Key Information
Always the last Thursday of the month, except in December our Christmas Drive
is on the Thursday before Christmas.
Time -
7:30pm -
Costs -
£2.00 including a scorecard plus tea and biscuits.
Raffle -
Tickets 10p each
Profits -
Go to Little Hadham Village Hall funds.
Village Hall Info
Attractive, well-
Nearest town is Bishops Stortford.
Large, light and airy hall suitable for meetings,
weddings, dances and parties; additional committee rooms with moveable partitions
for flexibility. Well-
Capacity: (hall)
Seated 190
Dancing 150
Seated at tables 120
Committee room 30
200 stacking, linking chairs; 36 light-
Public Entertainment licence.
Let by the hour, booking
charges on application.
For more information call on 01279 771697.
Registered charity number: 302425
Local Information
Little Hadham Whist Drive
Email: littlehadham@whistdrive.org.uk | Telephone: 0845 345 7478 | Fax/Mobile: 07092 054407
Address: Little Hadham Village Hall, Little Hadham, Herts. SG11 2BP. Click here for map.
Whist -
Whist has been played by all ages, both in the family home and in public halls, clubs
and whist drives for a very long time. There are many variations of Whist that have
developed over time and at Little Hadham Whist Drive we play a type of whist called
‘Semi-
Whist is played by four players at each table. Players seated opposite one another (partners) compete against the other two players at the table for that particular game. For the purpose of clarity as to who picks up the tricks, players elect to either play “lady” or “gent” before the start of the drive. All four players cut from the pack of cards to decide whom shuffles and deals (after shuffling but before dealing, the opposing player to the right cuts the pack for the dealer). For the cut the Ace is low and the player cutting the lowest card shuffles and deals the cards to the player on his left. This could be a lady or gent player and it is they who subsequently lead the first card of that game. A trick is scored after each of the four players has played one of their cards into the centre of the table.
Each player must play a card from the same suit of the first card to be led for each
individual trick, provided they have one. The highest card of the suit that has been
led wins that particular trick unless a player is void of that suit and plays a card
from the trump suit. A card from the trump suit beats all cards in a non-
The player winning the previous trick plays the next card until all 13 cards by each player have been played out in sets of four (13 tricks to each game). Winning tricks are normally picked up by the gent and placed face downwards in front of them but kept separately for ease of counting at the end of each game. Each player records their score (number of combined tricks won by them and their partner) at the end of each game. The pair winning the majority of tricks (seven or more) stay seated opposite one another and play together for the next game, whilst the losing pair split up and move in opposite directions to the next table. The losing lady normally moves to the next highest numbered table and the losing gent moves to the next lower number table.
The whist drive consists of 24 games (also known as hands). At the end of the games, everyone totals up their cards and we give prizes for highest total scores, highest halves for both ladies and gents and also the lowest (or booby) scores, again for both ladies and gents.
Venue and Drives
All drives are held in Little Hadham Village Hall. Click here for map.
Drives are held on a Thursday -
2011
January 27th
February 24th
March 31st
April 28th
May 26th
June 30th
July 28th
August 25th
September 29th
October 27th
November 24th
December 22nd
All drives commence 7:30 pm (doors open by 7:15pm) Also large raffle on night.
New People / Beginners
The Whist Drive attracts its’ people from a wide and diverse cross section of the community, of all ages, from a wide geographical catchment area.
Existing card players and beginners are always made to feel welcome. We have been going for over 60 years, and some can remember playing in the fifties, others have started coming more recently. If you have not played for a while, or only just know the basics, don’t worry, we’ve all been there, just come along. We play for fun and don’t take it too seriously.
Other Whist Drives
Little Hadham Parish includes: Hadham Ford, Westland Green, Green Street and Bury Green.
The one remaining pub is the Nags Head. A Greene King house that sells reasonably priced good food.
The War Memorial is on a pretty triangle of land at the junction of the road towards Much Hadham and Bury Green.
More information including the parish magazine is available at thehadhams.com
Cost = £2 to play including scorecard, tea and biscuits at interval. Top score gets £10 prize!
Thorley Whist Drive is held in the Church Hall by Sainsburys supermarket on Thorley park on Every other Friday at 7:30 pm
More details to follow soon...
2012
January 26th
February 23rd
March 29th
April 26th
May 31st
June 28th
July 26th
August 30th
September 27th
October 25th
November 29th
December 20th