December 2019

MERRY CHRISTMAS Chairman’s Remarks At the beginning of December last year, the committee were still working on the purchase of Westbridge Nursery and now we are planning our first Christmas party at our new venue. It’s hard to believe that it’s three years since we have had a Christmas party. For the past two winters, we have had a New Year party and at the beginning of this year we deferred our party for the St. Oswald opening weekend. I hope you can join us for our first Christmas party at St. Oswald. Get a ticket and help make this event a success. I would also like to take this opportunity to offer special thanks to all the committee, directors, duplimators and helpers for the work done since January. Also, thanks to all our members for your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have a club. Finally, I would like to wish you all ‘A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’. Mince pies will be provided, for all sessions, in the week before Christmas, starting Monday 16th December Ian W

Christmas Party The Christmas Party will be held on Friday 13th December at 6.30pm at St Oswald. Tickets are £10 to include: Festive Christmas Buffet, Complementary glass of wine, beer or soft drink followed by ‘Fun’ bridge with prizes. Tickets can be purchased from any committee member at St Oswald, or by emailing Kate Boulter [email protected] If you are in need of transport to/from the event contact Charles Gurr [email protected] Please purchase your ticket by 10 December. New Committee Member The trustees warmly welcome Isobel Crump to the committee. Isobel has kindly agreed to be Minute Secretary.

A timely anecdote from two of our members…. The County Bridge Club plays bridge at The Houses of Parliament 9th July 1998 Brenda Harris was Chair at the time and was able to organise a bridge match between the County Bridge Club and a Parliamentary bridge team through the help of her son Dr Evan Harris. Evan was Liberal MP for West and Abingdon between 1977 and 2010, and at the time was the Liberal Spokesman for Health. It was an exceptional day for Health in the Commons as the whole day’s debate was devoted to Health to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Health Service and Evan was tied up in the debate. His contribution to the debate is recorded in https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1998/jul/09/national-health-service where he spoke at 8.32 p.m. watched by the 8 members of the County Bridge Club team in the Public Gallery (tickets arranged by Evan) between our main course and dessert in the Strangers’ Dining Room. We believe the eight members of our team were Sheila Ball, Brenda Harris, Harold Markham, Irene Krantz, Brian Marlow, David Pollard, Richard Smith and Norman Williams. The team were all members (or recent members) of the Committee at the time and it was typical of Brenda to reward the loyalty of the committee over the other alternative of taking the strongest team. The day started off with an early start at Brenda’s house in Oadby. A white van had been hired for the occasion and Richard was the driver. Having never driven a van before it was a bumpy journey down the M1 but we drove straight into Central London to arrive at Evan’s Westminster Flat for a delicious buffet and coffee. Evan escorted us in the van to the Houses of Parliament. We drove straight through the gates (a quick bomb detector was waved under the van, that was the only security) and we parked the van next to the Lord Chancellor’s car at the House of Lords. We had a tour of the Palace of Westminster (which included walking round the House of Commons chamber) before bridge which was in one of the Select Committee rooms in the House of Lords. Our opponents were listed as Richard Allen (Lib Dem Hallam) , Dr Evan Harris, Tony McWalter (Labour, Hemel Hempstead), Dr Lewis Moonie (Labour, Kirkaldy), Lord Skelmersdale (Baron), Lord Stamp (Baron), Lord Macclesfield (Earl of Macclesfield), Lady Oppenheim-Barnes (Baroness of Gloucester – Life Peer), Lord Winston (Baron – Life Peer). We don’t recall that Evan played because of his busy day but Fiona McTaggart (Labour, Education Secretary) also played. They were all interesting and easy to talk to, and we had the occasional break when the bell went for a division that had to be attended. Sadly we cannot remember much about the bridge, but then the visit was more important than the bridge. We had dinner in the Strangers’ Dining Room. We notice that it was sponsored by Gifts & Jewellery Centre, 38 Leicester Road, Wigston, Leicester. A menu has been retained. Starters were Vegetable and Haricot Bean Soup, Baked Aubergine and Goat’s Cheese Samosas ; main courses Smoked Haddock, pan fried Calves Liver and roast loin of Pork; desserts Crème Caramel, baked Lemon Tart and Sultana Rice Pudding. Brenda was good at extracting charity donations from people even though they had already been generous hosts. She managed to get everyone in the room to contribute £10 to be given to the charity of the Parliamentarians’ choice. Lord Skelmersdale was Chair of The Stroke Association from 1993 to 2003, so it was an easy choice to make and we received a very nice appreciative letter from them. It was a wonderful day and we are very grateful for the time that Brenda and Evan put into arranging the event. Thank you to Richard Smith and Irene Krantz for sharing their memories with us. Teacher Training Weekend There will be a teacher training weekend for aspiring bridge teachers on March 21 and 22 2020 at County Bridge Club Leicester. The course will be run by EBED, the teaching arm of the EBU, and will lead to an accredited qualification. The future of the game requires us to attract new players and that involves bridge teaching. That in turn means potential new members for the club if those who have learned the game then wish to play in a bridge club. If you are interested in becoming a bridge teacher and want to sign up for the course, please contact Lisa Miller ([email protected]) The number of places is limited and they will allocated on a first come first served basis. There will be no cost for the training as places are being subsidised by County Bridge Club and/or LCBA

CBC Bridge Holiday 2020 The holiday, in Torquay from March 23rd to March 27th, has been very popular and is almost fully booked. One or two apartments are still available. If you would like to come visit CBC website for more details and to book.

LCBA choose St. Oswald as a venue for County and Regional Events County Bridge Club’s new premises at St Oswald's has been chosen by the LCBA to be the new venue for Leicestershire County Matches and the LCBA Green point events for the 2019/20 season. This represents a new exciting venture for County Bridge Club as we host these prestigious County and Regional events at our new modern premises, including the catering for the event. The Tournament Room holds 16 tables with two further rooms holding another 14 tables. The venue has its own private car park. If you would like to talk to the committee about holding your bridge event at the premises please contact our secretary Kate Boulter at [email protected] with your requirements.

Children in Need £400 was raised by CBC for Children in Need. Congratulations to our two top pairs in Friday’s national event: Ruth Allenby and Ian Dent came 33rd 62.76% Terry Green and Bryan Warraker came 55th 61.20%

Behaviour at the Bridge Table The Season of Good Will is upon us so let’s act accordingly: • Greet others in a friendly manner prior to the start of any play. • Be a good host or guest at the table. • Do not continue to discuss hands that have just been played or look at other scores, if the Tournament Director has already asked players to move. • Give credit when your partner, opponents makes a good bid or play. • It is rude to criticise your partner or opponents at the table, verbally or by body or facial gestures because it can be embarrassing for those to whom it is levied and for witnesses to such actions. • Listen to the Director and get on with the game. Spare a Thought for Others At this time of year members are likely to catch the various bugs that are about as we change from the summer to the winter months. If you are unfortunate enough to catch a bug can we please ask you to not attend bridge sessions until you are clear of the ailment, and particularly so if it affects you by regular sneezing or coughing bouts. We cannot overlook that bridge club members are at the upper end of the age scale and for this reason can be susceptible to catching whatever is about. Thank you

Forthcoming Events: December 3rd Last lesson this term December 4th League Matches December 8th County Match – Leicestershire v Worcestershire December 10th Student Christmas Party December 11th Catch Up week for League Matches December 13th Members’ Christmas Party December 18th League Matches December 25th Club closed…apparently, we have a problem with no chimney! December 26th Club closed January 1st 2020 Club closed January 7th Lessons commence for the Spring term January 8th League Matches January 16th LCBA Pairs League January 22nd League matches January 27th Win Stocker and Don Smith Competitions

And finally…. "According to an evening paper, there are only five real authorities on bridge in this country. Odd how often one gets one of them as a partner." Punch (British magazine)