Paviors participated for the first time in many years at the annual Inter-Livery Bridge Competition organized by the Worshipful Company of the Makers of Playing Cards. This was held at Drapers’ Hall on Monday 6 March 2017 and raised money for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal and other charities.
The event was designed as a formal competition put on in a friendly and convivial atmosphere. It was held in two halves, with a supper in-between it proved to be great fun and provided competition without rancour.
The Paviors were represented by Ian Andrews, a new Company member, and John Freestone our Clerk. John is fairly new to bridge and, although Ian is an experienced player, he had not played competitively for over 20 years. By way of emails and a brief meeting over coffee, a bidding and signalling system was cobbled together, which miraculously held up well under the strain of competition.
Ian and John had a quiet first half and succeeded to go into supper just above average, with a score of 52 per cent and about half-way up the field of 50 pairs – something of a miracle in their view. Fortified by food and wine, the pair embarked upon the second half. For this, the team were joined by the Paviors’ Master, Ian Lumsden, who gave wholehearted support while enjoying the good red wine on offer. The second half proved very successful and, apart from a couple of misunderstandings, the Paviors’ team managed to rise to 12th position with an above average score of 56 per cent – all in all a very satisfactory result.
After the prize-giving, everyone departed in good spirits, having had a great evening, meeting friends old a new, and contributing to the Masters’ charity in some way. They enjoyed it so much, they said they will be back next year, and would highly recommend the event to any budding bridge enthusiasts within the Company.