| NEWSLETTER |
Hi All,
Halfway through the year already and the longest day has been and gone. Downhill now to the shortest day in December. What a terrible thought. Hopefully we will have some lovely summer days to enjoy. As always, the first thing to inform you about is the next quarterly payment.
This will remain at £25 for July, August and September. The pay when you play will also remain at £3.00.
Here are the bank details. Cash on a Monday evening is acceptable as well.
NatWest Sort Code 60-01-31
Account Number 59862181
Stoke Mandeville Bridge Club
Please put your name as reference on the payment.
This year we will be supporting Motor Neurone Disease in memory of Maria Ibos who died on June 3rd. Maria last played at our club on 22nd September with David McAleavey, and as it happened, it was her best result for that year, scoring 66.88%. I am sure we all have good memories of Maria, and we will all miss her. I hope you will support our charity evening, and bring some cash along to boost our donation to a worthwhile charity.
The SMBC Bridge weekend will be held at Staverton Park Hotel on 15th – 17th January 2027. The cost will be £270 per person for single occupancy, £200 per person for double occupancy and also a Bridge fee of £20 for each person playing bridge. A £50 deposit will be required by 31st July with final balance required by 21st November. If you wish to reserve a place, please email lesleyebwright@yahoo.co.uk. If you have attended in previous years and all your details remain the same, Lesley will be happy to just accept an email confirming your registration. If your details have changed or this is first time of attending, you will need to complete the registration document. Lesley will send the details to you by email. Any queries please contact Lesley by email or on 07933 608512.
As you know, the committee decided to improve our scoring system by moving to Bridgemates 3. There is a delay on the equipment getting to our supplier, but he is hopeful that we should have it all in by mid-July.
Aylesbury Aces are holding a charity bridge afternoon, raising money for Horatio's Garden at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. If you are interested in taking part, please look at their website where you will find all the details you need.
Monday 31st August - This is a bank holiday but there will be bridge as normal.
Monday 9th November - We will be supporting Children in Need Sim Pairs.
I think that is all I need to mention. Thank you all for supporting our club.
Best Wishes Mary.
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| Bridge Weekend |
2 nights stay, buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner, offer of 5 sessions of Bridge, prizes and full use of all the leisure facilities, with plenty of parking on site.
Single £270, Double £200 with Bridge fee per person of £20
£50 deposit required by 31st July 2026. Balance for the room required by 21st November 2026 which is also to include the £20 per person Bridge fee.
Neither the deposit nor the balance is refundable but the committee will do everything possible to promote your place to others should you have to pull out of the weekend
Non-playing partners, spouses and singles welcome. Host system offered
This is not an EBU event and therefore no Master Points will be awarded or no NGS ratings affected
| Timetable |
| Friday |
Access to the conference room from 1pm with Bridge 2pm – 4pm
Check-in to rooms after 4pm
Buffet dinner at 6pm
Bridge 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start (24 boards) and finish by 10.30pm |
| Saturday |
Buffet breakfast
Bridge 9.30am – 12.30pm
Buffet lunch
Afternoon at leisure
5pm drinks party
Buffet dinner at 6pm
Bridge 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start (24 boards) and finish by 10.30pm |
| Sunday |
Buffet breakfast
Bridge 9.30am – 12.30pm
Prizes, awards
Buffet lunch
Depart |
If you are interested, please register using the registration form found here
Any queries please contact Lesley Wright lesleyebwright@yahoo.co.uk / 07933 608512 or Mary Baker mary.baker12@btinternet.com / 07970 320600
  
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| Hand of the Week 15th June |
Show Detail |
No fewer than 7 small slams bid and made this week with 6 of them on board 17 where, with just 29 points but great shape, East/West had slams available in Diamonds, Spades and No Trumps, but we have to turn to Board 14 to find the other one.
This time, with just 27 points but great shape again, it was North/South's turn for a chance at glory (commiserations to those North/South pairs who had this snatched away by the cruelty of the arrow switch!). Slams were available in Diamonds, Hearts and No Trumps, but with a 7-card Diamond suit and two singletons, it is understandable that North insisted on sticking with the minor suit, despite missing a King and the Queen of trumps! Well done to Sarah and Stephen!
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| Charity Bridge Evening - Donation |
Following the charity evening on Monday 6th July, thanks to your generosity, we have been able to donate £621 to Motor Neurone Disease Association in Maria's memory.
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| SAD NEWS |
MARIA IBOS
It is with great sadness that I need to let you all know that
Maria died on Wednesday 3rd June.
Maria had been a member of our club for many years.
Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time.
Please see the details of how we can remember Maria.
David McAleavey asks that people indicate if they are likely to attend. Probably best to email David (contact details are in the WhatsApp group)
Rest in Peace.
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| Swiss Pairs in memory of Jean Ingham-Johnson |
A Swiss Pairs bridge event is being held on Sunday 21st September 2025 at Wallingford Bridge Club, in memory of Jean Ingham-Johnson who sadly passed away recently and to raise money for The Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust.
Full details are shown on the attached poster. As there are restrictions on the number of tables at the village hall that Wallingford uses, players are encouraged to book early, using an online entry form on the Wallingford website.
The event is open to all players, there will be a scrumptious tea as well as a raffle. Members of Jean's family will also be present.
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| FREE ONLINE INFORMAL TEAMS |
 
Wednesday 20th August. Please contact Pete Weisner for seats
Someone asked about Undos. These are allowed in bidding if requested quickly. In play, undos are not allowed for defenders as this would give unauthorised information. Declarer may request an undo if done quickly (there are no penalty cards for declarer/dummy in normal bridge) but opponents are under no obligation to grant undos.
Log in to BBO by 7:10pm and wait in the Lobby
Please do not wander off into other areas as you may become invisible to the organiser.
Please check and accept the invitation to play as soon as possible. Multiple invitations may be issued if someone does not accept in time.
Play will usually start around 7:15pm, but may be earlier if everyone is ready.
Explaining bids
If you do not understand an opponent's bid, or want further explanation, simply click on the bid. They will receive a pop-up box, where they can explain what their bid means. This is not visible to their partner, only to you and your partner (so no additional information is passed between them).
If you are asked to explain your bid, please do so promptly using the pop-up box, not in the table chat (as the chat can be seen by all players).
Online play with BBO uses Self-alerting
Before you bid, if your bid is not a natural bid, enter the meaning of your bid in the message box, and click the alert button.
This is not visible to your partner (who should already know what your bid means), only the opponents.
Using Undos
During bidding, if you genuinely mis-click a bid, you can immediately request an undo, which should normally be granted by your opponents.
Undos are not normally allowed during card play, so be careful when playing.
 Chris has started an automated email notification service for updates to this section - the service runs from 7am to 10:55pm - if you would like to subscribe, please email Chris
If you would like general information about our weekly online Teams events, please email David Barker
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| Announcing |
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Updated 29th July 2024 – Effective 1st August 2024
Announcements:
- only apply on the first round of bidding i.e. the first (non-Pass) bid and the next three calls
- apply equally over intervention and to advancer’s bids i.e. partner of overcaller
- never apply to overcalls
- do not apply to opening bids above 2NT – transfer pre-empts are alerted not announced
- always extend with fuller description where appropriate
Please be tolerant if opponents alert when they should announce or announce when they shouldn’t.
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Opening Bid
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Description
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Announcement
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1♣ / 1♦
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Non-forcing,
may be fewer than 3 cards
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“May be X” where X is 0, 1 or 2.
Extend e.g. “May be X and may have up to 5♦ ”
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1NT
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Natural, non-forcing
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“12 to 14” (or appropriate range) and extend e.g. “may contain a low singleton”
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2 suit
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Natural, may or will have just one suit
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“Weak”, “Intermediate”, “Strong, non-forcing”,
“Strong, forcing”
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2NT/3NT
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Natural, strong, non-forcing
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No Announcement (or Alert)
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Response
to 1 suit
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Description
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Announcement
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New suit
(including jumps below game)
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Natural, forcing (not a jump bid)
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No announcement or alert
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Natural, non-forcing (not passed hand, not over 1NT overcall)
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“Natural, non-forcing”
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Natural, game forcing
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“Natural, game-forcing”
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Jump bid: natural, (game-) forcing
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“Natural, game-forcing” or “Natural, forcing”
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Artificial or natural, with support
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ALERT
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Artificial, showing another single suit
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Announce: name the suit shown
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1♣ – 1♠ : denying a major
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“No major”
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1NT
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Non-forcing, up to 10 HCP
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No announcement or alert
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Non-forcing, may be > 10 HCP
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“Up to 11”, “Up to a bad 12”, etc.
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Forcing – does not show specific suit or suits
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“Forcing”
Extend e.g. ”may have weak raise”
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Artificial, showing another suit
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Announce: name the suit shown
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Response to 1NT / 2NT
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Description
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Announcement
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2♣ / 3♣
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Asking for 4-card majors
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“Stayman” Extend e.g. “at least invitational”
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New suit
(including jumps below game)
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Natural, non-forcing
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“Natural, non-forcing”
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Natural, forcing
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“Natural, forcing”
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Artificial, showing another suit
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Announce: name the suit shown
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DOUBLES
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Bid that is doubled
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Meaning of double
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Announcement / Alert
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ONLY ON THE 1ST ROUND OF BIDDING:
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Natural 1NT opening bid
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Not penalties
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ALERT
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Penalties, but may be based on a balanced hand with less than 15HCP
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ALERT
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Suit bid showing the suit
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Penalties
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ALERT
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1NT response
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Penalties
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ALERT
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ANY
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Shows a single suit
(different from the suit bid i.e. a Proxy)
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Announce: name the suit shown
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AFTER THE 1ST ROUND OF BIDDING:
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ANY
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Takeout or Penalty
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No announcement or alert
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AT ALL STAGES OF THE AUCTION:
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ANY
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An unexpected specific message e.g. number of controls; relates to another suit; shows weakness in bid suit; Lightner
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ALERT
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REDOUBLES
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Bid that is redoubled
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Meaning of Redouble
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Announcement / Alert
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ONLY ON THE 1ST ROUND OF BIDDING:
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ANY
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Shows a single suit
(different from the suit bid i.e. a Proxy)
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Announce: name the suit shown
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AT ALL STAGES OF THE AUCTION:
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ANY
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General strength or desire to play
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No announcement or alert
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Other
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ALERT
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ALERTS
Unless mentioned above, below 3NT continue to alert artificial calls and those with a specific unexpected meaning. In addition alert:
- Natural opening bids, or responses in a new suit, that have a second suit or support for partner
- Lead-directing Passes above 3NT
© The English Bridge Union 2024.
Updated 29th July 2024 – Effective 1st August 2024
Click here to visit the EBU site for the original PDF
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| Christmas Party - 9th December |
 This year, our Christmas Party event will be held on the evening of Monday 9 th December
This will be a hosted event, so, if you turn up without a partner, one will be found for you.
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| CHILDREN IN NEED - 11th November |
 This year, our BBC Children in Need charity event will be held on the evening of Tuesday 11 th November
As usual, we will be donating table money and any additional voluntary donations collected on the night to Children in Need
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| EBU Ranking |
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Grand Master
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Mike Webley
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Premier Life Master
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Hugh Thomson
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Paula Hopkinson
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Premier National Master
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Gill Walker
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6* + Premier Regional Master
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Maureen Summersgill
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Sheila Smith
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1* Premier Tournament Master
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Mary Baker
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Premier Tournament Master
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Paul Morris
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1* Premier Master
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Richard Devas
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Robert Last
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1* Tournament Master
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Ted Crump
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5* Master
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Richard Plummer
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Sue Mercer
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4* Master
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Jenny Miller
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Kathy Gray
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Martin Wright
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3* Master
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Jean Carter
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Ralph Holliday
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Raymond Connew
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2* Master
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Beryl Atkins
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Charles Miller
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David Barker
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Fiona Scriven
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Janet Joynson
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John Rogers
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Mike Francis
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Richard Clark
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1* Master
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Andria Melville-Jackson
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Angela Manders
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Chris Kaye
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David Mcaleavey
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Pauline Shelton
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Stephen Marshall
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Vivien Suttie
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Advanced Master
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Andy Melville-Jackson
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Anwar Choudhury
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Jean Thompson
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Jean Woodman
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Marilyn Plummer
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Peter Wright
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William Astles
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Master
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Carol Harris
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Danny Gritz
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Jacqui Last
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Jonathan Seabrook
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Lesley Wright
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Peter Rowling
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Peter Weisner
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Richard Wood
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Shirley Crowe
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County Master
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Anne Stokes
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Diane Spiers
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Gill Grigg
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Ginny Weisner
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Jennifer Mann
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John Gover
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Mike Arrowsmith
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Molly Butler
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Quentin Hartley
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Rab Morrison
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Stephen Bishop
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Yvonne Benz
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District Master
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Alan Pierce
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Liz Perrottet
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Murray Cooke
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Nikki Smith
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Steve Elms
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Area Master
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Brenda Alsagoff
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Carole Syms
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Joyce Lecomber
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Zosia Bedford
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Club Master
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Sue Wilson
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Local Master
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Andrew Simms
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Chloe Lewis
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Clive Turner
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| STOKE MANDEVILLE BRIDGE CLUB at ASTON CLINTON PARK - Bootstrap |
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