Playing cards was very much part of my childhood and I learnt to play bridge when I was about 9. Both my parents were keen bridge players and I would go along to our local Bridge Club, Doncaster, to play with my Dad on a very regular basis. As a teenager I was involved with the Junior Bridge Squad and then moved more into playing in Women's international teams.
From a fairly young age I realised that, although when I play I am highly competitive and play to win, I had no burning ambitions within the bridge world, and very much did not want bridge to take over all my free time! And I stepped back from top level bridge. This was later reinforced even further when I stopped playing altogether for over a decade as family priorities took over.
I got dragged back into the game as my children learnt to play and loved it. It has been great to see how much they have got out of the game, and to be able to play as a family team. As a parent, I think you feel very fortunate if there are things which your teenagers actively want to do with you!
As well as playing more with my family, I started teaching bridge and running sessions locally, with the focus very much on the bridge being fun and friendly, but providing scope for players to stretch their brains if that's part of what they want from the game.
Over recent years I've really enjoyed playing with my daughter, Venetia, in Women's teams again, which has been a very special thing to be able to do.
This year my bridge playing has taken a slightly unexpected turn. I stepped in at the last minute to play in an event with a very close friend of mine, Abbey Smith. We go way back, and have always kept in touch since, but had not managed to meet up for several years. It was really lovely to see her again and we both felt we wanted to make sure it happened more regularly, so we decided we'd better create some opportunities for it to happen through bridge. We somewhat spontaneously put a team together for the Mixed Teams Trials, thinking we'd get to spend time together again and maybe build it into something more in future years... and then we only went and won it and are actually having to take it seriously now!
So, I have been playing more high level bridge this year than for decades. It feels like maybe I have come back into bridge in a way that aligns better now with my priorities in life and what I'm looking for from the game. I'm part of a wonderful team, starting to gain confidence that I can actually play a bit, and looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in the Summer.
Last updated: May 2026
Major International Appearances
Venice Cup: 1995
Lady Milne selections: 1990 1991 1992 1993 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2018 2023 2024 and 2025 (EBU team)
European Team Championships (mixed teams): 2026