An Important Message from Curry Rivel and District Twinning Association

The way forward with our French friends in Chevilly

For over 24 years now we have enjoyed a very warm relationship with French friends in our twinned town, Chevilly, in the centre of France. Members are not only from Curry Rivel but also from the surrounding villages, including several members from Fivehead.

Over the years we have had very enjoyable annual visits – 1 year to & the next year from Chevilly by coach – with up to 40 participants, stopping at places of interest on the way.

However, due to the pandemic and changing habits, we realise that we need to rethink these large, formal visits. All our members and friends, on both sides of the Channel, are extremely keen to maintain our very strong friendships.

After considering many options, a decision has been reached. Albeit under different auspices, we intend to continue contact with our French friends.

The Twinning will not continue as a formal group for the time being and we will not collect any more membership fees. We ask all members who have not done so already, to stop their direct debits.

Once or twice a year we will have a social gathering for the English, bring and share or wine tasting, as we did in April this year.

We will encourage small groups of French to come to Somerset, perhaps every 2 or 3 years, maximum 8 or 10 people, for example, in 3 cars. We will have some funds still available to cover the entertainment while in Somerset.

As some of us are already in the habit of doing, we will encourage the English to do the same – visit our friends in Chevilly in small groups. In this way, we will continue our close links, without the onerous responsibility of fundraising and trying to fill coaches to go to Chevilly!

We are very excited about this new informal arrangement. We hope that you are too. Whether you have been a member of The Twinning in the past, or not, please get in touch if you would be interested in participating in any visits, hosting one or two French friends or attending or hosting a bring and share meal.

Please contact Victoria Fransham for more details – v.fransham@yahoo.co.uk

For those of you unfamiliar with the Twinning Association, Curry Rivel's twinned town, Chevilly, is located in the "département" of Loiret, just north of the historic City of Orléans and close to the River Loire. It is surrounded by rolling farm-land and forests and the area is essentially agricultural.

Although it has the same population as Curry Rivel, it has its own Mayor and "Mairie", many clubs & societies and a number of small & medium sized businesses.

From Chevilly you can easily visit Orleans, Chartres and numerous châteaux and vineyards.

The Association was formally constituted in 1998 with the aim of promoting Anglo-French understanding through friendship and travel and to foster a special and lasting relationship with the people of Chevilly. And to have fun!