Abingdon and District Twin Towns Society

Newsletter May 2021

Guest Editor: Nick Marsh

In this edition:

 Chairman’s Thoughts

 Forthcoming Events

 Recent Events, Evening Zoom Meeting - Quiz

 100 Days Out from Abingdon – Part 9

 Pour les amis de la bonne phrase anglaise — 2

 Letters and Greetings from our Twin Towns

 Interesting link from Abingdon, Virginia

 Signs of Summer

 Contact details

Chairman’s Thoughts

Dear Friends,

Hello everyone and welcome to the May edition of the ADTTS newsletter and thank you so much to Nick Marsh our guest editor this month.

I am having a lie in this May morning. Often my friend Gloria, also a Twinning member, and I will get up at 4am to make our way to Magdalen College in to listen to the choir sing from the top of the tower to welcome in May Day. At 6am the thousands of people in the street fall silent and we listen to the choir singing in Latin. It is a tradition that goes back over 500 years. Then the dancing begins! Morris dancers, our traditional dancers, take to the streets, usually dressed in white with bells round their knees and waving white handkerchiefs or sticks. They are accompanied usually by an accordion or violin.

We watch and mingle with the crowd and then, if we are really lucky, find somewhere to enjoy a great big English breakfast. Not this year though. Sadly ‘May Morning’ will be virtual, as it was last year. Gloria and I will be very happy to take friends from overseas another year, so think about it! In France your lovely tradition of offering bouquets of muguet (lily of the valley) on May Day can go ahead.

Dating back to 1561 when King Charles IX was given a posy of muguet and then offered posies to the ladies in his Court, it is a tradition as old as our own. In the tradition of today I offer you all, and in particular our French friends, a virtual posy of muguet, picked from my garden. Take care everyone and I hope we can all look forward with more confidence.

Stella Carter, Chairman ADTTS ______

Forthcoming Events

Sunday 9th May 2021 7pm (8pm CET) Evening Meeting – Europe Day - online byZoom

Thursday 20th May 2021 7pm (8pm CET) Evening Meeting- Sint-Niklaas - online by Zoom

Monday 21st June 2021 8pm Evening Meeting - Drinks Party at Longside, Tatham Road

Thursday 16th Sept. 2021 7:30 for 8pm Evening Meeting and AGM, Preston Road CC

Europe Day – Evening Meeting Sunday 9th May 2021 – 7pm (8pm CET) Online by Zoom We invite our friends in the twin towns to join with members to celebrate Europe Day. Every year, members of Abingdon & District Twinning Society meet together for a dinner on Europe Day. It's important for us to reassert commitment to a shared European heritage. We do so knowing that twinning friends in other countries similarly mark this anniversary. Last year, unable to hold our customary dinner, we initiated a meeting on Zoom instead. One advantage we found was that we were able to be joined by friends from several of our twin towns. Given its success, we want to do it again this year and hope that we shall have even more guest appearances from across the channel. We are looking for a representative from each town to propose a toast in the appropriate local manner. So please make a note of the date. The time will be 8pm in the UK and 19:00 in Central Europe. We shall email out the details of the Zoom link a few days before. We look forward to seeing everyone! Brian Read ______

Evening Meeting – Sint-Niklaas Thursday 20th May 2021 – 7pm (8pm CET) Online by Zoom The Sint-Niklaas meeting will be themed around our wonderful twin town, Sint-Niklaas, in Belgium. Members are invited to chat about their twinning experiences in Sint-Niklaas. We hope to be joined by people from Sint-Niklaas to tell us what’s happening there and to share their experiences with us. There will also be a short film about Sint-Niklaas, as well as a question and answer session where we can ask our Belgian friends about Sint-Niklaas. As we are unable to meet together in person, this will again be an online meeting using Zoom. Members will receive an email in advance giving details of how to participate.

Evening Meeting – Drinks party Monday 21st June 2021 – 8pm at Longside, Tatham Road, Abingdon OX14 1QD We look forward to celebrating the end of lockdown restrictions and meeting together. Although we are expecting the limit for gatherings outside to be lifted from that day we are, however, being prudent and asking people to register. Places will be allocated nearer the time according to order of registering in case there is a limit after all. Ask Nikki Henton (01865 862169) to add your name to the priority list.). ______

Recent Events

Evening Meeting - Quiz Thursday 15 April 2021 – Online by Zoom

‘Ave you ’ad you’re second jab, or the ADTTS quiz, 15 April 2021

‘I’ve just done five rounds with (name your boxer, Sugar Ray or a Rocky up to Anthony J.).’ Fortunately, this contest did not result in physically scrambled brains, merely mentally scrambled ones, and I think those have now subsided into their customary stupor. Of course, the Zoom meeting began with that ‘age old’ question, ‘have you had your second jab yet? Once this topic had been aired and debated, I was proposed by Brian and seconded by Peter to write up an account of the quiz. Very wisely the other 20 or so entrants abstained from voting! Brian Read was our quiz master with the power to screen share and mute, ably assisted by Peter Dodd, who supplied alternate rounds of questions. When we were all sitting comfortably Brian opened the batting with 10 questions, provided by his son, on Oxford and all its many aspects. I was annoyed at getting Prokofiev and Stravinsky mixed up but Margaret managed to identify the buildings highlighted on the city skyline. The winners were requested to put their hands up. We were on a roll Anne and Peter teased us with a glass of wine and a piece of chocolate before Peter took pity on us and tasting and Plasticine, usual subjects for ADTTS quizzes, were off and our knowledge of Abingdon, ancient and modern, on. You learn, forget and relearn – ock is old English for salmon. Now will I remember this? Doubtful. Nevertheless, we were still on a roll. What could stop us? The third round, courtesy Brian, did the trick. Fifteen pictures of twin towns plus a feature from each. As far as we were concerned there were a lot of shots of the walls of Lucca and the ‘caves’ therein. Alas Schongau also has walls and when we were shown another picture from Lucca, we could not recall the name of the very characteristic tower illustrated. Peter provided round four, lots of stuff about foods, etc. For instance, no tomatoes, or love apples, in Worcestershire sauce. An average performance. We were slipping down the field. Brian finished us off with a right hook, metaphorically speaking, to wit our memories of 2020. I over-ruled Margaret on the richest man (it was Bezos not Musk), moral - never over-rule your wife and we sank gracefully out of sight but with our colours flying. Yes, it was an excellent quiz night and our thanks are to Stella for chairing and Brian and Peter for putting it all together and hosting. We will revise for the next occasion. Neil Hancox, with Margaret supplying the answers. 16 April 2021

______

100 Days Out from Abingdon - Part 9

Collated by Stella

England , unlike many countries, is not known for its gastronomy. This is such an out of date perception. We really can offer some wonderful food and drink experiences.

81. Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons (20 mins) is Raymond Blanc’s beautiful manor house, restaurant and kitchen garden. He has held Michelin ** for the past 30 years. Fabulous for a special occasion.

82. Marlow (40 mins), is the home of Tom Kerridge. His pub, Hand and Flowers, was the first pub in the country to be awarded a Michelin *. Now it has two. His most recent, walk in pub, Coach, has also been awarded a *. Also look out for The Giggling Squid, a fine Thai restaurant in Marlow.

83. Inspector Morse and Lewis are often seen on television drinking at pubs in Oxford. Buy a book on film locations and do a Morse pub crawl. One of his favourite riverside pubs is The Trout (20 mins), a beautiful pub dating back to the 14th century.

84. Another Morse and Lewis pub is the Victoria Arms in Marston (30 mins). Go to the Covered Market in Oxford and pick up some delicious picnic food and then go punting as far as The Victoria Arms. Enjoy a picnic on the way, tie up your punt and enjoy a drink at the pub.

85. There are many good farm shops around. Q Gardens and Millets Farm are the nearest (10mins) but the country’s most famous, and most expensive, Daylesford, is near Chipping Norton in the cotswolds (45 mins). Chipping Norton also has Diddly Squat, Jeremy Clarkson’s farm shop. Buy a picnic, spot some famous people, and then enjoy the stunning Cotswold countryside.

86. Just one hour from Abingdon is a small town called Bray on Thames. Three restaurants there boast seven Michelin * between them. Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck, with modern British cuisine has three as does Alain Roux’s Waterside Inn.

87. One of our great traditions is a Sunday roast dinner. There are so many beautiful pubs in Abingdon or in the south of the county, serving roast dinner, usually at lunch time. Enjoy lunch and then a walk in some of our glorious countryside

88. Afternoon tea is another great British tradition that is really making a comeback and THE place to enjoy one is the Savoy Hotel in central London. Book well ahead. Fortnum and Mason, nearby also offers wonderful afternoon teas as do many hotels. Expect to pay at least £20 for a proper afternoon tea. Cream teas, which are scones, jam, cream and a pot of tea, are simpler, cheaper, but still delicious.

89. Oxfordshire boasts several vineyards that do tours and tastings. Try Hundred Hills and Chiltern Valley, both 45 mins. Brightwell winery near Wallingford (30 mins) has won many awards.

90. There are about 30 breweries and microbreweries in Oxfordshire. The biggest ones doing tours and tastings are Hook Norton Brewery (40 mins) and Wychwood Brewery (50 mins). Abingdon has its own brewery, Loose Cannon, producing some very fine beers. If beer is not your thing try Oxford Artisan Distillery which also does tours and tastings. ______

May Day

May Morning in Oxford an ancient festival of spring.

The first of May has been celebrated in Oxford for many years, the ceremony dates back to the year 1505 . Originally it was a very small event but now thousands of people make their way to to celebrate May morning. The tradition remains the same, at 6.00am the crowd standing on Magdalen bridge remain hushed while the Magdalen College Choir (traditionally boy choristers )sing a hymn in Latin, afterwards the college bells peal . This is the marker to start celebrating. In the past students jumped off Magdalen bridge into the water, this has now been banned after a series of accidents, the bridge sides are sealed off to prevent this The crowd proceed after the hymn singing to the Radcliffe Square to further celebrate by watching Morris dancing teams performing traditional dances. Throughout Oxford there are jazz bands, clowns and many early morning stalls . The cafes open for breakfast and coffee.

It is traditionally a meeting between’ Town and Gown..’.students and the local population. After breakfast some people return to work, go home if they have been up all night waiting for dawn or spend another few hours relaxing in Oxford. This year it will be especially poignant as a marker of new hope and happier days to come. Norma Queralt

May morning in the centre of Oxford is very special. The event starts at 6am when choristers from Magdalen College school climb the tower to sing the Hymnus Eucharisticus, and then a madrigal called Now is the month of Maying, this is followed by a short service. Hundreds of people come to enjoy this, especially if the weather is warm and sunny. This is followed by general festivities including Morris dancing and other impromptu music. The public houses are now open for breakfast and drinks. Some people, mostly students, stay up all night partying. Lots of people wear flowers in their hair and there is a general feeling of happiness. These celebrations in various forms have been taking place for over 500 years. Morris dancing is an old custom that takes place in many villages and communities round the country. The dancers are usually dressed in white, with small bells, that jingle as they dance, tied round their shins. They also wear flowers entwined in their hats. This dancing is very energetic, and they are revived by copious amounts of refreshments from the local hostelries, which all help to make it a very merry and enjoyable time. Nikki Henton

Below are some photos of the May Day celebrations and the Morris tradition by Tim Healey, Oxfordshire based freelance writer, broadcaster and musician, who has kindly given permission for us to use them in our Newsletter. For more information go to www.timhealey.co.uk and for more information on May Morn go to www.maymorning.co.uk

Listening to the choir at , May At Magdalen Tower, May Morning 2018 (photo Tim Healey) Morning 2018 (photo Tim Healey)

The Jack-in-the-Green presides as Summertown Morris dance City Morris, Broad Street, May Morning 2019 outside St John's, May Morning 2017 (photo Tim Healey) (photo Tim Healey)

______

Pour les amis de la bonne phrase anglaise — 2 (Sponsored by Steers Barber Shop)

I have received a number of requests to write a second set. It came from a Mrs G. Trellis of Iffley, near Oxford, who said she enjoyed the first set.

THERE'S NO SHOW WITHOUT PUNCH

This is when a person is so important or lively in a group that the group cannot continue without that person. There is an English mix-drink, similar to sangria, called punch, and I have sometimes considered that perhaps the origin of the phrase is that a party could not continue without a welcoming, warm “punch”. (a normal “punch” with the fist is un coup de poing). However I think this phrase refers to a character in a very traditional puppet-show for children “Punch and Judy”, normally performed outdoors by just one puppeteer and especially on a crowded beach. It is always the same comic characters, a crocodile, a dog, a long string of sausages, a policeman, and a very naughty man called Mister Punch who has a baton and beats everyone else including his poor wife Mrs Punch. I think it is like Guignol in France. The puppeteer makes the voices of all the characters. So the whole story turns around the mechant and cruel actions of Mr Punch, for which he is eventually taken off to prison by the long-suffering policeman. So “there's no show without Punch”. SANS M. GUIGNOL IL N'Y A PAS DE SPECTACLE (?) OHNE HERR PUNCH GIBT ES KEIN SHOW (!!!)

YOU'VE HAD YOUR CHIPS

We say this when someone has had so many opportunities to do something or correct some wrong action and we have no more patience for them, we will allow them no more opportunity. We call jetons de jeu at a casino “chips”, normally “gambling chips” and this explanation is the one offered by Google. However as a child the phrase “you've had your chips” was often elaborated to “you've had your fish and chips”. TU AS EU TES POMMES FRITES DU HAST DEINE POMMES GEHABT (GEGESSEN)

DON'T LICK (THE) PATTERN OFF

I heard this often from my grandmother. When you eat something enthusiastically and eat every last piece on the plate (or wipe up the last remaining sauce with bread - very bad manners in England), she would say “Don't lick the pattern off.” (The “pattern” is the decoration painted on a plate/bowl). My French version seems a little less picturesque here: N'ENLEVE PAS LA DECORATION! SOLLST NICHT DIE DEKORATION ABLECKEN!

DON'T TELL PORK(Y) PIES

This is rhyming slang, traditionally used by people born near the centre of London (“Cockneys”). Pork Pies are tarts/Kuchen made from pork (pig-meat). English people often eat these at picnics or with beer in a pub. In this rhyming slang “Pork Pies” are “lies” (mensonges). There are many other examples. Your 'trouble and strife” could be “your life” but also “your wife” (!!) NE ME DIS PAS TES HISTOIRES DU LUGST

YOU'RE PULLING MY LEG

We say this to someone who we think is telling us lies, usually lies we think are for a joke (rigoles), not serious lies. It's like tu te moques de moi.

There are 3 levels of response, firstly “You're pulling my leg”. Sometimes we skip (omit) this level and just say “Pull the other one”, or the more picturesque one “Pull the other one, its got BELLS on it” (!!) TU ME TIRES LA JAMBE TIREZ L'AUTRE, or: TIREZ l'AUTRE, ELLE A DES CLOCHES LA-DESSUS ZIEH MIR DAS ANDERE BEIN , ES GIBT GLOCKEN DARAUF

And now I must stop this article because I don't have many more ideas of amusing English phrases.

In fact JE GRATTE LE (FOND DU) TONNEAU ______

Greetings from Sint-Niklaas

From Siegfried Waterschoot

Mothers’ celebration

One of the cornerstones of family life is remembrance. With this I mean remembering important anniversaries such as your partner’s birthday, if you are married, the day of the nuptial tie, and of course Mothers Day. Even when there aren’t any children (yet), you have to celebrate it. Why? Because men are considered to be “grown-up” kids, that’s why.

In Belgium the official Mothers Day is fixed on the second Sunday of May. There’s also a more unofficial one which I will come back to later.

The month of May is eminently the time to celebrate the glorification of the Holy Virgin Mary in our regions. The devotion to the mother of Jesus was and still is deeply rooted in the Catholic community. For example, the best known pilgrimage sites in Belgium are all places where Mary is worshipped. All the pilgrimages are one day events, so this makes it interesting to another category of people, people who don’t bother with the religious aspects, but are more focused on completing the journey, for the sake of personal prestige.

In Sint-Niklaas we’ve also got a pilgrimage. It’s to the Holy Mary of Halle. (Halle is a town a little bit south of Brussels.)

This pilgrimage is one of the oldest in our country celebrating its 335th anniversary in 2019. It always take place in the same weekend as the Baloonfest, starting on Friday night and ending on Saturday at noon with a Holy mass in the basilica of the Holy Mary of Halle.

Distance: 60 km(a little bit over 37mls). How: walking.

The black Madonna of Halle

But I digress. Back to Mothers Day.

As I mentioned above, there is a second, more unofficial Mothers Day which in some regions is celebrated on 15th August, the Assumption of Mary.

Because this is during the summer holiday, schools celebrate it in May. They can help the children make creative presents to give to their mothers.

You have to admit that a Mothers Day celebration is not complete without the presentation of a beautiful, heart-melting, adorable piece of labour by your offspring, accompanied by a tear- jerking naive poem. So, there are two Mothers Days in Belgium. The women said so and who are we to argue with that?

Of course we men have to find an appropriate present as well. A gift that can only be interpreted in one way, a good way, without any ambiguity, without the proverbial catch....

Chocolates: has he already forgotten that I'm on a diet. Fancy lingerie: whatever he’s up to, I most certainly am not. A kitchen appliance: am I not slaving away enough in the kitchen already? A voucher for a full treatment in a spa: doesn’t he like me anymore as I am? Do I look that old to him?

I know, lads, walking through a minefield without a map is a piece of cake compared to this. ______

Greetings from Colmar

From Marc Lischer

Dear friends of the twin cities,

Like all of us, we hope that the coming summer will be a little better than this spring. We wish you also good health. In our city, the situation is (still) quite good, even if we have to stay at home like all of France. The city of Colmar has a new director of culture, Ms. Charpentier, and a new director for our music school, Mr. Caro. We would like to take advantage of this period to make new contacts, especially with music schools, music associations, etc. We don't have precise projects, but we would like to create new long-term partnerships in the field of culture.

So here my request: Could you send me a list of "names and functions" that you consider relevant - music: schools, associations, ensembles, ... - if you have "children" or "seniors" town councils, - literature: library, writer, printer, library, ... - or something else...

Thank you very much for your help and I look forward to reading from you soon. For information: in 2022 the twin cities (Sint-Niklaas, Schongau, Lucca, Colmar) will celebrate their 60 years of twinning, and our association "Les Amis du Jumelage de Colmar" will be 30 years old.

Cordialement

Marc Lischer

From Christiane Klipfel

Hello to all the ABINGDON team,

Thank you for your newsletter, I will give you some news from COLMAR and our twinning association. The committee met on April 20 in zoom to take stock: The 2021 program will be very small, for the moment we cannot foresee any exits given the Covid situation. COLMAR will celebrate its 60 years of twinning in 2022, the mayor has been contacted. The city of GYOR will celebrate its 750 years. The Mayors' meeting at SINT-NIKLAAS is scheduled for November 2021. A SCHONGAU choir should come in October ??? David sent a book on COLMAR to all the twin towns;

More local news: We are still in confinement: curfew 7 p.m., maximum outing 10 km until May 3, no meeting, the children go back to school next Monday, Telework recommended. We can't wait to get back to a normal life. but when? In the meantime we take care of the flowers in the garden, here are some pictures

Kindly Christiane Klipfel

______

Greetings from Lucca

From Maria Curto

Tobacco factory employees The Lucca Tobacco Factory

The history of tobacco in Lucca dates back to the mid-17th century. The Tobacco factory still exists in Lucca, although it is no longer located inside the city, but a few hundred meters outside the Walls of Lucca in a factory that looks more like Fort Knox than an industry. This factory employed more than 3,000 workers in the "golden days" of its production, most of them female. The male staff was for the fatigue work and maintenance of the machinery.

At the beginning of the twentieth century each family from Lucca had a member or relative who worked in the tobacco factory. For 2 centuries the tobacco industry in Lucca represented a source of economic sustenance for entire generations of Lucchesi.

The interview for the hiring of the female cigar makers was simple: the director of personnel inspected the hands of the candidates; if they were small but not squat, the palm light and flexible, the fingers quick to move, then there was an opportunity to be hired.

There were other conditions for determining the hiring: coming from a family of excellent moral conduct and documented religious faith and fearing God, observing the rules of the State. But life in a humid, hot and deafening work environment due to machinery was not easy. Women from all over Lucca, even from the most distant villages in the countryside or from the mountains, got up at 4 am to reach the workplace. Often they would walk a long distance and only rarely by bicycle. They often deposited their young children with relatives or families on the way and began their work shift at dawn.

The surveillance in the factory was continuous and assiduous. At the exit of the factory the workers were inspected and searched so that they did not take out tobacco or cigars to resell them. Obviously, in such a large and important industry, the surveillance was also towards union members. Therefore, repeated inspections were carried out in the departments, in the laboratories and even in the women's changing rooms to identify any pamphlets, posters or Communist propaganda material.

Well no! factory life was by no means a meadow of daisies.

If this little story has interested you and you would like to know more, next time I can tell you other stories of common life and survival at our Manifattura Tabacchi in Lucca.

______

Greetings from Argentan

From Carine Gobé

Here are some nice pictures from Argentan late April and from the zoom meeting with the twin cities.

______

Interesting link from Abingdon, Virginia

The Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia are performing The Tempest by William Shakespeare at the Moonlite Theater, an abandoned drive-in movie theatre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPXyK2hVPMc&t=59s

______

Signs of Summer

From Nikki Henton

______

Abingdon Traditional Morris at the Bridge of Sighs, May Morning 2017 (photo Tim Healey)

Abingdon and District Twin Towns Society wishes all its friends and members a Happy May Day 2021!

______

ADTTS Contacts Chairman Treasurer & Membership Stella Carter Ian & Rosemary Jardine The Old Bakehouse 80 Baker Road 2 Winterbourne Rd, Abingdon OX14 1AJ Abingdon, OX14 5LJ 01235 520317 01235 539291 [email protected] [email protected] The deadline for copy for the next newsletter is two days before the end of the month. Please send contributions to [email protected].

Keep right up to date by going to www.adtts.eu.

______