A brief history of Crowthorne Bridge Club

Prince Alfred Public House

Crowthorne Bridge Club was founded in 1972 by a group which had previously enjoyed a series of bridge lessons.

The first venue was a back room in The Prince Alfred in Crowthorne High Street. The air was thick with smoke as players puffed away and nervously consulted their crib sheets. The club was ousted by a pool table which the pub believed would be more profitable.

After a brief spell at Hatch Ride Primary School the club eventually moved to Pinewood Leisure Centre where it stayed for over 30 years.

On July 7th 2008 Crowthorne Bridge Club relocated to Eversley Cricket Club.

Crowthorne 'A' 2002-03

The first weekend away was in 1976 at Passford House in Lymington where the club drank the bar dry! Three years later we were asked not to return. However, we have continued to enjoy our annual breaks at Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Wells (Somerset) and Midhurst (West Sussex). It is not all bridge - we now include a day of golf and a walk.

The club first entered the Bracknell Bridge League in 1973. The first team was John & Pat Philpott and Jack & Jane Pearcy. Since then we have fielded up to six teams and now have representatives in Divisions 1, 2 and 3.

Pictured left is the 'A' team celebrating winning the Second Division title of the Bracknell Bridge League in 2002/03.

This short history was kindly provided by Pat Philpott. If you have any reminiscences of the old days at the club please contact the webmaster using the link at the foot of the page.