Denton Town Twinning
Denton Town Twinning
Denton twinned with Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France since 1992
Founder Member
Mr Frederick Elms
President
Councillor Margaret Downs
Chairman
Mr Alan Marrow
Secretary
Elaine Sancto, 8 Roxby Way, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 9AX.
01565 651209 
elart@mypostoffice.co.uk
Treasurer
Diane Roache, 93 York Road, Denton M34 3HH
Montigny
The town of Montigny-le-Bretonneux is situated some 25 kilometres south-west of Paris and 5 kilometres from Versailles in the agglomération (borough) of Saint Quentin en Yveline. The town, which has been twinned with Denton since 1993 has a population of around 36,000, about the same as Denton.
For more information on Montigny go to www.montigny78.fr 
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Forthcoming Meetings
Please feel free to attend any of the forthcoming meetings. No experience or foreign language skills are necessary. The dates of the meetings are as follows:
- 5 March 2012
- 2 April 2012
The meetings take place at 7pm in Denton Town Hall, Market Street, Denton, M34 2AP.
Future Events
At the beginning of February several students from Ashton Sixth Form College will be visiting Montigny.
In February a young French student from our twin town will be taking up a two week placement with New Charter Housing Trust. During her stay she will be supported by members of the DTTA.
In early March, 36 students from the Lycee Descartes in Montigny will be visiting the region. During their 7 day stay they will be visiting Manchester and Liverpool and meeting the Mayor of Tameside.
During the months of June and July, twelve senior volunteers (six from New Charter Housing Trust and six from L’Association Montigny International) will be taking part in a European funded exchange project. The themes of the project are cooking and horticulture.
Forthcoming Town Twinning Celebrations
In order to celebrate our new town twinning and the twentieth anniversary of our original twinning with Montigny-le-Bretonneux a "twinning weekend" is planned for late Summer 2012. We intend to invite students, children, business people, shopkeepers, teachers, politicians and many more to meet their counter parts at a special event, planned to take place at Denton Town Hall. In addition to this, it is hoped that a treaty of friendship will be signed with Kierspe and a "renewing of vows" with Montigny also, followed by (hopefully!) a large exhibition and an official tree planting, in Victoria Park, of three blossom trees - to celebrate the blossoming relationship between the three towns.
Christmas Markets and Town Twinning Celebrations
At the end of November/beginning of December several members of the Denton Town Twinning Association headed, by plane and train, to Montigny-le-Bretonneux for the Christmas market (Marché de Noël) and for a gathering of friends from four of Montigny’s six twin towns. The Mayor of Tameside (Councillor Susan Quinn) also took the time to attend the weekend of celebrations as part of her civic role.
The official opening of the Marché de Noël took place on Saturday 3 December when, in the presence of representatives from Tameside, Kierspe, Marostica and Wicklow, the Mayor of Montigny, Michel Laugier, welcomed a large group of the town’s residents to the market, which was held at the Ferme du Manet.
The indoor and outdoor markets afforded those present with an opportunity to purchase a wide range of goods including food and wine from all over France as well as items crafted by some of the region’s finest artisans.
Not to be left out, members of the Denton Town Twinning Association had a stall selling a variety of typically English goods including mince pies, Christmas cakes and puddings and Christmas crackers. These proved to be, as in previous years, very popular with the locals!
The day ended with an informal dinner at ‘le Club de Village’ for the members of the twinning associations present that weekend. The dish of the day (le plat du jour), or should that be dish of the night (le plat de la nuit) was Tartiflette, which was served from 2 enormous flat pans by Chef Eric Alleaume and his little helpers (Tartiflette is a French dish from the Haute Savoie region of France. It is made with potatoes, reblochon cheese, cream, and lardons). The evening celebrations ended with a number of songs sung by the AMI choir (including Eric the Chef) and a piece of classical ballet performed by four male members of the AMI in tutus, including Eric! Wow, isn’t that guy talented (a chef, a singer and a ballet dancer!).
A Tight Squeeze!
How many people can you fit into the Mayor of Tameside’s parlour? It would seem just over 30 as a recent event proved!
As part of a town twinning weekend 23 French, 1 German and at least 6 English (oh and of course the Mayor of Tameside and her attendant) managed to squeeze into the parlour, much to the amazement of the Mayor (Councillor Susan Quinn).
Following the meeting with the Mayor, the visitors were given a guided tour of the council chamber. Afterwards, the Deputy Mayor of Montigny (Michèle Parent) and French chef Eric Alleaume met with representatives of New Charter Housing Trust to discuss the delivery of a joint, European funded, project “Growing Great Communities”.
Web Author
Nicholas Koopman
07985 674 696 nicholaskoopman72@hotmail.com
For information on other Twinning Associations around the UK log on to www.towntwinning.org.uk
For more information on Montigny go to www.montigny78.fr
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