Ten people came over from the southern French coastal town for a five day visit, arriving on Wednesday, May 22. The French visitors arrived in the rain, and apart from just one day, it rained throughout, but it did little to dampen their spirits as they made the most of their short visit in Settle, say organisers. On the Thursday evening, there was a ceremony hosted by Settle Town Council in the town hall attended by town councillors, sixth form students from Settle College; the Rev Julie Clarkson and North Yorkshire Councillor David Staveley.
Gifts were exchanged between the two towns who have been twinning since 1992. Settle Mayor, Councillor Debi Rymer, received a metal art representation of Banyuls - and gave Michel Barthet from Banyuls an aerial photo of Settle taken by local photographer, Mark Dale. Philip McCarthy, from Settle Twinning Group, said: "The Settle hosts looked after their guests in fine Yorkshire fashion and took them to Saltaire, Skipton, Ribblehead, Clapham, Austwick and round Settle, of course.
One of the highlights was a cheese-tasting session at The Courtyard Dairy where our guests tasted fine British cheese and admitted that British cheeses were as good as French. Many thanks to Andy Swinscoe." He added: "The hosts also fed them and entertained them in Settle Cricket Club - and on Monday, half of the group returned to Banyuls by taxi and plane - and the other half took the train to Carlisle and on to Edinburgh for an even wetter experience, including.
