Members of the Heacham and Criteuil-la-Magdeleine Twinning Association enjoying the fun at their annual Barn Dance on Saturday 17th March.

Eighty members and guests attended the annual Barn Dance organised by the Heacham and Critueil-la-Magedeleine Twinning Association on Saturday 17th March in the hall of the Heacham Junior School by kind courtesy of the Head Mistress Mrs Nicola Darley.     Everyone present agreed that it was a very enjoyable evening and went home exhausted either due to participating in the various dances or just watching the efforts of those who ventured on to the floor.

An excellent and varied buffet was provided by members of the association.   The evening was deemed to be a great success not only as a social event but also financially raising over £600 towards the funds of the association which will be depleted this summer when over forty French visitors from our twinned village of Criteuil-la-Magdeleine arrive in July.

The committee would like to thank everyone who helped with the organisation of the event including all those who contributed food for the buffet and prizes for the raffle and especially all who bought tickets or made donations.   The association was formed with the aim of fostering good relationships between the peoples of our two communities by encouraging exchange visits between them.    During the year we organise various social events, not only to raise funds but primarily to enjoy ourselves.

New members of all ages are always welcome.  If you are interested in learning more about the association why not come along to one of our committee meetings or social events.  For more information or to apply for membership please contact our membership secretary on 01485 579465 or email twinclub@hotmail.co.uk.

Posted by Heacham Twinning Association

Heacham’s Twinning Association invites you to come and meet Santa at their Christmas Bazaar on Saturday 3rd December  from 11am!!!

St Mary’s Church Hall in Heacham’s High Street will be alive with fun, games, bric-a-brac, books, preserves and scrumptious cakes.

Such an event would not be the same without the compulsory Raffle & Refreshments.  Why not come along, support the event and have some fun in the run up to the Christmas season.

Info: 01485 572252

The next Committee meeting of the Twinning Association is to be held on Wednesday 16th November in the Parish Council offices, Pound Lane, Heacham starting at 7.00 p.m. all members welcome to attend.

Posted by Stella Gooch

Back to the 60s Night, Saturday, 12 November in aid of Heacham & Criteuil-la-Magdeleine Twinning Association

Click to download Back to the 60s poster

Get back to the 1960s on Saturday, 12 November  (8.00 pm to 11.45 pm) at Heacham Public Hall dancing to the New Trojans.  What a fantastic night out you will have and you can help raise funds for the work of the Heacham Twinning Association at the same time.  What could be better?

Admission £6.50 – Doors open at 7:30 p.m. – Fully licensed bar  - Raffle

Tickets available from: Sue & Dudley on 01485 572252

Heacham Twinning Association would also like to meet new enthusiastic members. Please click to download their TwinningMembership Application Form.

Posted by Stella Gooch
Photos by Roz Gauthier

Santa arrives bringing snow with him!

Father Xmas arrived in Heacham on his way to Lapland  on Saturday 27th November much to the delight of local children.  Despite the snow and ice, Santa was right on time and as had been promised.  He called into the Church Hall in Heacham High Street where Heacham & Criteuil-la-Magdeleine Twinning Association were holding their first Xmas Bazaar (which they hope will become an annual event).

Plenty of children were there eager to greet Father Christmas and one of his little helpers as he settled into his Grotto with the obvious ease of someone who is well accustomed to being the “star turn”. 

This is such a busy time of year for Father Christmas that all were delighted that he deemed Heacham worthy of a stop-over on his long journey North.

Children meet Santa

Heacham & Criteuil-la-Magdeleine Twinning Association were grateful to all those people who assisted before and during the event.  They also appreciated the support received in the form of donated items as well as those that came along to support their fundraising by simply joining in the fun.  The Association raised a total of £276.79 once their costs were taken into account which is a wonderful boost to their funds for entertaining our French Twin village in 2012.

Roz Gauthier, Secretary of  Heacham & Criteuil-la-Magdeleine Twinning Association said that they would be holding a Tombola Stall at the Snettisham Victorian Evening on Wed Dec 8th and the Association would love to see as many people as possible there.  Roz went on to say that  H&CLMTA would like to wish everyone a Merry Xmas and Happy & Healthy New Year.

Setting out the stalls

Festive fayre on offer

Twinning visit to Heacham July 2010

More than fifty visitors (including twenty children) from France were welcomed to Heacham on Thursday, 15 July. 

A French newspaper reported:  ” The Twinning between the communities of Heacham & Criteil-la-Magdeleine is flourishing. A group of 52 of our French twins made the trip over last weekend (15th July), accompanied by the Mayor Michel Fougere and 2 of his “Parish Councillors” and the ever hard-working Secretary Monique Enard, who is also the local Junior School Headmistress/Teacher.”

 The five day visit to Heacham was filled with a variety of activities and more than 100 people were catered for by the Heacham Twinning Committee on several occasions.  The whole weekend was financed through the proceeds from the year’s Fundraising Events plus a small £10 “blanket cost” charged to all members attending any/all the events.

As a result of  the hardwork by the Committtee and many Association members, everyone enjoyed seeing their friends again and making new friends as well (amongst our fellow UK Association Members as well as the French).  The French visitors seemed to really enjoy themselves and the visit to Norfolk Lavender was especially popular .  The French teenagers seemed to particularly enjoy the Bowls and Carpet Bowls on the Monday whilst the younger children attended the Junior School for the morning, and then many particiapted in “funny” cricket in the afternoon down by Heacham beach.

The Saturday evening event with a sit-down dinner was enjoyed by all, especially the in-house entertainment provided by both French guests and Heachamites.  The final hour turned into a veritable rock and roll disco (music courtesy of Michael (vocals and lead guitar), Sam (guitar) and Pam (on drums) .

On the Sunday, some of “twinners” attended St Marys Church and a fanatstic service was held in both French and English.  The choir sang  one hymn in French too!   The rest of the day was spent with the Heacham Host families who had arranged the activities for the day.  Some went to see the seals at Blakeney, some to Wells – others had a trip into Hunstanton and a family barbeque.

The Heacham & Criteuil-La-Magdeleine Twinning Association hopes that many of new members will now be already looking forward to the next trip over to France to experience their hospitality again especially since this weekend seems to have whetted  appetites and increased interest in the Twinning concept – maybe with the  hint of the cognac and Pineau available as added incentive !

The Committee of Heacham & Criteuil-La-Magdeleine Twinning Associationwould like to thank everybody for their enthusiasm and hard work helped make the weekend such a success.

Le Strange Cottages

Didn’t we have a lovely time when we went to Heacham.   Heacham Open Gardens, which was organised by the Heacham & Criteuil-La-Magdeleine Twinning Association, on Sunday, 20 June was a resounding success.  The weather looked doubtful earlier in the day but the sun came out in all its glory to create the perfect day for walking round the village.

Le Strange Cottages - tranquil space

There were eight gardens open to the public in all including a small secluded garden in Marram Way, a large garden with an orchard, flowering gardens and a vegetable plot in Neville Road, a private wildlife haven in Pound Lane, a hidden garden in Le Strange Cottages, an interesting and intimate garden in Torrey Close, a garden featuring the  beautiful setting alongside the River Hitch, a medium sized cottage garden and a garden with extensive open views over Heacham countryside in Church Farm Road.

My family and I managed to get round five of the eight gardens.  We started off at Le Strange Cottages and soaked up the tranquility that abounds in this well stocked private garden and then moved on to Hunstanton Road where we spent a great deal of time.  The lure of the garden with the River Hitch running through it was enhanced by all the activities that had been organised.  On entry we were invited to buy a numbered duck which was to be launched into the River Hitch at 4.30pm along with all the other entries.  The aim being that the first duck to hit the barrier past the bridge was the winner of £10 so we had a few goes at that.

Spectators for duck race on the River Hitch

Ducks racing on the River Hitch

Still at Hunstanton Road, my boys enjoyed swinging golf clubs with the intention of getting their golf balls into the makeshift  ”swimming pool” across the River Hitch.  Unfortunately, their balls either ended up in the river or the reeds and my husband and I did somewhat worse than that!  The boys did however start to get the hang of it later on and had a few really good shots but they were not quite good enough.  After the golf we all had a go at the bowling with the aim of winning an English breakfast (all ready to go and packaged up in a basket).  After we achieved a respectable score we moved on to Church Farm Road.

Bowls at Hunstanton Road

Charlie shows Rob how to golf

The  pretty walk from Hunstanton Road to Church Farm Road was worth the effort and involved crossing the main road.  This garden was small but the rear of the garden bordered on open countryside which we were told had originally been part of the Heacham railway.  The views were glorious indeed and the garden was well kept and interesting with strawberries and a water feature of most significant note.  Also in the garden were a number of croquet targets (upside down wired ”U” frames) with matching mallets.  My young son enjoyed learning the basics from Joy, the lady of the house.  Thank you Joy!

Lawn Croquet at Church Farm Rd

Tea ladies at Neville Road

From there we visited the pretty garden in Neville Road where we dallied to enjoy sampling a range of cakes and fruit slices with tea and coffee.  The atmosphere in the garden was almost that of a garden party – lively chatter and sunshine filled the air.  The “tea ladies” were doing a thriving trade whilst we were there and so thought ought – the goodies were lovely.  I enjoyed the coconut tartlets (yes more than one!) so congratulations to the chef.

Following our afternoon tea, we returned to Hunstanton Road to watch the ducks being launched into the River Hitch promptly at 4.30pm.  We arrived a little early so a few more attempts at the golf were made (unsuccessful).  As 4.30pm neared a number gathered on the bridge to witness the great race, including John Harris (founding member of the Twinning Association).

Wildlife at Neville Road

River Hitch in Hunstanton Road garden

Winners of the events at Hunstanton Road were announced following the great duck race.  Dorothy Clampton won the £10 prize as her duck came in first and Pat Norman topped the scores for the bowls and won the breakfast.  The golf wizard of the day was Roger Williamson who won a bottle wine.

Funds raised by the activities at Hunstanton Road (duck race, bowls and golf) totalled £102.50 so well done to Maurice and his team of helpers.  The amazing overall grand total for the day was £831.60 which means that the Association have now reached the target necessary to meet all the expected expenses in respect of their visitors’ weekend arranged from 15 to 20 July.  Watch this space for details of the upcoming pr0gramme.   I think it is fair to say that the whole event was worthwhile in swelling the funds for the Heacham & Criteuil-La-Magdeleine Twinning Association.