Address
6, King St
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Staffordshire
ST5 1EL
The
Club is open:
Monday
Evening
7-15 pm
Wednesday
Evening
7-15 pm
(Under the auspices of Basford B.C.)
Thursday
Evening
7-15 pm
Friday
Afternoon 1-45
pm
for
duplicate bridge.
Tuesday
Afternoon 1-45
pm
for
duplicate bridge.
Through
the Season (September to May) certain Friday Evenings are utilised
for Teams of Four events.
The Handicap Teams of Four (Rowley Rosebowl) runs on the first Friday of the
months October to April while the Pivot Teams of Four (if it is run) is usually October to
April there may be a September evening if entries are high. There are often
Semi-finals and Finals to be played in May and April. The Fourth Friday is
used for this event.
During
the months September to May tuition classes are run on Tuesday
evenings, starting at 7-30 pm.
Our
traditional and hence main evenings are Mondays and Thursdays.
History
The Club began in 1950 by a break-a-way group of players from
Basford B.C., who played at
Basford Tennis Club.
Beginning by playing at private houses and hiring rooms, we eventually found a
permanent
home using a room within the local Conservative Club premises.
In 1976 we successfully negotiated with Newcastle Borough Council to rent a
second floor of a
building fronting onto the main High street of the town.
This remained our stable venue until 1994 when, thanks to interest free member
loans and a
large bank overdraft, we moved into our own ground floor premises. This building
was
basically a shell and, to bring it up to viability, a dedicated group of members
worked long
and hard.
The Club was officially opened by the Lady Mayor, Elsie Ashley, on Thursday 31st
March
1994.
The financial position at April 1994 was that we owed £55,000 to members and
£17,300 to the
bank. At the 50th AGM in June 1999 the last loan was repaid and we owned the
building outright.
The completion of the repayments so quickly (it was scheduled to be 2002) was
due to the
members supporting the Club and to one member in particular, Ivy Lettice, who had loaned a
considerable
amount and who had very generously willed that at her death the debt would be
cancelled.
Photograph
