MEMBERSHIP

If you would like to know more, or join the Association, please contact:

Jane Knight 01482 633134

or

Ann Welbourne 07772 353465

Annual membership costs £5 per person or £10 per family

NEW DATE FOR YOUR DIARY:

Cheese and Wine Evening at North Ferriby Village Hall

7.30pm on Saturday 16 November 2024

VISIT TO LE PELLERIN 2024

Members of the Twinning Associations of North Ferriby and Le Pellerin enjoying their time together in France during the visit that took place from the 29 May to 2 June. A great time was had by all! The welcome speeches by the Mayor of Le Pellerin (François de Laujardière) and the President of the Le Pellerin Twinning Association (Alain Broussard) can be found on the North Ferriby News Page.  

Report on Visit to Le Pellerin 2024 by Janet Aitken

I can hardly believe how, after five years of not visiting, our return to Le Pellerin felt like we'd never been away. Our friends greeted us so enthusiastically and we settled back into their familiar homes seamlessly.

Although some of us didn't arrive until midnight after a somewhat unexpected detour to Bordeaux, the next day began relatively easily with a free morning, followed by a visit in the afternoon to an Equestrian school. This was rather like Bishop Burton but with students beginning at fourteen years old and combining normal schoolwork with horse riding and all types of equine studies.

The students said they didn't speak English at all and then proceeded to talk about boxes, paddocks, mares and foals just as we say dressage and manege.

Alain talked to the students about our organisation over a cup of English tea.

After that we visited a small enterprise specialising in glass blown jewellery and had a demonstration of how the beautiful artisan made bracelets and necklaces are made.

In the evening we all attended a reception by the Mayor of Le Pellerin to name the new square after a famous person from our region. We nominated William Wilberforce as an important figure with connections to Hull and whose grandparents lived in North Ferriby. His work for the abolition of slavery also has links with a similar movement in Nantes where there is a museum. There were speeches from the Mayor of Le Pellerin , Monsieur Francois Brillaud de Laujardiére , Alain Broussard, Chair of the Le Pellerin Twinning Association, Belinda Hookem, Chair of North Ferriby Parish Council and myself as Chair of our Twinning Association.

Belinda was presented with a splendid gold medal from the town and then the four of us unveiled the plaque naming the Square William Wilberforce.

It was a wonderful gesture and we all felt very honoured to be present on such an occasiom

On Friday was the all- important group visit to St.Georges sur Loire and the Chåteau Serrant.

This was an unusual French chateau in that it was fully furnished and still occupied, currently by the Prince of Merode. It had changed hands many times throughout its history but was bought in 1750 by a man of Irish descent, Antoine Walsh , a slave trader and exiled Jacobite whose family escaped with their wealth and, more importantly their heads, during the Revolution because they weren't French aristocrats.

The furniture was exquisite and the whole place was extremely interesting.

Afterwards we had a picnic in the grounds. This was great fun with much banter and laughter between everyone, French and English.

In the afternoon we went on to learn a new skill, Boules de Fort. This was similar to Crown Green Bowls but played indoors in a room resembling the deck of a ship which is where the game originated. It was very local to the area and not played in other regions. It was a skilful game not requiring brute force but gentle positioning of the boule to curve towards the jack. Dare I say that the ladies seemed to be rather better at this than the men. The next day saw us all driving with great hilarity in a convoy of vintage Deux Chevaux to a local vineyard, Domaine de la Coche. We visited the caves and tasted the wines, both red and white, all at 10 in the morning! On Saturday afternoon we had a very positive joint committee meeting where we expressed our appreciation of the whole visit. We talked about the future, touching on our problems recruiting younger people and the difficulties posed in England of deciding which languages if any, for children to study. In France English is always studied as the global language of business and they expressed surprise that French has probably been superseded by Spanish in our schools.

We ended by inviting them to North Ferriby in 2025 at the end of May, a date mutually convenient as it is their Ascension Day holiday and our half term. They will arrive on Wednesday May 28 and leave on Sunday June 1.

Our final evening was spent in the airport restaurant where we were entertained by and danced to a live local group Les Pistolets.

We were served a wonderful meal prepared by Vincent and Gerard and their team. Finally we competed for the Pilgrims' Cup by throwing balls into buckets and drawing- all blindfolded. The English were victorious.

Once again we had a wonderful time in Le Pellerin and I would urge anyone to join us next time. We really need some new people to swell our numbers. There is no need to speak French, many manage with dictionaries, google and gestures. A visit like this is so different from a holiday as it is an experience to really get to know our French friends and to understand life in France in a much deeper and meaningful way.

*****VISIT TO NORTH FERRIBY 2025****

Our friends from Le Pellerin will arrive on Wednesday May 28 and leave on Sunday June 1. 

Our Annual Spring Walk, 24 March

This year our Spring Walk took us to Lelley where we enjoyed dry weather under the "Big Skies" of Holderness. The 5 mile circular walk via Sproatley ended with lunch at The Stags Head in Lelley. It was surprisingly dry under foot given it has been such a wet spring! As the pictures show everyone enjoyed the exercise, fresh air and the opportunity to socialise.

NORTH FERRIBY SPRING MARKET 2024

The Twinning Association had a stall at the Village Hall for the Spring Market on 16 March. Members produced an array of French inspired cakes, biscuits and other delicacies which pretty well sold out. Indeed our produce "sold like hot cakes!"

The event was very well attended and provided an opportunity to promote our activities and the benefits of joining the Association. Everyone had a good time. 

French Breakfast at North Ferriby School

Members of the Twinning Association provided a French Breakfast to pupils in Years 4 & 5 at North Ferriby CoE Primary School on 6 March. The breakfast comprised fruit juices, baguette with butter and jam; brioche and pan au chocolat which everyone seemed to enjoy. In addition, we provided a short French Lesson, a powerpoint presentation and games in French. The children were made aware of the exchange visits to Le Pellerin which are arranged by the Association and that they and their families are welcome to join us.

AGM

Our AGM took place in the Priory Rooms on Tuesday February 6 at 7pm. This provided a chance to offer suggestions for future events and for us to expand on our plans more fully. It was well attended and members enjoyed a glass of wine and nibbles after the formalities. A copy of Janet Aitken's (Chair) report, Jane Knight's (Secretary) and the Minutes of the Meeting can be found on the North Ferriby News page.

FUTURE EVENTS

In the autumn we will hold another event. A Games Night has been suggested. This will be board games and card games such as Whist, draughts, beetle, bingo etc. (suggestions welcome). The plan would be to move round the room playing the games and socialising.

We hope as many of you as possible will be able to attend the events and of course the visit.

Janet Aitken

Recent Events

BBQ & GARDEN PARTY 10 June

25 Members enjoyed the Annual Garden Party on Saturday 10 June. Thanks to Michael and Ann Welbourne for hosting a really enjoyable evening!

Celebrating 20 years of Twinning

   Memories of the Wonderful Visit to North Ferriby by our friends from Le Pellerin  

18-21 May

As 2018 was the last visit of our French friends here and 2019 our last to France, it was therefore with a great deal of excitement and some trepidation that we prepared to welcome our guests from Le Pellerin to North Ferriby.

Five years on and five years older we planned the visit meticulously and hoped that even after Covid and its ensuing difficulties our friends would have a great stay.

We needn’t have worried as everything went extremely well .Thirty two visitors arrived from Le Pellerin including five teens and children.

All arrived safely on Wednesday evening, May 17 and settled in with their hosts.  Some of course, are old friends but some had never visited us before. However it seems that everyone settled in well and the French were charming and appreciative visitors.

On Thursday they passed the morning with their hosts and the children went to school.

The three older ones went to South Hunsley with Jane where they participated in normal classes for their age group.

I accompanied the two ten year olds and one of the mothers to the Junior School.  We thoroughly enjoyed a maths lesson with Mrs Chappelow, a tour of the school with Mrs Halsall and an extended playtime. The Ferriby children and staff were very kind to them and it was a lovely morning.

Our thanks go to both schools for accommodating us.

On Thursday afternoon we held the English Tea Party. This event was an opportunity for us to invite the whole village to meet us and our French friends and to let them know all about our organisation and the benefits of our enduring friendship. Many people came who otherwise were not involved with Twinning and we hope that everyone had a good time and learnt a lot about us.

We were especially grateful to Mrs Beasley and Mrs Cooper who brought the Junior School choir to the village hall to entertain us. It was a big audience and the children performed brilliantly, singing songs from Matilda and to the delight of our guests, a French song, “Maman dit non!” Many parents came to see them and afterwards the children were invited to finish off the Afternoon Tea’s sandwiches and cakes which seemed to go down well.

We must convey our thanks to Belinda and the Parish Council for supporting our bid for the Wind Farm Grant enabling us to put on such a successful event. I hope that more people will become interested in Twinning, especially some from younger age groups.

On Friday was our day trip by coach to Wakefield. We were so lucky to have a gloriously sunny day and enjoyed a trip to the Mining Museum and the Sculpture Park, both of which were of great interest to our guests.

Unfortunately Ann fell and broke her hip which was a   calamitous end to the visit.

Ann is of course such an important and crucial part of our organisation, being such a brilliant treasurer and  host, not only for the French but for all our activities.

I am pleased to say that she is recovering well after her ordeal and has a brand new hip.

Her guests and friends were brilliant and organised a barbeque for about twenty in her absence!

On Saturday we were free to visit the area with our guests. I know that some visited Sewerby, York, Beverley and Hull before all congregating for the final evening of food, drink, dancing, games and presentation of gifts, a commemorative pen marking twenty years of our friendship with Le Pellerin.

We finally waved goodbye (amid much kissing) at 5.30am on Sunday morning.

My thanks go to Alain and everyone who came from France who were such gracious guests, the hosts and members who welcomed them and of course to the brilliant committee who work so well as a team and made the whole visit such a success.

Janet Aitken Chair

The many pictures below show the fun we had during the visit

AGM 2023

The Annual General Meeting of the North Ferriby Twinning Associatio was held, at the Village Hall, on the evening of Tuesday 7th February 2023. The well attended meeting received a report (see below) from the Chair, Janet Aitken on the activities of the last year and of those planned for 2023. Jane Knight provided an update on recent developments in Le Pellerin. The Treasurer's Report was provided by Ann Welbourne. Members re-elected the Committee en-masse. 

The reports by the Chair and the Secretary can be found on the News page

The Association's Wine Bluff, held on 14 January 2023 at the Village Hall, was a resounding success. 53 people enjoyed pitting their wits against our three bluffers John Peck, Mark Willett and Graham Elliott. It was both funny and informative. A good time was had by all.

SUMMER BARBECUE

The Annual Twinning BBQ was held at the home of Ann and Michael Welbourne on Saturday 20th August. It was a lovely social evening enjoyed by the 26 members who attended. A heartfelt thanks to our hosts.

Summer Newsletter 2022

Normally at this time of year we would be reflecting on the visit by our friends from Le Pellerin to North Ferriby. Sadly, as you all know, this did not happen for various reasons which we have covered in past bulletins.

However one lovely thing to happen was a brief visit to Ann and Michael’s by Mary and Manoel Dos Santos from Le Pellerin on their way to Scotland for a holiday. They seemed unfazed by the long journey from Portsmouth to here and onward to Scotland and I am assured they had a lovely and trouble free time. Some of us were lucky enough to see them at Ann’s and we therefore got news of some of the people from Le Pellerin. Some are sadly experiencing ill health but for most they are well and looking forward to their visit next year.

Our next event is the annual Summer Barbeque at Ann and Michael’s on Saturday August 20 th . This is later than usual but we hope most people will be around at that time and we can look forward to a relaxing and fun evening.

Tickets are £5 and are available from Julia or Mike and will be advertised on our website and Whatsapp group. Bring your own meat/vegetarian option but all salads and desserts will be provided by the Committee plus any other volunteers.

Our “Autumn” event will be a Wine Bluff. We have no date finalised as yet. Dates in October/November clashed with bookings for the Village Hall and December has the football world cup which could jeopardise attendance. Therefore after much debate we have decided that January, either 14th or 21 st , would be the best time. It will follow the usual format, that is, three bluffers trying to convince us that the wine we are tasting is the one they are so graphically and possibly humorously

describing. There will of course be a supper provided which is always popular. 

Tickets will be sold in December with the usual discount for paid up members, so make sure you have paid your annual subscription.

All that is left to me now is to wish you all a very happy and relaxing summer holiday.

Janet Aitken, Chair

Recent Events:

The Le Pellerin Twinning Association recently held their 2022 Summer Picnic and, as the pictures show, a good time was had by all.

***************************************************************The Twinning Quiz night held at the Village Hall on Saturday 23rd April was extremely well attended and a great success. Thanks go to our guest Quizmaster Phil Walker for providing an interesting quiz and enjoyable evening.

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RACE NIGHT A GREAT SUCCESS!

The Village Hall was the venue for the Twinning Association’s first ever Race Night, held on Saturday 13 Nov 2021. No, it wasn’t serious betting! It was just a lot of fun and a very welcome opportunity for a community get together to meet friends, have a laugh and a drink, and enjoy some light hearted entertainment. About 70 people attended and judging by the comments and messages afterwards, everyone had a great time and very much appreciated the opportunity to get out and do some socialising. This was the first Social Evening held by the Twinning Association for over 2 years.

We were shown films of 9 races, which as it was the Twinning Association were named after French classics, although how the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe ended up being run in Kentucky is a bit of a mystery. In addition there was a horse themed film quiz which had most of us scratching our heads, although we did appreciate at least one obvious answer (Black Beauty)! Many thanks are due to Gareth and Nick James for keeping the rabble in order while officiating over the races, and for a finishing touch even dressing splendidly for the occasion. Also to Ann, Michael and the committee and volunteers who manned the bar, put on a lovely supper plate, and did all the hard work needed to make this event a success. The good news is that we also raised some useful funds for the Twinning Association.

The 2021 Tom Clague Walk was held on Sunday 12 September

A Summer Picnic in Le Pellerin

In June 2021 the Twinning Association, in Le Pellerin, held a picnic to celebrate the easing of lockdown in France. It was good to see so many familiar faces looking fit and well.

Le Pellern Twinning Association AGM

This site replaces our former website www.northferriby-lepellerin.co.uk  

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