History

Loddon Vale Bridge Club was started in January 1980 by a breakaway group from Twyford bridge club. The chosen venue was Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church Hall on the Wokingham Road, at Earley Cross.

During the first year membership rose to 87. Some of our current members have been with the club since its inception (Irene Allan, Gabrielle Appleton, David Cullington, Kathleen and Len Maddox). Blanka and Vlad Peksa, and Bob Watson who have recently returned to play, were among the first year's members.

With the increasing popularity of the club it became necessary to find a bigger meeting place. New accommodation large enough to meet our requirements was not easy to find. Then in October 1988 the large hall in the Radstock Community Centre became available on Thursday evenings. This suited our needs admirably, with safe storage for our tables and stationery, and a large car park. As an added benefit it had a pleasant bar for those who prefer to refresh themselves with something other than tea or coffee.

The club has continued to thrive and has a present membership of 104 with 13 on the waiting list. Teams are entered for both the Berks & Bucks, and Chiltern leagues of eight. Originally the club held two competitions - individual and pairs. The pairs competition was run half-yearly, but few pairs were able to complete the qualifying minimum of ten sessions. Therefore, from September 1983 the length of the competition was increased to cover the entire season. In 1984, Gladys Maxwell presented a trophy in memory of her late husband, which at her request was awarded to the winner of a one session individual event where players changed partners every two boards. This did not prove popular with most members, and in 1994 Gladys agreed that the trophy should go to the winners of a one session team of four event. In 1997 the committee of Earley Community Association presented a trophy which is now played for yearly as a one session pairs competition.

The objective of the club has always been to provide a reasonable standard of duplicate bridge in a friendly atmosphere. The annual Christmas party and the club bridge weekend organised by Alec Salisbury, which is held every November, strongly contribute to these aims.