Sawbridgeworth Town Twinning Association
Sawbridgeworth, United Kingdom
Bry-sur-Marne, France
Moosburg an der Isar, Germany
recent activities
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October 2024 Visit from Moosburg​
We hosted our guests from Moosburg, our German twin town near Munich, from 24th to 27th October. We started off with a convivial reception in the Town Council Chamber on their arrival from Heathrow with welcome speeches from the Mayor and both groups. Particular thanks go to the Town Clerk, Mayor and town council staff for the excellent reception. On Friday, we all met up in Colchester for an excellent bilingual guided tour, followed by a pub lunch. Saturday was a free day for hosts to organise. In the evening, we had a delicious and substantial Chinese meal at the Peking Palace, where our guests were presented with our Sawbridgeworth calendar for 2025. We gave our Moosburg Town Council link person, Erwin Weber, a bottle of English sparkling wine and he presented us with a book in German about the key dates in Moosburg’s 1250-year history. On Sunday we met up for a bring-and-share lunch at the Hailey Centre before our guests left for Heathrow.
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​We already have dates for our return visit to Moosburg: 16th - 19th October 2025. We are also exploring possible curriculum links between Leventhorpe and schools in Moosburg.
​September 2024 Visit to Bry-sur-Marne
A group once again visited our French twin town of Bry-sur-Marne over the weekend of 20th to 22nd September, via coach, Eurostar, and the RER metro system. We were received at the Town Hall on arrival, then departed with our hosts for dinner. On Saturday, one of the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine or Heritage days, when thousands of public buildings are open free of charge, we all went to different places and got back together for a formal dinner in the evening, on the river opposite Bry. Short speeches were made, including a message from our Mayor, Cllr Reece Smith, and gifts exchanged. We gave the French Mayor a bottle of Hattingley Valley Classic Reserve sparkling wine. On our return home on Sunday, we enjoyed a convivial lunch at the Terminus restaurant opposite the Gare du Nord.
Summer Garden Party
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Our Summer Garden Party was held on Sunday 14th July, French National Day, in a beautiful garden belonging to two of our members. We had an absolutely delicious tea and entertainment by a delightful Madrigals choir.
Sawbridgeworth May Fayre
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Sawbridgeworth hosted its annual May Fayre on Fair Green on May 5th and we had our usual stand there with information on our activities and the locations of our twin towns, Bry-sur-Marne and Moosburg. On offer was French wine, Brie and baguette all accompanied by excellent accordion playing of French music.
Annual Quiz
The annual Quiz Night on 13th April in Sawbridgeworth Memorial Hall attracted almost 100 people and was a huge success with lots of laughter, friendly rivalry and a hot dinner.
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AGM
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Our AGM was held on 15th February at the Hailey Centre followed by wine and nibbles.
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Leventhorpe World Languages Day
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On Friday 26th January 2024 we ran a stall at Leventhorpe School to give a flavour of Town Twinning. Many students participated in the quiz we produced.
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Sawbridgeworth Christmas Lights Switch On November 2023 and Christmas Tree Festival December 2023
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On Saturday 25th November we had a stall at Sawbridgeworth's annual Christmas Lights switch on event and a decorated Christmas Tree at Great St Mary's Christmas Tree Festival in December.
Visit to Moosburg 19th to 22nd October 2023
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A party of 12 town twinners visited Moosburg, near Munich, for a long weekend; our first post-Covid visit since 2019, and our fourth to Moosburg. On arrival we were warmly welcomed at the town hall by the mayor, Herr Josef Dollinger and our twinning contact Erwin Weber, as well as by other councillors. This was followed by a meal in a local restaurant.
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On Friday we went by coach to Passau, where three rivers converge: the Danube, Inn and Ilz, one of only very few three river confluences in the world. In his evening speech our chairman, David Royle, likened this to our three way twinning between Sawbridgeworth, Moosburg and Bry where our three cultures converge. After an entertaining guided walk, we had lunch at the traditional ‘Altes Brauhaus’, which, needless to say, involved beer!
Another meal together followed in the evening in a restaurant back in Moosburg, where there were short speeches and presentations. We gave each host family and the mayor and other local contacts a copy of our magnificent Sawbridgeworth 50th anniversary photobook (copies available from our website).
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Saturday was spent with hosts and most of us went to Munich, for example to visit Ludwig II’s grandiose Versailles-like Schloss Nymphenburg. On Sunday morning, some of us went on a guided visit to see the remains of the large Stalag VIIA prisoner-of-war camp, which housed 70,000 inmates from many countries and the memorial erected by the town council.
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We will host our friends from Moosburg next October but in between we plan to keep in touch, not only through our regular Zoom German conversation group, but also through online discussions of common issues: energy, climate change, sustainability etc. (Moosburg also has a Repair Café, for example).
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There is a short video of the weekend on the video page here under "Visit to Moosburg October 2023".
50th Anniversary Celebration
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The 50th anniversary of twinning between Sawbridgeworth and Bry-sur-Marne was celebrated by 57 present and former twinning members at the Hailey Centre on 29th September.
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Tony Dodd, who made the initial connection with Bry in 1973, when he was Chairman of the Urban District Council, was present and four former Chairs: Valerie Bright, Eugene Keddy, John Marshall and Jeremy Dickson, as well as Brenda, the wife of the late Jack Lynch.
We celebrated with wine and crémant from Alsace, plus slices from two cakes prepared by Sally Pribul and Valerie Young. The Mayor, Cllr Ruth Buckmaster and current Chairman, David Royle, gave brief speeches noting Tony Dodd's initiative, thanking past Chairs and committees and recalling the formal start of twinning exchanges with German twin town, Moosburg, in 2018.
There was also a display of twinning photographs, and a montage from the most recent visit by our friends from Bry in September.
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Current and former chairpersons of Sawbridgeworth Town Twinning Association.
Visit to Sawbridgeworth from Bry-sur-Marne 15th-18th September 2023
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A highly successful visit from our French friends from Bry-sur-Marne was hosted in Sawbridgeworth for a long weekend in September. The group arrived on Friday evening and activities included a reception at the Hailey Centre, a visit to the Gibberd Garden in Harlow, a most enjoyable meal in the Villa Italia restaurant, a guided tour of Cambridge followed by a celebratory afternoon tea. The weekend was rounded off on Monday morning with a tree planting ceremony at Great St Mary's where Father Simon Vivian blessed the commemorative tree planted to celebrate this 50 year anniversary of the first town twinning oath signed in 1973 by the mayors of Bry-sur-Marne and Sawbridgeworth. Much French and English was spoken throughout the weekend helping cement the mutual bonds of friendship and cooperation between our communities. A hardback photo book of Sawbridgeworth was produced for this special occasion and copies were presented to all our French guests as well as the dignitaries from the two towns - our own Mayor Ruth Buckmaster and the Deputy Mayor of Bry-sur- Marne Sylvie Roby.
Bry-sur-Marne publish a magazine which recently featured a report on this year's visit from our Mayor, Ruth Buckmaster, and a delegation from Sawbridgeworth Town Twinning Association.
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Use the arrows on the image to turn to the next page.
50th Anniversary Celebration 18th to 21st May 2023
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A delegation of 12 town twinning members travelled to Bry-sur-Marne, our French twin town, over the weekend of 18-21 May to join the 50th anniversary celebrations with our two twin towns, Bry, and Moosburg, near Munich. Cllr Tony Dodd started the link in September 1973, together with the French mayor, Etienne Audfray, but the link with Moosburg was not formalised until 2018. Two coaches came from Moosburg, including a group of young musicians (average age 16).
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On arrival we attended a tree planting ceremony (a symbolic elm) with speeches by the three mayors, including our own mayor, Cllr Ruth Buckmaster. Moosburg brought a sculpture made by a local artist, representing Europa, from Greek mythology.
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On Friday, we all went to a sculpture museum in Montparnasse and walked to the Jardin du Luxembourg. Saturday was a free day for further exploration of Paris, followed by an official dinner with music, more speeches, and an exchange of gifts. We presented inscribed pens and Coronation souvenirs to the two mayors and twinning organisers.
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We will further mark the anniversary when our French friends visit us from 15-18 September and when we go to Moosburg from 19-22 October. In addition, we will have an event on 29 September in the Hailey Centre to mark the actual date of the signing of the first twinning oath by our then mayor Fred Whitehead and his French and German counterparts in Bry-sur-Marne. Former twinners, Association chairmen and women will be invited.
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David Royle, Chairman, Sawbridgeworth Town Twinning Association
May Fayre, Sunday 30th April
We had a stall at the Sawbridgeworth May Fayre offering cheese and wine with a display and information about both our twin towns along with musical entertainment.
Grand 50th Anniversary Quiz 18th February
Over 100 people attended the Town Twinning Association’s quiz at the Sawbridgeworth Memorial Hall on Saturday 18th February. This is our 50th anniversary year and a delegation will go to Bry-Sur-Marne in May to celebrate with our friends from both our twin towns of Bry and Moosburg.
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The quiz is our major fund-raising event and the over £1,000 raised will help us fund special events in this anniversary year when we will also welcome a visit from Bry-sur-Marne in September and travel to Moosburg in October.
Quizzers enjoyed a sumptuous ploughman’s prepared by our committee members, Mesdames Pribul, Armistead, Johnson and Young; Chairman/Quizmaster David Royle infuriated and challenged attendees by turns, ably assisted by Terry Royle and Tim Armistead on scoring duty.
AGM
Please see the attached documents for more details.
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The Association held its AGM at the Hailey Centre on 2nd February, preceded by a short committee meeting and followed by wine and nibbles. Chairman David Royle’s report (see attached pdf) highlighted that 2022 was a good year, thanks to the committee, and especially to Sally Pribul, for combining secretarial and treasurer roles, with two successful and enjoyable visits, one to Bry and one from Moosburg and a full programme of social events. We had a successful fund-raising quiz in March, a well-attended stall at the May Fayre, a less well-attended Pétanque ‘court’, as part of the East Herts ‘Love Parks’ event in July and a very enjoyable garden party kindly hosted by the Helen and Paul Avontuur in the same month. Tim Pribul organised a Wine Challenge fund raiser in November.
2023 visits are arranged to and from Bry and to Moosburg. We will send a delegation of committee members to Bry-sur Marne from 18th to 21st May to coincide with the visit from Moosburg to celebrate the 50th anniversary and to receive our friends from Bry-sur-Marne from 15th to 18th September. We will visit Moosburg from 19th to 22nd October.
Draft Minutes of AGM 2nd February 2023 ------------>
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Chairman's Report 2nd February 2023 ----------------->
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STTA Constitution - Updated - 2nd February 2023 ->
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Wine Tasting
On Saturday, 12th November 2022 we held our usual Wine Tasting Challenge when around 50 of us had an introduction to the art of wine tasting, followed by a thoroughly enjoyable hour putting our newly discovered skills to the test in having to identify 8 different fine wines, red and white. Prizes were awarded and much was learned.
Visit to Sawbridgeworth from Moosburg 2022
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A group of our German friends came from our twin town of Moosburg, near Munich in Bavaria, from 20th to 23rd October to spend a long weekend with us. We had a great time with various visits to Bury St Edmunds, London and punting in Cambridge, among others. We enjoyed an excellent dinner at the Villa Italia restaurant in Sawbridgeworth, a delicious bring and share meal locally and the rest of the time was spent with the host families. Dates for next year are already fixed….19th to 22nd October 2023 when we will visit them in Moosburg. Do get in touch if you are interested.
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Gifts from Moosburg guests celebrating the 1250 year anniversary of Moosburg an der Isar.
Clockwise from left (or from top)-
1. Moosburg and Sawbridgeworth Town Twinning Presidents Erwin Weber and David Royle
2. Bury St Edmunds Visit
3. Bring and Share Party with Moosburg Guests
4. Punting in Cambridge
The Moosburg newspaper published an article about the visit to Sawbridgeworth:-
Bry-sur-Marne 2022 : Mr Silhouette, Mr Poubelle and Mr Daguerre
During our visit to Bry-sur-Marne in September 2022 we came across/renewed acquaintance with three figures from history who are all linked to Bry. David Royle has written an article on them, Messieurs Silhouette, Poubelle and Daguerre, which you can read by clicking on the pdf icon.
Trip to Bry-sur-Marne 2022
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A group of us visited our friends in Bry-sur-Marne for the weekend of 16th - 19th September 2022. Most people travelled by train with some opting to drive. We had a wonderful time with our hosts, with a full day outing to a historic town nearby as well as a day with our host families, an evening reception at the town hall and delicious meals both with our hosts and in restaurants.
The town magazine, 'La Vie à Bry' had pictures of our visit in the October issue (see pages 6 and 7) which can be accessed online here in pdf form (in French):
Garden Party
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We enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea of sandwiches, quiches, scones, freshly picked local strawberries and cream as well as an assortment of cakes in a delightful garden setting with beautiful weather and entertainment by local Madrigals singers.
Picnic and Pétanque in the Park
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We joined in with the Hertfordshire Love Parks Event held in July in Pishiobury Park and gave the opportunity for people to try their hand at Pétanque. This was followed by a picnic for Town Twinners.
Quiz Night 2022
We held our annual Quiz Night in March at Bullfields with a delicious ploughman's supper and prizes for the winners. This event is very popular and has attracted more than 100 people on occasion.
