In the last Bulletin we compared Staffordshire to the dormant Sleeping Beauty. It seems that the 1969/70 season has been the occasion of her awakening. One cannot exactly say that she has sprung to life with a whoop of joy, but there are definite signs of eyelids fluttering and a renewed interest in life.

The entries for this year's County competitions have all been at a greatly improved level and as a consequence rivalry has been keen and the events have proved really enjoyable to the participants. Likewise in the Dawes Trophy (inter-county) the creation of an effective Second Team put both First and Second Teams on their mettle and they both finished the 1969 season in something approaching a blaze of glory.

Now that a lot more young players are taking an interest in Staffordshire County bridge there is every reason to hope that Beauty will not relapse with a snore but will get up, resume her regalia and, who knows, one day reign supreme not only as the brightest star of the Midlands but as number one county in England.

Wolverhampton Bridge Club.

Last December the club achieved its 21st birthday and the occasion was celebrated with a most successful and enjoyable dinner-dance at the Mount Hotel, Tettenhall. The club has since its inception been under the proprietorship of Mrs. Doll Hallett who has done a tremendous amount for Bridge in Wolverhampton, not only by providing comfortable premises and first rate facilities for playing the game but also by encouraging inexperienced players and seeing many of them develop into stars. As twice winner of the Rixi-Markus trophy - the Individual Championship of Great Britain for Ladies - and holder of innumerable trophies she has set a fine example to her members. Having achieved this 21 year landmark Mrs. Hallett handed over ownership of the club on January 1st to Peter Tottenham. Members look forward to another 21 years (at least) of enjoyable Bridge with Peter. He certainly carries on the tradition of setting a fine example of skill at the game being in the very top rank of players and having represented England in the Camrose Trophy in partnership with Eric Jamieson, whose untimely death last year came as such a shock to us all. We all wish Peter and his wife Mary every success in their new venture!

Coronation Cup.

Our invitation Teams of Four event was held at Pattingham on October 26th. A record number of 22 teams competed and all were accommodated in comfort at the Pattingham Village Hall. The Warwickshire team of M.H. Airey, C. M. Collins, and Dr & Mrs L. A. Best won with a Staffordshire team of A. J. W. Benn, R. Sherred, J. E. Brandon, D. C. Kennedy runners-up. The handsome new Coronation Cup was presented to the winners by Mrs. Pam Lloyd.

County Events.

Mixed Pairs. Winning qualifiers were:

The final resulted in a clear win for Mrs. Charlish and an up-and-coming young player from Wolverhampton, Graham Link. Mrs. Topley and Salwey were second, followed by Mrs. Muir and Henfry.

Mens Pairs (Staffordshire Mugs) Winning qualifiers were -

The final resulted in a victory for Edwards and Parker who retain the mugs for a second year. Hallett and Salwey came second, followed by Downs and Davies.

Individual (Littleford Cup) Qualifiers

Teams of Four.

County Events.

County Pairs.

At the date of going to press the leading pairs with at least 5 results each were:
Mrs. Rowley and Dr. Mielewski
Mrs. Clover and Mrs. Sumberg.
Young and Dent.
Dr. and Mrs. Franklin.
Edwards and Twine.
Davies and Downs.
Mrs. Dash and Ballham.
Mrs. Knott and Evans.
Dumbleton and Stubbs.
Mrs. Gane and Mrs. McCall.
Topley and Robinson.
Mrs. Landow and Dr. Bruce.
The final will be played at Stafford on April 19th.

National Pairs.

Qualifiers for the Midlands Final. at Droitwich on April 11th and 12th, were as follows

Inter County Events.

Dawes Trophy.

The following were the final placings for the Season just completed

We have not yet started the 1970 contest, but are due to play Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire before May 15th.

Tollemache.

The Staffordshire Team which played at Stratford at the end of November failed to do quite as well as last year, when they were pipped by Warwickshire on total victory points, despite having defeated them when the two Counties met. This year, Warwickshire, who had gone on to win the final last time, won the Midlands elimination round without being seriously challenged.

Notable Successes.

There have been no outstanding performances by Staffordshire players this season. Salwey's team consisting of Topley, Tottenham, Robinson,, Mallett and Salwey had a very good run in the Gold Cup and Edwards' team (Edwards, Twine, Mrs. Absalom and Parker) narrowly failed to make the final of the Crockfords Cup after leading comfortably for most of the last round before the final. Mrs. Hallett's team of ladies won the Greenwood Cup. Mr & Mrs. F. Edwards won the West of England Mixed Pairs at the Bristol Congress and Mrs. Hanley and Mrs. Charlish came away from the Droitwich Congress loaded with prizes for open pairs.

The editor is not able to gather this type of information too readily and apologises to any players who have recorded outstanding successes but not been mentioned.

Hands of Interest.

Geoff Salwey has sent particulars of the following hand which occurred in the first round of the Staffordshire Cup and provided the biggest swing

Sitting East Geoff heard the following bidding. 1D from South. 4H from partner, 5D from North. He bid a cautious 5H and then 6H over 6D, which was promptly doubled by South, who led the Ace of Clubs, West (the declarer) prohibited this lead out of turn and promptly wrapped up his contract. In the other room North and South were left in 6D and the ruff/discard on the King of H lead provided an "impossible" slam in both rooms. No wonder Geoff's team is doing so well in the competition!

Geoff Davies has contributed the following swing hand, which occurred in the first round of the Crockfords Cup when his team beat R.W. Williams by 67 IMP

Davies' team played in 6 Clubs while the opponents were in 6S. With the Spades breaking 3 - 3 the D finesse right and the trumps behaving reasonably, their slam was on, whereas the opponents had to concede 3 tricks.

The editor is always glad to receive particulars of interesting hands, the best of which will be published in the Bulletin.

Annual General Meeting.

Hope to see you all at Stafford on May 15th at 7.15 p.m. for the prize-giving and the usual short lucky-dip competition. Don't forget!

Edited by F. W. Edwards