We have recently heard that Geoffrey Samuel passed away on 10th November. Geoffrey was a regular participant in our Wednesday Gentle Sessions.  

The funeral service will be held at 11am on Dec 14th at St Mary's Church, Twickenham TW1 3NJ. No flowers please. Geoffrey requested that any donations be made to his favourite cat charity - details will be available at the service.

Geoffrey was a councillor on Richmond Council - he was first elected in 1957 to the former Twickenham Council, Geoffrey represented Hampton North ward, serving as Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance for much of the last Conservative administration. 

Councillor Gareth Roberts, Leader of Richmond Council, said: “This week, we mourn the loss of another distinguished and long-serving member of Richmond Council and the Richmond upon Thames community.”

“Cllr Samuel was passionate about his home borough and Hampton North ward, previously serving as Deputy Leader of the Council from 2010 to 2017 during the last Conservative administration. He displayed fairness, integrity, a fondness for language and a keen expertise in his varied portfolio of work across his decades-long tenure. He was very well respected across the political divide while remaining a proud representative of the Conservative Party.

"After the 2022 local elections, when Geoffrey was the only Conservative to be elected, I asked him 'Geoffrey, what do I have to do to beat you?’ His answer was simple 'You must try harder.’ Perhaps a not unsurprising response from a former Headmaster. On reflection I'm pleased we hadn't tried harder and that for another 18 months both I, and the Council as a whole, were able to enjoy the benefit of his knowledge, wisdom and his friendship. He, along with Martin Elengorn who died the same week will be sorely missed by councillors and officers alike; I doubt we shall see their like in the chamber again.

“Having dedicated himself to nearly 40 years of service to our community, his passing is an immense loss to us all, and I would like to send my deepest sympathies and best wishes to Geoffrey’s family and loved ones at this sad time.”

A spokesperson for the Twickenham Conservative Association said: “Geoffrey was not only active in politics, but also served the community where he had lived since 1940. For 23 years he was Headmaster of The Heathland School in the London Borough of Hounslow, and he was also deputy chairman of the Richmond Bench for many years.

“Age was no barrier to Geoffrey; he undertook his contribution to public life with an energy and zeal that would shame those half his age. He was hugely active as a councillor, tirelessly working for his constituents, achieving positive outcomes, and solving their problems. To our certain knowledge, he was the oldest working councillor in the UK, and we are sure we will never see another like him.”

Welcome to Richmond Bridge Club, the most popular and successful EBU affiliated club in the country!  A friendly and progressive club, we are housed in the old Bowling Club Pavilion in Cambridge Park, nestled between Richmond & Twickenham.  Our Clubhouse has multiple playing rooms, teaching facilities and a fully licensed bar.

We offer a full range of duplicate bridge sessions every day of the week for players of all abilities.  Renowned for the quality of our teachers, teaching and courses, our Academy offers lessons for new players, beginners and improvers, and seminars for more experienced players.  If you are interested in learning, please register by clicking here.  

Here at Richmond Bridge Club, we run Bridge sessions every day of the week.  Our sessions cater for all abilities, with some for beginners & novices, some for improvers, and others for experienced players.  The full list of sessions we run may be found here.

We run various sessions that are aimed very much at novices and improvers - for more detail about these sessions, please click here. 

As the numbers playing RealBridge on Mondays & Thursdays have been steadily increasing, we have put on another RealBridge session on Tuesdays at 17:45.  To make the session a bit different, we play the 10 boards in Teams format.  You don't have to assemble a team to play in the session - just login and we'll pair you up with other players.  So, please join us for something a little bit different!  

Our fabulous Christmas Party will be held at the Club on Saturday 9 December, with doors open from 5.30pm. After a glass of bubbly on arrival, there will be a wonderful buffet at 6pm, including: roast turkey, roast beef, poached salmon, seasonal salads, Dauphinoise potatoes, and some dazzling puddings & cheese. Each table will be provisioned with a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine. Glen & Lyn will be running one of their fabulous quizzes, and we’ll round off the evening with some complimentary bridge (both duplicate and social). Please come and join us for an evening of festive fun!

This is a members-only occasion and the cost is £38.00 a head.  You may book with a partner or as a single player (we will then match you up with a partner on the night). If you would like to sit at a table with another pair, please put this in the comments. Please note, there will be a maximum of 120 places available. 

Please click here to book!

We're excited to announce that the Club is hosting a Christmas Party tailored especially for students and improvers (players who attend sessions such as Supervised Play, Refresh & Practice and Workshops)! 

The celebrations will be at the Clubhouse on Friday 15 December.  Doors open at 5.30 and the evening will kick off with a welcoming glass of bubbly, followed by a delicious buffet supper at 6pm. Glen & Lyn will be holding one of their ingenious quizzes, and to cap off the evening, we'll play some complimentary bridge (suitable for everyone with the emphasis very much on fun!). The evening will end at 10pm. Please come along and join us for an evening of festive joy!

The cost is £25 per person, and you may book with a partner or as a single player (we will then match you up with a partner on the night). If you would like to sit at a table with another pair, please put this in the comments.  Please note, there will be a maximum of 80 places available

Please click here to book!

Our next BLUE POINTED SWISS PAIRS will take place at 12:00 on Saturday, 27th January in the CLUBHOUSE. Everyone welcome. The entry fee is £15 per player. Richard Banbury will be directing the 36-board event which will be played across two sessions.

There will be a break for complimentary scones, Devonshire clotted cream and speciality jams. A full bar service will also be available on the day.

PRIZES (*dependent on at least 15 tables):

£100 for the winners & £50 for the runners up

NGS<=9 - £50 for the highest placed eligible pair:

Click here to book your place

Here at Richmond Bridge Academy, we help players learn to play Bridge in a friendly and supportive environment.  Please find our latest programme of Beginner's Courses below – just click the links in blue to see the course syllabus, and to register.   

Course	Teacher		Start Date
Beginner’s Course – Term 2 10 lessons	Lyn & Glen (Clubhouse)		Tues 2 Jan @ 10:30
Beginner’s Course – Term 2 10 lessons	Margaret (Clubhouse)		Tues 2 Jan @ 19:00
Beginner’s Course – Term 1 10 lessons	Margaret (Clubhouse)		Thurs 4 Jan @ 10:30
Beginner’s Course – Term 4 10 lessons	Cerith (Clubhouse)		Wed 10 Jan @ 19:00

Here at Richmond Bridge Academy, we help players learn to play Bridge in a friendly and supportive environment - both at the clubhouse and online. 

Our next online course will be "Intermediate1" - topics include 'Bidding in the Protective Seat'; 'Competitive Doubles'; 'Coping with Bad Breaks as Declarer'.  This course is ideal for players who have previously completed the Beginners Courses, or improvers who want to further their skill and knowledge.

This 8 week course will be run online, on Monday mornings, using Zoom and Realbridge, commencing Jan 22nd.  The course will be led by Tim Chanter and the course fee is £145. 

Please click here to book on this course.

Richmond Bridge Club is delighted to announce that we have teamed up with Wimbledon Bridge Club to offer joint online Supervised Refresh and Practice sessions!

Online Supervised Refresh and Practice sessions run weekly on Tuesday mornings 10:30am-12:30pm on Zoom and Real Bridge.  These sessions are aimed at refreshing your knowledge on a particular topic that you may find tricky or on which you may like to refresh your memory.  Before each session, you will receive notes. The session will start with five minutes of Q&A on the topic. This will be followed by the bidding and play of 12 specially prepared hands for you to practice. You do not need a partner.

These sessions require registration:  Please click the appropriate session to book by 4 pm on the day before the session to receive the joining instructions.

Have a look at the mini-clip on the booking form to see why students love these sessions!

5 Dec: Competitive Bidding - doubling & overcalling (Richard)

12 Dec: Second Hand Plays Low & When to cover an honour (Tim)

19 Dec: All I want for Christmas ! - some of Tim's memorable & fun hands (Tim)  

Cost is £6 per session which will be charged to your RBC member’s account.

Richmond Bridge Club is delighted to announce that we have teamed up with Wimbledon Bridge Club to offer joint online Supervised Play sessions!

Online Supervised Play sessions run twice a week on Wednesday and Friday mornings, 10:30am-12:30pm on RealBridge.  There is no need to book, just click on the appropriate link below about 10 minutes before the start of play and you’ll be taken to the RealBridge login page.  Enter your full name and EBU number to log in to the session.  If you can get a table of three or four together, you’ll be guaranteed a game.  You are welcome to come as a pair or single and we will try and make up tables, but we can’t guarantee you’ll get a game.

Click here for Wednesday 6th December 10:30am supervised play

Click here for Friday 8th December 10:30am supervised play

Cost is £6 per session which will be charged to your RBC member’s account.