ISLANDSBC QUARTERLY BRIDGE NEWSLETTER – OCT 24

ISLANDSBC QUARTERLY BRIDGE NEWSLETTER – OCT 24

Readers mail…..
From ISLANDSBC Bridge Club….

This quarter we cover the activities of the Islandsbc online club, details of the next Swiss Teams Tournament in 2025, our continuing support for the ATA (Anglo Turkish Association) games workshops and a focus on one of our longstanding players who has been associated with Cyprus for many years writes Colin Pearson.

The online bridge club which is hosted on BBO (Bridge Base Online) continues to attract new members and is free to join for bridge players who frequent the TRNC for however a short period. Listed below are the results so far for the monthly Hall of Fame and the Annual League position as at the end of September.

The third Swiss Teams Tournament is due to be held on Thursday 15 May 2025 starting at 14:00 and again being held at the Korineum Golf Resort. We are hoping to attract more than the 8 teams who have participated in the past.

Since February we have been supporting the monthly games, workshops hosted by the ATA. Although the numbers are small – especially over the summer, it does give members of the ATA a glimpse of the potential bridge offers and encouragement to join one of the learner groups available.

GRAHAM KERR

I have been asked to write a few lines about me, bridge and Cyprus … well, let’s start with me! I was brought up in Dorset in the 1950s and 60s. My hometown was Wimborne Minster, and I started schooling at the Minster primary, followed by a delightful prep school at Charlton Marshall and finishing off at Shaftesbury Grammar School. The latter being one of 3 boarding grammar schools in Dorset at the time; it was here that I learnt to play bridge. As a family we had always enjoyed playing cards and this enthusiasm proved a useful attribute to while away an hour or two between the end of lessons and the start of prep. The fad changed – canasta, piquet, whist, poker or brag – but one that became enduring was bridge. I reflect upon a very happy childhood in an essentially rural, picturesque county with a fascinating coastline. Certainly, one didn’t holiday abroad – Sandbanks, Studland, Weymouth and Portland satisfied one’s requirements very adequately. However, I was always keen to join the Army and one of the lures was that sixties recruiting advert ‘Join the Army and see the World’ … and in those days we had bases throughout the world, very tempting!

So, after school I joined the Army, spending the first two years undergoing officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. One’s travelogue began! At the end of our first year, we were treated to 3 weeks Overseas Training to confirm the practical military skills we had been taught and practiced during the previous 12 months in UK. This was December 1968 the charts were being topped by ‘Lily the Pink’ and the theme tune from the ‘Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ and Mary Hopkins reminding us that ‘Those were the Days’! The Ashes had been retained by the Aussies in a drawn series during the Summer, commented upon by the inimitable John Arlott, in that rich voice with a Hampshire burr – well lubricated by red wine! Petrol was 5s/5p and beer was a bob a pint – ah, sing it again Mary!

Now back to the plot – our Overseas Training was based in Cyprus – the first really foreign country I visited. The trip out was an adventure in itself, travelling in an Argosy transport aircraft with limited range. We had to refuel at Marseille, then overnighted in RAF Luqa (in Malta) – with a visit to Straight Street (affectionately known as ‘The Gut’). an eye-opening (or ‘watering’) experience for a callow Dorset lad!! We took off early the next morning feeling the worse for wear but richer for the experience! We had to refuel at El Adem airfield in Libya, where we were treated to yet another breakfast! Finally, we arrived at Akrotiri that evening; the awaiting white buses took us to Alexander Barracks in Dhekelia. So started my ‘relationship’ with Cyprus – reinforced by my introduction to the Brandy Sours later that night in the NAAFI!

I returned to Cyprus the following December for my final Overseas Training – the Beatles topped the charts with ‘Come Together’ – and later that month I was commissioned into the Royal Artillery. My first posting was to Plymouth with 29 Commando Regiment, which supported the Royal Marines. I was back in Cyprus for a month in September 1970; we fired our guns on a delightful artillery range at Lefkoniko (just east of the Geçitkale pass) and also on the Akamas peninsular. In short, I came to Cyprus once or twice a year for the first five years of my Army career. Indeed, I spent a month’s leave here, based in Dhekelia, after completing an operational tour in Dhofar in 1973 – a great month exploring the island and taking advantage of all the adventurous training opportunities – from diving, parachuting, horse riding etc. So, I got to know the island quite well over that period – frequenting Famagusta and, when possible, Kyrenia as often as time allowed. Hiring a speedboat for the afternoon in Kyrenia for only £2, using it to learn to water ski in the bay outside … there was no new harbour there in those days! Post ’74 I didn’t return to Cyprus until the nineties. more of that later!

I have never been addicted to playing bridge, but I have always found it stimulating in terms of the mental challenge and the social dimension. There was invariably the opportunity to play wherever one was posted – so I have played in many countries during my time with the Army … and several since leaving in 2004. It has been enormous fun playing with various groups here in Cyprus – both in the North and the South. Our decision to move to Cyprus emerged from the late 90’s; we had been holidaying over here based in Pissouri for a number of years. The main attraction was the easy access to the water sports facilities at Episkopi and Akrotiri; our youngest two were around 10 years old and were up for water-skiing, sailing and even a ‘try-dive’. There were plenty of kids their age and the holidays were action-packed. We decided that it would be worth investing in a holiday home and began looking assiduously in the Pissouri area. My last tour with the Army was in Kuwait – it was nice to holiday in the cooler climes of Cyprus in the Summer! Life evolved and we decided to remain in the Middle East once I left the Army and that Cyprus should become our home base – there seemed to no good reason to be based in UK. The expectation that the Annan Plan would be endorsed, the unspoiled nature and the more reasonable property prices in the North led us to purchase our property in Arapkoy in September 2003. I got a job with Hart Security, and we were based in Kuwait again post the invasion of Iraq, our main business arena. In the meantime, Kibris Insaat were building our house, which took longer than planned … surprise, surprise! I was relocated to Cyprus to work in the newly established Hart headquarters in Limassol in February 2006; we rented a property in the South until we could move into our new home in Arapkoy in October 2006. As they say … the rest is history!

By way of a brief epilogue – you should have surmised that both bridge and Cyprus have been significant strands of my life’s tapestry. Both have brought an enormous amount of joy – not without some frustrations!! The balance is clearly in favour of the former! This is the only house that I have owned and lived in – it’s been a very happy home and the longest I have ever dwelt in one place! Although, I have sold up and must depart Aphrodite’s fair isle later this year … I am sure ‘I will return’ and intend to enjoy bridge for many more years!