TENDRING twinners travelled to France for a special link-up anniversary celebration.

Members of the Tendring Town Twinning group were joined by councillors, schoolchildren from Thorpe and a Morris Dance group from Harwich for the visit to Valence.

They were invited to represent the UK at an event organised to mark 50 years of French town Valence being twinned with towns in other countries.

A signpost was unveiled to mark the occasion, pointing the way to each of Valence’s twin towns – including Clacton.

Ceremonies were also held at the town hall and cathedral, while the Republican Brass Band from Paris was brought in to play the various national anthems of the visiting representatives in the town square.

Tendring Council vice chairman Mark Platt made the trip and gave two speeches in French, while the youngsters from Rolph Primary School in Thorpe sang in French for an audience of 1,000 people and received a standing ovation.

Mr Platt said: “All in all it was a very worthwhile trip which has boosted links between the towns and it was good to have the children from Rolph Church of England Primary School there.

“I think it was a fantastic experience for the pupils and one they will never forget.

“My main theme throughout the visit was that I hoped that the twinning links between our towns remained as strong as ever.”