CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME

On behalf of Bude Bridge Club, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all new and potential new members.

You may be considering learning bridge from scratch or perhaps have played rubber bridge socially in the past and are looking to develop your game. Alternatively, it may be that you have recently moved into the Bude area.

We aim to cater for players of all abilities, from absolute beginners through to more experienced players. We run a partner finding service.

In this section of the website, we have collated information about what, when and where the club provides in the way of duplicate bridge and its tuition.

Also included (see below) is a letter from one of our newer members, sharing her experience on joining the club a year or so ago.

We look forward to talking with you about how best to meet your requirements and hopefully seeing you at the club.

Chairman

A NEW MEMBER’S EXPERIENCE

I moved to Bude from Hampshire 2015.  Having learned at my mother’s knee and played rubber bridge socially all my life I was keen to find new partners in retirement to play with in my new home, when I saw outside the Parkhouse Centre a notice advertising friendly duplicate bridge on a Wednesday afternoon.  Friendly duplicate?  Impossible!  Oxymoron!!   But in fact it describes exactly what I found at the Parkhouse the following Wednesday. 

I turned up with half an hour to spare, not really expecting to play that day.  I was welcomed by a very pleasant lady called Ann (who came from my home town) and she immediately put me in touch with another newcomer who didn’t have a partner, so we were set for the afternoon.  The majority of the members I have met were not originally from Bude, which is reassuring when you first join a club in a place you haven’t lived in for ever. 

I’m not the kind of person to remember the details of the hands but I must have done something stupid at some point - however no-one said anything harsh or critical!   Everybody was really friendly, I would say of all levels of expertise, and duplicate proved to be no problem at all… my top tip is simply to let someone else be North since North does the scoring!

The Wednesday afternoon sessions are particularly relaxed and friendly and the club also meets on a Tuesday and Friday evening for those who feel a week is just too long to wait, and though generally thought to be less light-hearted these evening sessions are very good for people who want to improve by picking up tips as they play.  The competition is certainly taken seriously, but the personnel are broadly the same and the members are almost invariably pleasant and welcoming.  There is tea, coffee, chocolate biscuits and an opportunity to chat at half time.  And Ann will always try to find you a partner if you are coming alone!

Lindsey Sandilands