Winchester Bridge Club enjoyed its 50th Anniversary on 3rd July 2023 with 60 members and guests, including club founder David Parry who described the early days of the club.
A celebration Teams match was played with 14 tables. Congratulations to the winners: Maarten van der Kolk, Jan Whitehouse, Pat Mounsey and John King (pictured above, right).
In 1973 David Parry (pictured above, with Rosie White), was in the 6th form at Peter Symonds Grammar School in Winchester. He could not find a local bridge club so decided to start one up, getting great assistance from the EBU’s secretary at the time, Dimmie Fleming, as well as from Southampton Sutherland bridge club, not far from Winchester. The club first met on 3rd July 1973, and was soon meeting 3 times a week and teaching bridge to beginners, basing the course on Victor Mollo and Nico Gardener’s book Bridge for Beginners. The club moved to the Railway Tavern, then to the The George (now Alfie’s) in the High Street, and then to the Conservative Club.
Today the bridge club is a section of the Winchester Racquets and Fitness club, a sports club with a lovely bar and kitchen, where members enjoy bridge in a large sunny room surrounded by tennis courts.
