Commemorating 30 Years of Twinning here in Portsmouth

Andrew Starr
Mar 26, 2018
4 min read

In November 2017 a small delegation from Portsmouth went to Caen for the re-signing of the Twinning Charter with Portsmouth. You can find information on this back in time on this blog.

In March 2018 a small delegation from Caen came to Portsmouth to celebrate 30 years of twinning here in the city. Here is a non-exhaustive list of those involved.

City of Caen

Mrs Catherine Pradal-Chazarenc, First Deputy Mayor of Caen
Mr Alain Chazarenc
Ms Emilie Rochefort, Municipal Councillor, Caen
Mr Quentin Jouy

Portsmouth City Council

Councillor Ken Ellcome - Lord Mayor of Portsmouth
Councillor Lee Mason - Deputy Lord Mayor
Councillor Frank Jonas - Twinning Advisory Group (Chair)
Mr Stephen Baily - Director of Culture and City Support
Mrs Claire Looney - Partnership and Commissioning Manager
Mrs Lydia Mellor - Events Manager
Mr Andrew Whitmarsh - D-Day Museum Development Officer
Mrs Lindy Elliot - Library Services and Archives Manager
Mrs Chrissie McQueen - Hotwalls Development Manager
Andrew Starr - Chair of Portsmouth-Caen Friendship Committee and Interpreter

They had a packed program. Despite the arrival of snow, unusual for Portsmouth at any time of year, there was a lot packed into their time here.

Tuesday 20th March

The final day of the visit included a behind the scenes visit to the Landrover BAR HQ in Old Portsmouth followed by lunch in the Lord Mayor's Suite in the Guildhall with many council representatives, before the full council meeting at the Guildhall in the Council Chamber.

Speeches given by Council Leader Donna Jones and Mme Pradal-Chazarenc interpreted by myself can be seen on the City Council's Live Stream here. They are from around 2:10pm until 2:30pm on the player timer.

The afternoon council meeting continued, while the delegation went on a tour of the Hotwalls Artist Studios followed by a visit to the Canteen. A quick stop at the City Museum followed by a leisurely evening dinner at The Churchillian with Syd Rapson former Lord Mayor, former Portsmouth City Councillor and former MP for Portsmouth North with his wife Phyllis.

From 7:30 many other members of the Caen Committee and members of the public were invited and came along for a chat with the First Deputy Mayor of Caen on her last evening in Portsmouth before taking the ferry back to Caen.

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Monday 19th March

The morning included a preview tour of the D-Day Story Museum, due to open on Friday 30th March (Good Friday). There is a photo embargo on this until Easter. A post will appear on this blog including photos from this visit and another I undertook on the Wednesday (21st March) with Portsmouth Ambassadors and Tour Guiding Services. This was followed by a quick visit over to the Langstone Harbour Caisson, stuck there ever since June 1944 when it got stuck in the mud during the D-Day manoeuvers .

Time to shop in Commercial Road and Gunwharf Quays with lunch at Loch Fyne before a tour of the Norrish Central Library in Portsmouth and its archives along with the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection.

Dinner at Noble House in Osbourne Road, Southsea. Here is where Emilie Rochefort and Quentin Jouy leave for their Tuesday morning appointments.

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Sunday 18th March

On this very cold and snowy morning, which also happened to be my birthday, we set off on what would have been a day touring. We began in Cosham, not somewhere international dignitaries are taken, but as it was nearby we went for coffee at Costa in Cosham High Street in the warm. Following on we went up to Portsdown Hill and on to Portchester.

At Portchester Castle, which was, due to the weather conditions, closed to the public, apart from the church we stopped for a while and walked around the grounds.

We still were able to take a few photos of this Norman Castle.

We then went to Port Solent and then on to lunch at Warsash's Jolly Sailor Pub.

Winchester in the later afternoon, where the Great Hall was also closed, but we were able to visit the Cathedral and were taken on a tour by the friendly people in the cathedral, including a meeting with the Dean. A statue of St Swithun was placed outside this cathedral made of Caen Stone, by the Normans. It has not aged well and due to age is virtually all gone now.

Dinner in the presence of the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress at Chambers Restaurant, while once more the snow fell outside.

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Saturday 17th March

After arriving in Portsmouth's International Port at 6:45 am the delegation went to their hotel to drop off their luggage and to have breakfast.

The Village Hotel offers a full choice of breakfast and our guests tucked into a Full English Breakfast.

The delegation spent the day touring many of Portsmouth's main tourist attractions including The Mary Rose Museum and Gunwharf Quays.

In the evening they were guests of honour at the University of Portsmouth Choir's Concert at St Mary's Church in Fratton. Stephen Morgan MP for Portsmouth South who had been in Caen in November came along to meet the delegation once more and enjoy the concert.

This concert featured music by Bernstein, Janáček and Jenkins. It featured Rebecca Silverman as soprano; Nick Pepin as alto; Andrew Cleary as organist; Carys Hughes as harpist; Alonso Alexander as percussionist and George Burrows as conductor.

Special thanks to Colin Jagger who invited us to attend.

Dinner followed at Nemrut a small Turkish DIner in Albert Road.