Celebration set to mark Newmarket’s 70 year twinning link with French towns

Plans are well under way for celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of Newmarket’s twinning links with the French towns of Maisons-Laffitte and Le Mesnil-le- Roi, which will be held later this year.

It is the country’s longest continuous association of its kind and Newmarket will be hosting a three-day visit by representatives from the two towns.

Newmarket Town Council will be hosting a visit from representatives of the two towns starting on May 17 with a reception at the memorial hall where refreshments will include fish and chips. There will also be a film about the Newmarket area and its racing and breeding industry.

The following day there will be a tour of the Jockey Club and an afternoon at the races followed on May 19 by a visit to Cambridge.

The three-day visit will end with a further reception at the Heath Court Hotel.

Councillors have also agreed to set aside £2,000 towards sponsorship of a visit by 44 students from Newmarket Academy to Maisons-Laffitte in September.

At a meeting last month, Academy teacher Angela Jarvis, who had been to France where she met the mayors of both twinned towns, told councillors how much the students were looking forward to the trip, which will include a visit to Paris.

“The pupils are really excited

and can’t wait to go on the trip,” she said

Newmarket’s twinning links were forged back in 1954 and initiated by Barry Lynham, then a British resident in Maisons-Laffitte. Two years later the Association Les Amis de Newmarket was set up in France to promote the twinning.

Mr Lynham was president of the Friends of Newmarket from its inception until 1979, when he stepped down and became its honorary president. He died in 1985.