This page is used to give information about what our members are up to beyond the world of the bridge table. If you have anything that you think will be of interest here then please speak to any of the committee members or email manchesterbridgeclub@hotmail.com

Vera and Dave continue their travels and are now in Europe 

Read about their adventures, as they head to Greece and slowly make their journey towards Spain

I completed the Berlin Marathon on Sunday 24th September . This was my 10th and final Marathon . I took up outdoor running when I was 60 and worked my way slowly ( literally ) up through 5k, 10k , half Marathon and finally a full Marathon. My first was London where I got a charity place and raised over £4k for the Christie Hospital. The following year I got in again raising £2k for a Prostate Cancer charity. In the same month I ran the Copenhagen Marathon with my son - I say with him, but that's  only as far as the starting line. He and I repeated that association in Stockholm and Chicago in subsequent years. I was very fortunate to run two more London Marathons by being drawn in the ballot . 

My son and I  were due to run New York "together" but the flight restrictions to the USA, because of Covid, were only lifted on the day of the race so that was that. Instead I went to Barcelona - well I had to put all that training to good use somehow. In between all this I ran the Manchester Marathon where I achieved my modest ambition of getting round in under 5 hours. 

Berlin is one of the six Marathon Majors - the others being London, Chicago, New York, Tokyo and Boston. Boston is the hardest Marathon to get into - especially if you are not an American. There is a way in called "Good for Age" ie if you have a run a Marathon in the designated time limit for your age group you may be allowed to enter. That bar is set very high - for a 70-75 year old ( that's me ) you have to be able to run a Marathon in under 4h 20m . For an 80 year old its 4h 50m just in case any of you were thinking you might give it a go. The buzz of Marathon running is the crowd and their support and, whilst I will miss that, I wont miss the hours and hours of training on cold wet mornings or blistering hot ones.   . 

       Mike Wood

I am often asked what is my name. Is it Hannah? or is it Dianne? And why do I answer to both, but prefer to be called Dianne? There is no law to stop you (one) calling yourself whatever you choose to call yourself, unless it is for legal purposes. Many years ago, pre-card payments, I signed a cheque in Tesco, Didsbury as Minnie Mouse. Neither the checkout girl, nor the bank clerk picked up on that.

I took the name Hannah Hutchinson, changed legally by deed poll, so my ex-husband couldn’t find me. It’s in use as my professional name for my novel-writing and poetry. I don’t suppose there are (m)any of you out there who know. My first novel was a great flop. And has since been remaindered . If you find one in a charity shop, it might be worth a few bob.

The third one, set in Jerusalem: The Pigeon Room * is published by Chipmunka, a publisher which has since been discredited. (Insert downturned smiley emoji) Its strapline reads: one baby, two lovers, three sisters. Home Truths, a Poetic Narrative of an Adult Gap Year also published by Chipmunka*, is based on solo travel on a Mediterranean cruise through Malta, Rhodes, Egypt, Libya, Greece and Sardinia; and travel in a sports car from Dorset to Kent, to Oxford, France and London with an American stranger.

A former disenchanted teacher (of French & Spanish) I’m also a qualified bereavement counsellor, have an MA in Applied Linguistics, and am currently finishing off my seventh novel.

I was also winner of Poole Poetry Competition, 2010, and Marple Poetry Competition, 2015. My poetry has been featured in a number of poetry magazines, and my specialty is haiku.

So far, I’ve not found a replacement publisher. Number two novel is composed entirely of emails, entitled E-Male. Four is a murder mystery The Othello Syndrome, suitable for Young Adult Fiction. Five, unfinished, Five sit down to play Bridge, set round a bridge table  is an adult murder mystery. I’ll return to that, when number seven: Squealer - a Case Study, structured as a literary fugue, is complete. Six - written during lockdowns - bear Simon, currently under submission is subtitled The Counsellor, Client, and the Caretaker. It references a lot of pop music. I am desperate for a publisher as I do not believe in vanity publishing. If you can assist in any way, please contact me on 07505 813 991.

* Each can be purchased at a cost of £10, or at a further discount of £15 for both. 

Dave Fernley attempts the Great North Run on Sunday September 10th. Read about it here, and Dave and Vera's van trip in the North East 

I began my journey of triathlon more than 10 years ago. I was a marathon runner before I did triathlon, at that time some of my runner-friends started doing triathlons. I was also interested in triathlon as riding bikes is one of my favourite sport activities. I am not good at swimming, but swimming is the first item to compete in a triathlon. Therefore, I joined a swimming course to improve my swimming skills.

I did not become a fast swimmer, whilst I still experienced my first Ironman 70.3 Taiwan race in 2011. The race required athletes to complete 1.2 mile (1.9km) swim, 56 mile (90km) bike ride and 13.1 mile (21.1km) run within 8.5 hours. (When you sum up all the race distance in miles, we get a 70.3 — that’s how the race name comes from!) The most interesting part of triathlon is that it implements three sporting skills in one race and you have to finish them consecutively. As each triathlete has different strengths and weaknesses, the three different items balanced the performance of all athletes. Later, I completed more Ironman 70.3 races in various places: Taiwan (for nearly 10 times), Japan, South Korea, Australia and China, as I found this race distance is suitable for me, even though I am only a finisher.

This August, I participated in an Olympic Distance triathlon race in London. (It swims 0.93 miles (1.5km), rides 24.8 miles (40km) and runs 6.2 miles (10km).) The race day was a mix of sun and clouds. I started the race from swimming at 10:00am. The water temperature was around 15°C — it was a bit cool for me, but I was able to swim as usual. As I chose the mass start, most athletes swam together. I followed them, swam the rectangular course and completed the swimming course in 49 minutes. After taking off my wetsuit, I ran into the transition area to wear bike gears for the 40km biking. The last item is running, I put on my running gears: a cap, my number bib and running shoes, then get started. There were three laps to complete, and people supporting and cheering us were all standing along the road. They made me full of energy to complete the 10 km running. I finished this race in nearly 3.5 hours.

The challenges for me to do triathlon in the UK are to overcome the low water temperature in swimming and high mountain climbing in biking. Most of the races are swimming in water temperatures lower than 10°C, whilst bike courses are usually climbing mountains over 800 metres elevation. Therefore, I still need to keep training in the three items to achieve better results in the future.

John Parsons' next solo performance will be playing the Shostakovitch first cello concerto with the Derby Chamber Orchestra on Sat Sept 23rd at 7.30pm at St Mary's Church, Wirksworth, Derbyshire

John is a cello soloist and alumnus of the Royal Northern College of Music where he studied under Didsbury's internationally renowned cellist Hannah Roberts

Coincidentally Hannah married her composer husband Simon Parkin at the Bridge Club when it was located on Palatine Road