And the answer is "Court"

It seems hopscotch is played on a court (see previous posting).

For those who are interested, which assuredly is everybody. Hopscotch dates from the time of Rome and in Britain it was (according to Wikipedia) initially used as a training regimen for Roman infantry who ran the course in full armour and field packs, as it was thought this would improve their footwork. In other words is was not a kid's game
And for those interested in the French connection, which again is assuredly everybody. In Thury they call hopscotch "marcelle" (fem)

A French variant of hopscotch is known as Escargot (snail) or "La Marelle Ronde" (round hopscotch). It is played on a spiral course. Players must hop on one foot to the center of the spiral and back out again. A player marks one square with his or her initials, and from then on may place two feet in that square, while all other players must hop over it. The game ends when all squares are marked or no one can reach the center, and the winner is the player who "owns" the most squares

OK next question - what do the French call a hopscotch "court"

Update to Thury's Twinning Website

It has only just been noticed at the website of the Thury-Harcourt Twinning association has been updated (you can find the link on the right under external links). A selection of photos from their archives have been added (found under the heading Diaporama) including the one above showing the inauguration of the EU hopscotch box*** in Thury in 2002. The EU bit comes from squares being designated by countries rather than numbers. (The young man appears to be straddling Austria)

** Does anyone know the correct term for a hopscotch grid/box/set/pitch/ground?

"Holy Relics"

Between the start of the exchange in 1982 and the 25th anniversary in 2007, both Seaton and our Association have received a number of gifts and other commemorative items from our friends in Thury. Some of these now lie in odd corners half-forgotten except by their guardians. For this reason some attempt has been made to catalogue everything. So far, the list is confined to items in the town hall, Seaton museum and Cliff Field Gardens, namely:

Football trophy, enamelled glass plate, and pottery vase in the museum

Twinning charter and framed picture of Thury-Harcourt in the town hall (upstairs landing), and

Park bench with brass plate in Cliff Field Gardens adjacent to the boules pitch

Photos of all these items have been added to this site and can be found by following the link which has been added to the list on the right under the title "Catalogue of commemorative items".

If anyone is aware of any other item not listed, could they let the committee know please. Equally if anyone from our 2007 visit has a commemorative coaster presented at they are willing to donate for display in the museum, could they do likewise.

Seaton Town Council Website

Because the twinning is run by the volunteers of the Seaton and Thury associations and has been for the last 25 odd years, it is sometimes forgotten that technically they do so on behalf of the respective Town Councils. This is perhaps more evident in France, where they get much more recognition, (and often more financial help) from the civic authorities. This became very noticeable after the revamp of the Thury municipal website, which has a page dedicated to their twinning committee as well as the occasional news item. In contrast, Seaton Council's website had no reference at all to Thury-Harcourt. Happily, this omission has now been rectified following a request from our twinning committee . There is now a page about the twinning at www.seaton.gov.uk/twin.htm

Newsletter September 2008

Below is the text of the Associations printed newsletter - much of it is hardly news for those of you who keep up to date with the blog .

The text

Hopefully, you will find a number of items of interest in this issue of the newsletter. We have news of social events, both past and future, and some exciting developments with our website

Blogsite

The old defunct website has been replaced by a new blogsite at the address given above, The blogsite does all that the old site tried to do and more. Its format makes it easy to update on a daily basis and without the need for specialised file transfer software. It contains news of events, the text of newsletters, photographs, links and the occasional exhortation leavened with a bit of whimsy. Go to it and you will find links to online photo albums with over 250 photos of present and historical Thury-Harcourt, past visits and shots from the archives. There are also links to useful sites like Thury’s municipal and twinning association sites and the local French newspaper Ouest–France in case you want to keep up with the local gossip over there. Perhaps the most useful feature is that anyone can post comments, suggestions and features easily.

Funds

The Association manned a tombola stall at the August bank holiday street fair in Seaton as part of our all so important fund raising effort. Next year, perhaps as many as 50 French guests may appear, and we need to provide hospitality for them, and this includes all entry fees, transport, snacks and a formal dinner on our big day out. Fund raising is therefore not just an important issue, it is a vital issue. Thanks then to all who helped on Monday, and thanks to all who provided prizes. After expenses, we made just over £50 (that is not finalised) which all helps but there is still a lot to do. Nevertheless as the French proverb goes "Petit à petit l'oiseau fait son nid" (little by little the bird makes its nest)

Obviously, fund raising is becoming a priority, so please get your thinking-caps on, and come up with some fundraising proposals, especially if it entails a couple of hundred plastic ducks. The Association has had a stock of these for some years.

Future Social Program

Events are
Friday 5 September 7pm
Boules Cliff Field Gardens

Wednesday 17 September 6.30pm
Gerry has arranged another walk. Meet at Musbury Church for a choice of walks to and around Musbury Castle. This will be followed by a get-together at the Harbour Inn at Axmouth around 8.15. As at the earlier walk this year on the Undercliff local historian, Derek Stevens will be on hand to liven up the walk with his historical anecdotes and local knowledge.

Saturday 18 October 10am-3pm
The Association will be manning a stall at Seaton’s Community Activity Fair at the town hall. This is a great opportunity to showcase ourselves to the town and potential members. Any help in manning the stall or in effective presentation will be gratefully received

Christmas Festival- Seaton
Watch this space. The Committee have a few ideas for contributing to the festival in December and details will be forthcoming later

Finally:
We have just heard that Ralph Ravenhall has died recently. Long standing members will recall that he was Chairman of our Association in the early days. The Association remembers the work he did in laying the foundations of our links with Thury Harcourt and promoting international friendship. Our sympathy goes out to his family

From the archives Ralph Ravenhall (on right) welcoming French Visitors to Seaton, date unknown but possibly 1986