| Bridge Lessons for New Members 2026 |
Learn to Play Bridge 2026
Beginning on Thursday 22nd January 2026 at 10.00am Scarborough Bridge Club will again be welcoming potential new members who want to learn how to play bridge.
If you would like to learn how to play bridge, you can contact us at scarbridgeclub@gmail.com to book your place.
Our Beginners Bridge Course caters for complete beginners as well as those returning to bridge and requires a commitment of 2hrs a week for 30 weeks and costs £5/week (which includes refreshments). At the end of the course, you will receive a Certificate of Achievement and take part in the "Class of '26 Tournament", after which you can apply for membership of Scarborough Bridge Club.
You can then move onto the Wednesday morning Improvers sessions where you can play informally and still ask questions, then onto the Friday morning Next Steps sessions and full tournament play when you are ready.
| Our last course has resulted in 20 new members joining the club. Many play casually, some have joined competitive tournaments and some have already won prizes. |
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| Club History |
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Rubber bridge was played at 34 The Esplanade, Scarborough in 1934 and later at the Westbury Hotel, Aberdeen Walk. After the war the club was first named ‘Scarborough Contract Bridge Club’ but the name was later changed to ‘The Scarborough and District Contract Bridge Club’ in order to include country members and it was then affiliated to the YCBA. A move to Alma Square followed but, as the club was expanding rapidly, larger premises had to be found – this time in the Talbot Hotel in Queen Street where bridge was played in four large rooms. This venue was lost when the brewery owners decided to convert the building to residential accommodation. The club then moved to Valley Bridge Road until the owners, the Yorkshire Insurance, put the property on the market. A further move followed to the Yorkshire Bank Chambers in Huntriss Row, and once more the owners decided to alter their usage of these premises.
Under the guidance of our chairman, John Gerrard, who the YCBA today remember through the annual simultaneous pairs event, the club, assisted by the EBU, moved to St Martin’s Road in 1990 and for the next 25 years the club leased these premises. In 2015 following years of patience while building our savings, we finally achieved our aspiration of acquiring our own premises at Forge House, 3A West Street.
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| Children in Need - Sim Pairs |
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Scarborough Bridge Club recently took part in a nationwide Simultaneous Pairs bridge tournament in support of Children in Need.
In Simultaneous Pairs, lots of bridge club across the country play the same hands on the same day, and the results from all the clubs are compiled into one big tournament. The hands are distributed from a central point in the Orkneys, and kept locked away securely until the day of the tournament when each club begins their play.
On this occasion, 3500 bridge players from 100 bridge clubs took part in the event that day. The winning pair at Scarborough Bridge Club, Phyllis Watson and Ian Draper were placed a very creditable 46th in the country.
This year Scarborough Bridge Club raised over £500 for Children in Need. In total, over the past 20 years, almost £1.5M has been raised by bridge clubs playing these annual events for Children in Need
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| Support for St Catherine's |
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The Bridge Club recently ran the 2025/26 Martin Carlile Trophy for new and intermediate players. The trophy was won by Sue Wagstaffe and Amy Ker and participants raised £200 for St Catherine's Hospice.
The Club Chairman, Ian Cocker, together with Anna Nockles, presented the cheque to Louise Gravestock from St Catherine's prior to this week's Wednesday Session.
Said Ian - "The Club and our members are delighted to be able to support St Catherine's, which is an important part of the Scarborough community".
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| Introduction |
Scarborough Bridge Club is a friendly bridge club with over 100 active members ranging in experience from beginners through to experienced masters of the game. We run weekly sessions designed to meet the full range of our members needs from those looking for introductory lessons, or maybe a relaxed sociable game or those wanting to play in a serious competitive environment.
We have our own premises dedicated to the needs of the membership where we play face-to-face duplicate bridge five times a week. We also run online SBC bespoke tournaments on Bridge Base Online (BBO) for those who prefer the convenience of online play. We play every weekday, with sessions held throughout the day - mornings, afternoons, and evenings to suit all.
The Club has a Hosting System in place for all the sessions at the Club, so any member arriving without an arranged partner is guaranteed to find one.
We offer a range of support services for new members including bridge lessons to improve players skills, and special "tutored” sessions for inexperienced players and improvers, where participants can ask for advice during play. They can then move on to our Next Steps events where they can play more competitive bridge unaided.
The Club has an extensive library of bridge books available to members and the more experienced players are always on hand to provide advice and guidance for anyone needing help.
We welcome new members whatever their experience and non-members are welcome to join in the face-to-face sessions held at the Club premises.
Feel free to have a tour of our website and then contact us to find out more about us, or come along to the club and introduce yourself.
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| Members Area |
Members can login to the club website from the Members Area tab.
Some Detailed Instructions on the workings of your members account and the Partnership Desk are also available.
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