We enjoyed 2025’s Edinburgh installment so much we’re bringing it back early in 2026, exactly 6 months after the previous one.

Date: Saturday, 18th April 2026

Venue: The New Melville Bridge Club, 1 Pinkhill, Edinburgh, EH12 7BA

Admission: The standard entry fee is £16

Hosted by: James Burley

Doors open: 10:00

Games to be played: Eight 9-rounders followed by 15-round grand final

Refreshments: Various snacks and biscuits

Finishes by: 18:15

Wheelchair accessible?: Yes

Parking onsite?: Yes, but limited

Format:

The event will be carried out in the three-to-a-table “Lincoln” style, in which attendees will be playing six (thereby hosting three) 9-round preliminary games across three rounds.

Once the heat games have concluded and the scores have been collected, the two top-performing players will come head-to-head in the grand final.

Rough timetable for the day:

Doors open: 10:00

Welcome/Round 1 Draw: 10:45–11:00

Round 1: 11:00–12:15

Round 2: 12:15–13:30

Lunch: 13:30–14:30

Round 3: 14:30–15:45

Round 4: 15:45–17:00

Final: 17:00–17:45

Prizegiving: 17:45–18:00

Post-event group meal plans:

There will be a group meal booked in Edinburgh after the event. Please let James know if you’re interested in attending. Once there’s been a sufficient response, a link to the spreadsheet will be posted for any preorders that may be required.

How to enter:

To sign up, please complete the entry form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeHFL3AplWhunKDc6rILkcs-3x4iFKexRDKDUihEQwfqsrDWg/viewform?

Public transport

The club is located 3.2 miles west of Edinburgh Waverley, and 1.9 miles west of Edinburgh Haymarket. If you want to get your steps in, it’s a 1h 10m walk from Waverley or a 43-minute walk from Haymarket according to Google Maps. If not, the following East Lothian bus routes will take you to the Pinkhill stop, located just outside the venue on Corstorphine Rd: 12 to Gyle Centre, 26 to Clerwood, and 31 to East Craigs. The closest tram stop to the venue is Balgreen, which is a 14-minute walk from the venue, and you can catch this from St Andrew Square in the city centre. The same route stops directly outside of Haymarket station.

Staying over?:

Fancy making a weekend of it? There’s plenty of hotel options in the city itself, plus with excellent train connections between the Edinburgh and other local (within an hour by train) places, there are many more options too, Check some of them out below:

Edinburgh: https://www.booking.com/searchresults.html…

Falkirk: https://www.booking.com/searchresults.html…

Livingston: https://www.booking.com/searchresults.html…

Stirling: https://www.booking.com/searchresults.html…

Dunfermline: https://www.booking.com/searchresults.html…

Linlithgow: https://www.booking.com/searchresults.html…

Tweedbank: https://www.booking.com/searchresults.html…

Any questions?

Feel free to get in touch with us at hello@focalcountdown.com

Attending or organising a FOCAL event is subject to the Code of Conduct.