On a crisp Saturday, 26^th January 2019 about 60 guests gathered expectantly in the Rowena Davey Centre in Dunmow for a Burns Night with a difference: the first time this talented group of Dunmow Twinners had planned and organised the whole evening themselves and done the cooking as well! We were not disappointed!

Sadly, however, the evening started on a poignant note with our Chairman, Wendy Barron, welcoming everyone and explaining that Anne Crisp, a long-standing and devoted Twinning Member, had died suddenly a few days before. We all joined in two minutes’ silence to remember Anne and her husband, Peter, and family.

With the room and tables decorated superbly with a Scottish theme, the evening’s proceedings began in traditional style. A wonderful bagpipe player piped in the haggis, borne carefully into the room by our youngest member, James W, resplendent in chef’s hat. The addressing of the haggis was simply amazing with guests held in both awe and amusement at the passion with which the words were spoken, as well as the speed of delivery.

We were then treated to a superb meal, presented in exquisite style: salmon and salad platters, haggis (including a vegetarian one), swede and potato and array of simply delicious desserts, many of them featuring raspberries.

Whilst we enjoyed our meal, we were entertained beautifully by Grace W, assisted by husband, Richard. Grace played guitar and sang some well-known Scottish folk songs, interspersing these with some very interesting facts about Robbie Burns, his life and his poetry.

Gaenor J. and Sandra M. and their team had certainly done everything to an incredibly high standard and were thanked by Wendy and everyone with an enormous round of applause. The evening ended movingly with a rousing rendition of “Auld Lang Syne!”

On Friday, 30th November 2018, our Chairman, Wendy Barron, welcomed members to our Annual General Meeting (AGM). As usual there was an excellent turnout, with 36 members present. The minutes of the previous AGM were accepted, and our Chairman delivered her annual report on twinning activities.

Wendy started by thanking all Twinners for helping to make the year such a success, notably by assisting with, and supporting the calendar of events.

Wendy reviewed events of the past year. The Cheese and Wine evening with wine tasting in March, hosted by Cliff Nicholson, was hailed as a success.

The April coffee morning went well, and huge thanks go to Jenny for all her drive and commitment, our generous Dunmow Library hosts and the Co-op for their support. A number of our members attended, and we enrolled two new members!
The 4-day visit to Dourdan in May was very successful, though the journey out took longer than we would have liked. The visit to Le Mans was greatly enjoyed.

In July, Patsy and David Beedle once again hosted a very successful barbecue.

In October we met up with our Dourdan friends in Royal Tunbridge Wells and the visit to Scotney Castle was enjoyed by all. Our final social event in Dunmow was the Fish Supper. Many thanks to the members who kindly provided desserts and to Mike and Judy for the salmon.

Wendy thanked Jenny for continuing to provide the venue for our committee meetings through the year.

Thanks were also extended to David A. for all his hard work in preparing Twinning for GDPR and his Website support over the last year. The Chairman was sorry to report that David had decided it was time for him to retire from the committee and thanked him for all his considerable help over the years.

We still do not have a replacement Social Secretary or volunteers to assist with the role so this will be shared round the committee as much as possible. Help from members would be much appreciated.

Marian then gave the Treasurer’s report. Next year we will have the major expense of the French visit to Dunmow, so we need to continue to raise funds this year and into 2019.

Elections: Wendy Barron was re-elected as Chairman and Marian Steven as Treasurer. The role of Social Secretary remains open and will be shared round the committee as much as possible. With the exception of David Aldridge, the existing members of the committee were willing to stand again. An appeal for any further members willing to join the committee was answered by Claire Newman. The meeting duly elected Claire and the other committee members. June and Sue were appointed as joint Minutes Secretary.

After a short discussion it was agreed that the membership subscription should be increased from £10 to £12 a head from next year (2019-2020).

The next twinning event will be a Burns Supper on 26th January 2019 in the Rowena Davey Day Centre.

Following the formal part of the evening, Dunmow Twinners settled down to the real business of the evening, the traditional ‘ploughman’s supper’ of assorted cheeses, bread and salad items, accompanied by wine, beer and soft drinks. Conversation flowed regarding, amongst other things, past events and future plans. It seems a good time was had by all.

58 Twinners and their guests arrived at the Day Centre at 7pm on a bitterly cold evening, to be greeted with complimentary kir (‘bubbles’ + optional cassis). After plenty of chat they sat and were serenaded with a selection of favourites, old and not so old, by Michael Hynds at the piano, who played throughout the evening.

Committee members served a tasty spread of sea food – prawns, cockles, mussels, crayfish tails, roll mops, baked salmon and smoked mackerel, plus mackerel and pilchard pâtés – with salad, and cold meats for non-seafood eaters. Wine (both white and red), beer and soft drinks were on sale. The ample main course was followed by a superb array of home-made desserts kindly provided by members.

Whilst the meal was in progress diners were entertained with a gastronomic quiz. A raffle organised by Jenny Poulton, with prizes generously donated by the Angel & Harp, Dunmow Emporium, Luckin’s Wine Store, May & Brett, Naturals Beauty Clinic, One Stop, Roper’s Chemist, Rose Garden Florists, Saracen’s Head Hotel, Square One Restaurant and Tesco, proved a great success.

After welcoming everyone Chairman Wendy Barron thanked the committee for arranging and serving the food and wine, the members who so kindly provided the delicious desserts, Jenny for running the raffle and obtaining the prizes, and Michael for his delightful musical accompaniment. She reminded us of the forthcoming AGM on November 30th (with complimentary ploughman’s supper) and announced that the May 2019 visit of Dourdan Twinners would be on the first bank holiday in May (precise days to be confirmed).

Wendy also reminded us that Twinning could not function without the efforts of the committee and emphasized the need for one or two members to assist with the secretarial duties of Marian Steven. She asked everyone to give this serious thought and for anyone interested to contact her prior to the AGM.

At around 10.15 guests began wending their way home in the cold night, which mysteriously seemed a little warmer than at 7pm.

Dunmow hosted the annual meeting of the Essex and Suffolk Joint Twinning Congress on 13th October. More than 30 Twinners from 13 Twinning associations across the two counties were welcomed to the Maltings by congress chairman Mary Dunk and Dunmow mayor Barrie Easter (preceded by our town crier).

Before the business proceedings Deputy Lieutenant of Essex Michael Chapman (in full uniform including sword) explained the role of Lieutenant and its history, and emphasized the importance the Crown placed upon Twinning for maintaining warm foreign relations. He also volunteered the presence of either himself or fellow officials at appropriate Twinning events throughout the county. Michael then gave an amusing and very informative illustrated history of the Dunmow Flitch Trials, clearly of interest to our guests.

Mary Dunk gave a brief overview of the year. She was sad to report that Witham’s association had folded but was delighted to welcome a new and thriving association from Stansted Mountfitchet. Twinning in the region was generally going strong, with relationships ever warmer between local Twinners and their overseas counterparts. Mary emphasized the value of exploring potential locations to visit with Twinning guests, and the joy of discovering people from your community of special interest to visiting Twinners (such as Dunmow’s holder of the Legion d’Honneur, now sadly deceased, or the Queen of France buried in Bury St Edmunds).

Delegates then reported on their past year – activities, successes, failures, learnings and feelings about the future. Most were optimistic – no-one mentioned GDPR or the B-word! There were differences of approach. Several associations (including Dunmow) raise substantial sums from social events to finance the biennial visit of their overseas counterparts, and when ‘over there’ stay in family homes, developing close ties and enjoying day trips at no cost. Other associations stay in hotels, with each country paying its own way. Some associations found fund-raising a challenge, for others it was less arduous – useful tips were exchanged. Some were very well integrated into their community, in one case having no need for ‘membership’. Close ties with other local organisations could be valuable, most notably with the Fire Brigade.

Following this very valuable exchange of experience, Mary Dunk closed the meeting by thanking delegates for their helpful ideas and Dunmow for its venue, hospitality, and excellent guest speaker. After a light lunch delegates left to explore the Maltings museum and the streets of Dunmow.

Our visitors were greeted by Dunmow’s Twinners at the Mercure hotel on Saturday afternoon. Sadly it was raining so those who set off to explore Royal Tunbridge Wells had their enthusiasm slightly dampened. Nevertheless the historic buildings and cafes of the Pantiles market area, the Chalybeate Spring (source of the spa baths) and the shops in the High Street offered welcome relief after the long journey from France. The Mercure served a dinner of melon starter, chicken breast main and cherry cheesecake, over which long-standing close friendships were renewed and new friends made.

Sunday dawned sunny if fresh. After a good breakfast, visitors and hosts boarded the coach for a short drive to Scotney Castle and House (National Trust) in Lamberhurst, meeting those Dunmow Twinners who had driven down for the day. We were delighted that a number of new members were able to join us for one or both days.

By now the weather had really warmed up, with clear blue skies, so all were able to appreciate the stunning autumnal colours of the beautifully landscaped estate. The picturesque views and steep walk down from the early Victorian house and terrace (designed for Edward Hussey by architect Anthony Salvin) to the 14th century moated and ruined castle (much of its structure sadly reused for the Victorian house) were ‘sheer delight’.

Groups entered the house in turn for a self-guided tour (French translations thankfully provided). The interior was a fascinating mix of original Victorian furnishings and more modern items. The last owner, Elizabeth Hussey, held very strong views about her home and it has a charming personal feel. There is a fascinating ‘Friends Room’ with a collection of paintings and other artworks donated by illustrious family guests, including artists John Piper and John Ward, and the cartoonist Osbert Lancaster. (Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had a ‘hideaway’ flat on the property.)

We returned to the Mercure for a lunch of salmon with dill sauce, followed by lemon posset, plus more animated conversation. Sadly it was then time for our French friends to depart, following the usual fond and lengthy farewells (plus exchange of presents) which bear witness to the extremely warm feelings shared by our two communities. These will doubtless survive Brexit!

 

Our 2018 barbecue, a ‘thank you’ to members for their ongoing support, again took place in the manicured gardens of Crouches Farmhouse.  Lush greenery and abundant shade, supplemented by several gazebos (this year to ward off sun, not rain), allowed us to relax despite the heat and socialise to the full, with over 50 attendees including several new members.

Free drinks were included in the modest ticket price, and guests were welcomed with bubbly (pink or white – iced if preferred), with wine, beer, juice and soft drink options.  The eagerly anticipated fayre of bangers and burgers, done to a turn by Martin Warwick, ably assisted by our host David Beedle, were accompanied by rolls and salads provided by the committee and members; strawberries, meringues and cream finished things off beautifully.

Conversation flowed easily, with memories of our very successful May visit to Dourdan mingling with anticipation of our October ‘meet up’ with our French friends in Tunbridge Wells.  The amazing weather, and its impact on our gardens, competed for attention with local news of housing and airport expansion.

In her welcome speech our chairman Wendy Barron thanked everyone for coming, the committee for their hard work and especially our kind hosts David & Patsy for yet again allowing us to enjoy our event in their beautiful garden, and for all their efforts in setting up the event.  Wendy also outlined plans for the Tunbridge Wells visit and reminded members to book their accommodation.

At around 3.30pm guests started to wend their way home, mostly on foot.  They seem to have enjoyed themselves, judging from the many promises to ‘see you next year’.

At 8am on Thursday 3rd May our Don’s coach, containing 39 Twinners including 3 new members, headed south for Folkestone. We arrived in very good time, able to relax in the Eurotunnel terminal, only to be delayed by a last minute train cancellation.

Once across the channel we stopped for a service station lunch; the car park was full of gendarmes (rehearsing post Brexit measures?). The Périphérique around Paris proved a further hurdle with very heavy traffic, our suspicions of another rail strike confirmed by the sight of 12 TGV high speed trains parked below us. Thus arrival in Dourdan was somewhat later than anticipated, but we were soon whisked away by our hospitable Twinning friends for dinner in their homes.
 

 
Next morning we were off again at 8am for the 90 minute trip to Le Mans, a city both ancient and modern. Our visit commenced with a guided tour of the old town, including its decorated Roman walls and lovely cathedral, which contains C12th stained glass. An excellent lunch of Le Mans delicacies was accompanied by exceptional Jasnières wine from le Loir.
 
 
We then drove to the Sarthe circuit to tour the Le Mans 24 Hours museum, a fascinating display of 120 cars of 60 marques: Bentley, Ferrari, Jaguar, Ford, Porsche, Matra, Audi and more, covering the history of the famous endurance race since 1923. Even the non ‘petrol heads’ among us found plenty of interest. Then it was back to Dourdan in time for dinner.
 
 
On Saturday our hosts took us out individually, to somewhere they thought (or knew) we would like. Chateaux, gardens, cathedrals or wherever, plus shopping in the market and exploring Dourdan or simply visiting their families we have grown to love.
 
 
That evening we all congregated in local restaurant Blanche de Castille for an excellent dinner, with warm speeches from the two Twinning chairmen and some extremely enjoyable musical entertainment in French and English. The Dunmow visitors began jiving, while Dourdan quickly responded with line dancing. A great time was had by all.
 
 
Sunday morning began with a joint committee meeting to discuss future events, followed by a mayoral champagne reception in the beautiful town hall. Dourdan mayor Maryvonne Boquet welcomed her guests warmly and Dunmow’s mayor Danielle Frost responded in similar vein, in excellent French. Guests enjoyed another motor show, this time the Dourdan club with vehicles ranging from a 2CV Citroen (originally 9 bhp) to a modern Lamborghini Aventador S (730 bhp). The Los Angeles County Sheriff was there to keep us in order.
 
 
After photographs and the usual protracted fond farewells it was time to board our coach. The run to Eurotunnel at Boulogne went so smoothly that we were able to board a train two earlier than anticipated. No cancellations this time, so we were all set for an early arrival back in Dunmow. Sadly the M11 was blocked for an hour north of Harlow by a ‘pop up’ diner which had fallen down, but we still got home at a reasonable hour. Despite the transport delays everyone seemed very happy with the weekend.

The Association’s annual coffee morning in Dunmow Library attracted many people wishing to find out more about the Association and its activities.  Whilst enjoying excellent biscuits, tea and coffee kindly supplied by the Coop, existing members happily informed visitors about the exciting world of Twinning and the benefits of exchange visits with a French family, as well as all the social events which take place in Dunmow throughout the year.

The morning attracted around thirty people, some of whom decided to join the Association, others taking away literature and membership forms.

Wendy Barron, Chairman, expressed her delight at the number of people enjoying the morning and thanked the Coop for generously donating refreshments. Wayne Legate, Coop Manager, said, “It is always a pleasure to assist local organisations and it was good to meet several happy Twinners!”

 

After some welcoming bubbly our evening began with a brief Extraordinary General Meeting, at which our new Constitution was adopted unanimously.

We moved seamlessly into our social event which was a ‘3-in-1’.  It wasn’t planned that way: we had a wine tasting and quiz (with added cheese) lined up but the surprise bonus was a fascinating trip through the early history of Dunmow Twinning, courtesy of our wine expert and quizmaster Cliff Nicholson, who was most definitely ‘in at the birth’.  Here is the Gospel according to Cliff.

Founding of Dunmow Twinning

In 1985 Pat Schorah (our ex-President) formed a committee to find a suitable twin town.  At that time everything was organised through a Government department who provided the name, but the rest was down to you. This was before the internet – a bit like ‘Blind Date’.

Dunmow was fortunate in having support from its Council.  (Cliff also tried it later in Dunster but the response from their Parish Council was: ‘Why? I don’t like the French. It’ll cost too much. Too much work. Only the children will benefit.’  What a terrible missed opportunity!)

Finding a town to twin with proved time-consuming.  One possible, north east of Paris, was huge, a bit like Hornchurch, nothing like Dunmow.  Then in late 1990 Pat got details of a small town south of Paris called Dourdan.  So our intrepid committee members set off in a borrowed Renault Espace, a choice of transport which went down really well in Dourdan!

First impressions? A perfect match in terms of location and size; lots of clubs and associations, football teams, schools.  Great!  Dourdan had an impressive Town Hall and a politically important active mayor.  It also boasted a massive castle.  The visitors learned that ‘things were different in France’: the mayor was ‘god’, and the town had the finances to do things – champagne receptions and canapes were the norm.

Then Dourdan’s twinning committee came to Dunmow.  They didn’t quite understand the significance of the Doctor’s Pond and we certainly didn’t have a castle in Dunmow!  (Well, not for the last 2000 years: ed)  After lunch everyone walked as a group to the Doctor’s Pond and then to see our castle!  Dunmow had rented a bouncy castle, erected on Talbard’s Ley.  A master stroke. The Dourdan team were won over – they loved the humour and they thoroughly enjoyed bouncing in the castle!

So the twinning was now a reality! We had to raise funds and we had some serious planning to do.  The ‘Slow Race Night’ was a hoot – Gaynor worked so hard translating horse racing terms and encouraging the visitors from Dourdan to enter the races, not that they needed much encouragement!

And so the Twinning Charters were signed in 1990 and 1991, linking our two towns for ever, we hope, thanks to our intrepid founders (not forgetting the Espace and bouncy castle, of course).

Wine, Cheese and Quiz

Now came the serious business of the evening.  A variety of cheeses, plus pate, French bread and salad, were available on each table to accompany the wine.  But this was a wine tasting like no other – it was entitled ‘I’m sorry I haven’t a clue’.  Each of us was given a quiz sheet brim-full of demanding wine-related questions – grape varieties, regional specialities, town twinning, terroir and fascinating facts: a famous red wine vineyard in Paris (Clos Montmartre); the number of commercial vineyards in England & Wales (400); the number of standard Champagne bottles in the largest of all, a Nebuchadnezzar (20).

Interspersed with the questions came our tastings, four very different wines but a constant pairing of questions: (a) What is the grape variety?  (b) What country does this wine come from?

The first grape variety wasn’t too hard (Sauvignon Blanc is very distinctive) but where did this pleasant example come from?  Possibly New Zealand, perhaps Chile, probably not France.  The answer, ‘India’, took us all by surprise – good whisky yes, but good Sauvignon Blanc too?  Wow!

The second wine was easier – Muscadet from the Loire.  The third was again surprising – an unusually powerful dark Beaujolais, still made from Gamay.  The fourth was often identified correctly as Pinot Noir, but it was from Chile.  Appropriately our hard-working President and founder member won the prize for most correct answers.

We stepped out into the night after a thoroughly enjoyable evening.  2018 is a good vintage!

 

Chairman Wendy Barron welcomed members to our Annual General Meeting at 8pm.  As usual there was an excellent turnout, 41 in all.  The minutes of the previous AGM were accepted, and our Chairman delivered her annual report on twinning activities.

Wendy reviewed events of the past year.  The Country and Western Evening (with added line dancing) was not an unqualified triumph but there were valuable learnings for the future.  The April coffee morning was a success, thanks to our generous Dunmow Library hosts and support from the Co-op – a number of our members attended, together with some potential ‘recruits’ who signed up.

The 4-day visit to Dunmow of our Dourdan friends in May was very successful, thanks to Marian Steven’s hard work organising accommodation with all our generous hosts.  The visit to St Albans was very enjoyable despite a lunchtime hiccup, whilst the Saturday dinner in the Foakes Hall went very well.

In July Patsy and David Beedle once again hosted our barbecue which was greatly appreciated.  After a summer break October saw us visiting Le Tréport in Northern France for an overnight stay in the company of our Dourdan friends – luckily the dinner was better than the weather.  On Sunday we toured the Chateau d’Eu, summer home of the last King of the French.  Our final social event in Dunmow was the Fish Supper, a veritable feast thanks to a team of lady members who kindly catered, led by our President Gaenor Jones.

The Chairman was sorry to report that our hardworking Social Secretary Marian Steven was standing down.  Wendy was hopeful that Marian would remain on the committee to give her successor the benefit of her long experience in the role.  Our Treasurer Willie Fraser was also standing down from his role and from the committee.  Wendy praised both Marian and Willie for their contributions.

Willie then took over to give his final Treasurer’s report.  The finances were in good order, with a year-end balance of £4460.  The trip to Le Tréport had been less well supported than we had hoped.  In response to comments that it was a little expensive he urged members to reply by the published deadline stating interest in each event so that cost calculations could reflect realistic numbers.

Elections: Wendy Barron was re-elected as Chairman.  With the exception of Willie, members of the committee were willing to stand again and were duly elected.  Filling the roles of Treasurer and Social Secretary was deferred to the next committee meeting, and Twinners were asked to consider volunteering their services.

Wendy welcomed our guest speaker, Mary Dunk, Chairman of the Essex and Suffolk Twinning Congress, whose annual meeting we will host here in Dunmow in October.  Mary was very complimentary about the dynamism of Dunmow Twinning (including the website!).  All twinning groups faced similar challenges: membership, funding, reaching out to a younger generation and our European future (difficult, but less so than when twinning was re-established with Germany after WWII).  Future twinning opportunities included language learning and use of social media.

Mary’s German host characterised twinning as a way of being a European citizen as well as being a German or a Brit.  You add to your identity but lose nothing of yourself.  Twinning was all about friendship, a ‘sheltering tree’ which has flourished here thanks to the care of Dourdan and Dunmow.  Mary’s inspiring and insightful talk was appreciated by us all, committee and members alike.

Following the formal part of the evening, Dunmow Twinners settled down to the real business of the evening, the traditional ‘ploughman’s supper’ of assorted cheeses, bread and salad items, accompanied by wine, beer and soft drinks.  Conversation flowed regarding, amongst other things, past events and future plans.  It seems a good time was had by all.