Congrautations to the following members who have achieved a Masterpoint promotion in June

• Steve Francis  (5 Star Premier Master)
• Tony Clark  (County Master)
• Susan Humby ( Local Master)
• Kerry Taylor  (Local Master)
• Mark Taylor  (Area Master)
• John Archer  (Local Master)

Sam Kelly - EBU Communications Officer - 10th July 2023

The Azam Khan Cup is the best three out of four handicapped results, based on NGS, from the first four Wednesday in May. After some problems getting BridgeWebs to calculate the handicaps, we finally have a result

1. Mary France & Tony Clark
2. Judith Simpson & Mark Wiggins
3. Don Walker & John Dignan

Full Results

6th June 2023

The Hyman Crammer Trophy is an LCBA competition where pairs qualified from various club heats, with the final being played onlline on BBO.

This year, the winners were our very own Lucy and Anne.

1. Anne Morris & Lucy Pathan (Bradgate)
2. Alan Lord & Linda Lord (Westcotes)
3. Jan Stewart & Geoff Tearle (Loughborough)

Full Results

24th May 2023

The Roger Bird Trophy is a Teams of Four competition where players enter as a pair. The pair with the highest NGS is then teamed up with the pair with the lowest, and so on, to create roughly similar standard teams.

1. Jim Wilkinson & Paula Gordon Smith, Linda Stone & Phil Watts
2. John Summerhayes & Azam Khan, Kay Blaylock & Judith Mitton
3. Richard Rees & Steve Wright, Michael Jones & Jules Jones

Full Results

22nd May 2023

Please welcome our new members when you see them at the table

Sarah Braithwaite

Learned to play bridge at Charnwood Bridge Teachers

Annette Love

Learned to play bridge at Charnwood Bridge Teachers

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 6th November 2022

Two members of County Bridge Club have been found guilty by the EBU of irregularities while playing online bridge. The EBU has banned them from playing competitively online for 18 months, and has also banned them from all EBU or LCBA organised bridge events. 

Since these individuals played at Bradgate online during lockdown, the committee has decided that we too wish to ban them from playing as visitors at our club, should they want to, during the course of the EBU ban. We cannot be certain that any misdemeanours took place during our online sessions, but it is possible that they did, and if so it will have disadvantaged some of our members.

Ray Newman - Chairman - 28th October 2022

Congratulations to Jim Wilkinson and Paula Gordon-Smith who won the Thompson Trophy on Monday 24th October.

This was a handicapped competition, based on NGS grades at the start of October. Jim and Paula finished 4th on the scratch results, but when the handicaps were applied, they leapt over John Summerhayes and Azam Khan (and two inelligible pairs) to win.

Steve Wright - Tournamanet Secretary - 25th October 2022

Congratulations to Lucy Pathan and Anne Morris who won the Robson Ladies Trophy on Monday 3rd October.

In the Davis Gentlemen's Trophy, it was Mike Ayers and Stephen Barney finished with exactly the same score as Richard Rees and Barry Smith. So we now have to apply the tie-break formula to see who gets the trophy. First of all we look at the match points for the four boards they played against each other. Unfortunately this  was a 12-12 draw. So now we look at 2 points for win, 1 point for a draw for these four boards ... and now we have a difference Richard and Barry with 2 wins, 1 draw and one loss. So well done to Richard and Barry.

For the record, both pairs share the master points and the ranking points for the Howard Stevens Bowl. They would also share the prize money if we had any!

Steve wright - Tournament Secretary - 6th October 2022

Please welcome our new members when you see them at the table

Ben and Joan Gibson

Long time members of Melton Bridge Club, and have represented Leicestershire in the Midlands Counties League.

Kath Glock

Learned to play bridge at Charnwood Bridge Teachers

Mair Mitchell

Learned to play bridge at Charnwood Bridge Teachers

Jenny Downes

Played at Rothley Park Golf Club and learned to play bridge at Charnwood Bridge Teachers

Caroline Connor

Learned to play bridge at Charnwood Bridge Teachers

Julie Jones - Secretary - 25th September 2022

Please welcome our new members when you see them at the table

Maureen Cookson

    Has been a member of John Storer Huose and Loughborough

Lydia Pook

Has played for a number of years

Roy Cole

Has played at John Storer House for 30 years

Cherrilyn Tyler

Has been a member of County Bridge Club

Anne King

Is playing at other local clubs

Sally Harris

Was a member of Woodbridge Bridge Club in Surry - new into the area

Vickie McCloy

Started learning in Sept 2019 with Charnwood Bridge Teachers

Judith Simpson

Retired and started to learn to play bridge at Charnoowd Bridge Teachers in 2019

Julie Jones - Secretary - 25th July 2022

Ben is running a couple of seminars at the County Club on 29th June and 6th July. These are your chances to play some interesting hands from the Bermuda Bowl, with commentary and advice from Leicestershire's very own England player.

These are suitable for all club players - you don't need to be an expert to attend.

Just complete the entry form on the LCBA website so that the organisers have some idea of numbers.

Cost: £5 per player per session.

Round 4 - Completed 7th November

Leaderboard after Round 4

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 7th November 2021

Congratulations to the following members for their Masterpoint promotions:

• Jill Bentley prompted to District Master
• Mick Humby promoted to Club Master

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 17th October 2021

Round 3 - Completed 26th September

Leaderboard after Round 3

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 26th September 2021

Round 2 - Completed 20th August

Leaderboard after Round 2

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 20th August 2021

Round 1 - Completed 25th July

Leaderboard after Round 1

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 25th July 2021

Initial results from our survey of members’ views indicate that a substantial number of players would like to get back to F2F bridge as soon as this is possible. There are still some members who have not replied, and we would welcome views from the whole of our membership, but the Committee now feels confident that we can make plans for reopening. 

The Rothley Centre will be undertaking a major refurbishment, which will close the Centre for July, August and September. We have explored temporary local alternatives, which are few, none of them very satisfactory.  However, County Bridge Club have kindly offered the use of their premises for a Monday evening and Wednesday afternoon; we are basing our plans on a temporary move to their premises at St Oswald in early July for our Monday evening session, with the hope that Wednesday afternoon sessions will follow at a later date. 

This move to St Oswald would only be a temporary measure – we are looking forward to returning to a refurbished Rothley Centre as soon as it reopens.

County BC have been working hard to make their premises as safe as possible, but their current view is that they will only consider reopening once Government restrictions of 2 metre social distancing and wearing indoor face masks are lifted.   We are hoping that this will be announced on 21st June as part of the final stage of easing the Government’s restrictions; if it is not, then F2F reopening will be delayed. For full details of County BC’s reopening plans, see the notice on their website.  

In the short term, whether we restart F2F or not, we will continue to offer online bridge on Monday evenings and Wednesday afternoons.  How long ‘short term’ will be, is anyone’s guess at the moment!

Bradgate Committee - 31st May 2021

In June, July and August we are running the Wednesday Summer Pairs, where the best four scores over the three months will count.

Visitors can play on these sessions, but they are ineligible for the competition.

When Face-to-Face bridge starts and we run both F2F and BBO sessions at the same time, then only the results from the F2F section will count towards this competition. The fewer boards you play then the more extreme the scores are - it much easier to get 60% over 20 boards than over 24 boards.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 31st May 2021

Starting on Monday 21st June, we will be running the Hercock Summer Trophy. This is the best 4 out of 10 scores over the Mondays leading up to the August Bank Holiday.

Visitors can play on these sessions, but they are ineligible for the competition.

When Face-to-Face bridge starts and we run both F2F and BBO sessions at the same time, then only the results from the F2F section will count towards this competition. The fewer boards you play then the more extreme the scores are - it much easier to get 60% over 20 boards than over 27 boards.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 31st May 2021

We are very sad to report that Chris Allen passed away this week, after several years' illness.

Chris was a long-standing member of Bradgate, and was a mainstay of the Bradgate A team, partnering Colin Barfield in Leicestershire League matches. He was a strong and steady player, and it was a rare year when he did not win one of the club’s trophies; notably, he and Colin won the Bradgate Plate four times. He continued to represent the club in more recent years, playing with Jim Wilkinson in club sessions and in League matches.

Amongst his other interests, Chris enjoyed cricket (Jim Wilkinson remembers his days as a batsman playing for Woodhouse Eaves) and rugby. He was also a founder member and treasurer of a share club where, as Colin says, his past experience as sales director of Bostik was put to good use.

Always affable and with a dry sense of humour, Chris will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with his widow Sally and the family.

Val Rees - Social Secretary - 8th May 2021

Bradgate held it's heat of the LCBA Club Championship Pairs on Monday 19th April. The following pairs qualified to play in the final on Wednesday, 5th May.

The qualifiers are:

1. Harry Gordon & Steve Francis
2. Paul Anderson & Susie Perrett
3. Gary Jones & Margaret Butterworth
4. Judith Mitton & Peter Finch
5. Audrey Mount & Mary Johnson
6. Azam Khan & John Summerhayes

A number of pairs did finish above Azam & John, but were ineligible due to the fact at least one member of the partnership played in an earlier heat at the County Club on the previous Friday.

• Anne Morris & LUCY PATHAN
• MARY FRANCE & JUNE HUMMEL
• Anne Wright & MICK MAHONEY

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 20th April 2021

MND Association - 21st April 2021

This year we decided to run the Robson Ladies' Pairs and the Davis Gentlemen's Pairs in a combined field. This was for both convenience and cost (i.e. we don't have to pay for two directors). We were please to see that everybody adhered to the ethos of the competition and entered with a partner of the same sex. (The only mixed pair was the standby pair who played so that we didn't have to have robots).

There was no doubt about the Davis Trophy winners with Harry Gordon and Steve Francis demolishing the field with a whopping 76% - That was 10% ahead of 2nd place and 20% ahead of 4th place.

The top ladies' pair was Krystyna Krzeczkowska and Dorothy Pennington, but as they were visitors, they were ineligible for the Robson Trophy. Instead we had a tie between Pam Smith/Mary Clarke and Lynda Dunne/Sarah Gilbert. There is standard procedure that we follow in order to split the tie. Had they played each other then we would look at the scores on just those board - but they didn't . So we used plan B where we compared each board and see who did better on more boards. On ten boards Pam and Mary did better than Lynda and Sarah, and on nine boards it was the other way around, with one board being a draw.

So it was a close call, but Pam Smith and Mary Clarke are the winners by a smidgeon.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 4th April 2021

I have been very pleased that a signficant amount of money has been raised for The Motor Neurone Disease Association by members of Bradgate Bridge Club and my personal friends.

You know that MND has been a problem to me for the past 3 years. I knew my speech was going downhill before I came to live in Kegworth. My new Doctor realised there was a problem and sent me immediately to QMC for tests. 

MND cannot be identified on its own and only after elimination of other possibilities can it be confirmed. There are about 5,000 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with MND at any given time (Scotland has its own MNDA). On average 6 new cases are diagnosed each day and a similar number fall off the edge, so the total does not vary.

Once diagnosed half die within 2 years. In that respect I am fortunate, I am still here, over 2 years from my diagnosis.

Further I am also fortunate that I only have currently what is called Progressive Bulbar Palsy and I have only lost my speech and my swallowing has got very difficult. My wife liquidises most food for me. What do you think of meat and 2 veg as a thick soup!

Of course, it may be that it will spread to my muscles in the months to come.

Can I request that you put Rob Burrows into Google, he played Rugby for Leeds Rhinos for many years but is now in a wheelchair. Also Doddie Weir who played International Rugby for Scotland.

Please take this as a big “Thank you” as I cannot contact you all individually. 

We have raised £1200 

John Summerhayes - 2021 Charity Pairs Nominator - 17th March 2021

Congratulations to Lynda Dunn and Sarah Gilbert for winning the Charity Pairs. They were lying 5th on the scratch results, but rose to the top once the handicaps were applied. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 16th March 2021

Congratulations to Paul Loveday and John Bee for winning the Wednesday Winter Pairs (best 4 scores during December, January and February). They were well over 1% clear of the field. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 25th February 2021

Congratulations to Richard Rees and Diana Bowden for winning the Tyler Tyophy (Best 3 out of 4 scores in February).

In horse racing terms, they won by a nose, from Audrey Mount and Mary Johnson - a mere 0.05 percent. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 23rd February 2021

 Congratulations to the Robots who won the LCBA February Gentle Duplicate Pairs. Top humans were Anne Morris and Julie Jones.

Over half the field were Bradgate members - Hopefully the humans will do better in the March event (17th March)

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 21st February 2021

Congratulations to Audrey Mount and her partner Tim Glover for winning the Online Mixed Pairs.

In total 13 Bradgate players entered which was almost a third of the field.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 7th February 2021

On Monday March 15th Bradgate BC will host its annual Charity Night, in which we compete for the Charity Pairs Cup. This event is open to everyone, but only Bradgate club members are eligible to win the trophy.

In normal times we combine this with a fund-raising evening, to support a charity nominated by one of our members. This year, because we are playing online, we have decided to open a Justgiving page in support of the Motor Neurone Disease Association. This charity has been chosen by John Summerhayes, one of our members, who suffers from this debilitating condition. Many of you know John, who continues to play bridge online, and is an inspiration to all of us in his brave struggle. 

We hope to see a really good turn-out of club members and visitors on the night, but in any event please give generously to help the many thousands of MND sufferers in the UK, and those who care for them.

The Justgiving link is: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bradgatebridge. 

Ray Newman - Chairman - 7th February 2021

Congratulations to Brenda Harris, who celebrates her 90th birthday tomorrow. The Club has sent Brenda a card and a bouquet of flowers - such a pity we weren't able to do this on a normal Club night.   We wish Brenda many happy returns!

Val Rees - Social Secretary - 30th January 2021

Congratulations to Richard Rees and Diana Bowden for winning the Patterson Pots (a one-night pairs competition) with 65.78%.

Audrey Mount and Mary Johnson were a close second with 65.47%

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 26th January 2021

Congratulations to Lucy Pathan and her partner Dick Pathan for winning the Autumn/Winter Stanley Trophy.

They beat Simon Stokes and Alison Nichols by the smallest of margins. Lucy and Dick best 3 scores was 69 X-Imps from 69 boards, whereas Simon and Alison's 70 X-Imps were from 72 boards, giving Dick and Lucy a better average per board.

The Spring/Summer Stanley Trophy starts on 16th February. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 25th January 2021

I am sorry to have to share with you the sad news that Ian Inglis has passed away following a number of years of ill health.

Ian was a stalwart of Bradgate for many years, and was Chairman from 2008 to 2011 at a time of great growth for the Club. It was Ian who instigated the Wednesday afternoon sessions and who also promoted the concept that representing the Club in the League was an honour which should not require the payment of table money. Immediately prior to being Chairman he had served as the Club Treasurer.

Ian and his wife Pam played for Bradgate in League matches on many occasions and he was always extremely keen that our club should be represented by as many league teams as possible. He won several of the Club competitions and held the unusual distinction of having won the Davis Trophy (Gentlemen’s Pairs) six times, between 2002 and 2014, with three different partners. He also initiated the discussions that eventually led to the club purchasing a dealing machine, which was quite radical at the time.

Ian’s illness meant that he and Pam could no longer participate in Club affairs in recent years; our thoughts and sympathy are with Pam at this difficult time.

Ray Newman - Chairman - 20th December 2020

Little did we all know, a year ago, what 2020 would bring. All of our lives have been affected, some seriously, by the pandemic, and our thoughts go out to those that have lost loved ones. As we approach the New Year, there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, and we can only hope that the new vaccines herald a return to our normal lives in 2021. 

For those who have embraced it, online bridge has given us a lifeline. Whether you play at the virtual  club or just enjoy social online bridge, I’m sure you will agree that it has been a wonderful way of keeping our minds active. For those who have yet to try it, let me urge you to do so! 

Be assured the committee is making plans to ensure we can get back to Face-to-Face bridge as soon as it is safe to do so. In the meantime, I wish you all, in these difficult circumstances, a very happy, healthy and enjoyable Christmas.

Ray Newman - Chairman - 20th December 2020

Bradgate committee send you all warm wishes and hope that as lockdown eases you are able to see some of your family and friends. Our thoughts are with those of you whom we we haven't met across the bridge table over the last three months. We hope that you are all safe and well. We again extend our offer of help to any of you needing assistance with online play. On line bridge is a great stopgap, but we all miss the weekly face to face contact with members.

Margaret Butterworth - Chairman - 18th July 2020

A big thank you to the Elves

• Jim
• Julie
• Gail
• David T

for all your hard work in setting up our Virtual Bridge Club

Margaret Butterworth - Chairman - 15th July 2020

A great success! You will be pleased to know our first session went very well with 14 tables taking part. Thank you everyone who participated.

The EBU TD William Clennell did very well and in general the session went without any major incident. A couple of people were logged out but soon logged in again. The results appeared very quickly. Remember if everyone is interested in online TDing let us know. You have to be an existing EBU TD to do so.

Some useful tips:-

1. Always self-alert before any unnatural bid i.e. weak twos, transfers, 2D and 2C strong etc.
2. It makes sense to introduce yourself on ‘chat’ especially if your username does not reflect your forename.
3. On ‘chat manager’ you can save a message to introduce yourselves so you don’t have to keep repeating it.
4. On your profile box below real name in the ‘other’ box you can enter your conventions if you so wish.

The session lasted for two and a half hours which was longer than anticipated but I’m sure this will decrease as members get used to playing online.

There will be another game next Wednesday 22nd July 2pm start with 18 boards with the same TD and hopefully as many people as possible will participate.

Remember if you have problems with BBO etc. please contact one of the 4 BBO elves (Gail, David, Julie and I) who should be able to help you.

I look forward to seeing you ‘virtually’ next week

Jim Wilkinson - Virtual Bridge Co-ordinator - 9th July 2020

Further to Margaret’s Notice on the 14th June we are now pleased to inform you that we can get the ball rolling to set up the online/virtual club. We are starting on Wednesday afternoon the 15th July start 2pm with 18 boards but this can be increased in time if we want to. I am sure everyone is looking forward to playing duplicate bridge with other members of the club and we are looking for as many people as possible to register to make this a success. This has been set up with Bridge Base Online (BBO) in conjunction with the EBU so it will be officially registered with them for Master points, NGS, etc.

To register with BBO see the video link. You will need a username and password. In order to register with ourselves there is registration form to be completed on this home page and this will need to be completed and sent back to us (press send email)( see video link). So everyone join our new adventure and meet virtually again. 

Some members play online with BBO already so the existing username can be used. Use your imagination with your username!

We envisage using the EBU’s online Tournament Director (TD) who will do all the work for us on the day re TDing online and provide us with results etc. The cost to play in a Bradgate game will be 3BB$   (Equivalent £2.40 approx.).

WE CAN PROVIDE OUR OWN ONLINE TDS WHO WOULD NEED TRAINING-ANYONE INTERESTED?

We can provide a partner using our existing system with Val Rees and the Find a Partner Scheme on our website (log in needed)( see link). If you are new to online bridge we will have a buddy system – a member already experienced playing on BBO to show you the ropes. You can practice on BBO site to get acquainted with how it works.

We have contacted all club members and you may be interested to know over 70 are interested in playing online with BBO. Please have a go to start with and if it is not for you then you do not have to play on a regular basis.

Other videos for your information are listed-Buying BB$ and Getting Familiar with BBO. Others will be added onto our website as we go along.

If you have any further questions please contact your nominated committee member

I look forward to playing bridge online with you. The sooner you register and send back the registration form the sooner we will have a definite idea of numbers. Look forward to playing with you on the 15th July.

Jim Wilkinson - Virtual Club Co-ordinator - 7th July 2020
 

Congratulations to Elsie Hancock, who celebrated her 90th birthday today. The Club presented Elsie with a bouquet of flowers - such a pity we weren't able to do this on a normal Wednesday afternoon session!

Val Rees - Social Secretary - 2nd July 2020

After two and half months at home, gardening, cleaning etc. etc. you must all be ready to play bridge again.

So it gives me great pleasure to announce Bradgate Bridge Club will be resuming very soon. Obviously we can not play at the club but will be setting up on-line / virtual club, on a Wednesday afternoon starting at 2pm. Hopefully we will be up and running from the middle of July.

In the next few days, members of the committee will be contacting everyone to find out who is interested in participating. There will be help for anyone who needs it.

Keep safe, keep well.

Margaret Butterworth - Chairman - 14th June 2020

Many congratulation to Jean Smith, who will be known to the Wednesday afternoon regulars; Jean celebrated her 90th birthday on 8th May (VE Day). The Club sent her flowers and a card - such a pity we were unable to present these in person! 

Val Rees - Social Secretary - 21st May 2020

With sadness, we have to inform you that Barbara Hercock passed away last week after suffering an acute stroke.

Barbara was a long time member of the club and won several competitions. She played in the League for Bradgate for many years, and was a weekly regular in the 1980s and 90s until her regular partner Pat Riley felt unable to evening bridge.

Many years ago, Barbara presented the club with the Hercock Summer Trophy, which we play for in the weeks leading up to the August Bank Holiday.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 17th May 2020

With the Rothley Centre currently closed, the committee has had to make a decision as to what to do with the various competitions.

The Davis Gentleman's Pairs, the Robson Ladies Pairs and the Roger bird Teams of Four have been postponed. If the club reopens in the Autumn then we will attempt to reschedule these before the AGM at the end of October.

The Hercock Summer Trophy is scheduled to a best 4 out of 10 week competition, ending on 24th August. It will be reduced to whatever weeks are available, but if it has not started by the 3rd August then it will be cancelled.

The Jubilee Teams of Four is handicapped based on the results of the Hercock Summer Trophy. So if we have to cancel the Hercock Trophy, then we will also cancel the Jubilee Teams.

The Thompson Trophy will take place on 19th October, if the Rothley Centre is open, otherwise, it will be cancelled.

The Charity Pairs in aid of the Motor Neurone Society has been postponed. It will be played on the first Monday back at the Rothley Centre.

The Chicago Knockout will continue as a home-play event and will be completed. The play-by-dates have been thrown out of the window, We hope that members will play their remaining matches when Government restrictions allow. If we end up playing the final matches next year then so be it.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 17th May 2020

Harry Gordon and Steve Francis were the top scoring Bradgate Pair in the LCBA Club Championship Pairs. Despite scoring over 60% they were only third, just 1.3% behind the winners George Strang and Robert Missendon.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 6th May 2021

NOTE - THIS BEGINNERS CLASS IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

A YEAR 2 CLASS FOR IMPROVERS WILL BE HELD IN JAN - DETAILS TO FOLLOW

BRIDGE FOR BEGINNERS

Loughborough and Bradgate are running a course of lessons for beginners – the teaching team is Brian Stockdale, Gail Tillen, Ruth Johnson and Richard Rees. The lessons (10 am each Friday) start on 11th October at the Rothley Centre.

We need help in promoting the course. We have flyers which we would like to distribute in the Charnwood area. We believe the best source of likely interest will come from other sports and social clubs – bowls, golf, tennis, U3A, etc.

Would any Bradgate or Loughborough member who is a member of another sports club please take some of these flyers to put up in that club. Flyers will be available at Bradgate on a Monday and Wednesday session, and at Loughborough on a Thursday session.

We need bridge to thrive, and that means we need to find new converts – thank you in advance for your help, which is essential to this effort!

Brian Stockdale, Gail Tillen, Ruth Johnson and Richard Rees. - 25th August 2019

Jim Wilkinson's Bradgate C1 team (Jim & Ghislaine, Penny & Ray) have beaten Melton** in the final of the LCBA's Samani Plate competition.  That's the 2nd win for Jim's team in the past 2 years in this competition.  Well done to all!

** Jim's team has a history against Melton, as they beat them in 2017 en route to winning the competition in that year. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 20 September 2019

Last night, the Bradgate A team achieved an honourable draw in a pre-season friendly match against the "Bradgate Barbarians", a team comprising Bradgate members who play elsewhere in the league.  

Bradgate A
Phil Watts & Nick Daniels
Steve & Anne Wright
Peter Wells & Graham Conway
Richard Rees & Linda Stone

Bradgate Barbarians:
Brian Stockdale & Mike Ellerby
Mike Ayers & Tom Lindop
Azam Khan & John Summerhayes
Sheila Stockdale & John Wilcox **
* John, a non-member, was standing in for Harry Gordon who was unwell - we wish him a speedy recovery.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 12th September 2019

You may be interested in this article which appeared in yesterday’s Loughborough Echo.  We had a reasonable turnout for the demonstration event in the Carillon Centre today, and hope for more at the Quorn Library on Saturday.

  Loughborough Echo 11th September 

Richard Rees & Brian Stockdale - 11th September 2019

The Samani Salver saw a thrilling semi-final match between Jim Wikinson's team (Bradgate C1) and Susie Tyler's (Bradgate C2), which ended in a tie.  The C1 team won on count-back, and now face Melton in the final.

Jim has form in this competition, having won it in 2017, so we have high hopes for C1 in the final this year

Richard Rees - League Representative - 10th September 2019

The notes for Brian's seminar on Finessing can be found here:

 All About The Finesse

and the hands from Wednesday 21st August

 Hands 1 to 8

 Hands 9 to 16

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 20th August 2019

This is your chance to improve an important skill - when and how to finesse. Brian Stockdale is running a seminar on this subject.

The seminar will be available at John Storer House on Wednesday 21 August and at the Rothley Centre on Wednesday 28 August. 

The charge is £4 and this covers full course notes.  All club players will get something from this seminar.  There is no need to attend as a pair. Full details in the document.

  Finesse with finesse.pdf

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 1st August 2019

Bradgate teams have had some success in this summer's Samani competitions.  In the main Salver competition, Bradgate B1 have got through to the semi-final where they play Clarendon South.

In the Plate competition, we are guaranteed one team in the final, as Bradgate C1 plays Bradgate C2 in one of the semi-finals.

Good luck to all of them!

Richard Rees - League Representative - 31st August 2019

John Summerhayes and Azam Khan scored an impressive 73% in week 3 of the Hercock Summer Trophy.

This gets their names in the 70% Club and they get to hold the Pam Leeson trophy under another membership pair scores 70% on a Monday evening.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 1st July 2019

As you may know, Leicestershire won the Midlands Counties League in the 2018-19 season, and were presented with the Dawes Trophy at last week's LCBA AGM.

Winning the league entitled them to enter the Regional Inter-County League Teams-of-Eight competition, which is open to the champion counties of each division in England.

This competition was played yesterday (Sunday 16th June), and Leicestershire won; the team was: Duncan Happer & Ben Norton, Ian Bruce & Simon Stokes, Colin Dean & Nick Stevens and Jim Mason & Dick Pathan.

Congratulations to all for this tremendous feat!

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 17th June 2019

Congratulations to Brian Stockdale and Michael Ellerby for winning the Bradgate heat of the County Bridge Club Sim Pairs.

Simon Stokes' commentary can be found here.

The combined results from all the clubs can be found on the ECATs website. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 17th June 2019

Bradgate pairs did well in the LCBA's winter pairs league, which finished its final round last night.  24 pairs took part in 3 divisions, and 7 regular Bradgate pairs were in the field.

Mick Mahoney (partnering Ian Bruce) won Division 1. Steve & Anne Wright won Division 2 and Nick Daniels & Peter Wells were runner-up. Lucy Pathan & Anne Morris won Division 3 with Richard Rees & Diana Bowden runners-up.

For those whose who have not entered before, the league runs on one Thursday each month from January to May, played at the Rothley Centre, and the divisional structure means that it is open to players at all levels.  You might want to put it in the diary for next year.

Margaret Butterworth - Chairman - 17th May 2019

Congratulations to Michael Ellerby and Brian Stockdale for winning the Hyman Crammer competition. They were neck and neck with the Westcotes' top pair for most of the evening, pulling away to win with two good rounds at the end.

Also a well done to Paul Emberton and Mark Lansdale who walked off with the Non-Expert prize. They had a strong start and were even leading a third of the way through, before fading away near the end to finish above average and beating four "expert" pairs. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 8th May 2019

The new County Club venue at St.Oswalds (near New Parks) is now open.

They have just completed a week of free bridge at the new venue to iron out the problems of being in a new venue. All the Club sessions have moved from St. James to St. Oswolds, with the exception of Saturday evening which is staying at St. James for tax purposes.

The first LCBA event is being held there on Sunday 28th April and is the Gimson Final. Five Bradgate players are in the final and we wish them all the best.

The Grand Opening is on Saturday 11th May where EBU Chairman Gordon Rainsford will officially open the building.

On the Sunday 12th May there will be a Swiss Pairs event (at a modest £3) which is open to visitors. This starts at 2pm and will finish about 7pm with a break for tea in the middle. Details of how to enter can be found here. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 27th April 2019

What was the real story of the Robson Ladies Pairs and the Davis Gentleman's Pairs?

Was it that members playing a visitor came top on the night in both competitions, but couldn't win it as it is a members' only competition?

Or maybe it was Michael Ellerby, playing with Steve Francis, who topped the Davis event scoring over 70%. They get their name in the 70% Club for that, but Michael doesn't get the Pam Leeson Trophy as you can't win it with a visitor.

Could the story be that Sandra Middleditch helped her partner Susie Perrett to win the Robson Ladies, thus making it two trophies in a month for Susie?

Maybe it was Brian Stockdale and Steve Wright winning the Davis Gentlemen Trophy for the third year in succession (no they don't get to keep the trophy!)

Or possibly it was the Director's panic when he realised that both competitions had the same number of tables. In the past, these two competitions are played as separate events at the same venue. There are usually more ladies than gentlemen, hence a different number of tables in each event and thus one set of Howell cards would suffice. But with both events requiring a 7 table movement, we didn't have two sets OF 7-table Howell cards ... OOPS.

After a short panic, the Director came up with the plan to sit all the ladies North/South and all the gentlemen East/West and play a 2-winner Mitchell. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 27th April 2019

Congratulations to Paul Anderson and Susie Perrett for winning the Charity Pairs.

A total of £265 was raised for Myeloma UK. 

Gail Tillen - Treasurer - 27th April 2019

At this week’s committee meeting, we approved a proposal from David Betterley that we should designate one of our Wednesday afternoon sessions as a charity session, as we already do for one of our Monday nights.

The Committee has agreed to this proposal, and it will be held annually on the first available Wednesday in June – this would be 12^th June this year.  Members will be asked, if they wish, to donate an additional £2 on top of the existing table money, (more if they wish) and the club will match the amount raised by each additional donation (capped at £2 per member attending).  Donations will be voluntary.

We propose to ask Wednesday afternoon members to nominate a charity by a random draw in May each year; however because David has come forward with the proposal, we have asked him to nominate this year’s charity.

David has chosen The Normandy Memorial Trust, which is commissioning a permanent National Memorial in Northern France to commemorate those who lost their lives in the D-Day landings – see http://www.normandymemorialtrust.org/the-memorial/

It is particularly timely this year, as our June charity afternoon will be held just after the 75^th anniversary of D-Day. 

Margaret Butterworth - Chairman - 6th March 2019

Congratulations to David Mitchell and Susie Perrett, who have won the inaugural Wednesday Winter Pairs competition for the best 4 scores in December, January and February. 

Runners-up were Terry Stevenson and Gail Tillen, with John Dignan and Lucy Pathan in 3rd place. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 4th March 2019

Congratulations to Mary Johnson and  Mick Mahoney who joined the 70% Club on Monday evening.

But as visitors, they are not eligible to receive the Pam Leeson Trophy. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 26th February 2019

Wednesday afternoon players now have their own competition, called the Wednesday Winter Pairs.

This is the best four results (as a pair) during the Winter months of December, January and February. For a pair to qualify, they both must be members. The current standings can be found from the main menu on the left.

Wednesday afternoon is considered a lower standard than Monday evenings. In order to prevent the stronger Monday evening players from dominating this competition, we have excluded any player that has done well in Monday evening competitions over the past year. This should give the average Wednesday afternoon players a chance to win.

The list of excluded players can be on the current standings page at the bottom. The criteria we have employed is excluding anybody who has gained 150 ranking points in the Howard Stevens Bowl. Players earn ranking points by finishing in the top eight places of each of the Monday night competitions. The ranking points vary depending on the difficulty of the competition. 150 ranking points are what you earn if you win a non-handicapped competition.

So if have been excluded then take solace in the fact that we consider you too good! 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 5th December 2018

We are sad to report that Sue Bowyer passed away over the weekend.

Although Sue was a recent member of the Club, many of our members have played against her for decades on the County Circuit. Sue will be remembered for her cheery welcome and sparkling smile which made it a pleasure to play at her table. A truly charming and courageous lady. Our thoughts are with Paul at this time.

Julie Jones - Secretary - 31st October 2018

Congratulations for the Carrot Cake team of Penny Hodgson and Ray Newman who defeated the Ginger Cake team of Lynda Dunne and Sarah Gilbert in the final of the Chicago Knockout.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 25th October 2018

Congratulations to Joan Hope, Paula Gordon-Smith, Paul Emberton and Mark Landsdale for winning the Jubilee Teams. +63 IMPs is a big score for this competition. Looking at the analysis, both pairs had excellent results.

This is a teams competition where we pair the top pair in the summer with the bottom pair, and so on, in order to make the teams of a similar standard.

A club record of 16 teams entered. This was the maximum we could handle in a single field. We now need to have some contingency plans of how to handle the possibility of more than 16 teams in the future.

 Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 15th October 2018

Congratulations to Anne Morris and Mark Wiggins become the latest holders of the Pam Leeson Trophy with a score of 73%. This is their first entry in the 70% Club.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 2nd October 2018

Our 11th Think! teaching session will be on Thursday 13th September, 7pm at the Rothley Centre.

This is open to all club members and their friends. You don't need a partner.

Please sign up on the notice board (or email Julie Jones if you can't make it to the club), so that we know how many tables to expect.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 28th August 2018

Nick Daniels and Phil Watts, helped by their 72% score in Week 8, were the clear winners of the Hercock Summer Trophy. They finished over 3% clear of second place Peter Wells and Graham Conway.

Honourable mentions go to Azam Khan and John Summerhayes, along with Mark Wiggins and Anne Morris who finished in the top five of one of our major competitions, having been knocking on the door for the past year.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 26th August 2018

In Week 7 of the Hercock Summer Trophy, we saw the new boys Harry Gordon and Michael Ellerby score 70% to become the latest holders of the Pam Leeson Trophy.

At the start of Week 8, we presented the trophy to them. But a little over three hours later, we saw Nick Daniels and Phil Watts snatch the trophy away with a score of 72.76%.

Week 9 almost saw the Pam Leeson trophy change hands for the third week running when Teresa Daniels and David Twells scored 69.11%

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 20th August 2018

When something goes wrong at the table, the TD sometimes has to adjust the score.

When a player revokes, the TD often takes tricks away from the revoking side. (If you ruff and win it then you lose that trick. If your side wins any more tricks after the revoke then you lose one of those as well).

If a player hesitates and passes, and then their partner takes advantage, the TD will adjust the score if they gain an advantage. The TD just overrides the contract at the table and assigns what he thinks would have been the outcome had they'd not been naughty.

But what happens when the TD can't figure out what would have happened had the offence not taken place? For example, the board wasn't played due to slow play. In those cases the TD awards an average - but what does that mean?

An AVERAGE is 50% for that board.

An AVERAGE-PLUS is 60% for that board or your session average if that is better. If your session average is 56% then you will get 60% for that board. But if your session average is 65% then you will get 65% for that board.

An AVERAGE-MINUS is 40% for that board or your session average if that is worse. So if your session average was only 35% then you would only get 35% for this board.

So what do you score for boards that you sit-out? Do you get an average? The short answer is that you always get your session average. This is called a NOT-PLAYED and refers to boards that you were never scheduled to play. Not-Played is always scored as your session average. This means that in a skip-movement if you were the pair that skipped the sit-out table then you would not get an unfair advantage or disadvantage compared to the players that had to sit-out.

Steve Wright - Senior TD - 5th August 2018

Harry Gordon and Michael Ellerby, who only joined the club this year, have made it into the 70% club with a score of 73.95%

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 30th July 2018

The Scarborough Congress has been extended this year to include a Seniors Event. Brian and Shelia Stockdale qualified for the B-Final and finished mid-table. In the main Swiss Pairs event, they finished joint-top of the Leicestershire players with a creditable 36th out of 140 pairs.

Steve Wright and Jenny Grant were runners-up in the Open Pairs on the Thursday evening.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 29th July 2018

The Samani Salver and Silver Plate have now reached the semi-final stage. After a record SEVEN teams entered by Bradgate, only Julie Jones' C (Blue) 1 Team made it as far as the quarter-finals, where they were knockout out by Melton. We still have several Bradgate members playing in the semi-finals, albeit representing other clubs.

Bradgate is faring better in the Silver Plate. After Jim Wilkinson captained the C (Red) Team to win the Silver Plate last season, Penny Hodgson has taken charge and led the team to the semi-final. In the quarter-final, they knocked out Gail Tillen's B2 Team and now face County B.

County B made reached the semi-final, beating Richard Rees' A team. Richard's Team won on scratch by a mere 10 points, so any handicap advantage overturned the result in County B's favour. The price of getting promoted to division 1 means that Bradgate A has to give a head start to the teams below them in their division.

Sarah Gilbert's C (Blue) 2 team - the one with the infamous Ginger Cake - have reached the other semi-final. In their quarter-final match, they lost on scratch to County A by nearly 2500 points. But this is a handicapped competition and that's not a big enough margin for a division 1 team to win against a division 4 team. Sarah's team now face County D2, with a small handicap of just 180.

Could we have an all-Bradgate Silver Plate final? 

Steve Wright - Competition Controller - 18th July 2018

Only once this season has Lynda Dunne's ginger cake failed to produce a winning result. This week saw yet another win, with a little help from meringues, strawberries and cream, in the semi-final of the Chicago knockout.

Lynda and Sarah Gibert's match against Anne Morris and Lucy Pathan was a close affair. The scores were level after seven boards and again after seventeen. With one board to go, Lynda and Sarah had a precarious lead of 460, but were happy to be dealt the majority of the points. Twelve games called and made, including a slam, plus another five that weren't bid gave ample opportunity for either side to win.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 3rd July 2018

Paul Bowyer is running four seminars this summer on the topic of DEFENCE. They are aimed at division 2 standard and above.

They are all on Tuesdays:

• July 31st - Rothley Centre
• August 7th - Rothley Centre
• August 28th - County Club
• September 4th - County Club

The cost is £4 per seminar. If you wish to attend then please let Simon Stokes (mooses.stink@gmail.com) know as they need to know how many boards to make up.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 22nd June 2018

Many of us remember Canon Derek Goodman, who was a member of the club between 2005 and 2010, when we played in the Lounge.

His funeral will be at 2:30pm on Monday 2nd July at Leicester Cathedral.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 19th June 2018

The County Club have confirmed that the recent Sim Pairs has raised just over £100 for Rainbows Children's Hospice.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 18th June 2018

The results from Monday's Sim Pairs have now been finalised. In total, 97 pairs from 5 clubs (Ashby, County, Melton, Westcotes and Bradgate) participated, with an impressive 38 of those playing at Bradgate.

The winners were Paul and Linda Loveday from Westcotes with 66%.

Our top pair was David Twells and Teresa Daniels, who were fourth with 63%.

Malcolm and Christine Jones were seventh, and Paula Gordon-Smith and Joan Hope just sneaked into the top ten.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 11th June 2018

Simon Stokes has provided a Commentary of the Hands for this year's County Club organised Sim Pairs.

The profits from the £1 entry fee will go to Rainbows Children's Hospice.

The overall results from the participating clubs can be found on Ecat's Website. Please note that Bradgate appears twice in the list of clubs, once for each section.

STOP PRESS: We have a problem with uploading the results to Ecats. We uploaded Section A (Steve's section) and then Section B (Chris' section). But it appears that when we uploaded Section B it replaced the Section A results rather than appending to them. Currently waiting for Ecats to get back to us. - FIXED (5th June)

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 4th June 2018

A warm welcome back to Tom Lindop, who joined us for the Roger Bird with his partner Lucy Pathan on Monday evening.

And to Jim Wilkinson who played last Wednesday afternoon with Chris Allen, after many weeks away. Hopefully we will be welcoming him back to Monday evenings very soon.

Margaret Butterworth - Chairman - 22nd May 2018

I am sure you will all be very pleased to hear that Bradgate Bridge Club has successfully achieved Charitable Status and has been entered onto the Register of Charities with the Registered Charity Number 1178398.

A big thank you goes to Richard Rees for getting the ball rolling when he did. We expected it to take a few months, not just a few weeks, so that's a big plus. 

Margaret Butterworth - Chairman - 22nd May 2018

Congratulations to Richard Rees, Diana Bowden, Judith Mitton and Christine Leader for winning the Roger Bird Teams on Monday.

There is a problem with the display of the results as the X-Imps breakdown is missing a lot of names and the Ranking is missing the breakdown of the individual match results. This has been reported to BridgeWebs. —FIXED (24th May)

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 22nd May 2018

Congratulations to Glad Skinner, who celebrated her 90^th birthday yesterday.

She was presented with a bouquet by the director of this afternoon’s session, Richard Rees, accompanied by a rousing chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ from the assembled company.  She is living proof that bridge is not only good for the brain, but also for general well-being!

Margaret Butterworth – Chairman – 2nd May 2018

Congratulations to Linda Stone, playing with Irene Krantz, for winning the Olga Cup. This is the LCBA's Ladies Pairs.

Gail Tillen and Pauline Dignan were runners-up. Sue Bowyer, playing with Joan Gibson were third.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 2nd May 2018

The 70% Club is a bit like waiting for a bus - you wait ages and two come along together.

It took nearly 7 months for someone to score 70%. Then two weeks after Peter and Graham made their inaugural entry, Sue and Paul Bowyer also score 70%.

Unfortunately for Sue, she won't be presented with the Pam Leeson Trophy as you both have to be club members. Ringers are not allowed, even if they are your husband.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 1st May 2018

Fresh from winning the Julia Mills Trophy at Rugby Bridge Club on Sunday, Steve and Anne Wright won the Davis Gentlemen's Pairs and Robson Ladies Pairs.

Steve and Brian Stockdale successfully defended their Gentlemen's title with 65%.

Anne and Linda Stone's win was a lot closer. They were in second place when they had finished. But a bad final board by their nearest rivals allowed then to sneak into first place.

Margaret Butterworth - Chairman - 23rd April 2018

Congratulations to Richard Rees & Diana Bowden, Phil Watts & Nick Daniels, Val Rees & Pauline Dignan – their squad has won the Leicestershire Cup, one of the LCBA's premier teams competitions.

This appears from the records to be the first time that a Bradgate team has won this competition in its 55-year history. - see https://www.bridgewebs.com/leicestershire/Honours_LeicestershireCup.pdf

Margaret Butterworth – Chairman – 21 April 2018

Congratulations to Peter Wells and Graham Conway, who made their debut in the 70% Club on Monday.

Although happy to become members, Graham mused that it was "a week too early" as they had their eyes on Monday's Davis Gentleman's Pairs.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 21st April 2018

Bradgate B, already guaranteed 2nd place in Div 3, had an outside chance of winning the Division if the result of a delayed match (Leics Univ v Grantham B) was a heavy win for Grantham.  

That match was played last night and the outsider romped home, as Grantham B beat Univ 10-2. This gives the Div 3 Championship to Bradgate B by 82 points to 80, with Univ in 2nd place.

Congratulations to Pauline Dignan and her B Team squad on a 2nd Championship in a row (they won Div 4 at a canter last season).  

Richard Rees - League Rep - 18th April 2018

In their final league match last night, Bradgate A clinched promotion to Division 1 by the narrowest of margins, finishing in 2nd place in Division 2 with 87 points to Grantham A's 86.

Bradgate B had a bye, so their fate in Division 3 was in the hands of other teams, but the results went in their favour and they will definitely finish in the top 2 - there is one postponed match in that Division which will decide whether they finish 1st or 2nd.

We have yet to hear officially whether Bradgate C Red finished top or 2nd in Division 4, but they will definitely be in one of those two spots.  

So - three promotions for three of our four teams - an unprecedented achievement.  We will have a Bradgate team in each Division next season, and one in Division 1 for the first time this millennium!  My thanks to the 50+ members who played in our various teams in this dramatic season.

Richard Rees - League Rep - 12th April 2018

As promised, here is the quiz from the 50th Anniversary Meal, with and without answers:

50th quiz without answers

50th quiz with answers

Val Rees - Social Secretary - 28th March 2018

On Monday 26th March, the Charity Pairs event raised £355 for Mind. This charity was chosen by Jim Wilkinson.

After the handicaps were applied, the winners were Cathy Moloney and Sue Howard, with the runners-up being Michael and Julie Jones. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 27th March 2018

Hold the champagne!  The tie-break rules are more complex than I had thought, for an unprecedented three-way tie, and the LCBA is reviewing the position.  Watch this space.

Richard Rees - League Rep - 22 March 2018

Bradgate C Red have won Division 4!.  After tonight's results, C Red, Loughborough B and Ashby C all finished the season tied on 66 points.  The tie-break rules put C Red top of those three, with Loughborough B 2nd and Ashby C 3rd.

This still needs official confirmation from the LCBA League Secretary.

Well done to Don Walker and his team, and to Jim Wilkinson for his Captaincy in the early matches.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 21st March 2018

In last night's rearranged Div 4 match, Bradgate C Red (ably led by Don Walker in Jim's continuing absence) drew 6-6 with Ashby C. 

This leads to a nail-biting final round next week; in an extraordinary finale, any one of five teams can win the Division.  With one match to go, Ashby C lead with 59 VP's, Loughborough B and Bradgate C Red are tied 2nd on 58, and Glenfield B and County D are still in contention with 53 and 52.  (My spreadsheet constructs a scenario where Glenfield and County finish joint top, with Bradgate C Red, Loughborough and County all equal 3rd one point behind!)

The final round sees Ashby away at County, Loughborough away at Glenfield, and Bradgate C Red meet their old rivals Bradgate C Blue.

The tie-break position if places are equal after the final round is that Bradgate C Red would lose out to Loughborough (with a worse head-to-head record in the matches between them), but would finish ahead of Ashby, as Bradgate C Red 'won' their two 6-6 drawn matches - finishing a nose ahead last night may turn out to be crucial.   If it came to it, they would lose out to Glenfield on a tie-break but beat County. 

Richard Rees - League Representative - 15th March 2018

On Tuesday night, Penny Hodgson's team (Penny, Ray Newman, Andy Satterthwaite and Lesley Chadwick)  lost in the semi-final of tLeicestershireire Plate to a strong Div 1 Blaby team - all good experience to play at that level.

In the Leicestershire Cup, Richard Rees' team (Richard, Diana Bowden, Phil Watts, Nick Daniels, Pauline Dignan, Val Rees) will meet John Thomson's team in the final.  John Thomson's team last night defied the bookies by beating Paul Bowyer's team in their semi.

No Bradgate team has ever won the competition in the 55 years since it was founded by the Leicestershire Evening Mail in 1962.  Fingers crossed!  The final is due to be played by May 11th - no date is set yet.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 15th March 2018

I have just heard from Terry Stevenson that his wife, Kath, passed away earlier this week.

Kath had been ill for a number of years and had been cared for by Terry.  Before her illness, she was a stalwart of Bradgate Bridge Club and a strong player.  She partnered Terry when he was A Team Captain back in the '90's through until the 2009/10 season.  Playing together they won most of the Trophies the Club has to offer, including one notable season in 1992-93 when they won both the Mens' and Ladies' Pairs on the same evening with their respective partners.

Kath will be much missed by those members who knew her.  The funeral is on 16th March at 4 pm at Gilroes Cemetery, and afterwards at Kirby Muxloe Golf Club.

Our thoughts are with Terry and the family, and we hope to be welcoming Terry back to Bradgate in due course.

Richard Rees - Past-Chairman - 3rd March 2018

I attach a letter to members (below) setting out our current position with the Rothley Centre regarding room hire from 1st April. 

This includes a note prepared by Richard Rees on applying for charitable status; I would urge all members to read this before the Special General Meeting on 19th March and contact Richard for any further information.

Charitable Status - Key Information.docx

Margaret Butterworth - Chairman - 28th February 2018

At last night’s committee meeting, we discussed a revised proposal for room hire charges from The Rothley Centre, as they have reconsidered their proposed rates following our appeal.  Their revised proposal was to reduce the new charge for the Templar Room from £120 to £100 (we pay £77 at present) and to cancel the proposed room set-up fees of £20 (Monday night) and £10 (Wednesday afternoon).  The increased rate in the Lounge on a Wednesday afternoon will remain at £36 (from £19 at present).

This revised proposal will still increase our room hire charge by over £2,000 above their current level of £5,200.

We have told the Rothley Centre that these increased rates would be uneconomic for the Club in the long term, but that in the short term we would accept the increase, with no change in table money, while we considered applying for charitable status.  They have confirmed that registered charities will benefit from discounted room hire rates, which would be a little different to the rates we pay at the moment.

We will be calling a Special General Meeting of members in March to consider a proposal to register the Club as a charity; notice of this meeting will go to all members shortly.

Margaret Butterworth – Chairman – 23 February 2018

There were good wins for both of the Bradgate teams who played this evening. 

Bradgate A won 9-3 away at Golf, and Bradgate B did even better with a 12-0 win away against Ashby B.  This keeps the B Team well on top of Division 3; the A-Team stay 2nd in Division 2 but are tip-toeing closer to the leaders, Westcotes A, who they meet next.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 21st February 2018

Two teams from Bradgate competed in the Wilde Cup at County Club last Wednesday, one led by Julie Jones (Michael & Julie Jones, Mark Lansdale & Paul Emberton) and the other by Andy Satterthwaite (Andy Satterthwaite & Lesley Chadwick, Elsie Hancock & Sarah Gilbert). 

Congratulations to Julie’s team; although they did not win the Cup itself, they won the prize for “best team with no members ranked above County Master level”.

The week before, in the Leicestershire Cup, Richard Rees’ team (Richard & Val Rees, Phil Watts & Nick Daniels) beat a strong team from County Club and is now through to the final. 

We await the result of Penny Hodgson’s semi-final match in the Leicestershire Plate – it would be good to have teams of Bradgate members in both finals!

Steve Wright – Tournament Secretary – 19th February 2018

Good wins for three of our teams tonight, and a good result for the fourth even though their match was postponed:

 - the A Team won 7-5 at Grantham (avenging the 12-0 drubbing they gave us at the start of the season) which pulls us further ahead of them in 2nd place in Div 2;

 - the B Team beat Westcotes B 8-4  to improve their position at the top of Division 3;

 - the C Blue Team had their biggest win of the season (so far), beating Glenfield 9-3;

 - and the C Red Team moved to the top of Div 4 even though their match was postponed, as their close rivals Loughborough B lost 10-2 and slipped to 2nd place.

We have an exciting run-in to the end of the season in store! 

Richard Rees - League Representative - 7th February 2018

I attach a letter which I have today written to the Rothley Centre relating to the proposed new room hire charges from 1 April.  I will let you know how we get on with our appeal.

Margaret Butterworth – Chairman – 7th February 2018

Some of you will have heard the rumours that the Rothley Centre plan a very substantial increase in our room hire charges for Monday and Wednesday sessions.  We had a Committee meeting last night to discuss the issue. 

Please rest assured that:
1              We will find a solution

2              We will ensure that members are fully involved, either through a web survey or an EGM, or both, in this solution.

Margaret Butterworth – Chairman – 23rd January 2017

Lucy Pathan and Tom Lindop weren't the only other Bradgate players in action last week in the Leicestershire Cup. Anne and Steve Wright, playing with Jenny Grant and Bharat Thakrar were comfortably beaten by Sue Bowyer's team (Paul Bowyer, Simon Stokes, Jim Mason and Duncan Happer actually played).

Penny Hodgson has taken advantage of the rules that allow non-expert teams to directly enter the Leicestershire Plate. This is contested by the teams that are knocked out of the Leicestershire Cup in the first round. They will face Judy Hill's team. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 8th January 2018

Bradgate teams have been doing well in the first half of the 2017/18 season in the Leicestershire leagues.

The A Team, after a shaky start, are now lying 2nd in Division 2 behind Westcotes A.

The B Team, newly promoted to Division 3, started the season with no losses in their first 5 matches, and even after a heavy defeat in their last match of the half, are still lying 3rd in the Division behind Leicester University and Blaby B. 

The two C teams are doing well in Division 4 - C Red are in 2nd place, just behind Loughborough B (who they play in their next match); their toughest match in the first half was the local derby against C Blue, who beat them.  C Blue are sitting only 3 points off 3rd place in a very tightly contested Division.

Good luck to all Bradgate teams for the 2nd half of the season.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 8th January 2018

On Thursday 4 January, Rees beat Ayers by 570 points to go through to the semi-final of the Leicestershire Cup, the LCBA’s  aggregate teams of four competition.  Richard Rees’ team (Diana Bowden, Phil Watts,  Nick Daniels, Val Rees and Pauline Dignan) played a steady game, overcoming Tom Lindop, Duncan Jones & Lucy and Dick Pathan.  

Best wishes for the semi-final when Rees will play Halford

Lucy Pathan - 4th January 2018

Chairman David Twells and his partner David Potter must really love playing teams.

Having been part of Glenfield's Samani Salver winning team (denying Bradgate A in the final), they teamed up with Jackie Highfield and Eleanor Freshwater to win the Jubilee Trophy with a comfortable 11 IMP margin.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary -18th September 2017

The Pam Leeson Trophy is awarded to the lastest pair to achieve 70% on a club night. They get to keep the trophy until another pair scores 70%.

On Monday, we finally got around to presenting Linda Stone and Anne Wright with the Pam Leeson Trophy for their 70% in the County Club organised Sim Pairs on 12th June. (Linda doesn't play at the club all that often and we forgot to bring the trophy last time!).

And having presented it, Linda and Anne then immediately scored another 70%!

This is the third time this year that Anne has scored 70%. 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 11th September 2017

Many congratulations to Jim Wilkinson's team on winning the final of the Samani Plate last night by more than 2,300 points.  Jim, Penny, Lesley and Chris all played with positivity, determination and confidence to defeat my team, County A, captained by Garry Whiteman.  They thoroughly deserved their win, making very good decisions on some key boards.  For example, Jim and Chris bid a good slam against us that we missed.  Then Penny and Lesley defeated  Mike Ayers and Tom Lindop's 3NT, with Jim and Chris making 4Cx in the other room.  That's 710, by the way, and plus 100 makes 810.  Ouch!

Lucy Pathan - 25th August 2017

Chairman David Twells with his partner David Potter (also a Bradgate member), Bharat Thakrar and Peter Neville won the Samani Salver for Glenfield after beating Richard Rees' Bradgate A by the slender margin of 40 points in the final.

Me thinks there were many sleepless night thinking of overtricks that could have swung the match in Bradgate's favour.

...over to Jim Wilkinson now as his Bradgate C (Red) team contest the final of the Silver Plate  Will Lucy Pathan, another Bradgate member playing for County A this time, spoil that party? 

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 21st August 2017

Well done to Pauline Dignan and all the members of Bradgate B; in winning their final league match of the season last night they secured the 4th Division Championship ahead of Ashby B.  The final league tables are not yet available as the EBU website is undergoing repair.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 23rd March 2017

Now we are past half-way in the league season, an update on Bradgate's 4 teams in the Leicestershire league is overdue.

The A Team is lying comfortably mid-table in Division 2, where the battle for the second promotion spot is very tight and will go down to the wire.  A visit to Division 1 would be, for Bradgate, the first since Howard Stevens led the team in the 1990's.  It's probably a step too far for us this season, but we'll give it our best shot.

Pauline's B Team is leading Division 4 well, after a win last night away at their main rivals Ashby B.  Behind those two, there is little to separate the next 4 teams in that Division; these include Bradgate C Blue (captained by Andy Satterthwaite with active support from his VC Julie Jones) and Jim Wilkinson's Bradgate C Red team.  Red and Blue are closely matched, evidenced by the results when they have met (both 6-6 draws).  C Blue (the new team) have their noses in front in the league table at the moment, but there are still 3 matches to go.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 19th January 2017

After sorting out the handicap and various scoring mistakes, we can now say...

...Congratulations to Halina Hughes and David Mitchell for winning the Thompson Trophy.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 26th October 2016

The A Team and C Team have both lost their Samani matches, against Hinckley and Clarendon respectively, leaving the B Team as our only representatives.  They will know later this week who they will be meeting, in the semi-finals of the main competition.- either Clarendon North or Blaby A - good luck whichever they face.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 11th July 2016

Congratulations to the C Team, who won their Samani match v Grantham B and now play Clarendon South in the quarter-final, and to the B Team, who beat a strong Ashby A team last night and who now face Clarendon North or Blaby A in the semis.  

The A Team are still in the Plate competition, with a quarter-final match v Hinckley yet to be arranged.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 23rd June 2016

The Sims Pairs (13th June), organised by the County Club and involving Bradgate, Westcotes, Grantham and Melton was won by Carol Fisher and Martin Mellor from Grantham. Geoff Foldys and Larry-Stuart-Jones from Melton were runners-up.

Although Bradgate pairs did not place in the prize money, they did make up six out of the top ten pairs and was the largest heat over 30% of the players.

Dianne Conway and Teresa Daniels were top on the club results. However once all the results were merged from the other four clubs, Graham Conway and Peter Wells sneaked it by a smidgeon. Their final score was 1347.37 matchpoints compared with the ladies 1347.26. Given that you get two matchpoints for every pair you get a better score than, and one matchpoint you get the same score as, it couldn't have been much closer. 

The overall results can be found on the Ecats website

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 23rd June 2016

There were mixed fortunes for Bradgate teams in the first round of the Samani Salver, the handicapped summer knock-out competition.  

The A team (Richard Rees, Diana Bowden, Nick & Teresa Daniels) were giving Golf a handicap of 400; Bradgate fell behind early on, and although we clawed back a big deficit in the final quarter it was too little, too late, and we lost narrowly by 140.  

The B team (Val Rees, Pauline Dignan, Susie Tyler, Gilly Walton)  were playing Grantham A, who had finished the league season top of Division 2 and so were giving us a big handicap.  However, the B team were on top form and won handsomely without needing to draw on their handicap.  They will meet the winners of Leicester University and Ashby A in the next round.

Jim Wilkinson's C team have not yet played their first round match, against Grantham B - this is to be played on 9 June.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 29th May 2016

Congratulations to Phil Watts & Nick Daniels, who finished 4th in the Hyman Crammer Trophy (the LCBA competition for top pairs from each club around the County).  Also to Val Rees & Pauline Dignan, who entered as Bradgate's 2nd pair (larger clubs are entitled to enter two pairs) who finished just below half-way.

Bradgate has also entered a team from each of the A, B and C teams in the Samani Salver (summer knock-out competition for teams of 4). Their progress can be followed by using the Samani Salver menu option on the left.

Richard Rees - League Representative - 9th May 2016

The final matches of the league season were played last night.  Bradgate A (who were already safe from the twin threats of promotion and relegation!) were beaten 4-8 by Ashby A, which was enough to save Ashby from relegation and keep Bradgate A in 4th place.

In Division 3, Bradgate B had a good result against Westcotes B (runaway leaders in the Division, with a string of big wins to their name) to lose by only 5-7, but unfortunately their relegation rivals County D won their match against Leicester University, and that was enough to push Bradgate B down to Div 4 next season.

The Division 4 season had finished in the previous round of matches, and the C Team finished in a creditable mid-table slot; they are ready for the battles with the B team next season!

Richard Rees - League Representative - 14th April 2016

70% Club has a new member

Congratulations to Steve & Anne, who are the new holders of the Leeson Trophy.  Last night, in a full 24-board movement and facing a field of 16 tables, they scored 76.81% - an astonishing feat.  That is the highest score for the past 10 years (since Gary & Tracy with 76.90% in 2007) and the 2^nd highest since records began back in 2004.

They take the Trophy from Brian & Sheila Stockdale, who have held it since November 2015 Steve & Anne will hold it until another pair achieves more than 70% on a Monday Club night.

David Twells – Chairman - 4th April 2017

The A Team had a good 7-5 win against Blaby A last night, which cements our position in the middle of Division 2 and removes any threat of relegation in our final match of the season against Ashby A.

The C Team had a winning 6-6 draw against Glenfield B, their second winning draw against them this season; that is a good result against a strong promotion candidate. Last night was the final match of the season for the C Team, who finished 4th out of 7 in Div 4. They had an excellent finish to the season, but two early 12-0 defeats left them with too much to do to be promotion contenders this year - next year. perhaps!

Richard Rees - League Representative - 24th March 2016

TEAM JONES SUFFER SHOCK HOME DEFEAT

Team Jones was soundly beaten by Lesley Chadwick and Penny Hodgson last night, 2830 points to 4170.

Despite taking an early lead, TJ was stunned just before half-time by a 1NT* -3 followed by the visitors making 4H*.

Efforts at half-time by the home team to bribe the visitors with coffee, cake and wine failed miserably and despite the home side chipping away at the lead early in the second half, the visitors finished strongly to emerge as clear winners.

A good time was had by all.

Michael Jones - 26th Feb 2016

Congratulations to Steve Wright, who is one of 10 directors nationally who achieved a promotion to County Director level at the recent EBU County Directors weekend.  

David Twells - Chairman (30th September 2017)

Congratulations to Lucy Pathan and Garry Whiteman who joined the 70% Club tonight with 74%.

Unfortunately Lucy doesn't get the Pam Leeson Trophy as you have to play with a member and not a "ringer".

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary (2nd October 2017)

At the AGM it was agreed to remove the separate membersip category of Wednesday Member and just have a single category of Full Member for all members.

This means the restriction of Wednesday members paying visitor fees if they play on a Monday evening is no longer applicable.

The membership fiee for full members remains at £5 for the year and is now due.

Table money for Wednesday sessions will remain at £2 for the forseeable future.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 5th November 2017

Richard Rees was unanamously awarded Honorary Life Member of Bradgate Bridge Club.

Richard has worked tirelessly over many years to the betterment of the club. He has been a key figure behind Wednesday afternonn bridge, the introduction of Bridgemates and Duplimate dealing machine and the ongoing expansion of the league teams. Over the years he has been Chairman and Past Chairman, and continues to be the A-Team Captain and LCBA League Representative.

Honary Life Membership is not a lifetime achievement award. It is just a recognition of what has been done so far during their membership. We are all sure that Richard has more to contribute to this club.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 5th November 2017

David Twells has compeleted his three years as Chairman and becomes Past-Chairman. David hoped to have a quiet three years as Chairman, but under his watch we have moved into the big room, introduced Bridgemates and the Duplicate Dealing machine and witnessed a massive expansion of the Wednesday afternoon sessions.

David is succeeded by Margaret Butterworth. Her first year will oversee our Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Richard Rees ceases to be the Past-Chairman, but remains on the committee in an ex-officio capactity as A-Team Captain and LCBA League Representative.

Diana Bowden stepped down as Secretary after nine years. Julie Jones will now take up the reins.

Val Rees, our Social Secretary and Peter Wells have agreed to continue for a further three years.

The remaining members of the committee are the Treasuer, Gail Tillen, the Tournament Secretary, Steve Wright and Jim Wilkinson.

Steve Wright - Tournament Secretary - 5th November 2017

Welcome to our new member John Summerhayes, who partners Azam Khan on Monday evenings.

Julie Jones - Secretary - 28th November 2017

The dates for Wednesday afternoons through the summer are now on the calendar page, together with the directors for those days.  We will be playing twice a month from April till September, resuming weekly sessions in October.  Please arrive by 1.30 so that the movement can be set.

17 January 2017 - Richard Rees

As Bradgate A (Div 2) and County A (Div 1) both had a bye in the League schedule on 2 May, County A suggested a friendly match, which was played at the Rothley Centre. 

History does not record when these two teams last played each other in the league, but it will have been over 20 years ago back in the 1990's, under Howard Stevens' captaincy; that was the last time Bradgate hit the dizzy heights of Division 1 in the Leicestershire Leagues.  However, with Bradgate firmly cemented in mid-table in Div 2 this season, and County A near the bottom of Div 1, this may have just been a rehearsal for a 'live' match next season.

David & Julie Lashley were unavailable, so June Hummel and Teresa Daniels bravely volunteered to step into the lions den, to join the usual team of Richard & Diana, Phil & Nick and Peter & Graham.

When the half-time scores emerged, the only players more shocked than the Bradgate team were those from County A - Bradgate were leading 10-2!  We lost ground in the second half, but hung on to record a famous 8-4 victory - Howard would have been proud! 

14 Mar 2016 (Richard Rees)

Thank you to everyone who gave to the Children In Need appeal on Monday 13th November.

We raised £120

Gail Tillen - Treasurer - 14th November 2017

The Club has, as in previous years, matched members’ additional table money at last Monday’s Charity Evening. The funds raised on the evening, together with voluntary donations, has raised £300 for this year’s nominated charity.   I was honoured to be asked to nominate the charity this year, which is the Peter Le Marchant Trust.

The Peter Le Marchant Trust is a not-for-profit organisation based in Loughborough.  It has, for over 35 years, provided outings and holidays on our local waterways for people of all ages with any kind of disability or serious illness.  They have three boats which are crewed by volunteers, all of whom have to be trained to a required standard; the "skippers" are assessed by the Marine & Coastguard Agency.  Two of the boats are licenced to carry up to 26 passengers and over the years many groups of passengers return year after year to enjoy the experience. Last year the trust carried 4,000 passengers; the youngest was five years old, and the oldest one hundred and eight!! 

The trust depends on donations to carry out its work, particularly for the funding of boat maintenance and volunteer training, and I am delighted that we have been able to do our bit to help them this year.

24 March 2016 (Laurie Tillen, Treasurer)

As Wednesday afternoons have proved so popular, we are increasing the number of times we will play.  At the moment, we play weekly between 1 October and 31 March and twice a month the rest of the year.  With immediate effect, we will now have Wednesday sessions every week for 9 months of the year, from 1 September to 31 May; we will continue with sessions twice a month in June, July and August.

For this year’s calendar, that means extra sessions on 19^th April, 3^rd and 17^th May, 13^th and 27^th September.  [No session on 5^th April or 31st May, as the room is unavailable].   These new dates will be put on the website and club noticeboard.

My thanks to our panel of Wednesday directors (Gail Tillen, Sue Tyler, Stuart MacDonald and Richard Rees) whose commitment makes these additional sessions possible.

David Twells  -  Chairman   (23 February 2017)

Congratulations to Diana Bowden and Val Rees, who finished runners-up with 63.2% in the Olga Cup, the county-wide ladies pairs competition.  That is the best result by a Bradgate pair for many years in this competition.

29 May 2016 - David Twells, Chairman

Congratulations to David Twells & Joan Hope (N/S) and Diana Clarke & Rod Yalden (E/W), who were the winners of the Charity Cup on Monday night.  The full handicapped results are on the left hand of the home page under 'Charity Night'.

We raised £340 for LOROS on the evening.  This year's charity was chosen by Gail Tillen in recognition of the support that LOROS had provided to Laurie and her last year.

Steve Wright - Senior Tournament Director (23 March 2017)

Brian Stockdale has kindly agreed to conduct a seminar entitled 'Aces are for killing Kings - or are they? Making the most of your high cards'.

The seminar is open to all members both experienced and inexperienced, but will be particularly relevant to those who are interested in playing in the teams either this year or in future years.

The date is Wednesday 14th September -   7.00 pm. for a 7.15 start. £3 to cover the cost of the room hire and tea and coffee.

Brian will need to know the numbers in order to make up the boards, so please let me know if you wish to attend - preferably as soon as possible, but definitely by Monday 12th September.

12 August 2016 - Diana Bowden - Secretary