Monmouth Bridge Club
Recent Monmouth Bridge Club results are as follows:
Monday 21st October 7pm to 10pm: North/South: 1st Tony Harris and Mike Roberts; 2nd Gordon Casson and Jon Dullforce; 3rd David and Julie Davies. East/West: 1st Terry Hill and Richard Miles; 2nd Richard Brierly and Paul Williams; 3rd Rosemary Whaley and Thomas Hamiltom-Jones.
Wednesday 23rd October (No Fear Bridge) 2pm to 4pm: North/South: 1st Rosemary Whaley and Mary Roden; 2nd David Boys and Ralph Leech; 3rd Jane Washer and Glenys Biggs. East/West: 1st Celia and Norman Skitt; 2nd Brigid and Thomas Hamilton-Jones; 3rd Peter McGahey and Sue Smith.
Thursday 24th October 7pm to 10pm: 1st David and Julie Davies; 2nd Tony Harris and Paul Williams; 3rd Michael Owen and Val Conniff.
Monday 28th October 7pm to 10pm: North/South: 1st Charlotte Jones and Juliet Bucknall; 2nd David Savage and Mary Britton; 3rd David and Julie Davies. East/West: 1st Richard Brierly and Paul Williams; 2nd Sue Nam and Yvonne Rees; 3rd Ann Bradley and Gail Jones.
Wednesday 30th October (No Fear Bridge) 2pm to 4pm: North/South: 1st Jon Dullforce and Diana Whaley; 2nd Rosemary Whaley and Mary Roden; 3rd Jane Washer and Glenys Biggs. East/West: 1st Chris Everett and Sheila Nechvatal; 2nd= Sue Nam and Yvonne Rees; 2nd= Loretta Baker and Anita Herniman.
Thursday 31st October 7pm to 10pm: North/South: 1st Tony Harris and Paul Williams; 2nd David Savage and Mary Britton; 3rd Richard Brierly and Ralph Leech. East/West: 1st Lynne and Rob Seymour; 2nd Neil Sansom and David Boys; 3rd David and Julie Davies.
For beginners and improvers classes contact Julie Davies at 07977 517818 or online at [email protected]
For details of club activities go to www.bridgewebs.com/monmouth
Ross Vaga Probus Club
On 22nd October, members of Ross-on-Wye Vaga Probus were treated to a scorching presentation on glass blowing by Tony Osman. Tony had previously worked in the production of scientific glass apparatus, and now runs a workshop in Cheltenham producing objets d’art.
Tony gave a succinct overview of the history of glass making, spanning back to Iraq and Syria circa 3500 BC. Craftsmen had worked out that glass could be manufactured using three basic raw ingredients – sand, sodium carbonate and limestone. High temperatures up to 1400 degrees centigrade need to be generated for glass fusion to take place. Subsequent developments enabled various types of glass to be manufactured. For example, the addition to the three basic ingredients of borax resulted in a strong glass which did not shatter under large temperature changes, and which we now all know as ‘Pyrex’.
The Venetians have been working with glass for centuries, and it was they who deduced that the addition of lead enabled fine crystal glass to be made. At a more recent level, Pilkingtons developed the float glass process; running molten glass onto a bath of liquid tin enabled large sheets of glass to be produced, and which are a feature of all modern buildings.
With the aid of a blowtorch and showing considerable skill, Tony demonstrated the techniques for glass blowing, including glass fibre and endoscopes, and finished off by making a delightful small perfume bottle in under five minutes.
Vaga Probus is a men’s group that meets twice a month in Ross. Contact the secretary on 01989 218295 for details.
Caldicot Male Voice Choir
On 15th September Caldicot Male Voice Choir had the privilege of being the first choir to sing at the new £89 million International Convention Centre, Wales at the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport.
On the plaza outside the Centre is an impressive, huge 22 tonne, 10 metre high Red Dragon of Wales and the Choir lined up in front of this to have its photograph taken by volunteer choir photographer Colleen Gauntlett.
The huge, three dimensional dragon was built and erected by ProSteel Engineering Ltd, a company based in Portskewett.
An impressive photograph with the Celtic Manor in the background was enlarged to a print of 18 by 12 inches and framed in a light oak frame. This was presented by representatives of the choir, Chairman John Nicholson and secretary Kenneth Cooper together with Leon Jones who took the presentation photograph to Richard Selby, Director of the company at ProSteel Engineering’s headquarters in Caldicot on 17th October.