Visit To Thury 2016 - A fres start for the blog
This blog site has not been updated for some time, but with the arrival of Vivian Rodger as our Press and Publicity Officer, this is changing

Her Report Follows

Seaton’s Town Crier was heard in France

Seaton’s Town Crier, David Craner does have a voice which travels! On this occasion so too did David, when he joined Seaton Twinning Group on their visit to our twinned Town of Thury-Harcourt in Normandy. Both groups were treated to an amazing cry on Friday in French and English, when they assembled at the welcome meeting in the Town Hall of Thury-Harcourt. Pictured is David in full regalia along with Phillippe Lagalle, Mayor of Homs and the chairs of French and English Twinners Nathalie Casas-Pasquel and Sharon Bruce. The French hosts made Seaton’s Twinning party feel so welcome providing a mouth-watering array of authentic home cooked food.

After a good night’s sleep at the hosts’ homes, our members were invited to a visit La Michaudiere, a typically Normandy Bocage farm at Juvigny with a large collection of horses including Bretons, Normands and Percherons. The animals were magnificent and the courage of their young riders was something to be marvelled at. The ground shook as these massive horses galloped past .The show was followed by a superb meal where everyone was able to sample some of the local speciality beverages. Not to be upstaged by the French cuisine, the humble Brussel Sprout was the subject of a spontaneous and very witty cry from our Town Crier during the meal.

The following day our host families treated their guests to experiences in the town of Thurly Harcourt and surrounding areas. A number of the group tried their hand at the fishing competition which was being run at the Lake Traspy, which recently staged on an International Kayaking Polo Competition

where 70,000 people visited during the week of the competition. First time twinner Vivien Rodger was delighted to land a sizeable Rainbow Trout, which she donated to the bbq.

The inward journey had allowed time for the group to visit Sainte-Mere-Eglise. Everyone had the opportunity to look around the beautiful church and discover the Airborne Museum and learn more about the paratroopers’ experience of 1944. Whilst there, the town had a real celebratory atmosphere as it hosted numerous US Military personnel.

The journey home provided the opportunity to visit Bayeux where the group were free to look around the Cathedral, shops or view the famous Bayeux Tapestry. The journey would not be complete without a stop at a hypermarket where Twinners were able to purchase some gifts for home or stock up on supplies of the best French food and wine.

Seaton Twinning Association is always happy to welcome new members of all ages. The group usually visits France on alternate years and receives a return visit from our French partners in the intervening year. There is no requirement to be able to speak French, just a genuine desire to be part of a community group here and in France.

For more information please contact the Secretary, Glyn Roberts by email pglynroberts@live.co.uk or by mobile on 07800903866.

Accommodation Needed in July

We are gearing up to welcome our French Visitors for July 4th, but are still looking for hosts. If you can and are willing to accommodate some guests, please let Sharon, Graham, Glyn or Avis know as soon as possible

Spring Newsletter

The Spring newsletter contains a lot of detail. Two parts worth repeating


MAY 9TH – COFFEE & CAKE MORNING
At Seaton Town Hall – in the Enterprise Room upstairs – starts 10am until 12Midday.  Please come along and enjoy a cup of coffee and some cake and a chat!                                                                 Please let us have your donations of cake either on the morning or on the day before, please bring them into my shop, Osbornes Menswear, in Fore Street, Seaton. 
JULY 4TH – 6TH – THE THURY-HARCOURT VISIT
Great excitement and lots to plan, for this spectacular weekend. We will be welcoming and hosting about 40 or so visitors. Please can you help with :                                                                                  * Hosting our visitors – please can you care for 1 or 2 or more. They will be arriving on Saturday at 9.30am and staying until the morning of Monday the 6th of July.       On Saturday, please look after them and show them our beautiful area, with our pretty towns of Seaton, Sidmouth, Exmouth, Lyme Regis and further afield there are Abbotsbury and Weymouth.                                                                                        On Sunday, we are arranging for a coach trip to Exeter with a Guided Walk and time for shopping and sightseeing and lunch, and then a trip to Bicton Park to visit the Gardens and enjoy a delightful Devon Cream Tea. In the evening, we have booked Colyton Town Hall for Dinner and Barn Dance, starting at 7pm. Free parking is available at the Town Car Park opposite after 6pm.                                                       * Offering any sports or leisure activities on the Saturday – if you have any ideas or connections, please let Sharon or Graham know.

Sad News of Dede Jeandenand

We have some very sad news from Thury-Harcourt. Dede Jeandenand who has played a major role in the Twinning over many years died on 26^th March following an accident while cycling on the voie verte cycleway north of Thury. The email received from Nathalie, the president of the Thury Twinning Association on 26th March stated

Today (26th) a very old friend from the twinning died : Our dear Dédé Jeandenand. On Tuesday, March 17th, he made a bike ride on the greenway (a secure channel), We don't know why he fell. Some people rang for rescue and he was taken to hospital in a coma. The news were not good and he left us today. We will miss him very much. I relied a lot on him. He was a man of great generosity.
Those of us in Seaton will remember him as the man with ceaseless energy who marshalled all our outings in France and still found time to take the cyclists among us on rides during our visits. The photo shows Dede during the expedition along the greenway he organized for us on our last visit in 2014 together with twinners Rob Watson and Roger Mawson.

The funeral was held in Thury on 30^th March. Rob Watson who shared his passion for cycling and  who he stayed with in 2013, and who stayed with him last year attended the funeral, as did Clare and Graham Jones on behalf of the twinning association. A floral tribute on behalf of the association was given as were cards and condolences of individual members.

All of us in Seaton send our heartfelt condolences to Dede's wife and family and to all our friends in Thury-Harcourt who will miss him..

Next Committee Meeting

The next committee meeting is on Wednesday the 25th of March, at 7.30pm, at The Eyre Court Hotel Function Room. Could committee members please let Sharon or Glyn know if they will not be available.

A message from the outgoing Chairman - Clare Jones

Clare stood down after three very successful years in order to spend more time with her family and friends.Her final letter to the Association reads

 

Dear All

I just want to thank all members for the grand turnout for the AGM and the Auction of Promises. Thank you for all the generous bids and purchases. I think it was a lot more fun than we all expected, thanks to Kevin's expertise and his entertaining style. The evening raised between £400 and £500, an excellent result.

Thank you for your friendship and support during my term as chair. It has been a rewarding and enriching experience.

Heartfelt thanks also to the brave souls who marshalled the Grizzly on behalf of the Twinning, up in the fields above Branscombe and under rain and hail.

 

Best wishes

Clare

We are back!
Technical problems have meant that it has been a long time since the site has been updated. Hopefully we are now back on track, and over the next few weeks we will be able to begin make the necessary updates. Not least of these are the changes to the Committee  that some people may have already read about in the press. The changes are:-

Chairman - Sharon Bruce (above)
Treasurer - Ken Beer
Secretary - Glyn Roberts
Vice Cairman - Graham Jones
Press Officer - Post Vacant