CROOKHAM VILLAGE
TWINNING WITH LÉVIGNEN
Twinning party at Warnborough Lift bridge
For more than twenty-five years Crookham Village, in north-east Hampshire, has been twinned with Lévignen in France. Lévignen is in Picardy, about 40 miles north-east of Paris, near Crépy-en-Valois, Senlis and the forest of Compiègne.
Every May or June there is a weekend visit of about 30-50 people from Lévignen to Crookham Village, or in the alternate years, from Crookham Village to Lévignen. We make our own travel arrangements (by car, rail, air, or some combination of these) and aim to arrive in Lévignen about 5pm on the Friday (6pm French time, i.e. after work for our hosts) because we stay with French families.
The normal pattern is to have dinner with the host family that evening, followed by sight-seeing or similar on the Saturday, a collective meal with music and dancing on Saturday evening and, on Sunday afternoon, a picnic followed by the Inter-Village Games which are always rigged to ensure that the visitors win!
Good food enjoyed by all
Supper is normally with small groups of families on the Sunday evening, and the visitors leave on Monday morning. The arrangements vary from year to year and family to family, but give an indication of what to expect if you haven’t been to Lévignen, or entertained a French family for the weekend in your home.
It is a splendid opportunity to see parts of France (and England), experience the French way of living, learn some words of French, enjoy the French sense of fun, and get to know people, from Crookham Village and places nearby, whom you may not have met before!
There are also many informal visits, both ways, mostly when people go on holiday. Many long-term friendships have grown up. Parts of Lévignen are now named after Crookham Village, and several streets in Zebon Copse, Crookham Village are named after French people and places involved in the twinning.
Plaque commemorates rhododendrons
presented by the twinners of Crookham Village
for the Lévignen community centre
To lighten the financial burden on English hosts, we organise fund-raising social events during the year, to help cover the costs of entertaining visitors. The French similarly organise fund-raising on their side to entertain us when we visit.
In May 2009 we took 49 French guests to the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth, to see the harbour and the Mary Rose, Victory and Warrior. In the evening we had dinner and a Barn Dance to the music of Paul Earwicker and his band. The maritime theme was picked up in the Sunday afternoon games, for which many people dressed as pirates.
In May 2010 forty of us went to Lévignen and the French responded with a varied and interesting programme, a splendid evening meal and their customary warm welcome. A great weekend was had by all, with new friendships formed and old ones renewed. We are now planning for the next visit, from Lévignen to Crookham Village in June 2011.
If you would be interested in learning more about the twinning,
or taking part in any way,
please contact Charles Hicks on 01252 850657,
or by email at hicks.canal@btinternet.com