Background

We at St Mary’s are in the tenth year of our “twinning”, or Jumelage, with a parish in Douai, Northern France. The initial links were established through members of our parish who are Rotarians, who contacted the Rotary Club in Douai. Parishioners from both parishes enjoy weekends in each others’ company exploring the area they live in and discussing issues of faith. We take it in turns for a party from Shortlands to visit France alternating with years when a party from Douai come to us. The parish's web site is currently offline.

About the area

Our twin parish is the Parish of St Francis of Assisi in Douai, a substantial town in the middle of an ex-coal mining area, now spawning new industries such as the Renault factory where Scenics are built. Another major industry is agriculture. The church of St Therese (which is the name we often refer to) is in fact one of five that make up the parish of St Francis, served by two priests. Not far from Douai is Arras, which was a major objective for both sides in the First World War.  Many of the towns and cities in this area have tall bell towers, dating from the time of the Duchy of Flanders.  These towers were erected at the instruction of the Duke to allow early warning of trouble and to allow communication between parts of his fiefdom.

DOUAI TRIP

This year - 2012, it is their turn to come to us. Watch this space...

If you have any comments, questions or offers of help please see one of the Link Committee:
Gill Dawson, Jane Green, Les Harwood, Robin Hogg, Paul Miller and Peter Stotesbury. Our numbers are on the back of SPAN.