Belated Happy New Year wishes to you all! Time has flown by, Christmas arrived with its usual rush of shopping, cooking, family gatherings and many parties. Not least of all was our very own brilliant Woodcote Bridge Christmas Social! We had a record number of members and guests attending. A delicious dinner was enjoyed by all, followed by Chicago bridge. The winning bridge pair of the evening were each presented with a Club’s Christmas pudding and the losing pair a jar each of the Club’s yummy Christmas jam! All good fun. The annual presentation of cups took place and the winners are pictured within this newsletter. Congratulations to everyone. Further photos are available to view on the RAC Website under the bridge section, Woodcote Bridge. A New Year email just received on my laptop from the English Bridge Union was a very pleasant surprise. The EBU encourage and reward members who have been performing well with Masterpoints which, after acquiring a certain number, lead to a promotion in rank. I therefore have promotions to announce and members to congratulate. They are as follows – Landmark promotions in:-
December
Jacky Russell-Smith – Master
Fenella Fraser Ker – Club Master
Lesley Dudgeon - Local Master
November
Pat Flower – Local Master
Lynne Weston – Area Master
Pauline Knee – 2 Star Master
October
Laura Spanswick – Local Master
Fenella Fraser Ker – Local Master
David Watlin – Local Master
June Hill – District Master
Amanda Miles – Club Master
Margie Hamilton – Local Master
Michael Anthony – District Master
Very special congratulations must go to Laura Spanswick and Fenella Fraser Ker who did so well in the Surrey Dorin Salver Charity Sim Pairs held at the club on Monday 1 st December 2025. Laura and Fenella came 6 th out of 103 pairs representing 7 clubs across Surrey. Congratulations also to Chris Honeywell and Marina Chaning-Pearce who came 13 th , also to Pauline and Stuart Knee who came 17 th . I should not really mention that my partner and I came in 12 th , but I will! Overall the RAC Woodcote Bridge Circle did well. Pictured are Laura and Fenella receiving the Chairman’s award recognising their improved results throughout the year. The Woodcote Centenary Cup was won this year by Marina Chaning-Pearce and Stewart Broome.
The competition runs throughout the year and is awarded to the best scoring duplicate bridge pair. This is the 4 th year in a row that Marina has won this cup and the second time for her bridge partner Stewart. The competition is now running again so we need to give them some stiff competition this year please! The Deeley Handicap 2025 Cup was won in October by Victor Chung and Philip Holbeche, well done both. Also, we should congratulate Dick Stratton and Chris Honeywill who entered the prestigious St James Bridge competition held in Pall Mall. Dick and Chris reportedly had a great day and came in 4 th scoring 57.98% and were only narrowly beaten by Lester Pereira and his partner representing RAC Pall Mall. Woodcote Bridge Circle - we are certainly holding our own. Andrew Robson Charity Day in support of The Royal Marsden Hospital As you all doubtlessly know by now, there are refurbishments taking place at Woodcote. Our usual Andrew Robson Bridge Day has therefore had to be postponed until Thursday 15 th October 2026. Tickets will be available later in the year, we will give advance notice of when the event will be released for booking on the club website. EBU You may have spotted, in the recent edition of the magazine from the English Bridge Union just prior to Christmas, that the EBU are unfortunately intending to increase the rate of the Universal Membership Scheme (UMS). UMS is the largest single element of the EBU’s revenue, accounting for half of their income and is paid by members through their clubs. To many players UMS is hidden, you pay your table money and perhaps do not recognise that the club then passes on each player’s UMS to the EBU. We should remember that the UMS table money submitted to the EBU does allow the EBU to offer lots of members’ benefits, the magazine, a common framework of laws and regulations which means it is the same game wherever you pay in England, national competitions both face to face and online, the National Grading System (NGS), master points and personal promotions, a code of conduct which is properly and fairly implemented etc., It is the UMS fees which ensure that there is a robust infrastructure and that the game is developed for everyone to enjoy. Once the EBU confirm the rate of increase, we will discuss the increase at the next Woodcote Bridge Circle Committee meeting. We most likely need to pass the increased cost on to members and increase, very slightly, the table money we all pay. We will announce the new increased table money cost at the AGM to be held on 9 th February at 5:30pm in the Cedar Room. Hopefully it will represent only a small amount.
Matches and Competitions Due to the refurbishments currently being carried out at Woodcote we are unable to host any bridge matches at home until July of this year. There are however away matches currently being planned; we are organising these and in due course our Match Secretary, Margaret Trepant, will post the sign- up sheets on the Notice Board. During the refurbishment period our Notice Board can be found at the far end of the Pavillion (near the temporary loos). Do keep an eye on the Notice Board as this is where Bridge Information Notices will be displayed. All match dates will be displayed on the Notice Board in due course. Chicago Bridge Chicago Bridge has recommenced and takes places every other Wednesday afternoon. Do however check the dates on Bridgewebs or the Notice Board as sometimes the dates may not be consecutive. It is a great way to meet up with friends on a cold winter’s afternoon for a fun game of bridge with a cup of tea or coffee plus and a biscuit. No need to have a partner, just come along.
Bridge Classes – Natasha Clarke Amanda Miles has been organising our bridge classes with our new bridge tutor, Natasha Clarke. We are so fortunate to have found Natasha who has taught at Andrew Robson’s Bridge School in Chelsea. Natasha is very experienced and teaches Andrew Robson’s system with his official reference book for her classes. The new classes cover from Beginners to the more Advanced with plenty of guidance and practise along the way. If you would like to play better bridge, defend better, bid better or have friends who would just like to be able to play bridge you need to chat to Amanda, a committee member or myself in order that we can find the right class to suit you or your needs. Even the bridge circle’s more advanced players can benefit from the classes, especially if you are thinking about playing in matches, which naturally I would encourage you to do!
Committee As time goes by our committee members, having served their time, do have to retire. Unfortunately, we will lose Alan Torry this year. June Hill has kindly volunteered and has already stepped-up to replace him, so June will now be our new Bridge and Golf Competition Secretary. Stewart Broome has very kindly offered to stay on for longer than he had intended for which I sincerely thank him. We do need more volunteers to help the bridge circle operate. Several members (one of which would be me) like to pop off to somewhere warm in January and February. If you are playing bridge and you can see that whoever is on duty is short of help, please do volunteer and help us put away things at the end of the evening. Your help makes life much easier, and we can all then get home in good time. We would like it too if you volunteered to come on to the committee to help in the future. We need you!
With regret It is with sincere regret that I must announce that sadly Bob Rutteman passed away on Tuesday of last week. Bob and his Wife have been members of the club for many years. We will miss him; we have lost a valued member of our circle. We send our sympathies and support to Angela at this difficult time for her and her family. Reminder AGM to be held on 9 th February at 5:30pm in the Cedar Room. The snow today seems to have receded and although it is all very wet underfoot the spring is not too far away. I know that due to the refurbishments it is all not ideal, but we will get through in excellent company and very soon we will be looking across the golf course without the dreaded Pavillion! I am off to look at my gardening catalogue to plan my summer bedding! Positive thinking! With kindest regards and best wishes for the New Year ahead. Angela
Angela Reid
Chair – Woodcote Bridge Circle.
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