The bi-annual visit of our French ‘Twinners’ from Marans took place in June this year. There were seventeen in the party and we were very happy that four of them were young people, Aissata Bah aged 14, her sister Mariame 11, Pauline Guerineau 13, and her brother Valentin 10. It was very encouraging that we had younger visitors.

A more relaxed programme than previous years had been arranged. This included a trip to the National Justice Museum in Nottingham which proved very interesting, giving us a glimpse of justice in a bygone age. There were many barbaric instruments of punishment on view, along with the living conditions of the convicts. We watched a mock trial in the court room, where members of our party were chosen as witnesses and in one case the accused. The onlookers decided on the verdict, guilty in the case of one female resident of Barrow. Luckily, she was able to rejoin us after the trial!

We had an interesting tour of the Nottingham caves. There are over 900 caves, obviously we visited only a few. It was difficult to believe that people used to live and work in them.

On the Friday evening 56 attended the official meal at The Hunting Lodge, including some parish councillors along with the ‘Twinners’. Sandie Forrest, Chair of the Parish Council, gave the welcoming speech. The food and service were excellent and enjoyed by everyone.

After a free day on Saturday, Barrow Town Football Club was the venue for a 50s/60s dance. It was another very enjoyable evening, with much singing and dancing to the music of Juke Box Live, our very own Peter Yates being a prominent member of the group. A buffet was provided by the Conservative Club.

A trip to the Churnet Valley Railway, a steam railway that does a round trip through the Staffordshire Moorlands, had been arranged for the Sunday. I was unable to go due to both my husband and Annie, our French guest, feeling unwell. I am reliably informed it was a pleasant trip, with many having a picnic lunch on the train.

All too soon we were having our last night farewell at the Conservative Club with a hot supper. During the evening, we had a fun competition to see who could build the tallest construction using just coloured paper, drinking straws and sticky labels. It was taken quite seriously and very competitively: in one case one of our French guests, Mariame, climbed onto the table to secure the top of her group's endeavour! Some were disqualified, because they had used a bottle as a base. It was great that we were able to hold three of our successful events in the village, helping local enterprises.

The evening gave me a chance to speak to the young people, it being their first visit to England. I asked them what was the first thing that they had noticed that was different from France; the answer was all of the red brick houses (in France most have stucco); they were also surprised that our houses were carpeted. Getting on to the subject of food, they said that they had enjoyed English cooking, but the very best was bought fish and chips. I asked them individually what they had enjoyed the most during their stay: Aissata said shopping in Primark in Nottingham. Mariame and Valentin had enjoyed the climbing wall in Loughborough and Pauline said the visit to the Space Centre in Leicester. Thanks must go to the hosts who arranged these visits independently. Aissata said that she found it much easier to pick up the language talking to English people than she did doing exercises in class.

Hopefully, something they will all benefit from when back at school.

It was so good to welcome young people from Marans, it would be even better if we could take some young Barrow people with us, when we go to Marans next year. If you think you would like to join us, please contact Val Gillings (Chair) on 07423 061303 or Helen Duxbury (Secretary) 07505 083134.

You will be made most welcome, and it is not necessary to speak French.

Val Gillings