Firstly a quick reminder that we are always open to suggestions about future social events! Just drop us an email using the envelope icon at the bottom left of any page.
Dates for your Diary
Planned events in 2024:
- Film Evening: Saturday 20 April, 7.00 pm, Cox’s Close, members only.
Prête-moi ta main (Lend me your hand). A French romantic comedy film with English subtitles. ‘He believed that it was enough to get married to stay single’. Please bring a plate of food for our ‘Bring and Share Pot Luck Supper’, savoury or sweet, and whatever you like to drink. You’ll also need to bring your own plate, cutlery and glass, please. A cash box will be available for participants to donate towards the cost of buying the film and the hiring the venue. - Wine Tasting Evening: Friday 14 June, 7.30 pm, Cox’s Close, open to all. Planning is well underway for this – we’re hoping to make it an eye-opening experience and no knowledge of wine or experience in wine tasting will be needed to enjoy it!
- Blind taste French white wines from four different regions and from distinct grape varieties, sample accompanying French cheeses, comment on the wines and cheeses, and guess the price of each wine. If you wish you can also try to identify the grapes used and estimate the alcohol levels. At the end of the tasting, find out which wines were liked most and compare the prices.
- Cost: £12 to cover the cost of the food and the venue. Cash raffle. Book your place early to avoid disappointment as numbers are limited. Send a cheque to Tony Hore made payable to ‘Stapleford Twinning Association’ , 8 Sterne’s Way, Stapleford, CB22 5DA or email Tony on smokytone@aol.com if you wish to pay electronically.
- We’ll have our usual Tombola at the Stapleford Village Weekend, on 29 June 2024 in the afternoon. Please drop off your donations (food, drink, gifts etc.) in advance to Tony Smith (his garage), 5 Priams Way, Stapleford, CB22 5DT, thanks.
- Summer Barbeque: Sunday 25 August 2024 , 1.30 pm, kindly hosted once more by Tony Smith. Members only. Please bring a savoury side dish or desert, and wine / soft drink, and your plate, glass and cutlery.
- Historic London Walk: Saturday 28 September 2023; the itinerary, departure time, transport from Stapleford and costs are to be confirmed. Please make a note in your diary.
Further details of the above will be posted here as soon as they are available.
Events in the recent past
Christmas Tree Festival
Our France-themed tree was at the St Andrew’s Christmas Tree Festival, 8-10 December 2023.
There was a huge array of trees in the beautiful setting of Stapleford’s ancient church, with music and refreshments throughout. All donations went to the St Andrew’s Age UK Community Warden Scheme.
Annual General Meeting 2023
This was held at Cox’s Close on 23 November. At the meeting, summaries of what has been going on during the past year and news about next year’s activities were presented and discussed. Reports of the meeting, and the minutes, are in the ‘Recent reports’ section under ‘News’.
The participants enjoyed a glass of wine during the formal proceedings and, afterwards, we all devoured a selection of home made puddings.
The wine we enjoyed was a Vouvray which is local to our twinned village of Villedômer near the Loire Valley in France. It came as a gift from our twinning friends when they visited Stapleford earlier in 2023.
Barbeque 2023
During the afternoon of 13 August around 20 members congregated at Tony Smith’s house for the traditional summer barbeque. The two Tonys, Smith and Hore, did the cooking wearing aprons depicting the flags of the two nations.
We were blessed with sunshine, with a slight breeze, and the event was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Bottle stall
We had our usual bottle stall in the recreation ground at the Stapleford Village Show during the afternoon of Saturday 24 June 2023. Bottles galore from Babycham and beer to washing up liquid and wine were available to be won at the Twinning tombola. A steady flow of punters came to try their luck and to hear about Twinning activities. A big merci to our members who donated the bottles and to our supporters who bought tickets.
London Walk – April 2023
An excellent full-day guided walk around the City of London took place on Saturday 22 April, ably led by Tony Hore, Tony Smith and Christine Wylde (from Sawston U3A). The walk meandered from Tower Hill through ancient streets, courtyards and markets, and also took us to a couple of contemporary ‘sky gardens’ with amazing views towards St Paul’s Cathedral and further afield across the Thames and beyond. Our guides provided a fascinating commentary on points of interest along the way, with references to Shakespeare, Pepys, Blackfriars, Whitefriars and a Roman amphitheatre, to name just a few. Refreshment stops in historic hostelries enhanced this lovely and unusual day out.
Thanks to Tony, Tony and Christine.
Jill Gardner
Film Evening
This well-attended event was held on 18 March 2023 at Cox’s Close, and included a bring-and-share ‘pot luck’ supper. The film was ‘Untouchables’ – an award winning comedy in French with English subtitles.
‘Intouchables’ – an irreverent, uplifting comedy about friendship, trust and human possibility. It is based on a true story of friendship between a handicapped millionaire and his street smart ex-con caretaker and depicts an unlikely camaraderie rooted in honesty and humour between two individuals who, on the surface, would seem to have nothing in common.
A great film, amusing but with a powerful message and easy to follow with the subtitles. Lovely food, as always. Without any planning we had a perfect distribution of savoury and sweet. So good to be able to meet in person again.
The evening was much enjoyed by all!
Mince pies and Madeleines
Which do you prefer? Well, at a festive get-together on 10 December, both were on offer! The Christmas Social, our final event of 2022, was a bring-and-share supper at which a variety of British and French (and Indian!) classics were on the table, including: biryani and brie; tartiflette and trifle; and baguettes and bangers (les chiens chauds?).
It always seems to happen. Attendees were simply asked to bring a plate of food to share, sweet or savoury, and by some magic there was a perfect balance of mains, desserts and cheese. The wine that appeared wasn’t too shabby either with evidence of produce from France to New Zealand.
The only downside was hearing that England lost to France in the World Cup! Hey-ho (c’est la vie). At least there was enough wine left for those of us favouring England to drown our sorrows!
Annual General Meeting 2022
This was held at Cox’s Close on 17 November and was followed by cheese & wine. At the meeting, summaries of what has been going on during the past year and news about next year’s activities were presented and discussed. More details can be found here and here.
Barbeque 2022
On 21 August, some 20 Twinners met for a social BBQ in Tony Smith’s lovely garden enjoying Barker’s sausages and burgers accompanied by a wide range of salads. There was just room to indulge in the tasty desserts which had been brought too. The slight drop in temperature, from the recent high temperatures, made it a very pleasant afternoon sitting in the garden, with lots of chat all round.
Walking quiz
A good-sized group of members and non-members tested their knowledge of Stapleford during the walking quiz, in the afternoon sunshine, on Sunday 12th June 2022. Starting in the Villedômer Garden in the Slaughterhouse Land, the route of the walk included Cox’s Close, Church Street, Vicarage Lane, the allotments off Bar Lane, Haverhill Road, the recreation ground, the pavilion, and Bury Road. It ended with some much-needed refreshment in the Three Horseshoes pub! The questions were all about things in Stapleford but with a French connection. The team with the most correct answers was Gillian Pett and Tony Smith who each received a bottle of Vouvray for their efforts. Runners up were given as set of Stapleford coasters.
The event was much enjoyed by all! Big thanks to Mary Cooper for organising the walk and the quiz!
Bottle stall
Our bottle stall on 4 June 2022 at the Stapleford Village Weekend – the stall was a huge success! There were some tricky moments erecting the gazebo, but we had fortunately completed the task by the time the heavens opened! The stall got off to a flying start because people flocked to our gazebo for shelter – one of them being Rev Dr Simon Taylor under the watchful eye of our chairman, Tony Hore.
Shortly after that the sun came out and we never looked back! Well before the scheduled closing time some 60 bottles had been won! Jill Gardner and Anand Pillai helped out, Many thanks to all those who donated bottles and to those who came along and bought a ticket.
Christmas 2021
Pre-Christmas Bring and Share supper on Friday 3 December 2021 at Jackie and Chris Bow’s.
Summer barbeque 2021
Barbeque, kindly hosted by Tony Smith, 22 August 2021.
You’ll find details of older social events in the ‘Archive’ section.