Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning Association

Recent items of interest

NESCOT hosts celebration of 30 years of Twinning

To mark 30 years of Twinning in the Borough a group of long standing members of the Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning Association were treated to a superb dinner cooked and served by catering students at NESCOT, keen to practise and perfect their culinary skills and customer service, on March 20th. All the students did exceptionally well both front of house and in the kitchens. For many this was their first experience of serving in a ‘real’ situation which made the standard all the more remarkable. Following a welcome drink, members moved into the restaurant area near the main reception, which had been beautifully laid out in the blue, white and red of the French flag, and place names bearing the Twinning logo. The food also had a French flavour with main courses of beef carbonade, chicken chasseur and vegetable cassoulet, followed by a French apple tart appropriately served with crème Chantilly. Coffee followed, accompanied by a very special treat of homemade macarons and chocolate truffles. Members were joined by the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Lucie McIntyre, who complimented the NESCOT catering department and staff for putting on such a memorable event. This one of several joint initiatives between the College and Twinning. Currently, a project is also underway between marketing students from NESCOT together with the Lycée de la Foret, the Technical High School in Chantilly.

Twelfth Night Dinner 2026

A group of around thirty members, including the Mayor and Mayoress, met at the Epsom Club on 6th January to celebrate Twelfth Night.
As with last year, Anita of Avita Catering prepared a delicious French themed dinner offering a choice of Coq au Vin, Fish in cream sauce or a bean based vegetarian option. For the sweet course we could choose between Poire Pochées and traditional Galette des Rois, a frangipane filled pie with a surprise in it. Some of us had both!



It seems that the custom varies according to region, but the original idea was to hide a dried fava bean in the pie, and the person who found it in their slice became king for the evening. Elsewhere it could be a “charm”, previously we have had something like a Smurf or a Minion in commercially produced tarts, or it could be some kind of nut.











Thanks to many generous donations of prizes, we had a successful raffle which was followed by a few words of appreciation from the Mayor wishing everyone a very Happy New Year.

Presentation of Cyril Frazer awards 2025

The recipients of the Cyril Frazer award were presented with their certificates at the annual AGM of Twinning (24th June 2025).




Mrs Cornell and Mrs Johnstone of Wallace Fields School were awarded joint second prize for French and Music. The certificate was presented by the Worshipful Mayor of Epsom & Ewell Councillor Robert Leach.





The Cyril Frazer award joint second prize was awarded to Olivia Gioffredo of Epsom College for Music and French. She is pictured receiving the certificate from the mayor Robert Leach.



First Prize was awarded to Mrs S Carpenter and Southfield Park Primary School for French. Sadly Mrs Carpenter was unable to be present at the meeting, so she will be presented with the first place certificate at a later date.






We were treated to a beautiful song from Liv Layne (professional name of Olivia) after the presentations.



Peter Hardy was given a present to commemorate his standing down from the committee and his long years of service. Nigel Collin, our Chairman made the presentation.

Twelfth Night Dinner

A group of around thirty members, including the Mayor and Mayoress, met at the Epsom Club on 10th January to celebrate Twelfth Night. It was one of those cold, wet January evenings when you would prefer not to venture out – but we were glad we did. Anita of Avita Catering prepared a delicious French themed dinner offering a choice of Boeuf Bourguignon or Paupiettes de Sole and rose to the challenge of baking the traditional Galette des Rois, a frangipane filled pie with a surprise in it.
It seems that the custom varies according to region, but the original idea was to hide a dried fava bean in the pie, and the person who found it in their slice became king for the evening. Elsewhere it could be a “charm”, previously we have had something like a Smurf or a Minion in commercially produced tarts, or it could be some kind of nut. Not wishing to cause any of the guests to choke, Anita had sensibly chosen an almond, which had blended into the pie so well that the recipient had eaten it before he could be crowned king! However, this was soon remedied with a splendid, inflatable crown.
Thanks to many generous donations of prizes, we had a successful raffle which was followed by a few words of appreciation from the Mayor and from the Chairman, wishing everyone a very Happy New Year.

Chantilly Christmas Market

With eight Twinners travelling across, manning the stand was really fun and we made a lot of new firends, as well as renewing old acquaintances.

Picnic in Alexandra Park 6th May 2024

Despite it being a wet day, our team was present for the whole event and raised awareness and money for our coffers

Murder Mystery in France

We had a hugely enjoyable evening at St Joseph's Church Hall in Epsom where we had a Murder Mystery Evening. The evening was arranged in association with Epsom Rotary. Max Liter had drowned in a vat of wine, but who did it??? Six of our guests volunteered to be actors for the evening and one out of them was the guilty murderer. Even they did not know who it was during the evening. Every table tried to work it out, but the friendship, wine and food got the better of them and only the lead detective got the right answer. Thanks are due to Clive Richardson, Anne Richardson and Maggie Rowell for organising the evening, Maria Anstiss arrived early to help us set up the tables.Our guest actors were John and Chris Lewis, Richard and Jane Wheeler, Joe Proops and Carol Caiger.. Clive Richardson played the detective. The guests both helped with getting the food out and clearing up after - true teamwork.

Wonderful Social Evening with Chinese Food on 23rd April

A group of around 30 twinners had a fantastic evening meal at The Imperial Chinese Restaurant in Stoneleigh Broadway. It was great to see new members coming along and to renew friendships with some of the founder members. Everyone was delighted with the meal and those that won on the raffle were even more delighted. Thanks to Neil Dallen for arranging the evening.

French Speaking Competition Senior Class

A fantastic, close run competition which gave the judges a real headache to decide the winner. In the end they declared two students sharing first place - Maddie Alexander and Ella Finegan. Alex Tesselment was give a highly commended certificate. Also competing were Antonia Howard, Sophia Evers and Lucrezia Oliver. Thanks to Epsom College, for providing the room and a fine spread of food, the judges (Christine Rippon, Jim Davis and Helen Roberts) , Diana and Richard Deavin for organisation, Anne Richardson for Certificates and the Worshipful the Mayor of Epsom and Ewell Councillor Robert Geleit and his Mayoress Ms Thomasina Tanner. The teachers from Glyn, Rosebery and Epsom College were to be commended on getting their students to be of such a high standard.


Maddie Alexander Joint Winner


Ella Finegan Joint Winner


Alex Tesselment Highly Commended




The Competitors

French Speaking Competition Junior and Intermediate Class

Tuesday 20th Feb 2024

A great night at Blenheim School for the Annual French Speaking Competition 2024 for Juniors and Intermediates. Arranged by Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning with Epsom Rotary the event was a great example of how great young people can be. For the Junior section the winner was Frankie Larter who gave a hugely expressive presentation and in second place was Annabelle Biginton.
For the Intermediates the winner was John Gartside and in second place Iris Aryeetey
Great thanks to the school, as always, for allowing us to use their premises and providing great food and drinks for the interval, the judges for giving their time, and to the parents and children for competing. Also thanks to the Mayor and Mayoress for handing out the prizes and the closing speech.

Soirée July 4th 2023

Another successful French language Soirée evening was held at Anne's flat in Epsom. Ten people attended and were a mixture of different levels of French speaking ability. As is usual with these evenings, everyone chipped in to help the less able and a great deal of fun and learning happened. They are great social occasions in a warm and friendly atmosphere. Food was provided - French Cheese, French Pâté, French wine and coffee from who knows where!

The Coronation Chase 8th May 2023

A hobby horse race for all ages on the occasion of the Coronation of King Charles III

A slightly wet morning failed to stop the excited contestants in the Hobby Horse Race.
Nigel Collin was the MC and the Deputy Mayor Rob Geleit and his Mayoress honoured us with their presence and presented the prizes.

Park View Cafe produced a great range of French Crêpes and hamburgers to keep the crowds happy. Big thanks to them.

Steve McCormick ( https://zenfolio.page.link/EmPLz ) was there to take the photos and a selection is shown below.















Huge thanks to all twinning members and friends who turned out to help put up tents and the course. As ever thanks to Brian Angus of "Brian Angus Tents" for putting up the marquees and arranging the sound system.

Senior French Speaking 7th March 2023

Another great evening listening to the Young People Speaking and answering questions in French in front of an audience. They all deserve awards for just having the confidence to do it!!! Many thanks to Epsom College for hosting the event, the judges and the event organisers. Congratulations to Marysia Chudzik and Matilda Serre Simpson who were joint winners and Will Hewett who was highly commended.

Junior and Intermediate French Speaking 21st Feb 2023

A wonderful evening listening to Epsom and Ewell students speaking and answering questions in French. 22 youngsters were involved in the event which was held at Blenheim School (Thanks so much to them for hosting). The evening was run jointly by Epsom and Ewell Twining and Epsom Rotary. Judges were Christine Rippon, Margaret Nightingale and Diana Deavin assisted by Anne Richardson. Richard Deavin was the MC.



The Junior winners were jointly Chloé Lebas and Frankie Larter. with jointly highly commended Liam O'Reilly and Lottie Davis.
The Intermediate Winner was Kalina Hristoba with second place Naomi Grove and Liam Metzdorf Highly Commended.
A fantastic evening where everyone was a winner!

Chantilly Christmas Market 2022

A group of eight people from Epsom went across to the Chantilly Christmas Market to promote Twinning with Epsom and Ewell. The market this year was unusually across three days, Friday Saturday and Sunday. It was as well that we had 8 people, as the event was very strenuous physically and language wise. Fortunately most of the team have been before and were well versed in running stalls. The team were Neil and Anne Dallen, Brian and Margaret Angus, Nigel Collin, Brian Ingarfield and Clive and Anne Richardson.




We sold Spitfire beer from Faversham Kent, Jams made locally, and photographs as cards and framed photos. We also had plenty of amusing toys which we gave out to the local children in a "Lucky Dip" sack (Pêche miraculeuse) as well as postcards with Epsom on them and do it yourself paper chains.
On the Saturday night we were entertained by a civic reception in the Drying Room of the Old Pump-house - Le Pavillon de Manse. We had a really nice meal and many speeches. Our chairman, Nigel Collin rose to the occasion and had the audience laughing at his jokes!
We arrived home Monday lunchtime exhausted but pleased to have been part of a successful weekend.

Celebrating 25 years of Twinning 6th June 2022

A large group from the twinning group in Chantilly including the Deputy Mayor came to Epsom and Ewell to plant an Oak tree with our Mayor to celebrate 25 years of Twinning.

See the photos of the day at Link to photos of the day

Senior French Speaking last night had two winners!!

Excellent evening with great hospitality by Epsom College - many thanks to them.

Matilda Serre-Simpson from Rosebery and Ellie Jordan from Epsom College were the joint winners and Rania Ismail from Rosebery School was highly commended. The Mayor Peter O'Donovan was present with Mayoress Mrs Sarah O'Donovan and the Mayor gave speech at the conclusion of the evening praising the skills of all six contestants. It had been a very closely contested evening.
The judges were Christine Rippon, Catherine Legouas and Diana Deavin assisted by Anne Richardson.
Richard Deavin and Diana Deavin had done most of the work setting the evening up.

The winners of the Junior and Intermediate French Speaking

Great evening yesterday with young people from Epsom and Ewell speaking French in public! The judges were super impressed and the winners were Annabelle Du Plessis (Blenheim) and Emma Wright (Epsom College) for Junior and Intermediate respectively. Astounding to hear the youngsters speaking and answering questions so comfortably. Certificates and prizes were presented by the Mayor of Epsom and Ewell Peter O'Donovan. Thanks are due to Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning, Rotary Club of Epsom, Blenheim High School.
Christine Rippon, Catherine Legouas, Diana Deavin were the excellent Judges.
Hard work from Richard Deavin and Diana Deavin in conjunction with teachers from the schools ensured that the event was well organised and a great success.

Peter O’Donovan presents the Cyril Frazer award to Helen Phillips

Mayor of Epsom and Ewell Peter O’Donovan presents the Cyril Frazer award to Helen Phillips who received it on behalf of Epsom Choral Society. The award is part of a scheme by Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning to generate more youth involvement in local music. Cyril Frazer, a founder of the Twinning Association was keen to ensure that youth was supported by the organisation. The choir was given the award because of its work to stay singing during Covid - including singing in a car-park - and its aim of introducing younger members.

Hon Secretary Margaret Nightingale

Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning says thank you to one of its longest serving members, Hon Secretary Margaret Nightingale. She has been a member since its inception 25 years ago. She leaves to head home to Scotland. We all wish her well.

Clive Woodbridge, Chair of Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning is standing down

Clive Woodbridge, Chair of Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning is standing down from the position - next year he will be Mayor of Epsom and Ewell. Presenting his gift is current mayor, Peter O’Donovan. We thank Clive for his leadership over the past years.

Simon Durrant, Epsom Downs General Manager

Peter O’Donovan, Mayor of Epsom and Ewell, presents a certificate and life membership of Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning to Simon Durrant, Epsom Downs General Manager, for the support he has given to Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning Organisation and to our twin town Chantilly (which is famous for its racecourse and training stables

Great day at the races on Tuesday 31st August when the Chantilly Nursery Handicap Stakes was run at Epsom.

Smooth Talking was the winner ridden by William Buick, Bonita B was second and the Best Turned out Horse, Deacs Delight, was third.

Anglo French Quiz night

Brilliant Quiz last night with our friends from Chantilly, France. Epsom Rotary and Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning met with the Rotary Club of Chantilly and the Jumelage of Chantilly for a Franco-British quiz. We had a great evening and there are calls to do it again!

The Epsom Derby 1913

Caroline Baldock gave a fascinating talk on 14th August about the Derby of 1913 where a suffragette was hit by a horse and died and shady betting dealings were suspected! Here is a link to a recording of the talk Carolines Talk

Bastille Day Celebrations via Zoom

A great evening of shared information , chat and fun where we were joined by Marie-Claude Fontain from Chantilly on 14th July. Diana Deavin had prepared a talk (which she shared over Zoom) about the storming of the Bastille and the events surrounding it, which was a fascinating introduction to the discussion.

Herald of Spring - Bourne Hall

Thanks to all the members who helped at the Herald of Spring exhibition at Bourne Hall. We are indebted to the relatively few members who make the effort to support their organisation. Without their help Twinning would wither and die. We met many old friends at the exhibition and recruited some new members, so a huge success I think. The stall was also up the previous evening and was seen by the Mayors of Epsom and Ewell, past and present, so a great showcase of what we do.

French Speaking Competition

Some fantastic French spoken by the young contestants in our French Speaking Competition run with Epsom Rotary and Blenheim School.

12 pupils from Epsom College, Blenheim High School and Rosebery competed at the Junior level to see who was best at speaking publicly in French. This was followed by 7 pupils at the Intermediate level.

The standard was, yet again, impressively high and the audience were wowed!! For the Juniors, First Place was awarded to Noemie Winmill (Rosebery) and Second Place was Anna Ganevitch (Rosebery). Highly commended were Toby Hopson (Blenheim) and Liliana Olivieira (Blenheim). For the Intermediates there was a distinct difference in standard between those with Francophone relations and those with no French speaker in the family. The judges decided to award Mathilde Collet (Blenheim) the Francophone prize and Caroline Young (Rosebery) the non-French speaker prize. Highly commended was Jo-Anne Winmill (from Rosebery).

Thanks to the Mayor and Mayoress of Epsom and Ewell for presenting the prizes, all the teachers and helpers who made the event possible and, of course, the judges - Diana Deavin, Christine Rippon and Catherine Legouas.

Chantilly Christmas Market 2019

A brave team of six headed out from England into a France with a tempest blowing and gallons of French rain. However the weather on the Saturday was much better and the team set up the stall and prepared for the crowds. Click here to read Ann Dallen's report


The team consited of Diana and Richard Deavin, Brian and Margaret Angus and Neil and Ann Dallen

French School from Chantilly visits the Town Hall click here

French Speaking competitions 2019

Armistice Day in Chantilly 2018 click here to download report from Celine

Photos of Bastille Day Party 2018 at Brian Atkinsons

24th June 2018 - “Come and Sing” with Barison’s Choir.

A successful “Come and Sing!” with a concert in the evening was held at St Barnabas’ Church in Epsom. We collected money for Love me Love my Mind - a local mental health charity. We sang Vivaldi’s Gloria which was a glorious piece for a summer evening. The Orchestra also played The Bach Double - a concerto for two violins which was a fine start to the event. Barison’s will represent Epsom and Ewell in the Chantilly Choral Festival

Senior, Intermediate and Junior French Speaking Competitions with Chantilly Rotary Club

16th Feb 2018 Quiz Night at United Reformed Church Hall

Rotary organises visit of Belgian choir to Epsom. Spring 2017

Following Epsom Choral Society’s excellent tour to Antwerp last summer, Epsom Rotary Club was asked if a venue near London could be found for their 70 – strong oratorio choir “de Chorale”. As a result, on 26th May we were treated to a fine, slightly unusual, concert in St Martin’s. It is fair to say that the concert, under the dramatic baton of Paul Dinneweth, and including works by Belgian composers, was not quite what we are used to. The choir goes for a big sound, but with no loss of clarity, and performed with much energy. They processed in to a resounding performance of “Zadok the Priest”, continuing with an arrangement of Mendelssohn’s setting of Psalm 45. Van Nuffield’s arrangement of Psalm 125 followed and the first half concluded with the shanty “Shenandoah”, arranged by J. Erb. The choir’s accomplished organist, Peter Maus, then delighted us as he put St. Martin’s organ through its paces before the choir processed back in (using nave and both aisles) to the amazing “Immortal Bach” by Nystedt, in which each choir member sang their part’s line of Bach’s "Komm süßer Tod" (BWV 478), but in their own time! More Mendelssohn was followed by two works by Lodewijk de Vocht, the choir’s founder, including part of his choral symphony in which the choir truly takes the part of the orchestra (unlike in some better known works). Finally a rousing chorus from Carmina Burana as encore, sung, as was much of the concert, without scores. Thanks are due to the Choral Society for the loan of staging and lighting and to those members who assisted with set-up, clear-up and helping to recruit a good-size audience. Richard Deavin

French Speaking Competition

We ran, in conjunction with Epsom Rotary Club, three competitions (Senior, Intermediate and Junior) for French Speaking. All three competitions were a great success

Christmas Market 2018

An intrepid band of 8 set forth again for the annual Christmas Market Trip. Laden with mince pies, marmalade, Christmas Puddings, Christmas Cakes and Crackers, not forgetting the Stilton and Cheddar we headed off on 9th Dec to cross the channel. The market runs from Saturday at 9am through to 9pm and again on Sunday, but finishing earlier. The eight of us manned the stall and we sold 90% of the produce. We met many old friends and made some new ones. All in all a successful weekend. Thanks to Clive and Mary Woodbridge, Ron and Carol Thorley, Richard and Diana Deavin and Clive and Anne Richardson.

Europe in Harmony - Choral Festival in Epsom and Ewell

June/July 2016

Well, we did it! Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the committee, our members, singers, friends and other groups in the community, the festival (30th June to 3rd July 2016) was a great success. Our visitors and audiences complimented us on every aspect of the event, everything ran smoothly, everyone was fed and housed, transported and given as much shopping time as possible. The main aim of singing together was achieved and exceeded, in our magnificent venues, and the rain only came down when there were time and places to avoid it. The marquee at Epsom College was a major factor and a wonderful space to put on a good show. Any minor hiccups passed unnoticed. Three concerts in as many days were preceded by a week of fun and song and dance in the Ashley Centre, with a good number of our local schools taking part, not to mention our visitors performing in the town following a civic welcome at the Playhouse. The visiting civic delegations were taken on a coach tour of the Borough, stopping off at the Racecourse, and being treated to tea at Nonsuch. We did ourselves and the Borough proud and are grateful for their support. We received thanks and congratulations from the Mayor and other council members who were very much in evidence throughout the weekend, and those sponsors who were able to attend. Our European visitors were thrilled and enjoyed every minute of their sadly too short stay. The best account of the weekend is shown in the pictures taken by Clive Richardson and Tony Rowe, a few of which are included here. Thanks to careful negotiation and organisation, the amazing generosity of so many, and no major disasters, we also ended the weekend in a comfortable position financially. Chantilly has bravely taken up the challenge yet again and will already be planning the 2018 Choral Festival. They have also suggested more cooperation and events involving the four twin towns together, perhaps sharing some of their regular festivals, e.g. Watermael-Boitsfort rugby tournaments, water sports in Überlingen, and maybe we can include some of them in a future Arts Festival or one of our sporting events. The committee will be looking at taking some of these ideas forward now we have recovered! Once again, many, many thanks to you all for your hard work and support for what really was a major undertaking.

Visit to the Lycee in Chantilly

Clive and Anne visited the Lycee Jean Rostand to see project work carried out by students of the Lycee on the 20 years of twinning between the borough of Epsom and Ewell and the town of Chantilly. We were met at the school gate by three students who took us in to the library. There we met around twelve students with three of the staff. The students had prepared a presentation for us and each made a short introduction in English to a section of the work they had undertaken. We were able to ask questions and comment of the work. It was really fascinating to trace back the history of horse racing in the town and to see how this made a natural link between Chantilly and Epsom and Ewell. After the presentation we were treated to a range of photographs from the 20th anniversary celebrations last year where were able to see many old friends having an excellent celebration! We then had some drinks in the central area of the library where we were able to talk to the project team and find out about them and what they wanted to do after they left college. It was an excellent morning and the pupils had worked so hard. We left them with a gift of cake to help them through the day!

Anne Richardson

Burns Night 2016

Excellent evening last night 30th Jan 2016 to celebrate Rabbie Burns. Ron and Carol Thorley had organised it and we had 54 people attend. The evening was great fun, the food and whisky of course was extremely good and with Paul Smy singing, Scottish Country Dancing with Celia, Margaret Nightingale reading poetry and Ian Hay stabbing the Haggis we had fun. We also raised something near £800 for the Choral festival funds. It was a shame that we couldn't have the festival choir singing one of Burns songs!

Clive Richardson