The Len Salmon Memorial
Trophy
By Clive
Keep, original article 30/12/99, updated on 14/12/09
What is the Len Salmon Memorial
Trophy? Who was Len Salmon? These are some of the questions asked by
Bridge players outside the Abingdon and Wallingford Bridge Clubs. First, a
brief résumé of the life and interests of Len Salmon: born in 1929 in Birmingham, he graduated with a degree in chemistry from Birmingham University in 1950 and joined the Atomic
Energy Authority at Harwell Research Laboratories on October 2nd the
same year. Len was a keen bird-watcher as well as bridge player and both
pastimes occupied a lot of his time throughout his career, where he became an
environmental physicist of international standing, specialising in
gamma-radiation spectrometry. He became a leading light at the Harwell
Bridge Club, being Chairman for several years, before the club was discontinued
in the late 1970s. Len also instigated the ‘Harwell Cup’
annual competition, an event that was administered by Harwell Bridge Club in
its early days and which now still continues as an Oxfordshire event. Abingdon Bridge club was formed in 1978, and he
took an energetic role in club activities. He and his wife Ann also
played at Wallingford
Bridge club, and, like so
many other bridge players in the local area, were members of both
clubs. Before Len sadly died in February 1996 of an incurable illness, he
had time to document his life history and his wishes for the future, one being an
annual match between his two favourite bridge clubs, Abingdon and Wallingford. As he
was a keen advocate of the Oxfordshire Wessex League and its format, he
requested that the matches should be in similar vein, with as many teams of
eight competing as could be mustered! The match is usually held in
November and was originally preceded by a ‘challenge’ by the host
for that year to the other club chairman. These challenges caused some
amusement – both by the perpetrators and the recipients. They
enabled a few of the ‘actors’ from each club to dress up and
practice their act in front of an appreciative audience. These challenges
have subsequently ‘died out’ – perhaps we have no actors
left?
What has happened so far? The year, type
of challenge, the Hosts and the Winners are listed in the table below-
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2000
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Clowns
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Wallingford
BC
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Abingdon
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2001
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Shakespeare
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Abingdon
BC
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Wallingford
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2002
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Drag Artists
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Wallingford
BC
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Wallingford
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2003
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-
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Abingdon
BC
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Wallingford
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2004
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-
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Wallingford
BC
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Wallingford
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2005
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-
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Abingdon
BC
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Abingdon
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2006
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-
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Wallingford
BC
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Wallingford
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2007
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-
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Abingdon
BC
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Wallingford
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2008
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-
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Wallingford
BC
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Abingdon
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2009
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-
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Abingdon
BC
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Abingdon
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Long may the matches continue!
Acknowledgements
are due to Harry Freeman and Malcolm Simpson for providing some of the
background information for this article.