Long time Manchester Bridge Club member, Olivia Hackett passed away on Saturday April 29th at Chorlton Care Home after a long illness.

Olivia was born in Manchester, the youngest of 8 children and she met Paul while she was a manicurist. They married 54 years ago and of course produced twin brothers, Jason and Justin. 

Although, Olivia was the only member of the family who was not a professional bridge player, Olivia attended the Club frequently for many years, particularly for the Monday night duplicate and was always willing to play with any partner.

The photograph shows her in 1991 with Omar Sharif at the NatWest International Bridge Tournament in Manchester.

Olivia had a gentle character and was an easy going person who loved travelling, eating out, and red wine. She was very popular at the Club. A devote catholic, she will be buried at Southern Cemetery on Tuesday June 6 at 2pm. This will be followed by a wake at Olivia’s favourite restaurant, the Great Kathmandu on Burton Road in West Didsbury from 4.00 to 7.30pm 

Olivia Hackett, rest in peace.

The Club was shocked and saddened to hear today of the premature death of Richard Bowdery, who died overnight at home on Tuesday March 28th/29th aged only 58. We extend our thoughts to his family and friends including many in the bridge world and at Manchester Bridge Club.

Whilst Richard was not a current member of The Manchester Bridge Club, he was a friend and bridge colleague to the many Manchester Bridge Club members who have played and continue to play in regional, national and international bridge competitions, both with and against him. If there was a weekend bridge congress taking place with a good field, anyway in the country, Richard would inevitably be there.

Whilst Richard lived in the south east, he was a regular visitor and honorary member of Manchester Bridge Club during 2017/2018 at Palatine Road whilst working a year long contract with a Manchester company as an IT consultant. During that 12 months, Richard played with and helped many Manchester Bridge Club members improve their bridge - including a young Josh Clarke and our Chairman, Paul Murray. 

Richard was a 'bridge nut'. He played regularly at many London and south east based bridge clubs. He won many bridge tournaments in Spain where he played often with MBC member, Jason Hackett. Indeed, he won in Gijon playing with Jason only two weeks ago. They inevitably combined bridge with the obligatory lavish food and wine suppers afterwards - often as part of Jason's 'Mutton tours' food and drink vlogs. At home, he was part of the Berks & Bucks team that won the Tollemache Cup in 2013 & 2014 (which Manchester won recently) and won the Hubert Phillips Bowl for Mixed Teams of Four in 2009, 2011 & 2012. 

RIP Richard from all at Manchester Bridge Club. 

The funeral of Olivia Hackett will take place on Tuesday 6th June at 2.00 at Southern Cemetery. It will be followed by a wake at the Great Kathmandu 140 Burton Road ,from 4.00 until about 7.00, where a welcoming drink and a buffet will be served. Friends and acquaintances of Olivia and the family are invited to attend the funeral and/or the wake.

We are sorry to inform members of the death of Masie Saffer who died yesterday, 29th September 2022

Maisy was a very brave woman who overcame great adversity. She was an active sportswoman who overnight became paralysed from the waist down and was confined to a wheelchair. She did not let that stop her from enjoying her bridge, and for many years attended the club for supervised and duplicate sessions, becoming a competent and competitive player.

Our thoughts are with her family and husband John, who has been a rock for her.

Maisie's funeral will be held at 1:30pm on Wednesday 12th October ay Southern Cemetery Crematorium

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Mike Burtt at the age of 84.

He died on Monday 23rd May after over four months in hospital. His funeral is now confirmed as Monday 13th June, 11:00am, at Altrincham Crematorium, WA14 5RH. After the funeral the wake will be held at the Axe and Cleaver, School Lane, Dunham Town, WA14 4SE.

Mike, on the left in the above picture, will be known to many of you from playing bridge or as one of the many hundreds of people that he taught to play the game. Indeed he was recognised as a leading authority on bridge teaching, having devised his own comprehensive ten week course which became to be recognised as the definitive course for beginners. Mike was one of the EBU's team of consultant teachers which produced the bridge teacher's bible A Resource Pack for Teachers in 1991.

But there was far more to Mike than just bridge

Born on 1st July 1937, Mike ran away to sea at the age of 16 before having a very varied career, perhaps best detailed in an MBC newsletter linked below:

We are sorry to inform members of the passing away of Lance.

Lance was a member of the Manchester Bridge Club from the early 1980s. He took beginners lessons in the club but showed himself to be keen to improve and soon was joining in the rubber bridge games in the club. He loved his bridge and dabbled with duplicate, but for many years he was a stalwart of the club's rubber bridge games. He was a regular at the lunchtime bidding competitions at the Nose and Metropolitan with Tom Middleton, Alan Nelson and Sid Travers. When Tom Middleton struggled with Parkinsons, Lance stepped in to help by holding and playing the cards for Tom in pairs and teams events. He did the same for Lesley Johnson in the final stages of her motor neurone disease.

Although he did not play much in recent years, he often dropped in to the club to watch the games and to have a chat. He will be greatly missed.

His funeral will be on Monday 13th June, 4:00pm, at Manchester Crematorium on Barlow Moor Road, M21 7GZ, and afterwards at Trafalgar Court, 199 Withington Road, Whalley Range, M16 8FW

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Annie Curtis, who died peacefully in hospital on the morning of Friday 13^th January, after a long illness. 

After moving to Manchester, Annie first received bridge lessons by her son and daughter and then learned to play bridge at MBC over 10 years ago. She enjoyed the game hugely and made many friends playing at Manchester Bridge Club and in the Manchester League as part of "3 Reds and a Rebel" team - a reference to the 3 Manchester United fans and one ‘rebel’ who made up the team.

She frequently supported intermediate events throughout Manchester and was the joint winner of one of the first the intermediate Swiss Pairs run by the county at Manchester Bridge Club.

Away from the table Annie was always encouraging others to come along to lessons, seminars, competitions and she supported bridge throughout the area. More latterly and until 2021, she worked diligently to improve and update the Manchester Bridge Club homepage on the Club website – for which the Committee and David and Jeff in particular will always be grateful. 

Long standing MBC member, Ollie Burgess fondly remembers Annie hosting him and feeding him at her home in return for a great meal and her key role in ensuring his monthly Sunday seminars at MBC were well advertised on the website and well attended – and therefore a great success!! She also attended herself, helped with catering and organisation and reminded Ollie afterwards to distribute the seminar material and hand records!!

RIP Annie - you will be missed by everyone at the Club.

Annie is survived by her son, daughter and 5 grandchildren to whom she was devoted.

Annie's funeral will take place @1:30pm on Wednesday 22nd February 2023 at Stockport Crematorium, Cypress Chapel. Arrangements for the wake are as yet unconfirmed but If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Annie's daughter, Tabitha at ski_tabitha@hotmail.com so that numbers can be ascertained.

*** We have been informed that Annie had two young pet cats that now need a home. If you are interested in providing a home for Annie's cats or know anyone that may be interested, please let us know and we'll pass on the details to Annie's family***