Dear SHTA Members & Friends,
Now that we’re officially into Summer, we’re entitled to sing a well-known Beatles song entitled “Here Comes The Sun”. Forty or so of our members will be performing this on a stage in Honfleur later this month as part of this year’s exchange visit to our beautiful twin town. More of this later in this Newsletter. In the meantime here is some news of what else is happening on the other side of the Channel in June from Vice-Chair, Mark Moorhouse:
In Honfleur, Normandy and France:
Sunday 8th June is Pentecost Day (le jour de Pentecôte) and, whilst Sandwich hosts the Le Weekend event during the entirety of the forthcoming weekend, over in Honfleur it is the 164th Fête des Marins from Saturday 7th June to Monday 9th June. Every Pentecost weekend the Honfleurais prepare and dress in their finest attire in anticipation of this celebration of the sea and sailing, upon which the soul of our twin town is founded.
On Sunday 8th June Mass will take place at Saint Catherine’s Church, in the heart of the sailors’ quarter, which will be decorated for the occasion. Then the blessing of the sea takes place in the Bay of Seine, all of the boats engaging in the event leave the port in a parade and a ceremony takes place in the middle of the estuary.
Monday 9th June will be the focus of the Fête des Marins, the procession during which models of boats are carried from the main square to the Notre-Dame de Grâce chapel located on the heights of Honfleur at Équemauville. This moment of celebration and music is the most awaited, participants wear their customary sailor top and join the parade.
Located just 12Km east of Honfleur on the banks of the River Seine is the commune of Berville-sur-Mer which hosts an annual festival that highlights cycling on Saturday 14th June. After several successful events, Bike Madness (formally known as the ‘Bords de Seine en Folie’) offers activities which incorporate a breathtaking view of the estuary and the Normandy Bridge at the heart of the Seine à Vélo route and the Vélomaritime (a cycling route from Roscoff in Brittany to Dunkirk on the Belgian border).
On Saturday 21st June Honfleur will host the ‘Fête de la Musique’ on World Music Day, this is a free celebration of music featuring performances from local and international artists across various genres.
June concludes with the ‘La Fête de la Crevette et de la Pêche’ (Shrimp and Fishing Festival) on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June – this event offers activities concentrated around maritime themes, local crafts, and food tastings.
Above: Fête des Marins procession in Honfleur
Many thanks, as usual, to Mark for the introduction above.
What’s happening in the Sandwich Honfleur Twinning Association?
We’ll be screening our final film of the ’24-’25 season on Wednesday 11th June; the film is entitled ‘Va Savoir’ (English title: ‘Who Knows?’) and is a 2001 romantic comedy-drama directed by Jacques Rivette. It stars Jeanne Balibar, Sergio Castellitto, Marianne Basler, Hélène de Fougerolles and Catherine Rouvel. It was entered into the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.
The story of the three couples in the film sometimes parallels the Pirandello play in which the two principals, Camille and Ugo, are performing each night and follows the structure of a Goldini comedy, in which couples undergo misunderstandings and attraction for others until the final resolution. In the film’s ending, the three couples waltz in a circle to the tune Senza fine (Endless), implying that the dance of young people in love will go on forever.
The film’s run-time is 154 minutes and it has a PG-13 classification.
As usual, if you’d like to reserve your place for our film in June please send me an email on stuartpjones100@yahoo.co.uk. Admission to film nights remains at £7.50 per head and priority will be given to members who book in advance. You can pay in advance online to SHTA, account number: 42027168; sort code: 30-90-09. Alternatively, you can pay by cash or card on the night at the cinema.
With our final film of this season looming, it’s an appropriate time to thank all of you who suggested film titles for this 2024-2025 season and invite you to do the same for our 2025-2026 film programme. As you know, we try to include a full range including some new and some from the past; historical, comedy, romantic, mystery and drama. Many thanks in advance if you’re able to contribute. Our film sub-committee will be making the selection during the Summer.
You don’t need to be a genius to know that the dates for this coming weekend are
Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th June, but you might not know that these two days go by the name of ‘Le Weekend’ in Sandwich and the town adopts the guise of a typical small French town. The new organiser for this major highlight in the Sandwich calendar is our very own Mark Moorhouse who, together with his team, have now organised most aspects, but he would still appreciate the help of any SHTA members who could fill the rôle as a Martial, if only for just one hour (or more) on either or both days. If you think you’d like to wear a high-viz tabard to assist in the organisation of the weekend, please do contact Mark or one of the SHTA Committee via the contact details at the end of this newsletter. Thank you.
SHTA’s own stall during Le Weekend is being organised by Committee member, Christine Ratcliffe. She would like to thank those SHTA members who have volunteered their time to be on the stand in Market Street between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm on both Saturday and Sunday. They’ll be promoting the activities of SHTA and seeking further members. If you’re able, do try to pop along to the stand to say hello.
As I’m sure you know, the following week sees our Group Trip to Honfleur from Thursday 19th – Sunday 22nd June. Our participants will, no doubt, be getting very excited and the final preparations are fitting into place. Their one-night only performance of not just one but three Beatles songs will see all of them dressed in outfits from the 60’s and 70’s, the theme for the evening.
This might be a topic for conversation at the Picnic on the Quay Green on Monday 7th July from 12.00 noon until around 2.00 pm, weather permitting. If you’re free on that day, why not come along for an hour or so with your picnic and perhaps a deckchair?
Later in July the traditional SHTA Bangers & Boules Tournament will take place this year on Thursday 24th July at The Anchor Pub in Wingham, starting at 6.00 pm. The games will be followed by a meal inside the pub which includes sausages & mash with onion gravy and seasonal vegetables (or vegetarian option), followed by apple crumble or sorbet. Cost for the meal is £20. Many thanks if you’re one of 22 to sign up for this. We’ve now reached our maximum number of players, but, if you’d like to come to The Anchor to spectate and enjoy the meal, do get in touch.
Now is the time of year when we start thinking about making plans for 2025-2026: our Annual General Meeting is scheduled for Thursday 17th July in The Jury Room at The Guildhall. As usual there will be (i) a Report of the Past Year (ii) a Summary of Accounts (iii) the Election of a New Committee. As far as the latter is concerned, all of the current Committee, whose names you’ll see below, are prepared to stand for re-election. However, any member is entitled to put their name forward if they are supported by a nomination and a seconder sent by email to the Secretary prior to the evening itself. SHTA welcomes new participants and ideas on the Committee. There will be wine and nibbles available on the night.
Following the AGM, there will be a New Members’ Evening on Thursday 28th August. We are lucky to have had 24 people joining SHTA in the past 12-18 months, and want, as we have done in past years, to make them feel welcome and provide an opportunity to meet each other as well as members of the Committee. There will be complementary drinks and light bites available from 7.00 – 8.30 pm; we’ll let you know the venue as soon as it is confirmed.
All members are invited to come to a Cheese & Wine Evening the following month. This is for the bargain price of £15 per head and will offer 3 samples of French white wine and three of red together with 6 cheeses; there will also be a raffle along with general knowledge and Richard Osman-style quizzes. The date for your diary and early signing up is Tuesday 23rd September and we’ll be holding this in the Jury Room at the Guildhall. I wait to hear from you!
As promoted in recent newsletters, we have a change of venue for this year’s SHTA Christmas Dinner & Party: this year it will be held at The Bell Hotel in Sandwich on Thursday 11th December. The upstairs dining room will be devoted solely to our SHTA group and can cater for 60-70 people. Thank you to those of you who have signed up so far, but plenty of competing offers may tempt you elsewhere at that time of year, so, to avoid disappointment, why not sign up asap if you’d like to attend please.
That’s all the news for now folks. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Empire Cinema on Wednesday 11th June to see ‘Va Savoir’.
Best wishes, Stuart, Mark and the Committee.