I learnt bridge at school and played at university, joining the student team and then becoming secretary of the Bridge Society and the team captain. Apart from some social bridge during the early eighties when an expat in Nigeria I didn’t play for over 30 years. Came back to it about 9 years ago, then joined my county association here in Gloucestershire and am now in my second year as president.
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Oliver has played bridge for 30 years but it was during lockdown that he moved in to a full time career in the game. Initially running games for clubs in Yorkshire and further afield, he set up the Oliver Cowan Bridge Club, giving players from all over the country the chance to play in games aimed at specific levels. With nearly 750 members, the club has continued to grow as things slowly return to normal.
Both my parents came from bridge playing families – unfortunately neither of my parents played! In my early 20’s whilst working in London for M&S, my aunt, who was one of the most enthusiastic people you would ever meet, introduced me to the game, a version of kitchen bridge. She swore by a textbook called Bread & Butter Bidding, by Brain Senior. I had no idea that many years later I would not only occasionally partner Brian but also serve him his favourite Bread & Butter Pudding when he and wife Nevena were a part of our regular bridge houseguests.
I learned bridge in my late teens from my parents who were both club and county players. I played for a few years in Staffordshire but then marriage, children and career became more important and I didn’t then play for about twenty years other than staff room games at break and lunch times.
I was brought up in North Derbyshire. Following undergraduate study in maths & economics, and subsequent postgraduate study at Warwick, I joined Durham University in the mid 1970s as a Senior Research Assistant on a one-year contract. Some 40 plus years later, and having held a variety of positions (including Dean of Social Sciences, Principal of two Colleges and having been promoted to Professor of Economics in 1996), I left in 2017.
I grew up in Bristol with my twin brother. I have a casual understanding of Bridge from playing with my parents and gran. One of my earliest bridge experiences, when I was around 9, was learning about bidding during a skiing trip with family in the French alps. I have an interest in puzzles and I enjoy learning new things, at university I studied mathematics and was also a semi-regular member of the board games society. In my free time I like to make mods for video games.
Patrick started playing bridge at school in Scotland but only got fully hooked when at university in Cardiff, where he learned from, and started playing with, the Welsh national team. He moved from there to live in Cheltenham and over the decades when he got married and raised two daughters, he was heavily involved in Gloucestershire bridge (most often as Chief TD), while retaining his links with Wales. He has represented Wales in the Home Internationals (as junior, open and senior), and in European Championships – but has since switched to represent England twice in the Telscher.
Aaron is 23 and works as a software developer for an agricultural robotics startup. In 2014, one of Aaron’s teachers suggested he attend the Loughborough Junior Teach-In which is where he first experienced bridge. He continued to play at secondary school, competing in the Schools’ Cup and at the local club. In 2016, Aaron began studying Computer Science at Cambridge where his bridge quickly improved, and he joined the under-26 squad in 2018. Aaron has competed twice internationally, playing in both the 2019 and 2020 Channel trophies.