Denny Davies, 1929 - 2013
Denny Davies was born in Denbigh, North Wales. He was educated in Denbigh and passed his Higher School Certificate at 16 and was awarded a County Scholarship to the University of Wales but had to wait until he was 17 before being admitted. It was at the University of Wales that he developed his love of bridge - a passion only matched by his fascination with the game of cricket.
After University he had to complete his National Service and chose to teach at the Army Apprentice School in Harrogate – rather than the alternative of serving on the front line in Korea! While on leave, he met a young lady called Audrey; three years later they married and in time were blessed with two children, Alison and Peter.
As a Geography graduate he taught for many years at Heywood Grammar School and played a lot of bridge. The men’s staff room practically turned into a bridge club – causing the Headmaster, Colonel Farish, to apologize on one occasion for “interrupting the activity on the green baize”. One of his colleagues was Brian Pilkington with whom he won the North West Pairs Championship.
From Heywood Denny moved to a Deputy Headship in Birmingham and started playing at West Midlands Bridge Club. With his appointment as Headmaster of Long Eaton School in 1974 he became involved with the Derbyshire Bridge Association (as Secretary) and formed a memorable partnership with Don Smedley. This is when he met John Williams – then the Director of the Derby Playhouse and subsequently General Manager of the EBU. When Denny retired and moved to Haddenham, near Aylesbury, John suggested he might like to ‘help out’ at the EBU. This initiated ten years of working for the EBU in various roles including licensing and magazine advertising. He and Audrey became close friends with Sandra and Brian Claridge, and Denny described his time at the EBU as amongst the happiest years of his life.
In 1998 he retired once again and moved back to Manchester. His main interests were Rotary (he joined in 1975 and was President of two Rotary Clubs, Aylesbury and Didsbury) and cricket (he went on three tours to the West Indies with his son Peter).He played some occasional bridge in the Manchester League and some duplicate at Manchester Bridge Club and latterly Bramhall Bridge Club with Dieter Salden. Poor health curtailed his bridge in his last years and he passed away at the end of March aged 83. He will be remembered with fondness and affection by all who knew him.