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Bert Gadd, French Professional Champion 1833Our party returned to Paris to celebrate. The Penfold company had let it be known that if any of us did well in the tournament we were to ‘push the boat out’ and the company would stand the cost. We took them at their word and in due course they received a bill for £134 from their French Manager. That was a huge amount in those days and they never asked us out again! I was on a £50 win bonus from Penfold at that time, so I did quite well out of them on that trip, but the spree in Paris cost me the opportunity to play in the Belgian Open when they abruptly withdrew sponsorship. The winner of that tournament with a total of 282 was one of the runners-up at Chantilly, Auguste Boyer.

Charlie Ward had returned to the Hotel earlier in the evening and was sound asleep by the time we eventually rolled up. He was not amused when we roused him from his slumbers by peppering his window with stones until he came down and let us in.
During my stay at the hotel I went to the manager and complained about the hordes of flies around the WC. “What time was that?” the manager asked. I answered: “Half an hour ago, about 11.30”. “Ah oui,” said the manager, “you should have waited a little longer, then they would have been in the dining room.” Continental travel was not so comfortable as it is now, but there were a lot of laughs along the way.

Open de France WinnersI eventually arrived home in Birmingham with a bundle of francs in my pocket - very late, very dirty and very tired. I opened the door and called to my wife, “I’m home”, to be greeted with, “Come and kill this damned moth, it’s been flying round for ages”, she couldn’t stand the little creatures. – French Open Champion! Happy days!!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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