Cookham Discussion Board

We are delighted that this year we are finally able to welcome back guests from our twinned village of Saint-Benoit, from Saturday 22nd October to Tuesday 25th October. 21 visitors, including the Mayor of Saint-Benoit, M. Bernard Peterlongo, will be staying with host families in Cookham and will join in events organised for the weekend.

Cookham residents are particularly welcome to join the social evening on Monday 24th October at 7.00pm at Pinder Hall, with Indian food and dancers (cost £18, or £10 for Cookham Twinning members). Other weekend highlights will be a reception hosted by Cookham Parish Council on Saturday, a lunch at Odney and Barn Dance on Sunday, and a trip to Bath on Monday. If you would like to join any of these events, or to join Cookham Twinning, please contact Keith Le Page at keith_le_page@hotmail.com.

Saint-Benoit’s local magazine provides interesting information about their community. They are a four-star ‘ville fleurie’, (the highest award), and their annual flower festival in May attracts 15,000 visitors. There is a flourishing ‘Jardin de Cookham’, and in 2019 they set up the ‘Jardin d’Images’, a public space where an exterior exhibition of large pictures is shown in a lovely garden setting.

Saint-Benoit is about the same size as Cookham, and has numerous village organisations as well as a theatre seating 750 that also serves the local area. They are twinned with locations in Germany, Portugal and Romania as well as with Cookham.

We look forward this year’s event, and to taking a group from Cookham to Saint-Benoit in 2023

Keith le Page