Bridge Club 80th Year Celebrations

Bolton Little Theatre – Friday 27th March 2026

This is the first event we are planning to hold to celebrate 80 successful years of Bolton Bridge Club

We have reserved 60 tickets for The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennett on Friday 27^th March 2026 at 6.30pm at Bolton Little Theatre, Hanover Street.  The tickets are priced at £20 each and this includes a private pre-show light finger buffet and welcome drink.  The show starts at 7.30pm and we can use the separate room in the interval for coffee/tea and drinks to be purchased from the theatre bar. 

Tickets are limited so they will be offered to members on a first-come, first-served basis, and payment will be requested at the time of booking. To simplify the administration, we are requesting bookings are made by contacting committee member Janice Drake by email on janiced@live.co.uk, and payments will also be collected by Janice on behalf of the club.  Her account details are as follows:

Sort code: 40-47-87   Account number: 21604155, or payments by cheque by arrangement.

Members are welcome to invite a guest if they wish who should be included in their booking.  Please advise should you or your guest have any special dietary requirements.  

We look forward to celebrating this milestone with you in 2026 at this and some future events at the club!

We are sorry to report that Audrey R ostron has died. Audrey was secretary when Linda Hitchen took over as President. Audrey and husband Steve Rostron started the afternoon bridge at Bolton, took over the lessons and ran bridge holidays at The Lindum Hotel in St Anne's. Audrey also wrote a weekly bridge column for the Bolton Evening News. She made a huge contribution to the club. Our deepest sympathy goes to Steve and their family.

The funeral will be held on Wednesday 11nd February at 2pm at Overdale Crematorium in the West Chapel.

We are sorry to report that past member Wendy Ormrod died in the early hours of the morning of 1st January 2026.

She was a member from 1996, playing regularly with a number of partners until covid interrupted all our lives.

The funeral will be held on Friday 23rd January at 11am, at St Paul's C of E church, PR6 9QZ, and afterwards at St Paul's Club behind the church.

The family have requested no flowers but donations can be made privately in Wendy's name to either the RNLI or Cancer Research.

Dress as brightly as you wish.

Lancashire County Bridge Association runs a Face to Face league in the Summer for Teams of 8 which runs from May to September with around 5 matches in that period, at most one each month. Each team has a nominated home night (Thursday for Bolton) for their home fixtures and there are normally 2 or 3 Home games and 2 or 3 Away games in the season. Last year Bolton ran teams in Divisions 1 & 2. In order to sustain two teams, we are looking for new players. The current squad of players is shown on the Teams of 8 Summer League page. If you are interested in playing on a team, please contact Jeff Smith (jasmith@nildram.co.uk) or Brian Perry (brian.perry@blueyonder.co.uk) 

The Cedric Young Ladder of best 8 out of 11 scores completed on Dec 17 2025.  The Open competition was won by Rod Greenhalgh, the Handicap competition by Ailsa Hurst.

Our second Christmas party was held on Tuesday 16th December.  The winners were Jon & Yvonne Sandbrook NS and John & Sandra Dootson EW. Runners Up John Simm & Wendy Blyth NS and Brian Perry & Paul Vose.Handicapped winners were Peter Howard & John Laverty  NS and Jay Cooper & Janice Drake EW.  

Today saw the conclusion of a very enjoyable and successful Bridge Holiday at the Bedford Hotel, Lytham attended by many of our members and other friends through bridge. 

Thanks go to ALL involved in the organisation both before and during the event, including Janice Wimbleton, Linda Hitchen and the TD at every session, Paul Vose.

Congratulations to the winners....

In the Teams Competition, 1st prize went to the ever youthful Terry Potter, able assisted by Anthony Hedley, Rob Gough and Brendan Fitzmaurice

2nd place was won by Paul Vose & Linda Hitchen, partnering Lorraine & Trevor Corner

In the Pairs Competitions, the prize winners of each session were...

Monday Evening: Helene & Bob Collins, and Chris Makinson & Dave Reilly 

 Tuesday Morning : Ann Walton & Cathy Townley and Eric & Deb Fairweather

Wednesday Morning : Maggie Lunn & Jacqui Evans and Heather Fairbairn & Janice Drake 

 Wednesday pm: Ken Hardman & Mary and Jay Cooper & Sandra Dootson

Congratulations One and All !!