FOLLOWING THE GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FROM HM GOVERNMENT, THE CLUB WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. A GREAT SHAME, BUT NECESSARY AS PART OF OUR COLLECTIVE FIGHT AGAINST THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. 

The Committee has considered instituting on-line bridge, but - as previously reported to members - consider that most members attend the Club at least in part for the social interaction. There are, of course, Essex clubs, and the EBU itself, who offer on-line bridge. The opportunities are listed on the Essex and EBU websites. 

Club member Cath Fox has had an excellent article on bridge during Covid-19, naturally focusing on the blossoming of the on-line game, published on 26th July in the Sunday Express magazine: Read it here!

We are saddened to announce that long-standing Club member Catriona Lovett died on Thursday 25th March 2021. Catriona had been a member of the Mountnessing Bridge Club for as long as anyone can remember, and enjoyed significant success in the Club's various competitions. Even though for some years she had obvious physical limitations and discomfort, she always offered a cheery welcome to her table, and her smiles and quips were infectious. She will be sadly missed by all, but most especially by her husband, John.

Follow this link for a brief In Memoriam by her Club partner, Mike Harbour, and click here for some tributes from Club members. We still have no information on funeral arrangements, but imagine that Covid regulations will severely restrict attendance. 

It is with immense sadness that we have been asked to let you know that Chris Megahey lost his long battle with illness on November 28th 2020, very peacefully at home with his family around him. He had been very cheerful and positive throughout his long illness. It seems impossible that we will never witness his infectious smiles and wit again.

Our thoughts at this time are with Karen, his widow, Steven, his son, and Sammy, his daughter.

Funeral arrangements are not yet known, but will be advised in due course.

A personal appreciation by Alaric is available here.

Many club members, and other Essex players, have passed on their own tributes, which can be read here (updated). This document is open for any further comments, and it will be relayed to Karen.

For the entertainment of Members during the period when the Club is closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, a new page contains a growing selection of hands that have been played at the club, or elsewhere by club members. They have had any previous analysis revised and represented and a new commentary added. There is the opportunity to discuss them - and all manner of other things - on our popular WhatsApp Group Mountnessing BC. 

See the menu item to the left or Click here.

Monday 3rd August - the final hand in the series - from September 2008 - submitted by Alaric with his usual commentary. A warning to tread gingerly on misfit hands. 

As noted previously, Club members who have favourite hands from the past - or from recent on-line experience - that they would be willing to share with other members are encouraged to help Alaric out by sending them to him for future publication. We have now run out of material. 

The "season" finished a couple of weeks early, so the two year-long ladder awards are now decided:

• Faye Wernick Trophy (Ladies): Joan McGuffin; runner-up Audrey Hartley; third Val Mollison 
• Lionel Wernick Trophy (Men): Alaric Cundy; runner up Chris Megahey; third David Piper

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who supported the Club throughout the year. 

Click on the Trophy names to see the detailed ladders. 

We are sorry to announce the recent death of Margaret Curtis.  She died peacefully in her sleep after a lengthy illness. 

Margaret was a very prominent member of Mountnessing Bridge Club for many years, and, indeed, one of the Club's trophies is awarded in her name. She frequently represented the Club in the Essex Invitational Teams events, and has contributed significantly to the Club's successes in those events.  She will be sadly missed by everyone at the Club.

More widely, Margaret was even better known for her contributions to the administration of the Essex Contract Bridge Association, for which body she was the Honorary Secretary for 55 years, and for her involvement as a senior contributor to the governance of the English Bridge Union. She was presented with the EBU's highly prestigious Gold Award for her services to English Bridge in 2000. 

Details of funeral arrangements will be made known to anyone who would like to attend. Our thoughts at this sad time are with her family and close friends.

Click here for Margaret's biography on the EBU Website. 

If you are looking for a partner, you have three basic options:

• Log in to the Members' Area where you can view current contact details for all members, and you can optionally send email(s) to players of interest to you (see the panel below about 'Accessing the Members' Area if necessary); or
• Use the on-line partner matching service available through this website (see the panel below about 'Accessing the Members' Area if necessary); the advantage of this method is that your request is posted immediately though the disadvantage is that you may need to wait for other players to see the post; or
• Send an email to mountCM15@gmail.com. This action will result in an email being sent to potential partners, though there could be a delay as such action triggers a manual process.

If you have not already done so, please click on the 'Membership' menu item, then follow the instructions.  Enter your email address as your 'name' and then press 'Forgotten Password'.  You will then receive an email with a password that will enable you to log into the membership area.  NB You MUST use the email address by which the club recognises you, e.g., the one to which Secretary sends you club-related messages.  Once you have registered on the system in this way, you will be able to log into the membership area, where several services are open to you:

• You can view the current club membership list, on which you can find your 'Club ID', which serves as your personal 'short-code' for the wireless scoring system. 
• You can also register that you are seeking a partner.  Note that in the Calendar summary to the right of this pane, if you spot the message Partner? then it means that at least one potential partner is available;  if you spot the message Bookings then it means that at least one partnership has been arranged - but there could be another partner available.  Click on the Partner? or Bookings message to reveal details.
• You can also access documents that are restricted to club members, such as, the agenda and papers for the Club's AGM

If you want to learn to play Bridge, we have two suggestions:

• Some of our individual members do offer private learning and development opportunities.  If you are interested, send us a message via the 'Contact Us' link, which is accessible through the left hand menu
• On the 'Useful Links' page you will find a link to a commercial on-line Bridge Learning experience