The Twinning Association
From Lacey Green History
The following was published in Hallmark in May 1999, written by Ted Janes to clarify some confusion that had occurred :-
In Peter Trotter’s article on the Twinning anniversary in the last issue, for obvious reasons he was unable to tell the whole story. True, the first public mention about the Village twinning was by the late Bernard Houghton, but it was an idea put to him by – Peter. (click Peter & Lilian Trotter for more about Peter)
When as the then Chairman of the – Parish Council I called that first meeting to discuss the idea, few of us would have known much about the practicalities of twinning, if Peter had not done his homework on the subject. After many months of hard work by the steering committee, it was decided to test the suitability of Hambye. Peter and Lilhan travelled to Normandy - paying their own travel and hotel expenses - and so the grant from the Twinning Association of Great Britain for that purpose was left intact, thus starting the Association off with a healthy bank balance.
There have been many memorable twinning exchanges, but none more so than that first one on the last weekend in July of 1981, when a handful of us travelled over for the signing ceremony. For me it was one of the most memorable and treasured moments of my life, for which I say “thank you” to Peter because without him I am sure twinning in a small community like ours would never have got off the ground.
June 1980 report in Hallmark from the Twinning Steering Committee.
We can't begin to express the frustration after two years of effort. Its unbelievable that no village in Europe is interested in twinning with us. Finding the right partner of course is important. The latest investigation is taking place with Hambe a small agricultural town of 1,318 inhabitants, 317 kms from Paris.
Charter of Twinning Lacey Green – Hambye
In the town hall of Hambye in the department of La Manche, France, on Sunday the twenty-sixth day of July, one thousand nine hundred a and eighty-one:
We,
Mr. Capelle, Mayor of Hambye
Mr. Janes, Chairman of the Parish Council of Lacey Green in the County of Buckingham, Great Britain.
Duly elected by the people of our respective town and parish in order to further the cultural, touristic and social exchanges between our peoples.
Do hereby reaffirm this compact of twinning, happy in the friendships already established between our people, and confidence in the growth of mutual understanding and amity between them.
In token whereof we have hereunto appended our signature.
-
2002 Report in Hallmark
In 1981 two very similar villages – Lacey Green in England and Hambe in Normandy, France, arranged a cooperative venture known as Twinning.
1981 LACEY GREEN PARISH TWINNING ASSOCIATION. By Ted Janes
WE’RE TWINNED
News of the marvellous reception our 15 strong party received in Hambe, both for the twinning ceremony and the celebrations of the weekend of July 25/26th,will have reached you, by the sheer enthusiasm and elation of our party. Now is the time for the preparation of the return twinning ceremony, and to offer hospitality and friendship as did the hundreds of people in Hambe to us.
Comment by Joan West
Whilst touring in France with the children, we noticed a signpost to 'Hambe', the village with which Lacey Green was to be twinned , so we thought we would have a look at it. We drove into the square only to see Ted on the balcony of the Mayor`s parlour expressing greetings from the people of Lacey Green to the people of Hambe. He looked resplendent, wearing his parish chairman`s chain of office.
Hallmark September 1981. The Norman Invasion - 1981 by Mary Highton.
There could not have been anyone in the whole of Lacey Green, Loosley Row or Speen who was unaware that the last weekend in September was going to be something of an historic occasion. Preparations had been going on for weeks and willing helpers had volunteered from every corner of our extended parish. We were are least going to be able to reciprocate to our friends from Hambye the incredibly warm welcome and the good time that we had been given in France.
The weather could have been kinder; as Saturday 26th September dawned, the skies wer laden and the trees were being lashed by gale force winds and rain. However, undaunted by the elements, a reception committee of 4 (Peter Trotter, Gordon Lennard Mandy Stein and Nicola Bolton) left Lacey Green at 5 o'clock in the morning and drove down to Southampton in a limousine to meet the 34 strong French contingent and escort them back to Lacey Green Village School in their 50 seater coach. Having visited Runnymede, Windsor Castle and Eton School enroute, they all arrived at the school hall on time, looking happy, if somewhat weary! The elderly people among them had travelled in the comfort of the limousine, forming an advance party, and had arrived ten minutes earlier.
It was delightful for those of us who went to Hambye to see our friends again, and a great deal of kissing and hugging went on. We seem to have adapted to the customary French greeting very easily - it's so much warmer and more friendly than a British handshake! The weather was also becoming more friendly and the rain had stopped, not that it would have mattered anymore, because by this time old friends were recounting stories and new friends were making contact over cups. of coffee and biscuits. The photographs taken in the school hall will bear witness to the. joy on this occasion.
Princes Risborough suffered a second Norman invasion as many of our visitors had a look at the shops before lunch with their hosts, though some used the time to become better acquainted, or to take some rest. Many hosts had combined with neighbours to give a luncheon party for two groups of French people, thus sharing the work. Our party consisted of 11 people, 5 French and 6 English, and was an enormous amount of fun. The language used at the table was a mixture of English and French, perhaps ‘Franglais' would be the best name for it. It was difficult to drag people away, as we were all having such a good time, but we had to take advantage of the fine spells of weather between the ‘showers and visit local places of. interest, i.e. the Windmill, the Forge and the Horses Home at Speen. These visits culminated in a delicious cream tea at the Barn – and what a delightful place it is! I, for one, had never been there before, and was totally captivated by it. The atmosphere was welcoming and intimate, and full of 'magic' for me. I am sure many of our French friends felt the same.
Speen Village Hall was the venue for the evenings event ~- a buffet supper, (superbly organised) and entertainment by local people — Will McBurnie and his friend Allan Singing folk songs accompanied by guitar and piano, and Dorthy Willett, with her incredible voice and talent, who won the hearts of all the Frenchmen, both young and old I'm sure, by her fabulous, professional. performance of Marie Lloyd songs. There will be a few interesting photographs to be seen in Hambye within the next few weeks, I'll be bound! The lads managed to infect us all with their high spirits, and we were all singing before long. A fantastic evening was enjoyed by all – it was an outstanding and undisputed success.
Next day, St. John's Church, Lacey Green, was looking it's most beautiful in the morning sun as we entered to attend the Harvest Festival Service. The sunshine was streaming through the stained glass windows on to the altar decorated with flowers, and fruit and vegetables round about, providing a perfect background to the service, parts of which were translated into French for the benefit of our friends from Hamby
Taking advantage of the warm autumn sunshine, many of us walked back from the church to the final gathering of the parishioners of the twinned villages, which was of course, the most important, and was attended by more people than anything else over the weekend.
In Hallmark December 1982. Report by Chairman Peter Trotter
"When one stops to think of the progress the Twinning Association has made it is unbelievable that it was only December two years ago that Francis, Phillipe and Joel travelled from Hambe to 'vet' us as a suitable twin partner, and only 20 months since my wife and I first travelled to Hambe for the same purpose. Since then several large official groups and many more small private parties have crossed the channel in both directions - getting to understand one another, making lasting friendships , simple acts by ordinary people, that seem to defy the politicians.
On behalf of myself and a hard working committee, I wish you all a Happy Christmas, and my sincere thanks to members and non-members who have helped to make twinning such a rapid success."
Lacey Green Parish Twinning Association By Mary Highton
The Twinning Association is about to enter a new era in it’s existence, under the chairmanship. of Ray Hewinson, and may I, on behalf of the committee members, propose a Vote of Thanks to Peter Trotter, our retiring Chairman and Founder, without whom. we would not exist.
It was Peter who had a 'dream' about four years ago and, with his unfaltering drive and enthusiasm, made it happen. His enthusiasm is catching and all of us on the committee have been infected by him, and have in turn infected many other people. As far as I know, the epidemic has not been contained and is spreading still. (However, do not be alarmed ~ to catch this fever can only do you and the community good!).
Peter had worked unstintingly to create this feeling of great camararderie that we have with the villagers of Hambye, giving his free time willingly, and those of us who have enjoyed the visits to Hambye and their return visits to us, would like him to know how much we appreciate his dedication and leadership. We would also like to add our thanks and appreciation to Lillian, his wife, on whom much of the work has inevitably also fallen.
The AGM on 18th May in the Village Hall was well attended by about 60 people. The ‘business! of the evening took place very quickly at the beginning, and all current members of the committee were re-elected. Fiona Bowman was co-opted as a representative from the newly-formed Youth Group, and we welcome her aboard. I am sure her contribution will be very valuable in spreading the 'fever' among the young people of the parish.
The rest of the evening was spent very pleasantly in watching a presentation by Saturn Travel of Princes Risborough (who arrange our transport to Hambye) about travel in the Far East and also answering all our questions on travel in general, and supplying. us with brochures afterwards.
Refreshments came in the form of some delicious English Cheeses and some excellent French wine (twinning at its best!).
Richard Binns, the local well~known author on travel in France with several top-selling travel books to his credit, was invited -to become an Honorary Member of the Association, and was presented by our retiring Chairman with a plaque commemorating the occasion. Richard has mentioned Hambye Abbey in all his recent writings, and we are told that the Abbey and the village in general have been reaping the benefits already.
We were also pleased to see David Green, the recently appointed Headmaster of Lacey Green School, and his wife, at the function and we hope to create a stronger link with the school than we have had in the past. The intention is to arrange an exchange between a party of some 9 French School children in July for a period of one week, just before the end of the summer term, and for a similar party of our children to go over to Hambye sometime later, probably next year. The children. range from 12 - 16 years old, and we would be very interested to hear from anyone with similarly~aged children who would be willing to host them. Details are not yet finalised but will be available from me, (P.R. 6376 evenings and weekends) or any other committee member. We are arranging this exchange before the end of term so that the French children can benefit from going to school with their hosts for a few days. The visit will also cover a week-end so that they can be taken out and about as well.
Our next official visit to Hambye will take place over the August Bank Holiday, leaving on Saturday morning and returning on Monday night as last year. Bookings. on the 45 seater coach are already being made, and the cost will be £34.50 each, half-price for children under 16. A place can be secured with a deposit of £5, deductible from the price of your ticket. Please contact any member of the committee if you wish to book some seats.
Ray Hewinson was Chairman of The Twinning Association. He and Sylvia accompanied children to Hambe for school exchange visits
2002. Twinning Report in Hallmark.
VOLUNTEERS WANTED Call for volunteers for twinning committee. 2003. No volunteers so Twinning “put on ice”.
Since then, although several approaches have been made to Hambe, there appears to be very little enthusiasm from their side and no volunteers from our side. Now that travel has become commonplace between the UK and France the need for twinning has become less imperative.
Twinning Association, in common with many others, is not the only one which has had, sadly, to close down for lack of support.
Hallmark May 2010. Lacey Green Parish Twinning Association signed by Liz Southon, Tony Molesworth, Mel Webster.
At the Annual General Meeting in 2002 the then Chairman of the Twinning Association, Mrs Pat Williams, indicated that unless there were volunteers to take over from the long-serving Committee, the Association would have to be discontinued. At the AGM in 2003, there being no volunteers, the Association was ‘put on ice’.
Since then, although several approaches have been made to Hambye, there appears to be very little enthusiasm to resurrect the Association from their side and there have been no volunteers to resuscitate Twinning from our side. Now that travel has become commonplace between the UK and France the need for Twinning has become less imperative. Consequently, Lacey Green Parish Twinning Association, in common with many others, has had, sadly, to close down for lack of support.
Under Item 14 of the Lacey Green Parish Twinning Association Constitution any surplus funds that are still held must be transferred equally to the village hall funds of Speen and Lacey Green for specified use. The remaining members of the old Committee will undertake to wind up the Lacey Green Parish Twinning Association in accordance with the Constitution.