Eastry 30th

The weekend of the visit from Longpré finally arrived, the date had been set last year and much of the intervening time had been spend trying to organise fitting events for our guests to celebrate this, the 30th anniversary of the original signing of the Twinning declaration.

A full program had been planned and the funds raised to finance the events, it was now time to see if our efforts were repaid, measured by the success and smooth running of the weekend.

Friday the 20th May 2011 saw the arrival of 41 guests from Longpré and the coach driver who brought them, a number not seen for some considerable time, a testament to the efforts made by members of the committees on both sides of the channel to encourage new members to join. The reception was held at Eastry village hall and the chairmen of the two associations exchanged gifts. From Eastry, an engraved silver and mother of pearl salver (mother of pearl being the gemstone to commemorate 30 years) was presented by Terry James and in return he received from Jean-Marc Vermoeren a well wrapped package which when opened revealed a specially made road sign showing the distance from Eastry to Longpré (two distances actually, one via the Eurotunnel and the other by ferry crossing!).

At a little after midnight the weary travellers were taken by their hosts for a much needed sleep - there was an early start on Saturday morning.

The day was beautiful, clear blue skies and hot sunshine - the one thing we could not influence but perfect for the events planned. At 09:15 everyone gathered in the church for a re-dedication ceremony, mirroring that which took place 30 years earlier, and we were fortunate enough to have people there from that original ceremony together with local dignitaries and honoured guests. Unfortunately, owing to a last minute unexpected return to France, the Consul Général du France, M. Edouard Braine was unable to attend the ceremony but has agreed to sign the re-dedication certificate at a later date. Five others were there to sign or witness the certificate, Terry James, Chairman of Eastry Twinning, Nick Kenton, Chairman, Eastry Parish Council and witnessed by Lord David Freud, Baron of Eastry and on behalf of the French association, President L'Amicale de Longpré les Corps Saints, Jean-Marc Vermoeren, and the Mayor of Longpré René Cailleux. The ceremony which included the signing of the declaration also included a short film of the original service taken 30 years earlier, a copy of which had been located in the Dover film archive. Children from Eastry school choir sang the first verses of both the National Anthem and the Marseillaise accompanied on the piano by the ever sprightly centenarian Martin Holloway. Maureen Norman, the organist at St Mary's church played various pieces which added greatly to the ambience, and we also owe Rev'd Jennifer Pilcher a huge thank you for conducting the service and allowing us to erect the staging etc for the event. From the church, we made our way to the church hall where a busy team of ladies Liz, Rosemary and Terri

prepared tea, coffee and delicious home made cakes for everyone (and then washed everything up afterwards) -another big thank you!

Next on the agenda, a chance to play bowls on the bowling green, what could be more British - tea and cakes and then a spot of bowling. The green looked fantastic and was a surprise to many of our visitors, even those who'd been to Eastry before, many hadn't realised it was there. The French took to it well (rather too well for first timers I thought!) and really enjoyed the experience, even those just watching enjoyed the chance to sit in the sun and soak up the atmosphere. Whilst all this was going on, members of Eastry Twinning were busy in the church hall preparing a ploughman's lunch for about 80+ people under the guidance of Christine, our very efficient 'chef de cuisine'.

After lunch, the food stalls and entertainment and annual tug-of-war began on the village green. This event had thoughtfully been arranged to coincide with the visit from Longpré and offered another view of Eastry life. The French put two teams into the tug-of-war, like the bowls they gave a good account of themselves, one of the teams coming second. After all that exertion it was nice to have a rest and watch the Morris dancers and listen to the musicians play before heading home to prepare for the evening.

Taking advantage of the offer to use the large coach which had brought over the French visitors, we managed to get everyone on it that required transport and set off for Prince's Golf Club, our venue for the evening dinner and dance. A superb setting in the evening sun, a glass of Pimm's on the balcony and then an excellent three course dinner was enjoyed by everyone. This was followed by dancing until nearly midnight by those that had the energy (just about everyone I think - especially Alain Defebvin who didn't appear to miss a single song). The musicians were excellent, the food was excellent as was the setting, the whole day had gone according to plan and we were happy that our guests were having a good time. Those on the coach home were 'entertained' further with songs from both Graham and then Thierry, and despite Graham's occasional confusion over à gauche and à droite, Pascal the driver got us all home safely.

Sunday 22nd May. For many, this was 'free' time and the hosts arranged various visits with their guests, for others it was the annual petanque challenge for the coveted prize of The Ashes, not in English hands since 2003. Quite a few gathered to see the competition and it was one of the best and closest fought I can remember. A match consists of two games of triples and 3 games of doubles - with the triples games finishing one a piece we went into the doubles games with everything still to play for. The score boards showed Eastry in front in all three games for a while but that soon changed and it was very close throughout. Under Thierry Ducoin's relentless and alarmingly accurate 'bombing' (knocking our boule out of the way with a hard and pinpoint accurate throw over 6+ metres) Thierry and Jacques Daussy won the game against myself and Trevor Foster. However, on the middle piste Robert Green and Dennis Sivil rallied and beat Patrice Alderweireld and Alain Defebvin leaving the match in the balance. All eyes were on Graham Lane and Terry James who had been pretty evenly matched throughout the bulk of the game against Arnaud and Maxime Devauchelle but had pulled ahead and were within two points of winning their game, with Terry's ball nearest the cochonet and only Graham left to play. His first throw failed to beat the opposition's nearest boule (the boule second closest to the cochonet) but with his second shot and a change of tactics he managed a Thierry type throw and knocked the opposition ball out of the way whilst leaving his own boule in its place - a shot known as a carreau, thus giving them two boules closest to the cochonet which is 2 points and therefore the game and for the first time in eight years the match 3 games to 2. The Ashes were back in England for one year at least! The captains exchanged gifts and the Ashes were returned to their ancestral home, safely locked up in our new display cabinet. The players and associated families retired to The Old Fire Station for a traditional English lunch of curry and rice and plenty of banter about how the game had been won or lost!

The last event of the day was a farewell gathering at the village hall with a couple of final surprises. Alain was awarded a special prize for his dancing stamina and then we unveiled a special celebration cake made and iced by Graham Lane's sister Beena (a big thank you here as well). Slices of cake were handed out together with glasses of wine and then we all said our sad farewells - much cheek kissing, eye wiping and calls of année prochaine followed before everyone had to board the coach for the departure.

The date for our visit to Longpré in 2012 has been set for the weekend of June 2nd - keep the weekend free in your diary!