Yorkshire players qualify for the EBU’s Corwen Trophy by virtue of a high-placed finish in the YCBA’s Yorkshire Pairs. There is an equivalent competition, the Nine High Corwen, for players ranked no higher than NGS Nine, with a similar qualifying round.
The 2026 Corwen was played face-to-face, at the Telford Hotel & Spa over the weekend of 30th and 31st May. Five Yorkshire pairs took part in the competition, Geoff Kenyon & Nick Woolven taking the honours with an excellent fourth place on 57.84%. Bob Marchbank & Kevin Higgins (31st), Sandy Davies & Tom Gisborne (34th) and Robin Prestwich & Tim Emmott (39th) also finished in the top half of the field.
The Nine High Corwen was played online, on RealBridge, on 30th May, Four Yorkshire pairs took part. Best placed were Sally Gregory & Frank Varga. 16th with 53.69% Rosemary Page & Liz Jackson were 25th. and Mollie Temple & Linda Holroyde were 30th
Congratulations to all of the above on their achievements.
York BC sixth in Garden Cities Trophy final
9th June 2026
York BC sixth in Garden Cities Trophy final
York Bridge Club’s team qualified for this competition by winning the first division of the Yorkshire League 2025-26 and then the regional final where their opponents were the winners of six other county leagues.
The final was played face-to-face on 6th June 2026 at West Midlands Bridge Club, York finished in sixth place out of eight teams, which included some of the country’s strongest players. The York team was Robert Ross & David Beck, Frank Dixon & James Carpenter, Tim Prior & Paul Brereton, and Christine Child & David Waxman. Robert & David were tenth in the overall cross-imps table and Frank & James were also plus.
Congratulations to York on their excellent achievement in reaching this national final.
Yorkshire place 5th in NICL final
9th June 2026
Yorkshire place 5th in NICL final
The finals of the National inter-county League competition took place on 7th June, played online on RealBridge.
Yorkshire’s B team qualified by virtue of having won their division of the Northern Bridge League in 2025. Our team ultimately finished fifth, having led the field after two matches. But it was very close with only 8 VPs between first and fifth places.
The Yorkshire team of eight was Ian Cook & Dennis Haines, Colin Fallows & David Lewis, Lesley Bridson & Catherine Thompson, and Chris Boyes & Daryl Kayes. Ian & Dennis were fourth in the overall cross-imps table with Colin & David also plus.
Congratulations to the team on their achievement in reaching the NICL final.
Our café bridge event at Easingwold took place on 20th May. The event was sold out, with 96 bridge players enjoying a fun day of social bridge with afternoon tea. The results are shown below the photos.
Though originally from Paignton in Devon, Sandra Penfold lived most of her adult life in Yorkshire, having had the good sense to marry a Yorkshireman, Martin Penfold. Together they built Swift Research, a highly successful market research company, based in Wetherby, North Yorkshire, and lived in the countryside a few miles south-west of Tadcaster.
Sandra was a teacher until it was time to have a family – one girl and two boys – and it was only then that she took up bridge. She took to it like the proverbial fish to water and had her first taste of international ladies’ bridge partnering Rita Oldroyd in the Lady Milne in 1982 and 1983 – England winning on both occasions.
She had a number of other partners whilst representing England or Great Britain in ladies European or World championships, as well as many more Lady Milne outings, more often than not successful ones. She won several bronze and silver medals in European and World championships, including a silver in the 2017 Venice Cup partnering Nevena Senior, and has also represented England in Senior competition on a number of occasions.
Domestically, Sandra has won Crockfords Cup, Spring Foursomes, Faulkner Salver, and had several appearances in finals of the major team events.
She was a tough competitor, one who could rebound from disaster on one deal by playing the next as though it had not happened, something which even many strong players struggle to achieve. She made the most of her talent at the bridge table, and that is all we can ask of anyone.
Unfortunately, in her last few years Sandra seemed to stumble from one health issue to the next, impacting both on her ability to play at the level she would have desired and on her enjoyment, but she loved the game and was willing to put up with a lot from some of her more demanding partners, myself in particular. She was a popular figure in the British bridge scene, and will be sadly missed.
Major International Appearances
Women’s European Championships: 1989 1991 1993 and 2002 Venice Cup: 1991 1995 2003 and 2017 Women’s World Olympiad: 1988 1992 and 2000 Senior European Championships: 2016 Senior World Olympiad: 2016
Lady Milne selections: 1982 1983 1988 1994 1997 1999 and 2010(EBU team)
Teltscher Trophy selections: 2018
Spring Foursomes winner: 2011
Crockfords Cup winner: 2015
Garden Cities Regional Final
10th May 2026
York won the Garden Cities Regional Final today, and have qualified for the National Final on 6th June.
Although classed as ‘regional’, the opposition were the Champion clubs from Cheshire, Nottinghamshire, Norfolk, Hants and IOW, Dorset, and Devon.
York finished on 87VP’s, 11 VP’s ahead of the second place.
The team representing York was Frank Dixon, David Waxman, Robert Ross, Tom Cohen, Tim Prior, Paul Brereton, David Beck and Keith Joules.
