We are sad to report the recent death of Peter Harvey following a surgical procedure.

He had not played any bridge since the covid outbreak, but from the late 70s for a period of almost 40 years he was a key part of the team which dominated Leicestershire bridge. As a player he was both a very good declarer and a careful and accurate defender. At the table he was always unflappable and courteous, both to partner and opponents.

He formed a strong partnership with Ric Wilde in the 1970s and then, playing mostly with Paul Bowyer alongside Jim Mason and Tony Odams, he won virtually all of the county events multiple times. The teams-of-four Leicestershire Cup was a particular favourite, winning it more than 10 years in succession but the prestigious Josephs Bowl was not far behind. He also represented the county with distinction in the Dawes trophy throughout that time playing mostly with Nick Stevens.

His successes extended to national level where he won both the Tollemache Cup and Pachabo Bowl as part of Leicestershire teams and he also achieved distinction by winning the National Pairs and the Life Masters Pairs, on both occasions in partnership with Paul Bowyer.

Away from bridge he was very much a family man. He ran the family shoemaking business for many years before selling up and changing direction. He then had a few years working as a VAT inspector before retiring. For many years Peter enjoyed watching Leicester Tigers rugby alongside Tony Odams and Paul Bowyer; afterwards he took up and enjoyed golf, although, by his own admission, he was never very good. He also enjoyed travel and for a number of years had a holiday home in Florida.

He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

Charu Shah, along with her husband, Sobhag, had been members of Grantham Bridge Club for over 20 years when they moved to England from Kenya. When she first moved here, she had to retrain as a GP, which involved weekly travel to Eastbourne, but she still managed to play the game that she loved so much. They were both excellent bridge players and won virtually every trophy that the Club had to give.

Many of you will know them as your opponents as they were regular Team Members of Grantham A. They contributed to the success of the team in both the LCBA First and Second divisions. Charu, since Sobhag’s death, continued to play Bridge in the Teams of 4 League and also supported many LCBA events.

Simon loved to play games of any sort and, as a young boy, he first learned to play bridge with his mother. Simon joined Melton Mowbray Upper School when he moved to Frisby on the Wreake in the 1970s with his mother and older sister Paula Gordon Smith (also a keen bridge player). He was a neighbour and school friend of Joan Gibson. He partnered Sarah Scarborough (then Lomax). He was a fan of Pink Floyd and went to Sheffield University where he played a lot of bridge.

He married Jo and had a daughter Gabriella who he loved dearly.

The love of bridge stayed with him for well over fifty years. He attended lots of Congresses with Jean Whiteman and Marjorie Gilbertson, also from Leicestershire. He attained the accolade of Grand Master; one of the few in Leicestershire. He was one of Leicestershire’s top players, winning at one time or other most of its pairs and teams competitions, some more than once. He was a longstanding member of the Clarendon league team, who are regular winners of the top division. In addition he represented Leicestershire for many years in division 1 of the Midlands Counties League. Here his finest hour was in 2019 when his team won that division’s Dawes Trophy and went on to defeat the other regional champions in the National Inter-Counties League.

Simon had a reputation for being a slow and thoughtful player, but also won the first County Bridge Club Speedball competition! His teammates at Clarendon have referred to his careful handling of the cards and his embrace of modern bidding conventions.

Simon was a trustee and committee member of County Bridge club and was very prominent on their teaching committee. He volunteered to join Leicestershire’s Executive Committee with the specific remit of developing bridge education in the county and contributed enormously to promoting bridge teaching in Leicestershire. Subsequently he took over as fixtures secretary responsible for selection of teams to represent the county, until he had to step down for health reasons. He was the guest of honour at the LCBA AGM in September 2024.

He will be sadly missed by those who knew him.

I am saddened to report the death of Neil Beasley after a long illness. Neil was for many years synonymous with Blaby Bridge Club. When I joined the club in 1980 Neil was the Club Captain, a position he held for some years. He and Pat made newcomers feel welcome and encouraged their development as players. He later had a lengthy spell as Club Chairman and finally relegated himself to the Club’s League B team, which he captained for several seasons. Neil was a great supporter of the club’s activities, in particular the weekends away we organised for a number of years. Sadly his eyesight deteriorated and for that reason he was unable to return to bridge when we resumed face to face play after the lock down.

Neil also made a significant contribution to the organisation of bridge in Leicestershire over many years. He had a two year spell as county chairman and was for a number of years one of our EBU shareholders, in which capacity he represented the county at EBU shareholder meetings. But his most weighty contribution was as a very long serving Tournament Secretary. In this role he was responsible for organising the various competitions run by LCBA, sending out adverts, organising venues and ensuring the availability of a TD. Coupled with this he liaised with the EBU to ensure that the Master Points players won in LCBA competitions were registered with the EBU. All this was achieved with masterful efficiency and the minimum of fuss. When he stood down in 2020 he and Pat were both given Dimmie Fleming awards by the EBU to recognise their outstanding contribution to the development of bridge in Leicestershire. This is an honour that very few people connected with bridge in Leicestershire have been granted.

Neil was also involved in the Leicestershire chess world, and he and Pat were keen supporters of classical music concerts at de Montfort Hall.

We are sad to report that Jenny Grant passed away on 11th December 2023.

Jenny was a long time member of the Leicester Bridge Centre, The County Club and Glenfield, forming notable partnerships with Harold Markham, and Bharat Thakrar. As well as representing her clubs in the LCBA Winter League from the 1970s until lockdown, she repsreneted Glenfield in the National Inter-Club Knockout (NICKO). She was regularly selected to represent Leicestershire in the Midlands League in the Porter and Markham teams.

Jenny was a friendly, pleasent lady at the table. Her regular "sorry partner" apologies often masked what was a very competent bridge player underneath. Her list of LCBA trophy wins stretch from 1979 until 2020 - a 41-year window - is testament to that.

• Wilde Cup
• Leicestershire Cup
• Joyce Cup
• Butterworth Trophy
• Stanley Trophy
• Hyman CrammerTrophy
• Otto & Edith Trophy
• Olga Cup
• Samani Silver Salver

We are sad to report that Stan Williams passed away on 2nd Septemer.

Stan was a long time and populate member of Barkby (now-defunct), Blaby and County Bridge Clubs.

He was reknown for his love of food and the friendly manner in which he played his bridge.

On the bridge front, Stan played in the league for many years, including playing for Blaby's first team with Anne Moncrief. He regularly supported the LCBA competitions.

We are sad to report that John Myles passed away recently.

Prior to lockdown John would regularly drive from his home in Uttoxeter to represent Westcotes in the Winter league or to play on club night. But since Covid he forwent the travelling and played against his Leicester friends on BBO in our virtual clubs.

For many years, John played in a wide variety of LCBA competitions with Dennis Davis. How many of you with long memories, can remember playing against John in the Winter league when he represented the Magazine team? They used to play their home matches at the Magazine pub on Newarke Street, Leicester, now long-gone.

I am sorry to report the death of Geoff Shaw. Geoff died peacefully on 27 October 2022 at the age of 83 in a care home in Beaumont Leys following a prolonged period of dementia.

Geoff was a member of the LCBA and Loughborough Bridge Club for more than 55 years. He was a committee member of the Club for well over 30 years and served as Club Chairman for many of these years.

Over the years Geoff played regularly for the LCBA first team in the Midlands League. In County pairs competitions Geoff, playing with Hugh Cairns, won the Gimson, the Buckby and the Stanley events. With Pat Simpson he won the Otto and Edith. In Teams of Four Geoff was a member of teams that won the Leicestershire Cup (twice), the Butterworth Trophy and the Wilde Cup as well as being a beaten finalist in the Josephs Bowl. Geoff and Hugh partnered Sheila and Brian Stockdale to win the Friendship Cup - a Nottinghamshire sponsored annual Team of Four competition for County selected teams from the Midland Counties.

Geoff’s most significant Bridge achievements however were achieved while representing the Leicestershire County team at the national all England inter County competition for the Tollemache Trophy. In two consecutive years Geoff played in the Leicestershire team that came third out of more than 30 County entrants and collected two bronze medals.

At the table Geoff was always respectful of his opponents and, I am pleased to say, tolerant of his partner!

Robert was raised in Quorn , Leicestershire where his father was the very first clerk to the local council in 1935, a position he held for 40 years.

After university he had a career teaching physics in Bath and when he then retired through ill health in the early 1990s he returned to Leicestershire to live in Quorn.

As well as his interest in bridge he was a very strong chess player and returned to captain the Loughborough club where he had played whilst still at school. For a while he wrote a regular chess and bridge column for the Loughborough Echo.

Robert played in the LCBA League for Loughborough, Magazine, County and Glenfield clubs at various times. He also represented the county in the Midland League teams , normally partnered by John Wilcox.

He had successes in county competitions in teams in the Wilde Cup, Josephs Bowl and the Butterworth Trophy (as it was then called).

Robert joined the LCBA Committee as General Secretary in 1995 and served in this post for 20 years. In this time he expanded the role of the General Secretary so that it is at the heart of bridge activities in the county. Robert took on an enormous workload on behalf of the Association. In addition to his support for our various sub-committees he had a particular interest in laws and ethics, along with acting as a Competition Controller of some of our county bridge competitions. He trained as a county level director in 1995 and had been one of a select panel who directed county pairs and teams events consistently until a couple of years ago.

The fact the Leicestershire runs a Green Point weekend featuring pairs and teams events is due to Robert’s efforts in resurrecting and organising the events. That this is a successful venture is due largely to Robert’s efforts.

Robert was also an EBU Shareholder on behalf of the county whilst Secretary and played an active role in Shareholder meetings.

Robert was made a Life member of the LCBA in 2011 and given an EBU Dimmie Fleming award in 2014 for his services to the Association

We are saddened by the news that Bharat has died suddenly at home yesterday.

Tim Glover writes "I first met Bharat more than thirty years ago at the Leicester Bridge Centre. I was impressed by the warm and friendly greeting, handshake and introductions when we arrived at his table. His bridge was competitive and played with considerable flair.

His first success came in the Leicester Mercury Student Trophy in 1989.

After the Bridge Centre closed, Bharat transferred his loyalty to Glenfield and his partnership with Jenny Grant enjoyed considerable success at county level including the Samani Silver Salver, Otto and Edith Bowl, Stanley Trophy (twice with Jenny and once with Peter White).

Bharat's most recent successes were last year, when he won the Otto & Edith Bowl (for the fifth time) and Leicestershire Cup Plate.

Bharat's was the first name on the team sheet for Glenfield teams in the Leicestershire League and National Inter Club Knockout. He represented Leicestershire many times in the Porter and Markham leagues.

Our sympathies go to Bharat's family and friends.

Very sadly, I must report the death of Henry Cooklin. He had retired as the Treasurer of the LCBA just last June.

Henry has been a member of the EBU/LCBA for around 50 years. He has played in the LCBA League for most of those years.

His main club was the Spencefield club. In 1969/70, then described as Spencefield Bridge Circle, the team won Division 4 of the League. In the 1974/75 season, Henry shared in celebrating his team winning Division 3 and then Division 2 in the 1974/75 and 1988/89 seasons. The team then oscillated between Divisions 1 and 2 of the League winning Division 2 on three other occasions. The team’s most recent win was in the 2005/06 season. It was sadly disbanded after the 2008/09 season.

Henry and his wife Beryl, were also both members of the Leicester Bridge Centre – founded for the start of the 1983/84 season - until its closure after the 2005/06 season. They both then joined the Blaby club and played regularly in the Blaby A team in the League. Henry also enjoyed success in some of the events organised by the LCBA. He, partnering Ramnik Samani, won the Hyman Crammer event in 1990 and 1991. He was the captain of the winning Wilde Cup team in the 1988/89 season and he was a member of the winning team in the Leicestershire Cup Plate team in 2018.

Some while back, Henry also represented Leicestershire in the Midlands Counties League. Henry’s most notable contribution to the work of the Leicestershire Contract Bridge Association was most definitely his 30 year stint as Treasurer. He joined the committee for the 1988/89 season and then took on the role of treasurer between 1989 and 2019. He was instrumental in ensuring that the association operated within its means and kept a healthy balance of funds.

In 2009, very deservedly, Henry was awarded Life Membership of the LCBA in recognition of this service.

I first worked alongside Henry as the LCBA Membership Secretary at the start of 1996. At that time, the association was responsible for collecting all the EBU/LCBA membership fees. Each season up to £8000/£9000 passed through Henry’s hands. Since the development of the Pay to Play system of collecting all membership fees, this burden has changed considerably. Nevertheless, many tasks still fell to Henry. I am sure Beryl will have memories of him counting out the cash prize monies for the numerous winners and runners up in all the LCBA events!

In 2018, Henry very kindly agreed to act as the Guest of Honour at the LCBA AGM. It was a great pleasure for us all to give him a pen to mark the occasion and to welcome Beryl to the event and give her a thank you bouquet.

It remains to say – thank you Henry for all your hard work in support of the contract bridge players of Leicestershire.

Susan (“Sue” to all who knew her) was a lively and lovely person, well known on the local bridge scene.

She learned to play the game at night school in Marjorie Hathaway’s classes and then played regularly at the County Club, starting in the late 1970s.

Following a disastrous and short-lived marriage Sue got divorced and married Paul Bowyer, with whom she formed a strong and very loving relationship. Away from the bridge table they were inseparable, going off on many holidays and working on cruise liners where they were popular bridge teachers.

In this regard Sue was the perfect foil for Paul – he taught the lessons and organised the duplicate sessions, Sue would calm down the more fractious passengers, organise appropriate partnerships and stroke some egos. In other teaching roles (in lessons at the County Club, for example) Sue was also an exemplary helper to Paul.

As well as this work Sue put in much valuable time for the LCBA. She spent a year as the Minutes Secretary, three years as the Tournament Secretary and five years as an LCBA committee member.

Sue was an accomplished player in her own right, rising to the rank of Life Master. She played in the Dawes (the County first team) on a few occasions and often played in the Porter or Markham teams.

The list of her achievements in local events is also impressive. As well as being a founder member of Clarendon (who have won the first division on numerous occasions) Sue also has her name on:

• The Gimson Pairs Championship in 2007 and 2014
• The Otto and Edith Mixed Pairs in 1991 and 1995
• The Hyman Crammer pairs five times
• The old Stanley Trophy (when it was a teams format) four times
• The Butterworth-Langley trophy once
• The Joyce Cup Mixed Pivot Teams four times as winning captain
• The Leicestershire Cup twelve-time winner, eleven times as captain.
• The Leicestershire Cup Plate once as captain.

Sue enjoyed playing a lot locally, with varied partners and at different locations. She focussed her time at the County Bridge Club and at Bradgate where everybody praised her approach, her attitude and her bravery. She always was very fair and stood up for the underdog, not allowing aggressive players to intimidate or bully weaker players. She will be sorely missed, not least by her husband of 34 years, Paul.

Sadly, I must record that David Field has passed away after a period of ill health. His younger brother Richard has told me that he had played cards from an early age and became a UAU Bridge champion in 1969 during his university days in Wales.

He joined the Melton Mowbray Bridge Club in the mid-1970s. With his partner Mike Osborne he was soon involved in local LCBA events.

David and Mike went on to represent Leicestershire as members of the County teams playing in the Midlands Bridge League. They won the Buckby Cup – the Men’s Pairs event - for three years in succession starting in the 1985 – 1986 season.

Mike well remembers his partnership with David. He has fond memories of their playing in League matches and of their success particularly in the Men’s Pairs event.

In 1978, David joined the LCBA Committee as League Secretary. He also took on the role of EBU delegate on behalf of the County in 1984.

In January 1991, David told the committee that there was a 50-50 chance that he would be leaving the area. The Chairman at the time said ‘in the thirteen years that David had been the league secretary the league had been the most popular event in the LCBA calendar. Its smooth running was a great tribute to his work’. David did move away later that year.

More recently, a current LCBA committee member remembers that ‘David and Mike Osborne were thought of as the best pair in Melton for many years when I was a nipper. I and my partner went with them to various congresses as a team of four with a fair amount of success. I also remember David’s dry sense of humour and that he was an excellent bridge player.’

David continued with his role as EBU delegate for three years after he had moved away sending his reports of meetings to the committee. He was a made a Life Member of the Association in 1991.

It is with great sadness that the LCBA has to announce the death of Ken Forsyth at the age of 72.

Those LCBA members who played bridge in the 1970s and 1980s will remember Ken Forsyth – indeed, how could anyone forget him? A larger than life character who played the game with talent and “for a bit of fun”.

Ken and his wife, Ann, came to Leicester in 1970, playing at the County Club with some success. Ken’s local achievements at the game include winning the Gimson Pairs in 1982 and 1991, the Buckby Cup (the men’s pairs) in 1983. He was also a founder member of Clarendon, playing consistently in the league team that rose from Division 7 (as then was) to winning Division 1.

Perhaps his finest achievement was in helping Leicestershire win the Tollemache Cup, the country’s premier teams‐of‐eight competition, in 1979. Leicestershire have not won it since.

After splitting with his wife in 1986 Ken lingered for a while locally and then left the county. He spent a while in Australia before returning to his beloved Scotland. He continued to enjoy life, playing bridge and also some golf.

His death was unexpected; He leaves two children, Stuart and Caroline.

One word to sum Ken up. Confident (I'd like to say arrogant but that does not sound complimentary though it was close to that).

The number of times he would come back in a teams match and say something like. "Don't worry, son. This card is so full of good scores it'll take a crane to lift it up".

He just seemed to be good at everything ‐ and he would tell you so! When I was fit and slim in the late 80's ( yes, there was a time!), I used to play him at badminton. Thought I was good player but he was superior in both technique and fitness. We used to go to pubs and play backgammon, another game I thought I had ability at, and he would wipe the floor with me.

He had the ability of playing bridge to a massively high standard without ever giving the impression of knowing anything about card play technique. The last time I saw him in Brighton in around 2004 or 5 he was leading the main pairs competition with one match to go.

By that time any arrogance had gone and he was just a lovely considerate man, always a joy to be with.

It is with deep regret that we report the death of Gary Duddle on the 20th March.

Gary worked at the Brush Group in Loughborough for many years until he took early retirement for health reasons.

In the early 1980s he was one of the founder members of the Clarendon team along with current members Sue and Paul Bowyer, Jim Mason and Simon Stokes. In those days, League rules dictated that new teams had to enter in the lowest division, so division 7 was their starting point.

Over the years, Gary won several competitions at the County bridge club, winning the Staines Trophy with Marjorie Gilbertson for three consecutive years, and the Hammersley Cup three times between 2010 and 2014 with team mates Irene Krantz, Simon Stokes and Yasser Haider.

In LCBA competitions, he won the Hyman Crammer Memorial Trophy twice, partnered by Sue Bowyer on the first occasion, and by Simon Stokes on the second. He won the Otto and Edith Bowl twice, partnered by Irene Krantz.

Gary also played regularly in the Midlands County league, partnered by David Green.

He was always affable and welcoming to everyone he met at the bridge table. Gary would be the first to say that much of his bidding relied on flair rather than lengthy bidding sequences – the Hurricane Higgins of the Leicestershire bridge scene.

He leaves his wife Margaret, daughter Sarah, son Keith and many friends in the Leicestershire bridge community.

I am sad to report the death of Tony Odams who died in hospital following a short illness brought on by the effects of cancer.

Tony was one of the most successful players in Leicestershire bridge and I have little doubt in saying that he was the most popular player in the county.

He started playing at the County club in the sixties and was faithful to the club, with one small exception, for the whole of his playing career. As a player he won numerous trophies at the club, 27 in all, playing with such first class county players as Jim Wilde, Peter Halford, Edith Elias and Irene Krantz.

However it was as a servant of the club committee that he was at his most effective. He served on the committee for many years in several roles but his main achievement was to direct and negotiate the club through the tricky procedure of purchasing the premises outright in the early 1980’s. His contacts in the building trade were invaluable and together with the club chairman at the time, Jim Wilde, he succeeded in raising the finances necessary to bring the property into club ownership. For his efforts he was made a life member of the club in 1986. Later he was prominent in planning and executing the extension to the premises in 1996 along with the then chairman, Brenda Harris. He had by then become a Trustee of the club and remained so until last year.

I said there was one occasion when his loyalty to the club was tested as in the late 1980’s, though he was still playing regularly at the club he left the County club league team to join the Clarendon team. As a fellow member it was a delight for me to have him join our (at that time) fairly youthful band of players and his experience was invaluable in helping the team reach even greater heights of success. In later years he became one of Clarendon’s most enthusiastic members and during the summer I used to notice that he couldn’t wait for the next league season to start.

In the County he was probably the most successful Leicestershire player of all time. He won no fewer than 59 county trophies including the Josephs Bowl (the county’s premier teams of 4 competition) on 25 occasions, 20 as team captain and the Leicestershire Cup (the teams of 4 aggregate competition) 23 times, 14 as captain. He won the Gimson Trophy (the county’s premier pairs competition) 5 times. Representing Leicestershire he won the Pachabo Cup (the Inter‐ County Teams of Four competition) 3 times, twice as captain, and in 1979 was a member of the team which won the prestigious Tollemache Trophy (the Inter County Teams of Eight trophy). He played for the County first team on innumerable occasions. In the early 1990’s he became one of the first Leicestershire players to reach the top rank of Grandmaster.

He served on the Leicestershire County Bridge Association committee for a total of 22 years holding the posts of Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Fixtures Secretary and in 1991‐2 and 1992‐3 he served two years as chairman. In 1991 he was made a life member of the County Association.

In many of Tony’s county competition successes his partner was Derek Griffiths and it was with Derek that Tony achieved his greatest triumphs as a player on the national stage. In 1979 he and Derek won the National Pairs Championship, to this day a highly prestigious competition. In 1991 they were successful in the Seniors Congress, winning the pairs event. They played in the later stages of the Gold Cup (the UK’s premier teams competition) and the highly reputable Spring Foursomes Competition. They took part in a number of Camrose Trials, at that time a major stepping stone towards national representation. They won many other congresses during their partnership and became great personal friends.

Derek was very much a flair player and was well known for his “flights of fancy” at the bridge table. Most of these were successful, a few were abject failures but, win or lose, Derek knew that Tony, a solid and reliable player, not one for acts of petulance, was his perfect partner.

Derek moved to Norfolk but Tony would annually play with him in the Norfolk Congress in Kings Lynn. They would inevitably win the event. When Derek died, Tony, who had made many friends during his visits, wanted to continue his annual visit to the congress and I was most honoured when he asked me to partner him. We came close, but due, I am sure, to his partner’s inadequacies, Tony was never quite able to emulate his former successes with Derek.

Tony’s accomplishments at the bridge table would be sufficient in themselves to merit terrific admiration. But they were achieved by a remarkably polite, affable, humorous and generous man who was welcoming to every person he met at the table. He was always gracious in defeat and modest in victory, rather putting his win down to good luck than his obvious superior card play. He gave so much without ever expecting anything in return.

That does not mean he was not competitive or, on occasions, somewhat critical of his partners. In one instance, in a major national competition, after a disagreement with his partner, he disappeared for quite a while and my partner and I were concerned at what had happened to him, wondering if he had gone home or worse. He eventually turned up having gone somewhere quiet to recover his composure before the next round. This was, though, I have to say, a rarity for Tony.

In the last couple of years, due to health complications, he stopped playing at the bridge club and in fact was reluctant to venture outdoors at all. His great friend, Peter Halford, would often tempt him out, though, and I remember being at the club one weekend when he and Peter came in to scratch off and reprint names on the club’s honours board, a task which he found highly amusing. A few months ago I managed to persuade Tony to partner me one Monday, the first time he had played for over a year. A little rusty at first, he soon picked up the pace and by the end was virtually back to his old self. Whenever we finished a session he would always ask me back to his house for a coffee which of course meant that wife Glenys had late night catering on her hands. He played with me a couple more times and in fact also recently played a league match for Clarendon before succumbing to his final illness.

When the County club went computerised, they issued each member with a number. As the longest serving life member of the club, Tony was given the number 1. How appropriate, for a man who was number one in his achievements at the game and number one in his manner at the table. For me and many other people who knew him he was always number one. He is survived by his wife, Glenys, his children, Sally, Helen and Tim and grandchildren Matt, Stu Katie, Elie, Maddy and Georgie.

Sadly, I must record that Geoff Swann recently passed away after an extended period of ill health.

Geoff and his wife Barbara were players in both the Dawes County matches and other LCBA events. Records show that they were regular Leicestershire players by the mid-1970s. Geoff captained the Dawes matches second team in the 1980/1981 season. He took on the role of LCBA Fixtures secretary for five years from 1982 – 1987. When Leicestershire won the Dawes trophy in the 1983/1984 season and the second team were third, the success was recorded to be “in no small way, due to the efforts of our Fixtures secretary”. Geoff was also instrumental in setting up the system whereby the winners of some LCBA events are automatically selected to represent Leicestershire in external competitions.

Catherine Chadwick wrote to the LCBA secretary in 1987 as Geoff finished his term of office he “will be very much missed. He has raised the standard of Honorary Fixtures secretary to an all time high.”

Geoff was a member of the County Bridge Club, the Leicester Bridge Centre and the Spencefield League team. He and Barbara won the Leicestershire Cup in 2002 and again in 2004. They also won the Stanley Trophy on four occasions when it was run as a Swiss Teams event rather than in its current format.

Geoff was one of the first people to write a computer program for use in scoring a duplicate club session. This was originally used at the Leicester Bridge Centre. He later adapted the program for use in other events. He must have been fascinated watching the subsequent development of general scoring programs and now the use of Bridgemates.

Geoff will be remembered for all these contributions and as a well-respected gentleman at the bridge table.

Bill Gray grew up in the Shetland Isles then went to university in Aberdeen. Being a physicist specialising in optics he came to Leicester to work for Taylor Hobson. Due to his expertise in the speciality he was invited to be a director of a new lens coating company.

He was brought up playing rubber bridge and, having joined the County Club, he admitted he had to learn that bidding was something more than a chore before the real game started.

In 1980 he asked Peter Halford to join him as a partner; they became part of the first team in 1981 and played there for 32 years. Also playing for the County Second team. Bill won many club championships - Woodier, Hammersley, Staines, Buckby and Don Smith. With Peter he won the LCBA Wilde Cup, Leicestershire Cup, the Joyce Cup and the Gimson and they were invited to represent England in the annual Corn Cairdis (a friendly played alongside the proper international match) against Ireland in Cork.

He was a gentleman to play with; never critical, very considerate and always asking how he could have helped to avoid mistakes. 33 years with the same partner is probably good evidence of that.

He leaves his wife, Anne, four sons, one daughter and grandchildren.

I am sad to report the death of Jean Wightman following a long battle with cancer.

Jean was a highly talented and tenacious bridge player. She first started playing competitively in the late 60’s and was one of the founders of Oadby BC at a time when youngsters, such as Paul Bowyer, Colin Gore and David Green were pupils at the connected Beauchamp College. In 1975 she joined the LCBA committee as Bulletin Secretary and remained on the committee for the next ten years.

She won her first LCBA trophy, the Olga Cup, playing with Lucy Pathan in 1978 and had other successes in the Gimson Trophy (twice), Joyce Cup and Otto & Edith Trophy. She played regularly for the 1st team in the Midlands County League and represented the county in the Tollemache Trophy.

She played in countless congresses throughout the UK and was a regular attendee at Brighton, Torquay, Scarborough, Llangollen and Porthcawl and the annual Swiss Teams Congress at Leeds. She also enjoyed playing in the Jersey and Isle of Man congresses.

She derived most pleasure at the bridge table when playing in long matches where her considerable table presence gave her a distinct advantage. She was often found still competing in the later rounds of the Gold Cup and the Crockfords Cup.

As well as Lucy, she struck up regular successful partnerships with many other talented players including Don Gilbertson, David Howie, David Fletcher and Laurence Lock. I also had the pleasure of playing with her for many years and was always struck with her attention to detail when analysing either the bidding system or defensive techniques. There was never any excuse for forgetting part of the system and she would let you know that!

In 2001 she reached the rank of Grandmaster, the first woman in Leicestershire to achieve this significant honour. In later years, though she played less in congresses, she still attended regular club nights at the County Club and Blaby Bridge Club without the slightest diminution in her competitive attitude.

Outside of bridge, she had many jobs in her life but I remember most vividly her time working for her brother, Clive, in his Nottingham lace company. She would travel incessantly around the country with her samples, conjuring up business. She often visited the main suppliers in Europe and as a result was fluent in Italian, German and Spanish. I also recall having to empty her large estate car packed with samples before we could load up our own cases ready to travel to a congress!

Her character away from bridge was completely opposite to her perceived resolute, imposing, some might say bullying, presence at the table. She was a generous, hospitable, thoughtful person who often gave words of advice to others (when asked) without ever making any judgments, a rare gift these days. Her annual Christmas parties were legendary and I remember thinking I had become someone pretty important in Leicestershire bridge, the first time I was invited.

It was a pleasure to share a small part of her life. She will be missed by me and many others, both at and away from the bridge table.

Jean leaves behind her son, Gary, daughter, Lisa and two grandchildren.

It is with great sadness that the LCBA has to announce the death of Howard Stevens at the age of 83.

Howard first joined the LCBA in 1956. He has been a member continuously since that time. This makes Howard the person with the longest LCBA membership record to date. The larger part of sixty years is no mean feat.

During his bridge playing career Howard had more than one partner. He first began partnering Phil Watts for the 1969-1970 season. Together they enjoyed considerable success playing both in the Dawes League and various LCBA events.

In his first year as an LCBA member, Howard was part of the Jones and Shipman team that won Division 2 of the League. This achievement was repeated a further four times with this team. Howard joined the Bradgate Bridge Club in 1984. He and Phil began playing for the Bradgate League team after the Jones and Shipman club was disbanded in 1991. This means that they were members of the Bradgate A team which was presented with the Division 2 League trophy at the LCBA 1992 AGM.

His most notable other successes were winning the Loughborough Cup in partnership with Phil Watts in 1972 and the Hyman Crammer Trophy in 1976 and 1985.

Howard and Phil developed the ’Stevens-Watts approach to 3NT’ which is an EBU recognised convention.

Howard will be sadly missed particularly by Phil Watts and his fellow Bradgate Club members. He has played a very active role with the club.

The LCBA offers sincere condolences to Howard’s widow Marian and his family.

It is with great sadness that the LCBA has to announce the death of Arthur Bowyer at the age of 91.

Arthur first joined the LCBA way back in the 1950s. A snippet from the minutes of the LCBA Committee meeting of 28 January 1958 records ‘New member – Mr. Bowyer of the BB Chemical Company proposed by Mr. H Crammer seconded by Mr. Crane’.

Some of you may realise that ‘Mr. Crammer’ is commemorated by the Hyman Crammer trophy and may remember that ‘Mr. Crane’ was Ralph Crane who owned Cranes Club, 1 St James Road, which is currently the County Bridge Club.

Arthur played bridge for many years with distinction. He formed successful partnerships with Ralph Crane, Arthur Bloxham, his son Paul and Ken Ford.

He played in the Dawes League teams on many occasions and was a regular entrant in the local LCBA events.

His most notable achievements were being a part of the team winning the Josephs Bowl in 1962/3 and the Leicestershire Cup in 1967/8. He also won the Buckby Cup on eight occasions between 1973 and 2007 in partnership with his son Paul. In 1991, partnering his daughter-in-law Susan, he won the Otto and Edith Cup.

His son Paul tells us ‘many of the tributes that have been made to his family have used the word ‘gentleman’ to describe his father. That is an old fashioned word but it sums up a thoroughly decent man of old fashioned virtue. He will be missed.’

He leaves behind his wife Zoe, two sons and two grandchildren

The LCBA offers sincere condolences to the Bowyer family.

Alan was a well-known Leicestershire bridge player who represented the county for many years. His untimely death from a cardiac arrest whilst undergoing dialysis, came as a shock to all those who knew him.

Alan was born and raised in Leicester. He attended Gateway School and later qualified as a chartered accountant. He worked for several companies, before becoming finance director of a process control company in Northampton.

Alan joined the LCBA in 1978, and played for AEI in the LCBA League teams of eight, initially with Nick Novakovic. Although he never worked for them, he remained with the team throughout the various transitions of company name, and the team’s renaming to the current Phoenix.

Alan showed early promise in Bridge and partnering Nick he captained the Josephs Bowl winning team in 1982-83. They also won the Buckby Men’s Pairs the following year,

He represented Leicestershire in the Midlands Inter County League for many years, playing originally with Nigel Butterworth in the Dawes League (1st Division), and was also in Leicestershire's squad in the Tollemache Cup, the national inter counties Teams of Eight championship. Following Nigel's early death in 1995, Alan established a similarly successful partnership with Dick Pathan and inter alia captained his new squad to a second Josephs Bowl title in 2003-04.

Alan was elected Treasurer of the LCBA in May 1983 serving for six years; and in 1995 was instrumental in establishing the Butterworth Trophy in memory of his former partner.

We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Maria, his son Alexander, and the rest of his family. They asked that any donations be made to Kidney Research UK.

Footnote: After consultation with both families, the Butterworth Trophy was renamed for the 2014-15 season to the Butterworth-Langley Trophy.