At the inaugral London Region Intermediate Championship on 29th April Madeleine Brettingham added a Silver medal for Ladies Foil  to her collection while Decordoba Mitchell-Rowe took the Men’s Sabre Silver medal.

Both will now represent London at the GB Cup Competition in Nottingham on 23rd June

Well done guys!

Blackheath Fencer Madeleine Brettingham took a gold medal in the recent Leon Paul Adult Intermediate Open

Congratulations Madeleine!

Blackheath past and present members made a good showing at England Fencing – London Region’s  Novice and Intermediate Competition at St Benedict’s School Ealing on 10th July.

With five fencers competing and four taking medals out of a total entry of 46 fencers on this day of the Euro16 and Wimbledon finals that’s quite an impressive result!

Mable Chambers, an ex Musketeer now at Kent University, took Gold in the Women’s Novice Epee. Having come 5th of 6 in the poules she says her best position is to be 7-10 down in the DE to motivate her to win! And she did!

Gurlal Jagdev took silver in the Mens Intermediate Epee

Stephen Wood took Silver in the Mens Intermediate Foil, under the Morley Blades flag but also a Blackheath Fencer in recent months.

Valerio Radolovich, a beginner in September 2015, took Silver in Mens Novice foil (fencing under Morley Blades but now back at Blackheath after moving closer).

And last but not least

Decordoba Mitchell-Rowe, also a beginner in September 2015, came 5th in the Mens Novice Epee in his first competition

Well done all of you!

(Click pic for larger image)

@FenceBlackheath #Greenwich #Lewisham

For the last 3 years We have been using an eCommerce package to help sell training courses, take payment for Club fees and list typical costs and suppliers of fencing equipment.

For technical reasons and increased software licence costs, this will be decommissioned by Easter and will be replaced by a simpler set of pages with Pay Now buttons linking directly to online payment providers.

Paypal will be retained as a payment provider but it has become a victim of its own success, taking 50% of fees, and we are now paying £350 per year in bank charges.

We are therefore introducing a new payment provider called GoCardLess. This is the same system being used by British Fencing’s new membership system, and other major companies, to take payments using the UK Direct Debit system.  It works in much the same way as a debit card, taking payment directly from a bank account. It is all done online with no paperwork needed.

Charges to the club for the service are only one quarter those of Paypal! (1% v 4%). and members are encouraged to use this method of payment.

The new screens are already active for the Adult Training Classes starting in April

Kathryn Bowers, just into her second year of fencing, took Bronze in the Kent U16 girls foil at the weekend. Held at Tonbridge School on 29th November she held her own against a challenging field of 9 Kent fencers. Well done!

Ben, our Chairman for 5 years, is planning to move to Ireland early in the new year. He will be standing down as Chairman in December.

Ben has been an invaluable member of the club acting as foil to me and keeping control of the Committee meetings!

A new Chairperson will be appointed at an EGM in December and stand for re-election at the AGM in February ’16. Any full member interested in this post should contact James, Club Secretary

We are also looking for a new Parents Representative for the Committee. As Musketeers cannot vote at an AGM a parent is appointed to act on their behalf. Anyone interested in this important role please contact Andrew.

The school is embarking on another long term building project!

The front entrance on Vanbrugh Park will be PEDESTRIAN ONLY. There will be no drop off or pick up inside the gates.

We strongly advise to drop off and pick up on school side of Vanbrugh Park ONLY to avoid crossing the road if you do NOT want to park. You can also drop off and pickup outside the gate in Mycenae Road. Mycenae Road can only be accessed from Westcombe Park.

You CAN park in the marked bays and then go through the side gate to enter the back of the gym right around the corner. Park as close to Westcombe Park as possible.

In the event of an evacuation eg fire alarm, you can collect your children from the common on Vanbrugh Park near the bus stop on Beaconsfield Rd

Check out the roads in the area on Google Maps

During building works at the school the Evacuation Assembly Point has been moved to the triangle of land along Vanbrugh Park where it meets Charlton Road. See map: Fencing. Fire Assembly Plan (Alternate)

Parents are advised that if the club has been evacuated you should approach via Westcombe Park Road and turn into Beaconsfield Road which will take you to a safe point to collect your children.