Diary of a Bridge Player English Bridge Union Wed, 27/05/2026 - 09:58

Derek Marsh, from Milton Keynes, recounts memories from his last 50 years playing bridge:

My parents, in fact the whole of my family kept bridge a secret from me until I was over 21. They never spoke about bridge, or even hinted at its existence.

I knew that cards as a pastime existed because my father and his friends hid themselves away in the back parlour to play ‘cards’ on many a Friday night. My contribution was to be as quiet as possible and to retire early, as my bedroom was above where they played.

I must have been about 9 years old when I was allowed to sit and observe the game of Solo in the parlour. I picked the game up quickly and also learnt a few new curses from the players. If I made a sound or pulled any faces at the play I was banished to my room. My elder brother Alan, 9 years my senior, was also one the players.

This is how my big opportunity came about. One Friday he skipped the game as he had developed a bad case of ‘girls’ syndrome complicated by Skiffle Groupitis. I was invited to play with the players for the first time. I was hooked and my father was impressed enough to teach me how to play cribbage. Over the coming years this developed into a marathon event. Father, back from work, would have his dinner then say ‘get the crib board out then’. We played two or three rounds an evening in best of 50 marathons.
When I left school I worked in the Drawing Office of Beautility Furniture in Edmonton, North London. Here I had my first exposure to computing. It was early days for computing and few were willing to spend time understanding the system that collated orders into weekly reports. So as the tea boy it fell to me to learn the system and turn the summary into rough mill workloads. This was almost as good as playing cards. Those were great times right up until my parents left home.

After three years of furniture design study I became aware that very few ever reached the lofty heights of Furniture Designer, so decided on a change of career.

So drawn to computing, I got a job as a Clerical Assistant in the British Iron and Steel Research Association based in Battersea. Nine months later I was promoted to computer operator. Then after another year I moved to the outskirts of the City of London as a computer operator. This was because I believed I had more chance of becoming a programmer with LOLA. The London Online Local Authorities.

Here was where I was exposed to bridge for the first time. Operating was a 24 hours a day job. On the night shift we had the big processing runs on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The shift leader insisted that we play bridge and it was here I learnt kitchen bridge. The rules were simple.

•    Don’t outbid the Shift Leader.
•    Don’t trump the Shift Leaders tricks.
•    If you partnered the Shift Leader, wait for him to bid no trumps first.

On my days off I was drawn to poker games. It was this that was to prove a life changer. You see I also enjoyed watching Leyton Orient be beaten or held to a draw every other Saturday. Yes I was the other supporter you could see from the South stand.
One Saturday I was introduced to a girl called Janet. She was wrapped in thick winter clothing with a massive scarf up over her nose, almost meeting the bobble hat that was pulled down over her ears. But the eyes! I was smitten. When I was invited to join a poker game that evening and also learnt she would be there, I jumped at the chance. Janet took me for seventeen shillings and six pence. One day I will win this back I am sure, it’s just taking a bit of time.

Janet and I started courting. I bided my time and after three weeks I proposed. Janet said yes and we decided to set up home together. I had left LOLA at this time because, although by then a Shift Leader, it was clear I would not get a programming job with them. As soon as I resigned they offered me a programming job, which I declined.

Now to BOC Central Services and then to BOC Gas Equipment, yes, as a Programmer. This involved moving to Southport and working in Skelmersdale. Janet and I set up home in Ainsdale. In the Southport local paper was an advertisement for bridge lessons at the princely sum of 50p per lesson. So we both signed up for 10 weeks of lessons. After six weeks the teacher said we were ready for club bridge and introduced us to Southport Bridge Club and duplicate bridge.

We have fond memories for Southport Bridge Club. One incident sticks in the memory above all others. The club had a non-playing hostess that kept time and served drinks when requested. One evening an almighty row broke out between a husband and wife. He kept shouting at her ‘you led a Diamond after that bidding, why’? The hostess went over to the table that now had the whole rooms’ attention. The husband showed the hostess his wife’s hand and asked her what she would lead to a 6NT contract. The hostess replied that she did not play bridge. To this the husband said ‘yes but what would you lead if you did play bridge’. The whole room fell apart with tears of laughter.

Janet and I married in Southport and decided we would start a family and return south to be near our families. I found a job in London with a computer reseller called Datapoint UK and we moved south to Leighton Buzzard. We played no bridge for the first three years during which Jayne and Suzanne were born. Then Janet joined a babysitting share group which enabled us to find Leighton Buzzard Bridge Club.

We managed to get along there on most Monday evenings. Made lots of new friends and learnt lots of new sides to bridge. Nat and Betty Borman, key members of the club, twisted our arms to attend a Bedfordshire Bridge Association (BBA) county competition for newcomers. It was called the Cadet Pairs. We won the event and as such we were invited to buy a trophy for future years, hence the Bedfordshire Marsh Trophy.

We joined Leighton Buzzards David Pritchard and Alan Combes as teammates and managed to get to the last 16 of the NICKO cup, knocking out last year’s quarterfinalists on the way.

Janet and I had long harboured the ambition to build our own house. We found a plot of land in Milton Keynes in 1981 and proceeded to build, moving in by November 1982 with a little help from our friends, such as David Pritchard.

Like all self-builders we had run out of money to complete the finishing of the house. So I took a year’s contract in Saudi Arabia to finish the house fitting and garden landscaping. Some people say there is nothing to do in Saudi Arabia. No cinemas, no pubs and no racetracks (unless you count the camel races). You can stay in, but then a one hour TV program, of say Mission Impossible, would be about 25 minutes long after censorship. But bridge clubs abounded. My favourite club was in the Indian compound in Khobar. Not only did they have a pre bridge dinner service but also if you missed this, there was a half time buffet that must have taken hours to prepare.

My first partner in Saudi was a Canadian from the same hotel who spoke like Kermit the Frog (I tell no lies). He was a quirky person whose aim was to survive on five Riyals a day (£1). We were OK up until I found out that it was he who was stealing my food from the communal fridges.

While in Saudi I was lucky enough to partner an American, Bob Grover for three months while his normal partner was on assignment back in the States. He is the best bridge player it has been my pleasure to watch and partner.

I also played at the Dammam Bridge Club. Populated almost entirely by Liverpudlian Dockers who are the salt of the earth. They had taught themselves bridge and their enthusiasm for the game had no bounds. Two things stick in my memory from this time. The first was only just avoiding being rounded up and forced to watch a public execution of three Sri-Lankan men in Dammam main square. The second was a head to head bridge match for a mammoth pack of bacon (illegal import). One hand during the match saw my partner and I reach 7S doubled and vulnerable making for 2470. In the other room the opposition showed their heart void by bidding an extra ace. They reached 7NT, were doubled and went down five for 1400. The difference on that one hand was 3890. The bacon was delicious.

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