outstanding performances by Jane Oxenham drew great applause.  Finally a team game of passing the balloon using knees only brought the house down with no-one really knowing who won.  The respective EW and NS winners of the duplicate were Jane Pringle & Irene Burns and Jackie Price & Marilyn Dexter.   Other winners on the night were Roger Carpenter (Hear No Evil game) and Peter Whitton (Final player to win a trick with the 5 Diamonds).

( Photographs of the evening can be viewed via the Main left hand Menu -     'Photographic Records'   -   '2016 Christmas Party'  )

Compliments of the Season
from our President

Our President, David Latner, has passed on his best wishes to all Members for a Wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.  In return we extend all good wishes to David and trust that he has continued good health throughout 2017. 
 

_______________________________________________

Chairman's Christmas Message

I would like to take this opportunity to look back at a successful year in 2016 . 
A most successful 40th Anniversary Dinner was held at Auckland Castle on 28th April 2016.  BABC welcomed the NEBA to the Club on Thursday 19th May at 6.30 pm for the holding of the 2016 NEBA Annual General Meeting. 
Numbers playing have generally been maintained and although a few have retired we are very pleased to welcome some new members.  I would like to feel that all members do their best to help beginners across the threshold into club duplicate bridge. 
The year has seen many great results. When our team was narrowly relegated in 2015 our confidence that we could reclaim our position with promotion was justified and we finished the season champions of Division C. There were  individual and team efforts in Local, National and Sim Pairs events and a team from Bishop Auckland won an online event with BCL
I would like to thank the Secretary,Treasurer,Team Captain and Scorers who have contributed to the smooth running of the club. I would also like to give a special thank you to the large number of members who do a wonderful job behind the scenes.  I am also grateful that we have so many excellent qualified Directors to make the Thursday evenings enjoyable for all.  The club continues to benefit from the facilities at the Golf Club.
On behalf of Bishop Auckland Bridge Club, I would like to wish all members a very Happy Christmas and a successful and healthy New Year.  Finally may 2017 bring lots of luck at the bridge table.
Louise Badcock
Chairman

________________________________________________

The Club Team lost the second league match of the 2016-17 season playing at home to near neighbours Durham 'A' on Sunday 4th December 2016.   An early lead of 9 Imps after Set 1 was heavily countered by a deficit of 31 Imps in Set 2.  The final two sets proved to be very close but drew deficits of 3 Imps and 4 Imps respectively giving Durham an overall victory by 29 Imps.   This translated to a Victory Point score of :-

          Bishop Auckland        5  -  15         Durham 'A'

     Team
          Roger Carpenter (Capt)  &  John Gray
          Brian Myers  &  Denise Barham-Hall
          Malcolm Dawson  &  Michael Crowe
          Audrey Bainbridge  &  John Dobson

     Division B Table after 2 Matches
          29       Durham 'A'
          29       South Shields
          21       Cramlington 'A'
          18       Wearside 'A'
           9        Bishop Auckland
           6        Morpeth 'B'

Nest Match - Cramlington 'A'  (Away)  29th January 2017

The bi-monthly EBU magazine 'English Bridge' is also produced in an extended online version which contains results and details of NEBA competitions and events which (because of lack of space) are not included in the paper publication.  This online version can be accessed on the EBU website by logging into your personal account and clicking on the entry at the bottom towards the right hand side.  The production schedule requires that all information and results texts are prepared two months in advance of publication so there can be a slight delay in receiving details of some events.  As an example, the additional NEBA text in the December 2016 edition (Issue 268 which was a quiet month and so a small entry - note that results of the recent NEBA Congress, King Cup, Gazette Cup and Shield will appear in the February 2017 edition) is as follows :-

          December 2016 NEBA Local Results

- - - Winners of an excellent Cramlington Congress on 14^th August 2016 were Aileen Cunningham and Mary Page (59.09%) from Steve and Georgia Ray (56.36%) with Sue and Richard Davies (55.91%) in third place.  Clear winners of a sociable but very competitive Summer Swiss Pairs at Chester-le-Street on 31^st August were Peter Marshall and Jo Lormer with a fine score of 90 VPs (equiv to 75%).  Second place was taken by Val Gibson and Liz Muir (83 VPs) and third was Beverley Godfrey and Nichola Cockerill-Smith (77 VPs).  26 pairs contested the Senior Pairs Championship at Whitley Bay on 18^th September 2016.  Winners were Pat Barton and Graham Cox (61.69%) from Frank Springett and Brenda Osborne (57.29%).  Third place went to Val Ireland and Carole Newton (57.06%) - - -

Congratulations go to Audrey Bainbridge & Denise Barham-Hall for their success in winning the Ladies' Pairs Trophy at the NEBA Congress on Friday 11th November 2016.  The pair were actually the overall high scorers on the evening where awards were also made for Gentlemen's Pairs, Mixed Pairs and Newcomers' Pairs.  
Leading scorers were :-
         Pos         %    
          1          64.47          Audrey Bainbridge & Denise Barham-Hall
          2          61.92          Frank Springett & Bernard Shepherd
          3          61.11          Liz Muir & Liz Reese
          4          60.88          Pam Greenhill & Alan Greenhill
          5          60.30          Sue Woodcock & Nick Woodcock

                                                     ( Photograph courtesy of Neil Aiston )

'Great Success' - that was the general verdict following the Presentation Dinner 2016 held at Bishop Auckland Golf Club on Thursday 10th November -. Wonderful food and drink followed by 18 boards of duplicate played in the appropriate spirit.  Club Chair Louise Badcock presnted trophies and extended grateful thanks to all those who had worked so hard in organising the event.  The duplicate for the evening was won by Mary Winter and David Wilkinson (63.89%) closely followed by Audrey Bainbridge and Brian Myers (63.84%) - Full scores are incorporated within the 'Results' pages.

Annual Trophy Winners
     Latner Salver
               Malcolm Dawson & Michael Crowe
     Carpenter Trophy
               Audrey Bainbridge & Brian Myers
     Master Points Trophy
               John Dobson
     Walker Bowl
               Brian Myers & Audrey Bainbridge
        

(Photographs of the evening are posted under the section '2016 DINNER PHOTOGRAPHS')

Congratulations go to Audrey Bainbridge and Alison Young who gained second place in the NEBA King Cup (Ladies Pairs) held at Chester-le-Street on 26th October 2016.  Leading scores were:-
        Pos           %   
          1          62.15          Beverley Godfrey & Val Gibson
          2          55.86          Audrey Bainbridge & Alison Young
          3          55.47          Gill Gold & Sue Davies

Sadly we report the death of Mohan Rowe at the age of 96 years on Monday 17th October 2016 in Elgin, Scotland.  Mohan and his wife Gina were regular attenders at our club in the 1980's and 1990's and following his retirement as Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Bishop Auckland Hospital, they moved up to Scotland to live near their family.  Over the years he had many bridge partners, which in addition to Gina, included Raymond Morden, Tony Mawston and John Dobson.  Mohan won the Latner Trophy in 1992 and the Walker Bowl in 1992 and 1996.  We pass our sincere condolences to his family.

Four Club pairings faired well and qualified for the Final of the Gazette Cup on Sunday 16th October 2016 at Darlington.  Irene Burns and Jane Pringle finished highest in sixth position  Audrey Bainbridge and Brian Myers finished 11th, Denise Barham-Hall and Joy Pallister 14th and Barbara Stott and Wojtec Zakrzewski 15th.  One other club member (qualifyng from Durham with non-Bishop partner) also qualified to the final group.   Key scores are set out below :-

         Pos         %             Names 
          1          63.69          Ken Yates & Gypsy Ann Nichol
          - - - - - - - - - -
          6          53.27          Irene Burns & Jane Pringle 
         11         46.73          Audrey Bainbridge & Brian Myers
         13         43.45          Iain Gordon & John McCourt
         14         42.26          Denise Barham-Hall & Joy Pallister
         15         39.58          Barbara Stott & Wojtek Zakrzewski

An EGM was held at Bishop Ackland Golf Club on Thursday 13th October 2016 at 6.55 pm to consider the following motion:-
The committee proposed a change to Article 9.9 of the Constitution which read
'A quorum at General Meetings shall be twenty members present in person'

MOTION: delete “shall be twenty members present in person”
and replace with “shall be a minimum of ten members present in person or 20% of the paid up membership, whichever is the greater.”

Following addresses by the Chair and Secretary the motion was put to the vote of 30 members present in person.
          In favour               28
          Against                   0
          Abstentions            2
Having the requisite two-thirds majority the motion was carried.

The Club Team was defeated away to South Shields in the first match of the 2016-17 season on Sunday 9th October 2016.  A close contest in the early stages, each of the first two sets was lost by just 1 Imp.  Major setbacks in Set 3 resulted in a deficit of 34 Imps before eventual success in Set 4 by 9 Imps closed the match.  The overall final deficit of - 27 Imps converted to a match score of :-

South Shields   15    Bishop Auckland   5 

     Team :-
     Roger Carpenter (Capt) & John Gray
     Louise Badcock & Malcolm Dawson
     Denise Barham-Hall & Brian Myers
     Audrey Bainbridge & John Dobson

Many congratulations go to David and Margaret Thompson for their tremendous success in winning the Cumbria and Westmorland Congress Teams on Saturday 24th September 2016.  Partnered by Roger and Jill Hancock from Durham BC they accumulated 94 VPs to win by 1 VP.  Leading scores were :-

1          David & Margaret Thompson             94    VPs
            Roger & Jill Hancock

2          Tim & Babs Matthews                       93    VPs
            Bill & Joyce White

3          Liz Cummins & David Stevenson        90    VPs
            Paddy Murphy & Peter Jones 

A most successful 40th Anniversary Dinner was held at Auckland Castle on 28th April 2016.  Members were joined by a number of past members for a buffet dinner followed by 18 boards of duplicate. A warm welcome was extended to Guests of Honour for the evening, NEBA Chair and husband - Val and Julian Gibson.  John Dobson proposed a joint toast to our Club and Honoured Guests after which  Louise Badcock presented Val with a beautiful bouquet.  Val responded that she was delighted to be present and thanked Bishop Auckland Club for their hospitality.  A convivial atmosphere surrounded the 18 boards of not too serious duplicate.  Louise Badcock extended very grateful thanks to everyone who had helped to make the evening such a success, particularly noting the tremendous effort put in by Marilyn Dexter in organising and hosting the event and the sterling contibution made by Malcolm Dawson in organising and running the bridge.  

Results of the duplicate were:--  
N/S
1st     57.64%     Peter Lisle & Roger Carpenter
2nd    56.25%     Godfrey & Alison Young
E/W
1st     61.81%     Val & Julian Gibson
2nd    59.03%     Joy Pallister & Denise Barham-Hall 

Cabaret provided by Jackie Price, Marilyn Dexter and John Dobson . 

Happy punters - David, Jane and Colin .

Members getting set for the evening .

Club Secretary Clouseau Dawson certainly takes no nonsense.  Following the recent Simultaneous Pairs event he conducted a thorough analysis of the scores and incredibly identified that Matlock Bridge Club had played the wrong set of boards.  Following a report to the EBU Matlock were eliminated.  Well spotted Malcolm .

Congratulations go to Brian Myers and Audrey Bainbridge, clear winners of the Walker Bowl 2016.  With a score of 62.15% they finished almost 8.0 % clear of second position taken by John Gray and David Thompson .

Congratulations go to three Club Members upon their recent landmark promotions to the rank of Regional Master
          Denise Barham-Hall
          David Thompson
          Margaret Thompson
( The levels categorised as Landmark Grades are  Master,   Regional Master,   Life Master,   Grand Master,   Premier Grand Master )

Vanu Datta, a member of our Club for many years in the 80's and 90's recently celebrated his 90th birthday.  Many members may also remember his partner Ray Milne who moved back to live in Scotland a number of years ago.  Vanu was a founder member of Durham Bridge Club (1972) and his birthday was recognised by the Club with a presentation by Chairman Peter Sykes.  Best wishes were extended to him by all members.

The Carpenter Trophy 2016 is set for the closest finish in years.   After 5 rounds out of 6 the leaders are Iain Gordon and John Dobson; however definite favourites are second placed Audrey Bainbridge and Brian Myers.  With four best scores from six counting, a modest score of about 52% in the final round would push Audrey and Brian into top place as currently they are counting a fourth score of 43% which would then be removed.  Iain and John will have much more difficulty in attempting to improve their average score.  The final round is scheduled for Thursday 14 July.

BABC welcomed the NEBA to the Club on Thursday 19th May at 6.30 pm for the holding of the 2016 Annual General Meeting.  Vice Chairman Liz Muir presided and was herself installed as Chair for the ensuing two years.  All other officers were re-elected unopposed.  Presentations were made for all trophies won in the 2015-16 year and this included the Division C Trophy awarded to Bishop Auckland for its success in the InterClub Competition.  Malcolm Dawson accepted the trophy in the absence of Team Captain Roger Carpenter.  Business was expediently managed and with the meeting over, bridge commenced at 7.00 pm.  Visiting players Gill & David Gold and Bill March & Damian Hassan won the respective NS and EW sections - full results are set out in the Results Section.

Sadly we advise of the death on 23rd April 2016 of John Blackett at the age of 94 years and 6 months.  John (along with his late wife Betty and sons John & Allan) was a stalwart of our Club for 38 years and worked energetically on the Committee for long periods.  He held the post of Club Chairman (1990 & 1991) and Team Captain (1995 & 1996) and was a winner of the Latner Salver (1987) and the Walker Bowl (1997 and 1998).  We remember John's attacking play and readiness to joke at the bridge table and we recall with fondness his 90th birthday celebration in 2011 when he scored 64% on Club night but was sadly pipped into second place.  He will be a great miss to our Club and we pass on our sincere condolences to his family.

A Service of Remembrance was held at St John's Church, Kirk Merrington at 12.15 pm on Wednesday 4th May 2016 attended by many family and friends.  This followed a private cremation (family only) at 11.45 am.

The inaugural Anniversary Trophy held on Thursday 21st April 2016 with a field of 14 pairs was won by Iain Gordon and John Dobson (63.89%) ahead of Audrey Bainbridge and Brian Myers (59.72%).  It is proposed that the trophy will be presented by Val Gibson, Chair of NEBA, at the 40th Anniversary Dinner to be held at Auckland Castle on 28th April 2016.

In a topsy turvy match away to  Morpeth 'B' on Sunday 10th April 2016, the Club Team attained the Championship of Division C even though this particular match resulted in defeat.  In the fifth and final game of the season (following on 4 victories) much of the play was below normal standards.   A reasonable start was made winning Set 1 by 16 Imps but this was substantially countered by defeats in Sets 2 and 3 by 18 Imps and 21 Imps respectively.   Things looked black for the league title at this stage but a late rally resulted in a 9 Imps gain in Set 4.  The overall deficit of 14 Imps converted to a match result of :-

          Morpeth 'B'   13 - 7    Bishop Auckland
          This result left Bishop Auckland heading the table by the narrow margin of two points..

          Team:-
          Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Brian Myers
          Alison Young & Audrey Bainbridge
          Michael Crowe & Malcolm Dawson
          Louise Badcock & John Dobson

          Division C - Final Table:-
          70     -     Bishop Auckland
          68     -     Morpeth 'C'
          66     -     Stockton 'A'
          57     -     Newcastle 'A'
          27.    -     St George's
          12.    -     Brunton 'C'
         

Excitement galore at the Northern Easter Congress Swiss Pairs when Bishop Players Brian Myers and Denise Barham-Hall were drawn to play a match against international/professional players John Holland and Alan Mould.  Well our Bishop players came out on top winning the match by 15-5 VPs.  Well done Denise and Brian.

The full Minutes of the AGM held on 3rd March 2016 may be accessed from the main menu.  However the following notes set out the key points:-

Louise Badcock elected as Chairperson
Peter Whitton re-elected as Treasurer
Malcolm Dawson re-elected as Secretary
Roger Carpenter re-elected as Match Captain
John Dobson re-elected as Scorer

Motion carried in favour of retaining table money at its current level for one more year.
Motion carried in favour of increasing the maximum period of continuous service for the Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary from five years to seven years.
Motion failed in respect of the proposal to no longer use any computer-dealt boards.

During general discussion at the end of the meeting, the Committee agreed to look into the possibility of coming up with a proposal to reduce the number of members required to be present to form a quorum to enable the commencement of AGMs. 

The Club Team won the home tie against Stockton on Sunday 28th februsry 2016.  This was the fourth win in four games this season and has increased the lead at the head of the table.   Welcoming Denise to the team for her first appearance, the Bishop team were off to a slow start with an 8 Imps deficit in set 1 but improved substantially in set 2 with a 34 Imps gain.   The third set resulted in another deficit of 6  Imps.   Following the tea interval, and contrary to custom and practice for Bishop teams, a 12 Imp gain closed the match out at a total of + 32 Imps, this converting to a match result of :-

                    BISHOP AUCKLAND  15   - STOCKTON  5

                    Team :-
                         Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Louise Badcock
                         Denise Barham-Hall & Brian Myers
                         Malcolm Dawson & Michael Crowe
                         Audrey Bainbridge & John Dobson

     League Table Division C
         (4 Matches Played)

          63    Bishop Auckland
          55    Morpeth B
          48    Stockton A
          41    Newcastle A
          25    St George's
           8     Brunton C

The Club Team  won the third league match of the 2015-16 season away to Newcastle 'A' on Sunday 24th January 2016 and made it three wins out of three.  This victory established the Club at the top of Division C and in a strong position to gain promotion to Division B at the end of the season.  A solid start of +27 Imps in Set 1 was followed by gains of 8 Imps in each of Sets 2 and 3.  The now accustomed failure after the food break happened again.  An extremely disappointing performance in Set 4 resulted in a deficit of 20 Imps.   The final score of +23 Imps converted to  a match result of :-

          Newcastle 'A'     6      Bishop Auckland     14

                     Team :-
          Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Brian Myers
          Louise Badcock & Allan Blackett
          Audrey Bainbridge & Alison Young
          John Gray & John Dobson

                    League Division C :-
          48     Bishop Auckland
          43     Stockton 'A'
          37     Morpeth 'B'
          23     Newcastle 'A'
          23     St George's
            6     Brunton 'C'

Playing in a strong field, Team Thompson finished in a creditable 6th place in the Niman-Israel Cup at Stannington on Saurday 9th January 2016.  This mixed three set competition requires each player to play one set with each of the other members of the team.  After a shaky start the team of David & Margaret Thompson, Joan Crompton and John Dobson gradually made sound progress.  The event was won by Chris Stenning, Eric Bell, Jim Hodgson and Anne Bell just ahead of Julian & Val Gibson, Martin Kane and Nichola Cockerill-Smith.

Some excellent scoring resulted in four pairs finishing in the top 70 of the EBU Winter Simultaneous Pairs held on 7th January 2016.  Full results for the event which incorporated 27 clubs and 504 pairs can be accessed at the EBU Website - Leading scores from Bishop Auckland were:-
                    National
                    Position        %  
                         3           71.32         Iain Gordon & John Dobson
                        56          59.14         Joy Pallister & Denise Barham-Hall
                        66          58.56          Malcolm Dawson & Michael Crowe
                        70          58.14          Alan Race & Tony Mawston

A total of 33 members attended the annual Christmas Party at Kirk Merrington Community Centre on 17th December. Marilyn Dexter with last minute stand in Jane Oxenham entertained us with their witty and humorous versions of a couple of well known Christmas songs, with Marilyn's new words describing the pleasures and perils of playing Bridge and naming almost every member of the Club personally. Jane also read out an extremely witty poem titled "I'm Giving Up Bridge!"
Six three board rounds of Duplicate Bridge were played with spot prizes for unlikely contracts and winning tricks with small cards. Half way through the movement a break was taken so that members could partake of the marvellous buffet which they themselves provided together with wine and soft drinks. At the end of the evening prizes were presented to the winning pairs who were :-
          N/S       Allan and John Blackett Jr
          E/W      Margaret Thompson and Peter Lisle
Runners up who also got prizes were
          N/S       Irene Burns and Jane Pringle
          E/W      Lou Badcock and Ann Squires.
Thanks go to all who helped make this a very enjoyable occasion. 
                          (Report and photographs courtesy of Malcolm Dawson)

The Club Team added to the fine 16-4 victory against St George's in Match 1 with a comprehensive victory in match 2 against Brunton 'C'. Playing the home tie at Kirk Merrington a lead of 19 Imps was established in Set 1, but a slight deficit of 3 Imps in Set 2 resulted in a lead of 16 Imps at the halfway stage.   Sets 3 and 4 were won by 25 Imps and 10 Imps respectively giving a final winning margin of 51 Imps, this converting to a victory point score of :-
               Bishop Auckland     18        Brunton 'C'     2
          Team :-
               Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Audrey Bainbridge
               Michael Crowe & Malcolm Dawson
               Brian Myers & Louise Badcock
               John Gray & John Dobson

Div C League Table after Two Matches
          38     Stockton 'A'
          34     Bishop Auckland
          22     Morpeth 'B'
          17     Newcastle 'A'
          7       St George's
          2       Brunton 'C'

A fabulous time was had by all who attended the 2015 Annual Presentation Dinner which took place at Bishop Auckland Golf Club on Thursday 12th November.  Splendid food and delightful drink was followed by two hours of enjoyable duplicate.  Acting Chairman, Louise Badcock thanked Peter Whitton and Marilyn Dexter and all others involved in the organisation of the evening for making it such a huge success and went on to make the following presentations:-

          Masterpoints Trophy.         -      Roger Carpenter

          Walker Rose Bowl              -      John Dobson & Iain Gordon

          Latner Salver                     -      Claudette & Peter Whitton

          Carpenter Troohy               -      Iain Gordon & John Dobson

          Annual Dinner Duplicate      
                    Winners N/S              -     John Blackett & Allan Blackett              68.23%
                    Winners E/W             -      Audrey Bainbridge & John Dobson       70.24%
                          (Full results set out in the 'Results' section)

( Photographs of the evening are now displayed  via the 'Photographic Records ' entry of the green left hand menu )
 

Congratulations go to Joan Crompton and Margaret Thompson who took a very creditable third place in the Final of the NEBA Gazette Cup played at Darlington on 25th October 2015.  David Thompson & Audrey Bainbridge also did well finishing in 7th place.   Leading scores were :-

1     65.45 %     Patricia Tuff & Andrew Cornish
2     65.32 %     John Portwood & Wojtec Zakrzewski
3     57.59 %    Joan Crompton & Margaret Thompson
4     56.72 %     Frank Springett & Brenda Osborne
5     54.72 %     Keith & Alison McCarthy

The Club Team made a winning start to the 2015-16 season with a resounding victory over St George's on Sunday 11th October 2015.  Playing at home at Kirk Merrington a wonderful lead of 53 Imps was established in the first set.   Sets 2 and 3 followed increasing the lead by 10 Imps and 9 Imps respectively.   After tea the team sufferd sleepy sickness and went dowm by 36 Imps in Set 4, giving an overall victory by 36 Imps.  This converted to a victory point match result of
          Bishop Auckland     16 - 4     St George's 
Team
          Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Audrey Bainbridge
          Malcolm Dawson and Michael Crowe
          Brian Myers & Louise Badcock
          John Gray & John Dobson

Div C League Table after One Match
          20     Stockton 'A'
          16     Bishop Auckland
          15     Newastle 'A'
          5       Morpeth 'B'
          4       St George's
          0       Brunton 'C'

Well done to David and Margaret Thompson for winning the NGS Prize at the NEBA Senior Pairs event held on Sunday 20th September 2015.  The pair finished in 6th position overall (field of 31 pairs) with a score of 56.21%.

The Committee has decided to hold a Club 40th Anniversary Celebraton at Auckland Castle in 2016.  This event which will take the form of a dinner followed by duplicate bridge will replace the Spring Buffet in the annual programme and take place in late April 2016.   Arrangements are yet to be finalised but will be published as soon as they are available.

Somewhat surprisingly, statistical records show that since the start of the Bishop Auckland Brdge Club year (1st November 2014), the following attendances have been recorded:-
                    Ladies            -     377     -     42%
                    Gentlemen     -     527     -     58%
Many bridge clubs are in fact currently recording a predominance of ladies in attendance.

Congratulations go to Claudette and Peter Whitton who were winners of the Latner Trophy 2015.  The results of the event played on 25th June 2015 were :-

      1     70.67     (57.29 + 13.38)    Claudette Whitton & Peter Whitton
      2     70.38     (68.25 + 2.13)         Audrey Bainbridge & Barbara Boothroyd
      3     65.48     (51.98 + 13.50)       George Gwilliam & Eric Wilson
      4     59.85     (59.72 + 0.13)         Peter Lisle & Roger Carpenter
      5     59.47     (53.97 + 5.50)         Godfrey Young & Alison Young
      6     59.38     (56.25 + 3,13)         John Dobson & Iain Gordon
      7     59.13     (53.13 + 6.00)         Ann Squires & Alison Grant
      8     58.67     (54.17 + 4.50)         Malcolm Dawson & Michael Crowe
      9     57.39     (36.51 + 20.88)       Jean Milne & Joan Burrell
     10    57.20     (53.57 + 3.63)         John Gray & David Thompson
     11    54.05     (47.92 + 6.13)          Mary Winter & Louise Badcock
     12    50.87     (45.24 + 5.63)         John Little & Barbara Stott
     13    47.28     (34.03 + 13.25)       Margaret Wiles & Colin Trotter
     14    45.61     (40.48 + 5.13)         Alan Race & Tony Mawston
     15    38.59     (35.71 + 2.88)         Allan Blackett & John Blackett (Jnr)

 

It is just past the mid-point of the Club year (1st Nov - 31st Oct) and currently Roger Carpenter is clear at the top of the table of Victories on Club Nights.   26 players feature as having won on at least one occasion and the leading positions as at 22nd May 2015 are given below :-
               9     -     Roger Carpenter
               7     -     Peter Lisle 
               5     -     Allan Blackett
               4     -     Audrey Bainbridge
               4     -     John Dobson
               4     -     Iain Gordon
               4     -     Barbara Stott
               3     -     John Blackett
               3     -     David Thompson
               3     -     Godfrey Young
A further 16 players have either won once or twice.

Audrey Bainbridge and Barbara Boothroyd finished as top pair in the Cub Heat of the EBU Spring Simultaneous Pairs 2015.  Actual scores and positions varied considerably when listed nationally.  The leading Club scores from Bishop Auckland were :-
          66.37 %     -    Audrey Bainbridge & Barbara Boothroyd
          56.85 %     -    Allan Blackett & John Blackett Jnr
          55.65 %     -    John Dobson & Iain Gordon

Congratulations go to the Bishop Auckland quartet of Malcolm Dawson, Brian Myers, Audrey Bainbridge and Roger Carpenter who finished runners-up in the Kempson Plate 2015.   Playing the final against one of the region's best teams led by Val Gibson, the quartet put up a sound performance with the match score ending:-
          Team Dawson     36 Imps     -     Team Gibson     72 Imps
The final was played at Darlington on Monday 4th May 2015.

Sadly we have been advised of the death of Charlotte Burns only two weeks after her 93rd birthday.  Charlotte, who was one of our Club's three nonagenarians, passed away in her sleep at home on Tuesday 14th April 2015.  She was an extremely sprightly lady and always full of fun and she will be a great miss to all of us. We pass on our condolences to her family. 

The funeral attended by many friends and family took place at Wear Valley Crematorium at 1.15 pm on Wednesday 22nd April 2015 and afterwards at Bishop Auckland Golf Club.

At the first meeting of the Committee following the AGM at which there were no nominations for the position of Club Chairman, Louise Badcock was unanimously elected to the role of Acting Chairman.  Louise has served on the Committee for many years and recently completed a five years term as Club Secretary.  She carries our best wishes for every success in her new role.

Sadly the Club Team has been unable to achieve the required consistency to attain the necessary results to maintain its status in Division B of he NEBA InterClub Leagues.  Competing at this testing level for the first time in its history, the season drew to a close with an overwhelming defeat to South Shields in the final match at Kirk Merrington on Sunday 12th April 2015. Next seson the team will compete in Division C.  Nevertheless, the spirit is not dented and the drive exists to achieve promotion at the earliest opportunity and have another crack at the higher challenge.  It is to be remembered that much progress has been made since the days (not too many years ago) when the team competed in Division F of this competition.  Well done to all players who have represented the Club.

Match details:-
                              Bishop Auckland   0    South Shields  20

Team :       Roger Carpenter (Captain) & Brian Myers
                 Audrey Bainbridge & Louse Badcock
                 Godfrey & Alison Young
                 John Gray & John Dobson

The Club Team suffered an overwhelming defeat in League Match Number 4 away to Durham 'B' on Sunday 8th March 2015.  A lead of just 2 Imps was established in Set 1,  but substantial negatives particularly in sets 2 and 4, resulted in a total deficit of 63 Imps, this converting to a final match score of :-
          Durham 'B'     19    -    Bishop Auckland     1
Team:-
          Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Audrey Bainbridge
          John Dobson & John Gray
          Louise Badcock & Malcolm Dawson
          Godfrey Young & Alison Young

A Bishop Auckland quartet has won through to the Final of the NEBA Kempson Plate.  The team of  Malcolm Dawson, John Dobson, Audrey Bainbridge and Roger Carpenter defeated the team of Ian Rankin, Fred Robinson, David Milner and David Joy by 56 Imps in the semi-final tie played at Darlington on Friday 6th March 2015.  The date for the final is yet to be fixed but is to be played by mid-May.

Best wishes go to Iain Gordon for a full and speedy recovery after his recent heart attack.  Following treatment Iain was discharged from the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough on Friday 20th February 2015 and is now progressing well.

Congratulations to the following Club Members who took leading EBU Category positions in the Masterpoint Awards for 2014:- 

Level 5  -  County Masters, Masters, Advanced Masters

(Note in this category all four top positions nationally taken by players from Bishop Auckland)
Position
     1     -     3709     -     Irene Burns                   Advanced Master
     2     -     3229     -     Margaret Thompson          County Master  
     3     -     2833     -     Malcolm Dawson               Advanced Master
     4     -     2561     -     Ann Squires                      County Master

Level 6  -  Unranked, Local Masters, Club Masters, Area Masters, District Masters

     1     -     5455     -     Joan Crompton               District Master

(No members within Categories 1,2,3 & 4 finished in the top positions nationally)

Sadly we are informed of the death of John Knox in Spain on Thursday 29th January 2015.   John, who was an energetic and ebulliant character, was a member of our Club in the 1980's and 90's and moved to Spain to live when he retired from the police force.  He quickly established and for many years ran a local bridge club.  It was there that he spent his final moments.  He will be greatly missed by all who knew him and we extend our deepest synpathy to his wife Sue.

The Club Team were defeated in League Match 3 at home to Hurworth 'B' on Sunday 25th January 2015.  A strong visiting team gained a commanding lead of 46 Imps by winning each of the first three sets.  After tea the home side won the final set by 6 Imps resulting in a final deficit of 40 Imps, this converting to a Victory Point result of
          Bishop Auckland     4 - 16     Hurworth 'B'       
Team :-
          Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Brian Myers
          Louise Badcock & Allan Blackett
          Godfrey & Alison Young
          John Gray & John Dobson  

Superb Christmas Party
Yet Again !
Full Results in Results Section

Yet another Superb Christmas Party at Kirk Merrington !   Thursday 18th December 2014 saw members enjoying fabulous food, entertainment and fun duplicate bridge thanks again to brilliant hostesses Marilyn Dexter and Jackie Price.  The festive spirit was evident throughout aided by the odd alcoholc beverage, the funny hats and the tricky bridge accomplishments necessary to achieve success.  At the end of the evening prizes were awarded as folloows:-

     Bridge Duplcate  1st N/S     -     Audrey Bainbridge & Louise Badcock
     Bridge Duplicate  1st E/W    -     Peter Lisle & Roger Carpenter
     Bridgeplayer Snap  -   Charlotte Burns & John Blackett
     Bridge Bingo 1st    -    Colin Trotter
     Bridge Bingo 2nd   -    Ann Squires
     Bridge Trick 2 Clubs   -   Ann Squires
     Bridgeplayer Pin A Nose on Rudolph  -  Roger Carpenter

Chairman Godfrey Young closed the evening by extending grateful thanks to all those who had worked so hard to make the event such a success,  to hostesses Marilyn & Jackie and to organisers Malcolm Dawson, Peter & Claudette Whitton, Allan Blackett and John Little (and the many others who assisted). 

FULL DUPLICATE RESULTS are set out in normal results section
EVENT PHOTOGRAPHS can be accessed via main left hand menu

Following a loss in the first match of the 2014-15 Season, the Club Team came out on top against Ryton in the second match played at Ryton Cricket Club on Sunday 30th November 2014.  A fast start was made in winning the first set by 36 IMPs but following a tight second set (lost by just 1 IMP), a dramatic reversal by 27 IMPs in Set 3 set the scene for a close finish.  However a strong performance in the final set which was won by 11 IMPs closed the match at +19 IMPs, this converting to a match result of :-
                    Ryton   6 - 14    Bishop Auckland
     Team:-
          Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Brian Myers
          John Dobson & John Gray
          Godfrey Young & Alison Young
          Louise Badcock & Allan Blackett

As a precursor to the trophy presentations, Chairman Godfrey Young expressed grateful thanks to all those who had contributed to making the Annual Presentation Dinner evening such a resounding success.  The food had been splendid and this complemented the excellent organisation led so very well by David Wilkinson.  The bridge had passed smoothly with Alan Race and Tony Mawston adding to their very successful season by winning the E/W Aggregate.  Claudette and Peter Whitton scored brilliantly to leave the N/S field in their wake. 
          Results:-

North South
1     +1680     Claudette Whitton & Peter Whitton
2     +1050     Louise Badcock & John Dobson
3     +1030     Margaret Wiles & Colin Trotter
4       +700     Brian Myers & John Little
5       +670     Maureen Hook & Joan Burrell
6        -250     Godfrey Young & Alison Young
7      -1020     Roger Carpenter & George Gwilliam
8      -1050     Derek Thornton & Barbara Laurie

East/West
1     +1000     Tony Mawston & Alan Race
2       +540     Dave Thompson & John Gray
3       +220     John Blackett (Jnr) & Audrey Bainbridge
4        -350     Paul Beard & Pat Robbins
5        -610     Joan Crompton & Margaret Thompson
6        -700     Jean Milne & Charlotte Burns
7      -1320     John Blackett(Snr) & Eric Wilson

Trophy Presentations
Carpenter Trophy        -     Alan Race & Tony Mawston
Latner Trophy             -     Alan Race & Tony Mawston
Walker Bowl               -     Louise Badcock & Audrey Bainbridge
Masterpoints Salver     -     John Dobson

Event Photographs are posted in  '2014 Dinner Photographs'  in the main left hand menu

The 2013-14 Club Year (1st Nov - 31st Oct) finished with John and Allan Blackett heading both sets of Principal Statistics.   The pair finished clear of the field in the Pairs Averages (with 57.58%) and John also headed the Individual Averages Table with the same score.  For the first occasion (on record) two players accomplished the remarkable achievement of 100% attendance, Margaret Wiles and John Dobson.   All the statistics for the 2013-14 year can accessed via the Competitions/Statistics Archive section of the website with 2014-15 figures housed within the live section.

Tony Mawston and Alan Race had a successful year and took two of the four Club Trophies - the Latner Trophy and the Carpenter Cup.  The other two trophies were taken by Lou Badcock & Audrey Bainbridge (Walker Bowl) and John Dobson (Master Points Trophy).

Congratulations go to Irene Burns and Joan Crompton for an excellent performance in winning the NEBA Gazette Shield at Stannington on Sunday 26th October 2014.   The couple finished ahead of the field of 28 pairs with a tremendous score of 64.26%.   The leading positions were :-

          1     -    64.74 %    -      Irene Burns & Joan Crompton
          2     -    64.26 %     -      Beverly Godfrey & Nicola Cockerill-Smith
          3     -    61.86 %     -      Niall Keaney & Roger Hancock

Sadly, after the euphoria of last season which saw the Club win the Division C Championship, the team lost Match 1 of the the new seson playing in  Division B.  The Team, fielding two non-established partnerships, did well and put up a sprited performance against a Club that had played in the top Division last season.   The first two sets were evenly contested but swings of  '-15 imps' and  '-17 imps' in sets 3 and 4 resulted in the deficit being 35 imps, this converting to a match score of :-
                                                       Morpeth A  - 16      Bishop Auckland  - 4 
          Team :-
               Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Audrey Bainbridge
               John Gray & Barbara Stott   
               Alison Young & Godfrey Young
               Malcolm Dawson & Tony Mawston

Congratulations go to Dave Thompson and Malcolm Dawson who were First Nationally in the Thursday round (11th Sept 2014) of the EBU Autumn Simultaneous Pairs.  Dave and Malcolm won the club heat with a score of 67.71% and saw this percentage increase to 68.23% when scored across the national field of 306 Pairs from 21 Clubs  Leading scores :-

Pos                                                                                            Club
 1          Dave Thompson & Malcolm Dawson      68.23%         Bishop Auckland BC
 2          Dave Lilley & Barbara Raven                      68.06%          Marlborough BC
 3          Trevor Timms & Tony Hudson                    65.93%          Stratford Upon Avon BC
   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -
25          John Dobson & Iain Gordon                       59.49%          Bishop Auckland BC
66          Brian Myers & John Little                           55.93%          Bishop Auckland BC
72          Richard Cottrell & Maureen Hook                53.38%          BIshop Auckland BC

Audrey Bainbridge & Louise Badcock won the Walker Bowl 2014 on Thursday 28th August with a score just 0.34% clear of the chasing field.  John Dobson & Iain Gordon finished in second place, but substantial credit goes to David & Christine Wilkinson for finishing in third place on Christine's very first game at club level. 
The leading scores were :-
          1          Audrey Bainbridge & Louise Badcock        60.76%
          2          John Dobson & Iain Gordon                     60 42%
          3          David & Christine Wilkinson                     56.94%
 

Congratulations to Joan Crompton and Irene Burns for winning the NGS Prize (for pairs ranking below a Jack) at the NEBA Summer Swiss Pairs held at Durham on Wednesday 6th August 2014.  Competing in a high quality field they came 5th overall with 63.33%.   Other club members competing in the event were Louise Badcock & John Dobson (8th) and David Thompson & Ann Squires (20th).   Full results are displayed on the NEBA website.

Congratulations go to Godfrey & Alison for finishing in 7th position nationally in the EBU Summer Simultaneous Pairs held on Thursday 31st July 2014.  The total field comprised 31 clubs and 475 pairs.

The top  scores recorded by Bishop Auckland players were :
  National                                                                                     Club          National
  Position-                                                                                    Score           Score
      7                  Godfrey & Alison Young                                       67.26          67.94
     50                 Louise Badcock & Audrey Bainbridge                     63.39          59.73
     67                 Jane Pringle & Irene Burns                                   57.14          58.26        
 

Following on their recent success in the Latner Trophy, Tony Mawston and Alan Race made it two in a row within a few weeks by winning the Carpenter Trophy 2014.  Congratulations go to the pair who have held the lead in the six round event for most of the season.  The leading scores in the final table were:-

          1     62.09 %.   -     A Mawston & A Race

          2.    58.96 %.    -     G Young & A Young

          3.    57.66 %.    -     A Bainbridge & B Boothroryd

          4=.  56.83 %.    -     B Myers & J Little

          4=   56.83 %.    -     P Lisle & R Carpenter

For a full tabulation of all final scores refer to 'Carpenter Trophy' within 'Competitions / Statistics'.

Well done to Alan Race & Tony Mawston, winners of the Latner Trophy for the second year running.   Building on a club night score of 61.23% with a handicap of 7.00%, the pair finished 0.34% clear of the field in a very tight finish.  Alan Blackett & Louise Badcock finished in second position with Colin Trotter & Margaret Wiles in third.

LATNER TROPHY 2014  -  FINAL SCORES

            Club Score   Handicap       Latner Score
                   %               %                   %
     1         61.23         +7.00              68.23          A Race & T Mawston
     2         63.89         +4.00              67.89          A Blackett & L Badcock
     3         52.08       +13.50              65.58          M Wiles & C Trotter
     4         59.38         +2.25              61.63          A Bainbridge & B Boothroyd
     5         47.22       +13.50              60.72          P Whitton & C Whitton
     6         54.17         +5.00              59.17          G Young & A Young
     7         50.69         +8.00              58.69          R Cottrell & B Stott
     8         40.97       +16.00              56.97          D Thornton & B Laurie
     9         54.51         +1.50              56.01          J Dobson & I Gordon
    10        43.06       +11.25              54.31          J Blackett(Snr) & G Gwilliam
    11        43.40       +10.00              53.40          P Robbins & P Beard
    12        42.75       +10.00              52.75          D Thompson & J Gray
    13        45.49         +4.75              50.24          J Little & B Myers
    14        41.32         +5.75              47.07          J Crompton & M Thompson
 

Congratulations to Margaret Thompson and Joan Crompton for winning the Newcomers' Prize (awarded to the best pair below the rank of Regional Master) at the Yorkshire Congress held at Harrogate on Saturday 31st May 2014.  In the afternoon session, Maggie and Joan competed brilliantly against an extremely strong field to qualify to the top third and achieve entry to the Main Congress Final in the evening.   Scores did not all go their way in the Final session but well enough for them to win the Newcomers' Prize. 
Congratulations from all at our Club.

Fred Aitken is again kindly organising an annual trip to the Farne Islands on Wednesday 25th June 2014.  Fred is inviting all bridge colleagues to join him on what has proved in the past to be a fantastic and most enjoyable experience.  Arrangements are that those attending are to make their own way to Seahouses Harbour for 12.30 pm with the boat departing at 1.00 pm (returning 4.30 pm).  Costs are £15.00 per head for the boat and £6.80 for entry to Inner Farne (National Trust members free entry).  Anyone interested should contact Fred by phone or email on 01388 710748  or  audrey.bainbridge@btopenworld.com .
(It is worth viewing pictures of previous trips lower down within this news column).

26 Members enjoyed the Annual Spring Buffet held at Bishop Auckland Golf Club on Thursday 15th May 2014.  An excellent two course meal was followed by 18 boards of interesting duplicate.   Chairman Godfrey Young thanked all those who had assisted in the organisation of the function and the selling of tickets before presenting prizes to the successful pairs.  Results :-
North/South
1     + 2,210     Alison Young & Godfrey Young
2     +    560     Brian Myers & John Little
East/West
1     + 3,030     Louise Badcock & Malcolm Dawson
2     +    470     Alan Race & Tony Mawston

Congratulations to Peter Lisle and Roger Carpenter who were the highest scoring pair from Bishop Auckland in the 2014 EBU Spring Simultaneous Pairs.  The event saw all East/West Pairs favoured by the balance of the national scoring with all but one pair receiving enhanced percentages, generally of the order of plus four to seven perecent.  Conversely all North/South pairs suffered reductions generally of the order of three to six percent.  Consequently the top six scoring pairs were all E/W.

At the time of writing the national results were not finalised but the leading positions were as follows:-

( 9th May 2014 at 0930  -  37 Clubs   651 Pairs )

Club      National       Pair                                                            Club       National
Posn        Posn          No                                                               %             %
------    ----------    --------                                                        -------     -----------
E/W3      16           E/W17     R Carpenter & P Lisle                       57.14        64.38
E/W2      27           E/W13     A Bainbridge & B Boothroyd             57.48        62.25
E/W4      30           E/W19     J Crompton & M Thompson              54.64         61.55
E/W5     108          E/W11     A Mawston & A Race                        52.72        56.55
E/W6     119          E/W14     D Wilkinson & M Winter                    51.02        56.37
E/W1     162          E/W12     A Blackett & J Blackett jnr                57.82        55.02

A fabulous quartet of Bishop belles scored a tremendous hit with their swinging cabaret act at the 'Bridge Club Live Re-union' held at Leamington Spa 11th-13th April 2014.  Providing entertainment for assembled bridge players from across England, the group under the stage name of 'The FourTops' (we've seen that name before but it wasn't quite like this) earned rapturous applause for their act entitled 'Bridge's Got Talent' (sadly Simon Cowell missed it).  Pictured below are left to right - Alison Young, Marilyn Dexter, Audrey Bainbridge and Louise Badcock (picture courtesy of Audrey Bainbridge). 

In the serious bit, the girls came third in the Bridge Teams competition.
Well done all.

Bishop Auckland are currently lying in 10th place (of 24 teams) in the John Clarke Trophy 2014.  This trophy is awarded to the Club scoring the best aggregate performance over the three principal events of the season - the InterClub League, the Club Champion Pairs and the Club Champion Teams.  Only the final Champion Teams event remains.  Full details of the current standings are given on the NEBA website.

In the final league match of the season (Sunday 6th April 2014), the Club team defeated Brunton 'B' 18-2  to finish Champions of Division C and gain promotion to Division B.  This is the best finish in the Club's history and next season it will play in the NEBA second tier, another first for the Club.  Congratulations to all those who have played in matches this season.  The match against Brunton 'B' was steady progress throughout with all sets won,  by 20, 12, 14 & 8 Imps respectively.  The 54 Imp margin translated to a Victory Points result 18-2.

                                        Team v Brunton 'B'
                                             Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Audrey Bainbridge
                                             Bryan Myers & John Little
                                             Louise Badcock & John Gray
                                             Malcolm Dawson & Tony Mawston

     Final League C Placings
     1 -     79     Bishop Auckland
     2 -     59     Durham 'B'
     3 -     55     Newcaste 'A'
     4 -     47     Brunton 'B'
     5 -     40     Brunston 'C'
     6 -     14     Hurworth 'C'
 

Congratulations to Joan Crompton and Margaret Thompson for finishing top pair from Bishop Auckland in The EBU Stratified Simultaneous Pairs on Thursday 13th March 2014.  Additionally the pairing came Third Nationally in their category of Band C.

Leading Club Scorers :-
      1      59.90     Joan Crompton & Margaret Thompson
     2     58.65     Brian Myers & John Little
     3     56.55     Audrey Bainbridge & Barbara Boothroyd

Leading National Scorers Band C
     1     68.35     Geoff Woodcock & Richard Wheen  -  Biuckland BC
     2     60.66     Roger Griffiths & Bill Pocock  -  Reading BC
      3      59.90     Joan Crompton & Margaret Thompson  -  Bishop Auckland BC

An excellent win away to Hurworth 'C' in league match 4 maintained the Club in top spot in Division C.  Played at St George's Bridge Centre, Darlington on Sunday 9th March 2014, a fast start was made winning the first three sets by 22, 35 and 28 Imps respectively giving a lead of 85 Imps at the tea interval.  The final evenly balanced set was lost by 1 Imp giving a final score of +84 Imps, this converting to a match result of :-
                                     Hurworth'C'   0  -  Bishop Auckland  20.
Bishop Auckland has extended its lead at the top of the league to 16 points, this meaning that 3 points from the final game will guarantee promotion and 5 points the Championship.
Team :-
     Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Audrey Bainbridge
     Brian Myers & Louise Badcock
     Godfrey & Alison Young
     John Gray & John Dobson

League positions with One Match Remaining :-
     61     Bishop Auckland
     45     Brunton 'B'
     45     Durham 'B'
     40     Brunton 'C'
     35     Newcastle 'A'
     14     Hurworth 'C'

The 2014 Annual General Meeting of the Club took place on Thursday 6th March 2014 at 6,30 pm in the presence of 28 members. 
The Chairman Godfrey Young thanked all Serving Officers and Committee for their work for the Club and all members for their support throughout the year.

Election of Officers for 2014-15
Chairman           -     Godfrey Young
Secretary          -     Malcolm Dawson
Treasurer          -      Peter Whitton
Match Captain    -     Roger Carpenter
Scorer               -     John Dobson

Election of Committee Members for 2014-15
Louise Badcock
Allan Blackett
John Little
David Wilkinson
Brian Myers

More details of the proceedings will be published in due course.

 

Dave Thompson's team finished in a creditable 28th Place out of 70 teams at the EBU Spring Congress Swiss Teams held at York on Sunday 2nd March 2014.  The team scored well against a tough field including many Grand Masters and international players and finished on 76 VPs (54.7%).   The first two sets were won 20-0 and 12-8 and this resulted in playing the remainder of the competition within the top 20 tables.   The team comprised Dave and Margaret Thompson, Joan Crompton and John Dobson.

Congratulations go to Margaret Thompson for finishing 2nd in the Level 6 North East Masterpoint Awards for 2013.  Margaret accumulated 1,879 Masterpoints during the season and finished only 118 points behind the winner, Mrs Ann Rooke.

Best wishes are extended to Mary Brown for a speedy recovery.  Sadly Mary suffered a stroke while on holiday in Yorkshire and was admitted to Leeds General Hospital for treatment.  After making some progress she has now been transferred to Bishop Auckland Hospital.   All her friends at BABG are thinking of her and send very best wishes for a speedy return to health.

A new feature has been introduced to the website which enables members to view their 'Personal Statistics' against a number of parameters including 'percentage', 'position', 'playing partner', etc.  This feature can be accessed via the main left hand green menu block.

The Club Team won the third match of the season at home to Newcastle 'A' on Sunday 12th January 2014 and move up to head the league table.  After losing the opening set by 4 Imps, Sets 2 & 3 were won by the convincing margins of  21 and 19 Imps respectively.  A tight final Set was eventually lost by 2 Imps which resulted in a final total score of + 34 Imps, this converting to a victory point score of :-
          Bishop Auckland     16   -   Newcastle 'A'     4

Team :-
          Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Audrey Bainbridge
          Brian Myers & Tony Mawston
          Louise Badcock & Allan Blackett
          Malcolm Dawson & John Dobson

League Table - Division C :-
1          41 pts    Bishop Auckland
2          39          Durham City
3          33          Brunton 'B'
4          27          Newcastle 'A'
5          26          Brunton 'C'
6          14          Hurworth 'C'

34 Members enjoyed a super Christmas Party at Kirk Merrington on Thursday 19th December.  Thanks go to Marilyn and Jackie for organising an entertaining evening of spot prize bridge, songs and poems, not to mention the cheek to cheek games.  
After 18 boards of duplicate, winning honours went to Peter Lisle and Roger Carpenter :-
          1     -     Peter Lisle & Roger Carpenter            68.25 %
          2     -     Audrey Bainbridge & John Dobson     66.27 %
          3     -     Marilyn Dexter & Jackie Price            59.92 %

No Cards - Might as well chat

Sleepy Reindeer

The Club Team swooped to an overwhelming victory on Sunday 1st December in the second match of the 2013-14 season.  Playing away to Brunton 'C', all four sets were won with the final margin being +75 Imps, this translating to a Victory Point score of:-
          Brunton'C'     1     -     Bishop Auckland     19

     Team:-
          Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Audrey Bainbridge
          Godfrey & Alison Young
          Brian Myers & John Little
          Malcolm Dawson & John Dobson
_____________________________________________________

Ray & Richard starting the evening well

A successful 2013 Annual Presentation Dinner took place at the Golf Club on Thursday 14th November 2013 attended by 36 members. A splendid carvery meal followed by 18 boards of duplicate was a fitting way to end a most successful year for the Club. 

Chairman Godfrey Young presented trophies for the season to :-

Carpenter Salver
          John Little & Brian Myers
Latner Trophy
          Alan Race & Tony Mawston
Walker Bowl
          John Little & Brian Myers
Master Points Salver
          John Dobson

Prizes for the evening's duplicate were presented to :-

     N/S 1st     -     Mary Winter & George Gwilliam    
     N/S 2nd    -     Brian Myers & John Little

     E/W 1st    -     Jane Pringle & Irene Burns
     E/W 2nd   -     Louise Badcock & Allan Blackett

The Club Year 2012-13 closed on 31st October 2013 and will be remembered as probably the most successful year ever for Bishop Auckland Bridge Club and its Members.   Although membership numbers remained fairly static,  a  warm welcome was extended to Margaret Thompson and Joan Crompton who have become regular attenders. 

The year was littered with tremendous results and successful social occasions.  The principal achievement was the winning of the NEBA Club Champion Teams event at Stannington in April with the Club Team of Four (Alison & Godfrey Young, Audrey Bainbridge & John Dobson) taking the Wightman Cup against the strongest of fields.  In March Audrey Bainbridge & Alison Young won the NEF Open Pairs organised by the Yorkshire County BA and in August, the overall performances of our Club Members led to a creditable 7th position in the NEBA John Clarke Trophy.  

National Simultaneous Pairs events gave us some outstanding results with pride of place going to Brian Myers & John Little who came 1st nationally in the March event.  In the September event John Dobson & Iain Gordon finished in 3rd place, in May John Little & Brian Myers finished in 7th place, in August Allan & John Blackett finished in 10th place and in January, Alan Race & David Thompson finished 11th.

On the social front the year began with the Annual Presentation Dinner at the beginning of November.  This was very quickly followed in December by a superb Christmas Party at Kirk Merrington where those attending enjoyed a full evening of varied entertainment.  A fabulous array of food was provided by members with bridge fun and party games organised and hosted brilliantly by Marilyn Dexter & Jackie Price.  In May, the Annual Spring Buffet held at the golf club was another great success with a full ration of duplicate bridge following an excellent meal.   In July, many members supported an excellent and most enjoyable 'Open Garden' event held in aid of charity at their home by Alison & Godfrey Young, the event raising £675.

The year was memorable for many people and it could well rank as the best that the Club has had in terms of success at the table. 

Sunday 13th October saw the Club Team fall short in their opening match of the 2013-14 Season, losing at home to Durham 'B'.  The match played at Kirk Merrington opened poorly for the home side with a deficit of 20 Imps in Set 1.  The remaining three very even sets increased the Durham lead by a further 3 Imps, the final total converting to a Victory Point score of :-
                         Bishop Auckland 6  -  Durham 'B'   14  
Team :-
               John Dobson (Acting Capt) & John Gray
               Audrey Bainbridge & John Little
               Godfrey Young & Alison Young
               Malcolm Dawson & Barbara Stott

Congratulations go to John Little and Brian Myers who continued their excellent season (having been National Winners of the EBU Simultaneous Pairs and also winners of the BABC Carpenter Cup 2013) by winning the Walker Bowl 2013.   The event took place on Club Night on 29th August 2013 and the leading scorers were :-

1     60.83 %     John Little & Brian Myers
2     57.92 %      John Dobson & Iain Gordon
3     57.14 %      Godfrey & Alison Young
4     53.75 %      Pat Robbins & Paul Beard
5     52.38 %      Alan Race & Tony Mawston   

The full results may be viewed under 'Competitions' in the main green left hand menu.

Well done to Allan and John Blackett who finished as the top ranked Bishop Auckland pair in the National Listings of the British Summer Simultaneous Pairs held on 1st August 2013.  Allan and John's score of 65.48% at club level increased to 65.84% when scored nationally resulting in 10th position out of 454 pairs (26 clubs).   Leading scores were :-

Pos    Score
  1      73.07 %     Laura Roy & John Martin
                                   New Bridge Club
  2      71.49 %     Peggy Bennet & Rouenna Winstanley
                                    The Lymington Club Ltd
  3      71.43 %     Rex Gower & Ian Wilson
                                    Abbey Smith Bridge Club
              - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  10    65.84 %     Allan & John Blackett
                                    BABC
  12    64.73 %     Iain Gordon & John Dobson
                                    BABC
  72    58.25 %     Marilyn Dexter & Jackie Price
                                    BABC  

Alan Race and Tony Mawston swept well clear of the field to be worthy winners of the Latner Trophy 2013.  Winning the Normal Club Night by 3%, they doubled their lead to 6% when handicaps were applied for the trophy competition.   Leading positions :-

      Club Score       Handicap      Latner Score
              %                    %                    %
1         66.67              +3.50               70.17      A Race & T Mawston
2         52.78            +11.50               64.28      I Heslop & G Spence
3         63.89              +0.25               64.14      P Lisle & R Carpenter
4         53.97              +8.50               62.47      B Stott & M Dawson
5         59.72              +2.00               61.72      B Myers & J Little

Congratulations go to John Little and Brian Myers, winners of the Carpenter Trophy 2013.  John and Brian came from behind to win the final session of this Six-Round event and take the trophy by 0.47%, heading the field of 12 pairs (a further 22 pairs failed to qualify).   Leading scores :-

          1        61.87        Brian Myers & John Little
          2        61.40        Iain Gordon & John Dobson 
          3        56.08        Peter Lisle & Roger Carpenter
          4        55.88        Audrey Bainbridge & Barbara Boothroyd
          5        54.86        Godfrey Young & Alison Young
          6        53.79        Ray Potter & Richard Cottrell

Bishop Auckland Club finished in a creditable 7th position in the NEBA John Clarke Salver 2013.  This competition identifies club performance across three major competitions and the achievement is thanks to the many members who represented our Club in InterClub League Matches, the Champion Club Teams event and the Champion Club Pairs event.  The top 10 places (out of 22 overall) were :-

          1        Whitley Bay                 126
          2        Hurworth                     118
          3        Brunton                       109
          4        Morpeth                      108
          5        Stockton                      107
          6        Ryton                          106
          7        Bishop Auckland         97
          8        Darlington                     96
          9        Newcastle                     89
         10       Cramlington                  76       

Godfrey  and Alison Young hosted a most successful Open Day to their garden on Sunday 14th July 2013 (2.00 pm - 5.00 pm).  The event, held for the third year running in aid of Cancer Charities under the National Gardens Scheme, took place in absolutely wonderful weather at their home in Crook.  A number of Bridge Club Members assisted with the running of the day whilst others attended in support.  The superb garden was in beautiful condition and the cream teas and plant stall proved very popular with the 120 visitors.   The sum raised was a commendable £674.80 and the event, and indeed the garden itself, were a great credit to the work put in by Godfrey and Alison. 

Brian Myers and John Little have done it again.  Thursday 9th May 2013 saw them win the Club Heat of the EBU Spring Simultaneous Pairs and finish in the top ten of the national rankings.  This result comes only a few weeks after they finished First in the Club Heat and First in the National Rankings of the EBU Stratified Simultaneous Pairs.  We need to get John to go fishing and Brian to the cricket on the next occasion that we hold a simultaneous pairs event!
Well done Brian and John!

 An outstanding performance by the Bishop Auckland Club Team of 4 won the NEBA Champion Teams Tournament at Stannington on Sunday 21st April 2013 and thus lifted the Wightman Cup.  Congratulations go to the 4-person team of Godfrey Young, Alison Young, Audrey Bainbridge & John Dobson who led after the afternoon session with a score of +44 Imps, 12 ahead of their nearest rivals.  The evening session again went well with the team scoring a further +35 Imps, gaining third place on the session,  but importantly, overall First Place. 

Leading Scores :-                                                            Imps
     1     J Dobson, A Bainbridge, G Young, A Young      +79
     2     N Gray, R Gray, J Hodgson, J Kingcome                 +74
     3     C Hepworth, B Osborne, F Springett, J Springett    +40
     4     I Rankin, F Robinson, D Joy, D Milner                    +39
     5     P Tuff, M Stanbury, A Shivdasani, A Cornish           +23
     6     J Wooton, R McMahon, P Hands, M Gilbert               +9
     7     I Aiston, N Aiston, B Lumsden, N McTaggart             +2 
        

Sadly we report the sudden death of David Howe at the age of 61 in Sheffield.  David was an accomplished player and a member of our Club for many years commencing in the late 1970's.  He was a regular attender with his partners Elsie Oversby and Jean Bainbridge and represented the Club as a team player.  David moved to take up a post in Sheffield in the late 1980's but occasionally came back to visit the Club. 
Many family and friends attended the funeral which took place at St. John's Church, Shildon at 12.45 pm on Monday 22nd April 2013. 

Congratulations go to Audrey Bainbridge and Alison Young for winning the NEF Open Pairs on Friday 29th March 2013 at York.  In the opening event of the weekend Bridge Tournament run by the YCBA, Audrey and Alison headed a field of 12 pairs with a winning score of 59.33%.   Leading scores :-
          %
1     59.33          A Bainbridge & A Young
2     57.04          A Williams & P Stocken
3     56.07          J Staniforth & G Woodcock
4     51.78          P Beckwith & D Hammonds

______________________________________________

The Club Team achieved a successful end to the season in winning away to Hartlepool on Sunday 7th April 2013.   In making a steady start each of the first three sets were won by 11, 2 and 13 Imps respectively buildinga a lead of 26 at the tea break.   A stuttering fourth set was lost by 19 Imps to reduce the overall score to +7 Imps, this translating to a final match score of :-
               Hartlepool  9  -  Bishop Auckland  11

Team :-
     Roger Carpenter (Capt) & Audrey Bainbridge
     Godfrey Young & Tony Mawston
     Louise Badcock & Malcolm Dawson
     Brian Myers & John Little

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Congratulations go to John Little and Brian Myers for gaining overall First Place Nationally in the EBU Stratified Simultaneous Pairs held on Thursday 14th March 2013.   With a score of 67.53% John and Brian headed a field of 309 pairs from clubs across the country.   The leading scores and the other best scorers from our club are set out below :-
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Pos                                                       %
  1        J Little & B Myers                 67.53        Bishop Auckland BC
  2        H Fisher & L Standen              67.33         Buckland BC
  3        N Rushton & S Brown              66.28        Tudor BC
  4        J Scaysbrook & J Mathews       66.13        Welwyn Garden BC
  5        R Sassoon & J Bowen              65.98        Reading BC
                           ----------------------
 25       I Gordon & J Dobson               60.34
 44       M Dexter & J Price                   57.38
 55       A Bainbridge & B Boothroyd     55.90
 62       G Young & A Young                 55.68    

The 37th Annual General Meeting of the Club took place at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday 7th March 2013 in the Bridge Room at Bishop Aucklaand Golf Club.  

26 members were present and stayed to play duplicate afterwards.  There were 11 apologies for absence.  All Officers reported relatively problem-free activity in their repective areas, but it was noted that dwindling numbers was a particular concern which would be further addressed by the Committee.   Table charges are to remain unchanged for the forthcoming year.

Secretary Louise Badcock had completed five years in post and hence stood down as required by the Articles of Association.  In the absence of a nomination for her replacement and with the agreement of those present, she agreed to continue in an acting capacity until the next AGM.

Election of  Officers :-
     Chairman           -     Godfrey Young
     Secretary           -     Louise Badcock (Acting)
     Treasurer           -     Peter Whitton
     Match Captain     -     Roger Carpenter
     Scorer                -     John Dobson

Election of Committee :-
                               -     Alan Blackett
                               -     Malcolm Dawson
                               -     John Little
                               -     Brian Myers
                               -     David Wilkinson

The Meeting closed at 7.00 p.m.

On Sunday 17th February 2013, the Club Team scored another victory in Match 4 of the Season of 5 matches.   In a close encounter at home to Whitley Bay 'B' and trailing by 11 Imps at the tea interval, a solid performance in the final set resulted in an overall final victory by 22 Imps. 
This converted to a match score of :-
                         Bishop Auckland - 13    Whitley Bay 'B' - 7.
Team :-
          Alison Young (Capt)  &  Godfrey Young
          John LIttle & Brian Myers
          Roger Carpenter & Paul Beard
          Malcolm Dawson & John Dobson

League Placings :-
          47     South Shields
          46     Brunton B
          45     Wearside A
          39     Bishop Auckland
          36     Hartlepool
          27     Whitley Bay B

The Club Team recorded an outstanding performance in beating the league leaders Sunderland on the their own territory   (Sunday 13th January 2013).  In the third match of the season, the team led by Acting Captain Roger Carpenter (in the holiday absence of Captain Alison Young) finished 17 Imps up which converted to a final match score of :-

                             Sunderland 7 - Bishop Auckland 13

Team:-
          Roger Carpenter (Acting Capt) & Audrey Bainbridge
          Lou Badcock & John Little
          John Gray & Tony Mawston
          Malcolm Dawson & Barbara Stott


Other regular players missing on this occasion were Godfrey Young, Brian Myers and John Dobson.  Upon her return, Team Captain Alison will have a selection headache for the forthcoming matches.

Sadly we record the death of Jean Bainbridge on the morning of Thursday 13th December 2012.   Until her illness in recent months, Jean was a regular attender at the Club and was known for her skilful play and keen sense of fun.  
A funeral service attended by relatives and many friends took place on Monday 24th December 2012 at St John's Church Shildon, followed by cremation at the Wear Valley Crematorium.

A wonderful evening of fabulous fun, good food and aggregate bridge took place at Kirk Merrington on Thursday 20th December 2012.  Grateful thanks go to Marilyn Dexter & Jackie Price for organising and directing the party.
The evening started with a 'Ditty of Welcome' composed and sung by Marilyn and Jackie which raised great applause and got things off to a super start. The 21 boards of bridge were interspersed with 'Lob the Golf Balls' onto Peter Lisle's head (upturned hat), 'Guess the Number of Sweets' in the Jar and two brief games of 'Fun Bingo'.   There was also much competition to win the bottle of wine for being the final winner of a trick with the '2 of Clubs'.  A tremendous spread of food and wine was served at the halfway stage.
Very many thanks to our hostesses for another splendid party; their reputation is unsurpassed for organising these events.

Prize Winners :-

Lob The Golf Balls :-    Barbara Stott & Alan Race
Fun Bingo :-                Tony Mawston & Audrey Bainbridge
Guess the Sweets :-     Allan Blackett
Trick with 2 Clubs :-     Jackie Price

Bridge Winners :-

North-South
1     + 4670     John Dobson & Malcolm Dawson
2     + 4170     David Thompson & John Gray
3     + 3700    Marilyn Dexter & Jackie Price

East-West
1     - 570       Allan & John Blackett
2     - 1600     Tony Mawston & Alan Race
3     - 1670     Godfrey & Alison Young

David - Happy '2 Clubs Challenger'

Getting Organised for 'Lob Ball' - Peter & Marilyn

Almost in by John Blackett

Audrey- Happy '2 of Clubs Challenger'

The Club Team scrambled to victory in Match No.2 of the 2012-13 Season at Kirk Merrington on Sunday 2nd December 2012.  Playing the home fixture against a vastly experienced Brunton 'B' Team, the very even first set was lost by 4 IMPs.    Surging ahead with victories by 22 & 33 IMPS respectively in sets 2 & 3, Bishop Auckland led by 51 IMPS at the tea interval.   The fourth set was something of a rearguard action with the visitors bidding and making a somewhat fortunate slam and a number of problems occuring elsewhere.  The set was ultimately lost by 45 IMPs leaving Bishop Auckland 6 IMPs up and a Match Victory by 11 - 9.

     Team :-
         Alison Young (Capt) & Godfrey Young
         Audrey Bainbridge & Roger Carpenter
         John Little & Brian Myers
         Malcolm Dawson & John Dobson

Another successful Annual Presentation Dinner took place at the Golf Club on Thursday 15th November 2012.  Following an excellent Christmas Fare carvery meal, 34 members enjoyed a fun session of aggregate bridge after which Club Chairman Godfrey Young presented the following prizes for the night, along with the trophies to winners of competitions throughout the year.

Aggregate Bridge
North-South
     1     Iain Gordon & John Dobson
     2     Louise Badcock & Malcolm Dawson
     3     David Latner & Margaret Wiles
East- West
     1     David Thompson & John Gray
     2     Oswald and Mary Brown
     3     Peter Lisle & Roger Carpenter

Season 2012 Trophies
Latner Trophy
     Joan Burrell & Maureen Hook

Walker Trophy
     Marilyn Dexter & Jackie Price (Unable to be Present)

Masterpoints Trophy
     John Dobson

Carpenter Trophy
     Godfrey & Alison Young

Photographs of the evening may be accessed via the main left hand green menu under  '2012 Dinner Photographs'.

( Club Year Closes 31st October prior to Annual Presentation Dinner in Mid- November )

Average Percentage Scores - Top Ten

     1       58.22 %    -     Roger Carpenter
     2=     57.81 %     -     Iain Gordon
     2=     57.81 %     -     John Dobson
     4       57.77 %     -     John Blackett Jnr
     5       57.72 %     -     Peter Lisle
     6       57.31 %     -     Allan Balckett
     7       54.14 %     -     Tony Mawston
     8       54.10 %     -     Alan Race
     9       53.65 %     -     Barbara Boothroyd
    10      53.60 %     -     Audrey Bainbridge

                              (A full list of scores for all members
                                may be accessed via the turquoise left
                                hand click panel in the Home Page)

Walker Bowl 2012

Carpenter Trophy 2012

Latner Trophy 2012

      1       64.43 %     -     Joan Burrell & Maureen Hook
      2       63.01 %      -     David Latner & Margaret Wiles
      3       61.48 %      -     John Dobson & Iain Gordon
      4       60.56 %      -     Oswald Brown & Mary Brown
      5       58.52 %      -     John Blackett & Colin Trotter

Master Points Trophy 2012

      1          817           -     John Dobson
      2          797           -     Iain Gordon
      3          536           -     Godfrey Young
      4          514           -     Alison Young
      5          478           -     Roger Carpenter

The Club Team suffered defeat at home to South Shields in the first match of the new season, the match played on Sunday 14th October 2012 at Kirk Merrington.  Generally outplayed by the visitors, all four sets were lost with the final deficit of 72 Imps equating to a loss by 2-18  match points.
     Team :-
          Alison Young (Capt) & Godfrey Young
          Louise Badcock & Roger Carpenter
          John Gray & Audrey Bainbridge
          Malcolm Dawson & John Dobson

Club Chairman Godfrey Young and his wife, Team Captain Alison, were wonderfully generous hosts to a splendid meal at their home on the occasion of a get-together for all prospective team players. A total of twelve players comprised three teams and competed over four sets of bridge, as well as tucking into a fabulous evening meal.  
When all was said and done (and drunk and eaten) congratulations go to the winning team of Marilyn Dexter, Louise Badcock, Brian Myers and John Gray. 
Very Many thanks go to Godfrey and Alison from all who attended.

Club      National                                                    Club     National
Pos'n       Pos'n                                                      Score      Score
------     ----------                                                  --------    ----------
    1             18        I Gordon & J Dobson                65.71       63.01
    5             69        A Bainbridge & B Boothroyd      52.86       57.15
    4            131       J Pringle & I Burns                    54.58       53.88
    6            152       B Myers & M Dawson                 50.48       52.50
    3            162       G Young & A Young                   56.25       52.17
    2            181       D Wilkinson & M Winter             60.00       51.33
    7           243       A Mawston & A Race                  47.50       48.76
   12           261       B Stott & R Cottrell                   41.43       47.88
   10           282      J Blackett & C Trotter                 45.71       47.22
    9            289      C Burns & P Robbins                  46.19       46.90
    8            318      L Badcock & J Pallister               46.25        44.91
   11           354      M Hook & D Thompson               41.90        42.89
   13           364      M Wiles & D Latner                     39.05       41.24
   

Congratulations go to Marilyn Dexter and Jackie Price who were triumphant in a close finish in the competition for the Walker Rose Bowl 2012.     Leading scores were :-

          1          65.97 %         Marilyn Dexter & Jackie Price
          2          65.56 %          Iain Gordon & John Dobson
          3          56.53 %          David Latner & Margaret Wiles
          4          53.54 %          Alison Young & Barbara Stott
          5          53.13 %          Ray Potter & Richard Cottrell

Candelabra Primrose - Alison's favourite.

Congratulations go to Joan Burrell & Maureen Hook who were successful in winning the Latner Trophy 2012.
Leading Scores :-

          1     64.43 %     Maureen Hook & Joan Burrell    
          2     63.01 %     David Latner & Margaret Wiles
          3     61.48 %     Iain Gordon & John Dobson
          4     60.56 %     Mary Brown & Oswald Brown

Yet another excellent Spring Buffet was hosted by the club at Bishop Auckland Golf Club on Thursday 17th May 2012.  Fabulous food was followed by 21 randomly dealt boards of duplicate bridge in which South was blessed with an excessive share of honour card points.  The aggregate scoring produced clear winners in both directions with succes going to Mary & Oswald Brown (E/W) and Dave Thompson & John Gray (N/S).   The leading scores were  :-

     N/S
     1     + 3,510     David Thompson & John Gray
     2     + 3,170     Roger Carpenter & John Dobson
     3     + 2,820     Godfrey & Alison Young

     E/W
     1         - 840     Oswald & Mary Brown
     2      - 1,670     Tony Mawston & Alan Race
     3      - 2,300     David Wilkinson & Mary Winter

In the final match of the season played at Kirk Merrington on Sunday 22nd April 2012, the Club Team trounced the runaway league leaders Whitley Bay 'B' by a score of 17 - 3 VPs. In what turned out to be the best performance of the season, the team won all four sets and accumulated a total score of 59 Imps.  The icing on the cake was achieving second place in the league and gaining promotion to the next Division.

     Team :-
     Alison Young (Capt) & Godfrey Young
     Louise Badcock & Malcolm Dawson
     Brian Myers & Aydrey Bainbridge
     John Gray & John Dobson

                         Final League Placings :-
                         62     Whitley Bay 'B'
                         61     Bishop Auckland
                         57     Chester-le-Street 'A'
                         41     Durham 'B'
                         40     Brunton 'C'
                         39     Wearside 'C'

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Sunday 1st April 2012 saw Charlotte Burns celebrate her 90th birthday and become the Club's 3rd nonagenarian, following in the footsteps of David Latner and John Blackett.  Charlotte, not one for a great deal of fuss, did however receive a beautiful card signed by Club Members.  Many congratulations Charlotte.

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Sunday 11th March 2012 saw the Club Team win League Match 4 played away to Brunton 'C'.   A faltering start led to losing the first three sets by 10, 1 and 13 Imps respectively.  However a much improved effort in the final set led to victory by 38 Imps and an overall match victory by 14 Imps.  This converted to a Match Point Victory by 12 - 8.
     Team :-
     Alison  Young (Capt) & Godfrey Young
     Audrey Bainbridge & Tony Mawston
     Louise Badcock & Brian Myers
     John Gray & John Dobson

     League Table D - After 4 Matches
     59     Whitley Bay 'B'
     45     Chester-le-Street 'A'
     44     Bishop Auckland
     33     Durham 'B'
     31     Wearside 'B'
     28     Brunton 'C'

Chairman Godfrey Young opened the 38th Annual General Meeting of the Bridge Club at 6.35 pm on Thursday 8th March 2012.   The Principal Officers were re-elected unopposed and Mr Malcolm Dawson was elected to join the four standing Members of Committee.

                    Officers :-
          Chairman             -     Godfrey Young
          Secretary             -     Louise Badcock
          Treasurer             -     Peter Whitton
          Match Captain       -     Alison Young
          Scorer                  -     John Dobson
                    Committee :-
                                     -      Malcolm Dawson
                                     -      David Latner
                                     -      John Little
                                     -      Brian Myers
                                     -      David Wilknson

Secretary Louise Badcock reported that attendances over the past year had averaged eight to nine tables and whilst we had welcomed a number of new players, members were asked to continue their encouragement to all newcomers.  The Secretary also reported continued excellent cooperation from the officers and staff of the Golf Club which has afforded us with a comfortable and convenient base for bridge on Thursday evenings.   Additionally, the three social functions (Spring Buffet, Presentation Dinner and Christmas Party) had all been tremendous successes and thanks were extended to all those who had worked so hard to make them memorable occasions.

Treasurer Peter Whitton reported Income of £3,727.06,  Expenditure of £3,148.17 giving an Operating Profit of £578.89.  Bank account balances were satisfactory and there was no need to review Table Money at the present time.

Match Captain Alison Young regretted to report that in April 2011, the Club Team had sufferd relegation from Division C to Division D by the narrowest of margins.  However, after 3 of the five programmed matches of the current season, the team lies in third position with a good chance of promotion back at the first attempt.   Alison thanked all 13 players in the squad for their excellent team spirit and good humour.

Scorer John Dobson advised that the Committee had decided to terminate the trial utilising the Stratification System because it became apparent that higher attendances would be required for the system to operate successfully.  This matter would be kept under review for re-introduction as and when attendances became appropriate.  John outlined the newly introduced National Grading System and answered questions from the floor.

In closing the meeting at 7.00 pm, Chairman Godfrey Young extended grateful thanks to all the many officials and members who had worked so hard to enable club nights and social functions to run so smoothly.

Five Club Members finished in the top four pairings of the Regional Semi-Final of the NEBA Chronicle Cups held in Darlington on 13th January 2012 and move on to play in the Final in Northumberland in February.  Additionally, two more members finished in 9th position and also qualified.  In a field of 31 pairs, the leading 10 places were as follows: -

     1       69.32 %       Iain Gordon & Margaret McCabe
     2       68.75 %       Fred Aitken & Audrey Bainbridge
     3       63.54 %       Mike Ferguson & Julian Gibson
     4       56.99 %       John Dobson & John Gray
     5       55.80 %       Fred Dalton & Pauline Knight
     6       54.61 %       Clive Owen & Martin Kane
     7       53.08 %       Niall Keaney & Roger Hancock
     8       52,83 %       Gypsy Nichol & Marian Wilson
     9       52.11 %       Alan Race & Anthony Mawston
     10     51.62 %       Damian Hassan & Bill March

The Final will take place at the Stannington Centre on Saturday 4th February 2012.

The Club Team were successful in the third league match of the season, winning at home to Sunderland B on Sunday 15th January by 14 - 6.   Disaster struck in the first set when a deficit of 21 IMPs was incurred but the scores were back exactly level after a better performance in Set 2.  Set 3 was relatively even with a small gain of 2 IMPs but a resounding score in the final Set (+26 IMPs) led to a final total of + 28 IMPs, this converting to a match score of 14 - 6 Victory Points. 

     Team :-
     Alison Young (Capt) & Godfrey Young
     John Dobson & John Gray
     Audrey Bainbridge & Tony Mawston
     Louise Badcock & Roger Carpenter

After 2 months of the Club Competition Year which runs 1st November to 31st October, ie. to 31st December 2011, Peter Lisle heads the Averages with the leading positions being :-

          61.83 %    Peter Lisle
          61.71 %     Roger Carpenter
          60.67 %     Barbara Boothroyd

Roger Carpenter heads the chase for the Master Points Salver with the leading positions being :-

             87          Roger Carpenter
             82          Alison Young
             82          Godfrey Young

     ( Full details of all players can be accessed via the respective
                panels in the left hand column of the home page. 
          Please note that the full details now also include for all
                     scores attained after 31st December 2011 )

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

Members enjoyed a fun-packed Christmas Party at the Kirk Merrington Community Centre on Thursday 22nd December 2011.  Director of Ceremonies Marilyn Dexter, ably supported by Jackie Price, organised intriguing variations to the duplicate bridge theme with players achieving incredible results, often from meagre and inappropriate resources.   A tremendous supper table, together with an occasional glass of wine and intermittent spot prizes, got everyone into a fabulous party spirit.   Remarkably, at the end of the evening, it was possible to compute results and the following members were the leading scorers :- 

     North-South
     1     Godfrey & Alison Young           +2,950
     2     Colin Trotter & John Blackett    +2,500
     3     Marilyn Dexter & Jackie Price    +1,860

     East-West
     1     Peter Lisle & Roger Carpenter     - 620
     2     Peter & Claudette Whitton           -690
     3     Tony Mawston & Alan Race       - 1010

Many thanks to Marilyn, Jackie and all those who so worked hard to ensure a successful evening.

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Congratulations go to another long standing member for success away from the bridge table.  Upon his retirement three years ago, Brian Myers commenced a course of studies reading History at Teesside University.   All his efforts came to fruition on 5th October 2011 when he was awarded the degree of  Master of Arts with Distinction. 

Over the years Brian has made a substantial contribution to our Club, serving on Committee for many years and incorporating respective periods as Club Secretary and Match Captain.

Well done Brian.

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Sunday 20th November 2011 saw the second round of matches in the 2011-12 InterClub Competition take place.   After a bright start, the club team playing away to Durham 'B' established a 10 IMP lead in set 1.   Thereafter all pairs met with misfortunes (chiefly as a result of the pre-dealt boards causing bidding difficulties) and losses in sets 2,3 & 4 resulted in a final match score of  Durham 'B' 15 - Bishop Auckland 5.

     Team :-
     Alison Young (Capt) & Godfrey Young
     John Little & Brian Myers 
     Audrey Bainbridge & Roger Carpenter
     John Gray & John Dobson

Yet another successful Annual Presentation Dinner was held at Bishop Auckland Golf Club on Thursday 17th November 2011.  Thirty-Two members enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Fare menu followed by 16 boards of duplicate bridge.  Chairman Godfrey Young thanked all those who had contributed to making the evening such a success and then proceeded with the Annual Trophy Presentations.

Awards :-
Latner Trophy               -     David Latner & Margaret Wiles
Walker Bowl                 -     Louise Badcock & Brian Myers
Carpenter Trophy          -     Iain Gordon & John Dobson
Masterpoints Trophy      -     Iain Gordon & John Dobson

(Photographs of the evening can be viewed under 'Functions Photographs' in the main left hand menu).

Peter Lisle & Roger Carpenter (N/S) and Pat Robbins & Paul Beard (E/W) were respective runaway winners of the evening's bridge:-

N/S
1     75.89 %     Peter Lisle & Roger Carpenter
2     53.57 %     Brian Myers & John Little
3     51.34 %     Godfrey & AlisonYoung
E/W
1     66.07 %     Pat Robbins & Paul Beard
2=   54.91 %     Tony & Jane Mawston
2=   54.91 %     Maureen Hook & Joan Burrell

Congratulations go to the Bishop Auckland Team of Louise Badcock, Malcolm Dawson, Godfrey & Alison Young who were the players from our Club who achieved the best result over the 2011 Congress Weekend (11th-13th November).  A score of 83 VPs (59.29%) saw the team climb to =6th position in a field of 30 teams in the green-pointed Swiss Teams event held on the Sunday afternoon and evening.

                         SWISS TEAMS  -  LEADING SCORES

1     75.00 %     John Halliwell, Peter Mollart, Ian Rankin, Mike Stanbury
2     64.43 %     Bill White, Joyce White, David Strawbridge, Barbara Matthews
3     62.86 %     Eve Ewington, James Ewington, Paul Jones, Chris Simpson
4     62.14 %     Martin Kane, Damien Hassan, John Atthey, Chris Owen
5     60.71 %     Nicole Cook, Tom Owen, Mark Bratley, Phil Godfrey
6=  59.29 %     Simon Hedley, Rosemary Gray, Jim Hodgson, John Kingcome
6=  59.29 %    Louise Badcock, Malcolm Dawson, Alison Young, Godfrey Young

Sadly we record the death of HEDLEY ROBINSON on Sunday 30th October 2011 at the age of 75 years.  A retired police officer, Hedley was known for his friendly and gentlemanly disposition and before his recent illness, he was a regular attender at the Club with partner John Blackett.

The funeral took place at All Saints Church, Blackwell, Darlington on Wednesday 9th November 2011 when many friends and colleagues from all walks of life attended to pay their respects.

The Club year runs from 1st November to 31st October and consequently the Performance Statistics for 2010-2011 are now available.   
Congratulations go to Peter Lisle for attaining the Highest Average Percentage score over the year.   All scores can be viewed via the click panel in the left hand column of the Site Home Page, but a summary of the leading scores is as follows:-

            Av %          Player 
1          57.61          Peter Lisle
2          56.20          Roger Carpenter
3          56.15          Audrey Bainbridge
4          56.02          Barbara Boothroyd
5          56.01          Iain Gordon
6          55.86          John Dobson
7          54.40          John Blackett (Jnr)
8          54.38          Alison Young
9          54.13          John Gray
10        54.09          David Thompson

Iain Gordon amd John Dobson head the Master Point Awards (again full details are given by the click panel on the Home Page).  Leading scores:-

             MPs          Player
1            644          Iain Gordon
1            644          John Dobson
3            447          Audrey Bainbridge
4            408          Barbara Boothroyd
5            384          Roger Carpenter
6            380          Tony Mawston
7            354          Peter Lisle
8            353          John Gray
9            347          David Thompson
10          341          Alison Young

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Long standing member John Blackett celebrated his 90th birthday on Thursday 20th October 2011.  All members present on Club Night passed on good wishes to John and celebrated with drinks and the cutting and sharing of a cake. Chairman Godfrey Young gave a glowing tribute to John's contribution to the club over many years, a contribution which included service on the Club Committee and periods as Chairman and Match Captain.  Following a chorus of Happy Birthday, John went on to play in his usual accomplished fashion, being only just pipped into second place with a tremendous score of 63.89%.

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