Last year it was our turn to visit the French. A group of 46 including 17 children and teenagers travelled by coach for the weekend of 4-7th April.
It turned out to be a showery and cool spring weekend but nothing daunted our spirits and enthusiasm. The hospitality was excellent. Several new families took part in the trip and came back having made new friendships and holding wonderful memories.
After the first evening of settling in, the programme of events included on the Saturday, a walking tour of the village highlights, an afternoon of local sports and an evening of entertainment. This was complimented with wonderful meals, alfresco and BBQ style. On the Sunday many of the groups youngsters visited “grimp a l’arb” and experienced tree climbing! French style. Visits also were made to discover the delights of the village of Pierrefonds and to the history shown at the wagon de l’armistice. Following another wonderful meal in the evening the group returned home on Monday.
This year we welcomed a party of 50 visitors in July to Willingham. This included a small party from the Czech Republic along with our French friends, to explore the possibilities of expanding our horizons into developing a possible three way exchange of twinning ideals. This is still in the early stages but we are hoping to have an exploratory visit to a small town called Postrelmov next year. The weekend was blessed with hot sunny weather and the programme of events enjoyed by all. At the welcome meeting in the village hall we were entertained by the village hand bell ringers. A visit to Lincoln including a boat trip on the Brayford Belle followed by a walk at the Whisby Nature Reserve gave the first day of the weekend a local feel. The Sunday with the sun still shining, was the ideal weather for a fun packed afternoon and BBQ held on the village playing field.
We hope to encourage new people from the community to join us and experience first hand, the fundamentals of twinning. If you would like to consider hosting or taking part in the future we will be pleased to hear from you.
The AGM of the Association will be held on September 4th in the village hall.
Sadly, since the visit this July, our chairman Paul Andrews has died. Our memories and the involvement he had with our organisation will live on. |
