Henley Falaise Leichlingen Twinning Association

WE have had a busy few months and are now looking forward to our visit to Falaise in May and our summer party in July.

Our annual meeting was held at Henley Golf Club on March 6. It was followed by a three-course dinner.

This was a special event as it was Patrick Fleming’s last meeting as chairman. Patrick has been a member of the association for more than 20 years, many of which he served on the committee.

We thanked Patrick for his hard work and dedication and presented him with a trio of silver birch trees, which will be planted in the orchard of his new home in Herefordshire.

We have an energetic committee for 2024 as follows: Chair — Sue Fitzsimons; vice-chair (responsible for visits to/from Falaise) — Sue Lines; vice-chair (responsible for visits to/from Leichlingen — Fiona Franks; treasurer — Peter Stone; secretary — Sue Fitzsimons; minutes secretary/ assistance with Falaise visits — Margaret Husband; member/assistance with Leichlingen visits — Jess Lewis; member/new website — Sally Jacob; member/Café Parlez — Angela Lenman; member/football link — Trevor Howell; member/petanque — Liz McEwen.

This year, AFC Henley celebrates its 50th birthday and more than 40 years of exchanges with our twin town’s football club, S C Leichlingen.

Last October marked the post-covid revival of the twinning link, when Leichlingen’s U13s travelled to Henley for a weekend of football and relationship-building.

Then at Easter, our own U13s reciprocated with a return trip involving 11 boys and six adults. They were met at Cologne airport by a fleet of cars, which transported the adults to their hotel accommodation and the boys to their host families.

The weekend’s activities began at the football club with a “welcome” party and pizzas followed the next morning by a tournament between AFC Henley and five local teams, which AFC Henley won without conceding a single goal.

In the afternoon some went to a Bayer Leverkusen home game, others on a trip to Cologne and some, unable to resist the temptation, watched Newcastle v West Ham United on a giant screen in a host family’s cellar. An evening barbecue rounded off a busy day.

On Easter Sunday, the traditional Goossens Cup match between the rival clubs took place on S C Leichlingen’s all-weather pitch and, again, the English team won comfortably while maintaining a clean sheet.

They were then treated to an afternoon tour of Bayer Leverkusen’s state-of-the-art stadium, completing a truly unforgettable weekend.

Exhausted but happy, the party headed for the airport and a late flight back to Heathrow.

Arrangements are already underway for the visit of the U13 Leichlingen team to Henley from October 17 to 20. Long may this exchange, the experience of a lifetime, continue.

A group of 24 people is eagerly looking forward to the visit to Falaise from May 24 to 27.

We shall all be hosted with families in or near this beautiful town, birthplace of William the Conqueror.

While we are there we shall have a mayoral reception in the town hall, a dinner in the Pressoir, visit the local market, enjoy a day out exploring an open-air museum or Deauville and enjoy a glass or two of calvados no doubt.

After the (hopefully) wonderful summer of regatta and Wimbledon, we will hold our annual summer party in Remenham Hall on Sunday, July 21.

We shall be having a buffet lunch provided by the committee, with wine and soft drinks included. There will also be a raffle. It will be another opportunity to get together and enjoy good food and company.

The visit from Leichlingen will take place from October 3 to 6.

We will be arranging an outing, linked to Midsomer Murders trails and venues, for hosts and guests on Friday, October 4.

We are offering local sightseeing options on Saturday, October 5 with a dinner in the evening. We will be looking for hosts nearer the time.

Film nights are still on hold as we no longer have a projectionist. If you would like to be our projectionist, please email Sue Fitzsimons on HFLTA73@gmail.com

In the meantime, we are keeping our eyes open for French and German films to be shown at the Regal.

We were lucky enough to find three in a row at the end of February: Zone of Interest (German), Anatomy of a Fall (French) and The Taste of Things (French).

The association was well-represented at all these high-quality films.

Café Parlez (French conversation) meets in the bar of the Relais Hotel for French conversation every two weeks on Tuesday evenings and Thursday afternoons. Everyone is
welcome.

Please email Angela Lenman at angela_lenman@
hotmail.com for future dates and times. The dates for May and June are: Tuesday, May 14 at 7.30pm; Thursday, May 30 at 3pm; Tuesday, June 11 at 7.30pm and Thursday, June 27 at 3pm.

The Deutschkreis (German conversation) sessions take place on Tuesdays in a variety of venues at 2.30pm. Friendly, interesting German conversation (plus cake) are always provided.

You would be very welcome to come along, no matter what your level of spoken German is. If you would like to, please email Sheila Dickie at smdickie
brae@aol.com for locations and directions (lifts can be provided).

The dates for April and May are: Tuesday, May 7 at 2.30pm; Tuesday, May 21 at 2.30pm; Tuesday, June 4 at 2.30pm; and Tuesday, June 18 at 2.30pm.

The association’s new website will be launched soon. We also have a new dedicated email address — HFLTA73@gmail.com

Sue Fitzsimons