Programme Highlights from the Past.
2007
4th to 7th May 2007 visit of the French to Bampton. On arrival, our visitors were welcomed by a reception in the Community Hall with refreshing jugs of Pimms No 1, soft drinks & snacks. The welcoming speeches & responses were a laugh, as linguistic ability is not a requirement of membership, nor from our officers. The hosts then took the visitors back to their homes & looked after them for the rest of the evening & next morning & afternoon. Saturday evening coaches took the whole group of visitors & hosts to a spendid dinner at the Thelbridge Cross Inn, Witheridge & a good time was had by all. On Sunday, again into coaches to visit Longleat House & Safari Park, the home of Lord Bath. A very popular & therefore crowded attraction, but thoroughly enjoyed by all. That evening there was a grand party in the Public Hall with a tasty buffet supper & entertainment by the 'Bampton Bolshie Ballet Company' who were encouraged to do a complete encore ( Well done lads?)
Monday morning a very weary mob gathered in the Station Carpark to give a send off to our French friends after a splendid weekend of good food, lots of wine, laughter and friendship. Au revoir & see you all next year in France.
Sat. 30th June. Summer Buffet Sue, Ann & Fred Leach organised a splendid evening despite awful weather & raised £176.
Sun. 2nd Sept. Walk & Treasure Hunt. 5.5 miles uphill
& down dale around Bampton, collecting alphabetic letters hidden in the hedgerows to make a well known proverb. Too many letters missed so we needed helpful clues to guess the answer. However the exercise ensured a good appetite to enjoy a very tasty supper with a glass or two of wine, Well done, great fun so thanks to Trish, Phil, Anita, Dusty & Betty
Sat. 22nd Sept. Celebrity Quiz. An entertaining evening based on the TV Oldie " Call My Bluff" where a Celebrity Panel presented their definition of obscure words & the audience in teams of 4/5 had to guess True or Bluff. Many thanks to Tiverton Twinning who let us borrow their idea & presentation, also the Celebs, Sir Humphrey, Lady Trish, Lord Evans & Dame Moira for some wonderful ham-acting and congratst to the winners, Valerie, Gillie, Bob, Anne & Fred, who all got a bottle of wine. Thanks to Rosemary for organising the food. Raised £203.50. Although some found it very difficult, it was meant to be fun not competitive & many requests for a repeat .
2008
Sat 12th Jan, Christmas Meal by Rosemary which raised £495 & thoroughly enjoyed by all who came.
Sat 19th April, St. George's Day Party by Kirsty & Sheila..A splendid roast beef dinner & a tricky quiz by Martin raised £248
2nd to 5th May 2008 Visit to France
An excellent but very hectic visit to Villers Bocage this year. A good crossing & a stock-up of goodies at the Caen Marche before reaching V-B on time. Unfortunately the M le Maire with all the drinks were delayed causing much mirth & thirsty throats. Saturday was spent with individual hosts.In the market, Tess was given this picture of a boy welcoming the Allies into V-B by the man who lived in the house at the back.
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In the evening we all gathered at the "Restaurent in the Forest" for a very leisurely , excellent dinner which started at 7.30 with coffee served past midnight. Not much sleep as we had an early start on Sunday for a long trip to La Vallee de L'Eure for an antique train journey in the morning, An excellent lunch swiftly served (untypically French?) was followed by a delightful tour of the world famous Claude Monet House & Gardens in Giverny. 
Although the famous water lilies were not flowering, the lake was a beautiful picture of brilliant shrubs & flowers & the visit ended far too quickly. A very exhausted group met for the evening buffet & farewell speeches in Noyers Bocage . The trip home via Roscoff was even more tiring in awful weather & long delays in Plymouth. Tough on those who had to work next day??
A fantastic weekend as always provided by our generous hosts but very tiring indeed. It is suggested we take it much more leisurely in future.
Sun 20th July. Mid Summer BBQ by Sue & Pete.
The Sun godess Sue regained her reputation with another glorious day with tasty food & raised £423. Well done Pete, Sue & all your helpers.
Sue, Sheila & Phyl enjoy an after BBQ wine.
Sat 27th Sep, Camel Racing. Another big effort which raised nearly £700. Well done The Team.
Sat 8th Nov. Bonfire & Fireworks by Tim & leili raised £278.60, a great success despite the weather
2009
Sat 17th Jan, Christmas Dinner. Posh Frocks & Black Tie, organised by Rosemary in the Community Hall was thoroughly enjoyed by all & raised £270
Sat 18th April, St George's Dinner, Kirsty, Sheila & Jill put on a super meal & fun & raised £298
Fri 1st to Mon 4th May, French Visit to Bampton. Another busy Twinning Weekend with 40 French visitors to be entertained, starting with a welcome reception in the Community Hallon the Friday evening with plenty of Pimms.
Saturday hosts looked after their guests till the evening's Dinner in the Riverside Hall, a tasty carvery by Ed Tanner & slendid entertainment by Dave Gale.Each member had a souvenir place mat of old Bampton to take home. On Sunday we boarded coaches to Exeter, where the hosts chose what to do. Many took the boat for a trip down the canal & lunch at the Double Locks pub, others went cycling or walking round this historic city. A Hog Roast was put on for the Evening with music by the Rusty Buckets, but unfortunately there was no room for dancing. We waved cheerio to a very weary bunch of travellors on Monday morning, & a few of us caught up with missed sleep? Cost £3873 from funds.
Mon 18th May, Funeral of Phyllis Marley, a Twinning member for 26 years, who had a big send off. Memorial fund raised £960.
Sun 19th July, Summer BBQ. The Sun Goddess's crown slipped a bit this year however a good turnout enjoyed another splendid feast. The gloomy weather did not dampen the Twinners high spirits Well done Sue, Pete & barman Ray. who raised £490.
Thurs 6th Aug, AGM. New Chairman-Di Davies, Vice-Trish Barthram , Treasurer-Sarah Backhouse, Sec_Jo Clarke. Thanks to Tony Williams & Tim Ward for past 4 years efforts.
Subs due-£10 family, £5 single
20th Sep, Walk Treasure Hunt & Meal, Thanks to Trish, Anita & other helpers for lovely food & entertaining quiz, which raised £287.
9th Nov, Bampton School & Church, Di & Sarah talked at school about BTA & also to take part in the Church Christmas Tree Festival decorating a tree with a French theme. The result was excellent.
28th Nov Beetle Drive, Bruce & Claire did a great job & raised £135.
2010
28th Mar, Car treasure Hunt, Di & John provided a good fun day with tasty vitals, raising £179.50
17th Apr, St George's Dinner, Thanks Kirsty, Martin Sheila & Mike for another excellent repeat with hearty roast beef meal & fun Quiz, raising £233.50
30thApr to 3rdMay. Trip to Normandie. The long 2-year wait is over & we're off by coach & Portsmouth/Caen ferry to our Twin Town, Villers-Bocage in the Calvados Region, for a long weekend of food, wine, song & fun. After a welcome reception with glass of wine, our host family looked after us for Friday evening & all day saturday but we all came together in the evening for a splendid dinner & party with a 70's theme. Many dressed up in fabulous style with our French DJ, Eric, encouraging all onto the floor for games & dancing. Pictures can be seen on " bampton.blogspot.com "
Sunday 2 coach loads of hosts & visitors visited Bagnoles de l'Orme, a old spa town reknowned for its healing springs & beautiful scenery. A very interesting mini-train ride round the town & up to the high castle was followed by a excellent meal in the Casino, a look at the shops, walk round the lake, then back to our hosts for a home cooked evening meal.
An early start on Monday for the return journey with a supermarket stop to top up our Association & personal wine cellers, then the Roscoff/ Plymouth ferry, arriving in Bampton about 10 pm very tired but having enjoyed again truly great French hospitality.
We look forward to next May when it is our turn to entertain our French Twinners.
15th May, Safari Supper, A splendid evening, with Claire & Bruce providing drinks&starters, then onto Rosemary& Roy's for more drinks & main course , followed by a climb up to Jill& Tony's for desserts & a party. 34 members joined in the fun & raised a super £321.50. Well done team.
3rd June, Bampton Town Council AGM. As a local organisation BTA presented a display showing what they do. A collage of past events highlighted all the interest,fun &enjoyment that TWINNING provided.