1984 : Planning

The first half of 1984 was spent planning for the ceremony in May. A splendid Charter had been prepared on vellum by a local artist, Mr E Darner, and our local MP, Mr Robert Adley, had agreed to attend. 

Verwood Carnival Committee was celebrating its 50th Anniversary with a special programme which our members helped to sell beforehand. The programme contained the order of events for the official ceremony, with information about Champtoceaux in English and French.

1984 : May - the first Twinning visit to Verwood from Champtoceaux.

 

1985 : In May the first Verwood Twinning visit to Champtoceaux occurred.

On the 10th May 1985 a group of Verwoodian’s embarked for France , and the next day the official and final part of the Twinning was completed in the school hall, with buffet and concert laid on. 

A feature of this event was that the French had invited their German twin town Niederheimbach am Rhein to join in the celebrations. 

Gifts were exchanged all round, including a handcrafted wine barrel from Niederheimbach, and these are now displayed in Verwood Library.  

Opportunity was taken at the party to "sound out" the Germans about completing the triangle of twinning with us. A large number of their members showed interest, but their Mayor was against it on the grounds that, Verwood being much larger, they could not accommodate many visitors. However, friendships were formed and exchanges have since been enjoyed.

Twinnings first visit to Champtoceaux

Recollections of Champtoceaux

A Celebratory Poem by Penny Thorne

Address Given by Mr Bill Williams  - Vice Chairman of Verwood Parish Council.

Address Given by Mr Gordon Thorne - Twinning Chairman.

Twinning Visit Document

 

The picture below shows Dr Elsie Martin, Mme Ann Seguin (wife of Dr Bernard Seguin, who still practices in Champtoceaux), Mr John Felton and in the bottom corner can be seen the current (2005/2006) Mayor of Verwood, Mr Mike Daymond in his halcyon days at Dr Sequin's house in Champtoceaux.

1985 : AGM

The Annual General Meeting in 1985 saw a major change in the officers of the Committee. Mr G Thorne, after serving as Chairman for four years, and Mr R Bishop, Treasurer for the same time, were replaced by Mr J Palethorpe and Mr R Curd, respectively; Mr L Roberts continuing as Secretary, having replaced Mrs C Thorne earlier in 1983. The members of the Committee were now: Mesdames J Brown, D Curd, 0 Roberts and D Saville, Messrs G Atyeo, S Clifton, M Daymond, G Higley, D Hockaday, G Oakley, G Thorne, J Wadge and F (Bill) Williams.

The new Committee then started on plans for 1986 and, hoping to enlarge the scope of twinning, all the clubs in Verwood were contacted by letter in the hope of getting other social and sport connections organised. The result was very disappointing and no further approaches were attempted.

1986 : Signs Erected

Early in 1986, Twinning signs were erected at all the main entrances to the parish, viz: Three Legged Cross, Ebblake, Romford and Edmondsham Road , and were paid for by the Civil Parish Council. 

In the summer, the Committee had a stall at both the Carnival and the Rustic Fayre. A feature of the latter was the serving of wine and crepes prepared by the ladies, "slaving" over hot camping stoves. This attracted the Three Legged Cross members, who have been such good supporters ever since.

In July three Verwood Families received three families from Champtoceaux while a fourth hosted a visiting French youth.

In August the Verwood Methodist Youth Club visited Champtoceaux ( This report by their leader John Wadge) .

In August the Methodist Youth Club was very privileged to be the only group to visit our twin town, Champtoceaux this year.

We left on Thursday night before August Bank Holiday in two fifteen-seat minibuses via the Poole-Cherbourg Truckline route, having spent an hour in the pouring rain fitting all the tents and luggage onto the roof racks.

Arriving in Champtoceaux at two o'clock on Friday afternoon, the first task was to feed the thirty members of the group with what was to become our staple food for lunchtimes - French bread, cheese and pate, followed by fresh peaches.

We camped on land adjoining the Sports Centre and were given access to the toilets, washrooms and hot showers in the Centre,

The weather was reasonably kind and we made visits to Nantes , including the cathedral and hypermarket, Pomic on the coast and the local area. Contact was made with the young people of Champtoceaux and one evening a five-a-side football match was arranged with the local team, which ended in an honourable draw.

We travelled back in the wake of the hurricane which hit England on Bank Holiday Monday, the ferry arriving at Poole three hours late after one of the roughest crossings imaginable.

The camp, our most adventurous yet, was most successful and introduced many more of our members to the advantages of twinning. We hope that there will be more reciprocal visits between the two communities in the future.

New Socials Introduced

In February, we started our series of National theme socials with a French theme, and these have continued ever since, with food imaginatively organised by Daphne Saville with the assistance of a few wives.