Loches vaut le detour

Wed, Jul 14th 2021 at 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm

St Andrews - Loches Alliance explained by Joyce Duncan appropriately on Bastille Day

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The Club met by Zoom, under the chairmanship of its new President, Colin Mitchell, on 14 July, which is celebrated throughout France as Bastille Day. The speaker, appropriately, was the President of the St Andrews-Loches Alliance, Joyce Duncan. With the French tricolour in the background, Joyce described how the Alliance has been fostering cultural, educational and sporting links between these two towns for many years. In 2015 the St Andrews Community Council agreed that the connection deserved to become an official twinning. Brexit and the diminishing numbers of pupils studying a modern language in school make such relationships more important than ever and the Alliance will resume its programme of school and other exchanges as soon as the easing of pandemic restrictions permits. Meanwhile, the Alliance is collaborating with the St Andrews Preservation Trust to mount an exhibition, this September in the Heritage Museum in North Street, entitled ‘Look at Loches’ and featuring workshops for primary schoolchildren. Joyce called her talk ‘Loches vaut le détour’ and the pictures she showed of the town’s historic buildings and vibrant marketplace demonstrated that it is indeed well worth a detour when travelling in France. The Alliance has its own website and always welcomes new members. James Murray has come to know Loches well through his membership and he gave the vote of thanks.