A Short History of Kenilworth Bridge Club.

In 1971 an advert in the Kenilworth Advertiser attracted about 35 people to a meeting to discuss the possibility of forming a Bridge Club. Later that year the club opened in the Old Folk’s Home in Southbank Road (now demolished) with Myra Evens as its first Chairman and about 50 members playing on Friday evenings and Wednesday afternoons.

As the club expanded its membership and sessions it needed to find new premises and in 1990 it reached agreement with the Town Council to extend the Old Folk’s Club but opposition to the suggestion meant that the plans fell through and the Club examined a large number of other possible sites for expansion.

By 1991 it was clear that some kind of arrangement with the Cricket Club was the favourite option – plenty of parking space and room for expansion – and after much negotiation the Bridge Club agreed to fund a new building to house premises on the ground floor exclusively for the Bridge Club. The Kenilworth Bridge Club Limited, a company limited by guarantee, was formed and the company then entered into a 99 yearlease with the Cricket Club. The new Clubhouse was officially opened on Sunday 10th October 1993. 

Full Membership was confined to those who were competent Duplicate Bridge players and over the next few years the club encouraged a wider level of participation in some of its sessions in order to encourage a growth in membership. An Associate Membership category was introduced . ‘Associates’ were members who played regularly on Monday Evenings and were expected at some stage to become skilled enough to apply for Full Membership.

In 2009 the club decided to become an affiliated member of the English Bridge Union, having initially decided against it.

By 2010 the number of Associate members and Visitors who were playing regularly every week exceeded the number of Full Members but although they contributed to club income they could not play in club competitions or take any part in running the club.

This situation was addressed at the AGM in 2011 when the titles Full and Associate were abandoned and players became Members. However, a distinction continued to be drawn in playing terms as to who was competent enough to play in club competitions.

In 2013 the building was extended to add the O’Nions room, new ladies toilets and an office.

Gradually, over the years, all the remaining restrictions on Full and Associate members were removed and membership was offered to a wide range of playing abilities. As a result in 2016 when the EBU published their list of the ten most popular bridge clubs in England Kenilworth Bridge Club was 3rd.

In 2020 Covid struck and over the following two years the club was forced to close for protracted periods. In club sessions were replaced by on-line sessions. When we were allowed to open in club we had to comply with all the bewilderingly complex Covid restrictions. Happily the club is now fully open. We are steadily rebuilding our membership base and reinstating the sessions in club whilst continuing to offer popular on-line sessions.

We look forward to the next 50 years.

Our thanks to Walter Hogarth for researching and putting together this brief history. It is hoped that we will be able publish the detailed and illustrated history in the near future.