WHILE relations at a national level between the United Kingdom and 'The Old Enemy,' France, are not always at their most cordial, the same cannot be said to be true of relations at a more personal level.

2009 sees the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Twinning Charter between Launceston and the Breton town of Plestin-les-Grèves and a group of over 60 Launcestonians recently travelled by coach and car to Plestin for the first wave of anniversary celebrations.

The visit was blessed with superb weather and the full programme of events included a visits to the local factory which makes the celebrated Breton biscuits known as 'Galettes,' the only clogmaker still working locally, the Breton Wrestling Museum which has links with Cornish wrestling and to the castles of Lady Mont, a Breton beauty who, at the age of 55, married Sir Robert Mond, the English 'Nickel King,' who gave her a castle for her 60th birthday present.

On Saturday evening there was the traditional dinner and dance with a superb strawberry gateau for a birthday cake and a commemorative tin of galettes for every participating family. A display of photographs illustrating the 25 year history of the twinning caused no end of delight and laughter to all as a record of how waistlines and hairdos have shrunk and grown and hemlines shot up and down.

Sunday morning saw the official opening of the exhibition of paintings and patchwork sent from Launceston by the Launceston Area Art Group and Flowerpatch Quilters which was complemented by a display of quilts by the Plestin Patchwork Group.

This was a new initiative and it is hope to see some artists and patch workers from Plestin among the group which will be coming to Launceston in July for the second leg of the celebrations.

A cup of friendship was then offered to the whole group by Mayor of Plestin, André Lucas, and his fellow councillors. On behalf of the Launceston party, 1984 Chairman, Martin Vivian, recalled various memorable events during the years, soccer matches, town band and choir exchanges, and paid tribute to the friendship which has grown between the two towns evidenced by the fact that the 25th anniversary had been reached and that third generation twinners were now participating in visits which augured well for the future.

Launceston was looking forward to receiving the Plestin party in July when they will be able to return the superb hospitality which was always a feature of twinning visits. The group then spent the rest of the day with their Breton hosts and took the morning ferry back to Plymouth.

Launceston and District Twinning Association welcomes new members. The current membership age ranges from over 90 down to 18 months. There are plenty of families with children as well as people on their own. An ability to speak French is not a requirement for membership as there are plenty of French speaking members and half the fun is finding out how easy it is to communicate without advanced language skills.

Anyone interested in joining should contact our chairman, Pam Davey on 01566 772321 or secretary, Phil Honey on 01566 782282 or go and talk to group members at their Breton Pancake Stall at the Rotary Victorian Market on Saturday, June 27.