It certainly has been a long hot Summer! I hope you have managed to keep cool
despite the weather. Since my last newsletter we have all enjoyed regaining the use
of the main clubhouse. We held our Summer Social during early July, it was held on
a lovely Summer’s evening. The bridge circle met for pre-dinner drinks on the
terrace where we met our friends and were all amazed to see that the Cedar Lawn
had been restored and once more was immaculate and green again! We all then
enjoyed a superb dinner and very much celebrated the occasion of having our much
loved clubhouse restored and refurbished. I am sure that one of the most popular
areas this summer for us all is the new reception area with its air conditioning! A
very welcome relief on entry from the outside high temperatures.
During the summer we have held Wednesday Chicago Bridge afternoons and our
usual Monday evening Duplicate Bridge in the Cedar Room where we have enjoyed
a lovely breeze from the open doors to the terrace and lawn. We were very fortunate
to be able to enjoy the hot afternoons and balmy summer evenings in some airy
comfort.
Since the reopening of the main clubhouse facilities, we have once again been able
to host Bridge Matches at Woodcote. Previously during the refurbishment period our
matches have mainly been away matches. It was pleasing to welcome Kingswood
Golf Club and the MCC to Woodcote for our first return matches. The MCC were
represented by their ‘ace team’ and whilst Woodcote did their utmost to save the
match but I have to congratulate the MCC to a resounding successful win of 51imps.
The Golf and Bridge match between Kingswood and Woodcote was a more closely
fought battle. RAC team won the Golf but came second in the bridge.
Woodcote Bridge Circle were invited to play an away bridge match against Phyllis
Court in Henley. Phyllis Court’s elegant building enjoys a lovely setting with lawns
and views stretching down to the river. Phyllis Court bridge team were excellent
hosts, see the team photo below. The team enjoyed a lovely day playing bridge with
an excellent lunch included. I have to admit, Phyllis Court won the match this time
but, we hope to repeat our success of our home match next time when they visit us
again for a return match in the near future.
Notices of up-and-coming matches are displayed on our Notice Board near the
cloakrooms. Please do consider signing up and joining in the fun. June Hill (golf
and bridge) and Margaret Trepant (bridge) are our Match Secretaries. If you have
any questions do ask them about the matches. Often individuals would like to play
but do not have a partner. June and Margaret may just be able to pair you up
enabling you to join in.
Committee Members
You may well have noticed over the last month or so that Janette Beinart has been
helping us with the laptop in running duplicate bridge on a Monday evening. Janette
understands the software on the laptop to run duplicate bridge! We just could not let
her go and have invited her to join the Woodcote Bridge Circle. I am so pleased to
announce that Janette has accepted our invitation and the Woodcote House
Committee have just confirmed her acceptance on to the committee. A huge thank
you Janette and indeed Margaret Trepant together for joining in the rota running
Monday evening duplicate sessions.
I would like to take this opportunity too of thanking our committee members, past and
present, for their help. It is so good to see people taking part in the running of our
bridge circle, especially assisting at the end of the evening to put everything away.
The committee greatly appreciates your support.
EBU PROMOTIONS
I have received notification as follows, congratulations to our members listed below
who have recently been promoted by the EBU, well done all.
Sue Forbes Wilson – County Master
Ian Stewart – Club Master
Bent Petersen – Club Master
Roy Young – Area Master
Annette Syrett – Advanced Master
UP AND COMING EVENTS AND DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES
Chicago Bridge - alternate Wednesday afternoons
Duplicate Bridge on Monday evenings
Gentle Duplicate – 5pm until 7:30pm in the Cedar Room. Please book on line.
Deeley Handicap Cup – Monday 14 th September 2026 (duplicate bridge evening)
Chicago Bridge Lunch – Wednesday, 16 th September 2026
Andrew Robson Day – Thursday 15 th October 2026
Golf and Bridge (RAC internal match competition) – 24 th September 2026
Bridge Match against Roehampton (home match) – Thursday 29 th September 2026
Bridge Match against Kingswood (home match) – Thursday 12 th November 2026
Woodcote Winter Social – Monday 7 th December 2026
I do hope you will be able to join in our events and matches as they come along.
Many of our bridge circle will remember Roger Deeley. Roger very much encouraged
our new players to join in the duplicate evenings, hence the Deeley Handicap Cup in
his memory. Roger was a larger than life character, great fun as I recall. I hope you
will all take part in the Handicap Cup evening, we have an EBU Director for the
evening so that we can all relax and enjoy the evening, just as Roger would have
wanted. The usual top players may find they are lower placed due to their handicap.
Bridge Classes – Autumn Term
Natasha Clarke our Woodcote Bridge teacher, commences her classes on
Wednesday 7 th October until 9 th December (excluding 21 st Oct & 4 th Nov). Natasha
will follow the programmes taught at Andrew Robson’s Parson Green club in
London. As well as the course, students will also receive full set of the course notes
to keep for reference.
Courses offered are –
The Perfect Introduction to Bridge
Building on the Basics
Play Bridge with Confidence – this course includes supervised sessions, helpful
tips and advice, suitable for all.
For further infomation see section below on BRIDGE CLASSES
or speak to Amanda Miles, committee member, who is organising these classes for
us.
I hope I have kept you up to date with all that has happened through the summer
and advised you of what is planned for the months ahead. I always look forward to
meeting friends and playing bridge at Woodcote plus taking part in our planned
activities, I hope you do too.
I look forward to welcoming you at bridge very soon.
Angela Reid, Chair
Woodcote Bridge Committee
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