Running a stall for wine-tasting for two days at the Twin Fair was a fun way to strengthen links
The Twin Fair at Calais is a two-day weekend event, where dealers from England set up stall beside the locals, selling mostly bric-a-brac. It used to attract antique dealers from across the south-east of England, as the French have a high regard for English antiques. But, border regulations post-Brexit have put a stop to that trade.
Celebrating liberation
Nonetheless, East Kent for Europe were determined to keep the date especially because this year the Fair was dedicated to celebrating liberation. Victory Day, commemorating the end of World War 2, is a national holiday in France, and this year marks 80 years. In fact, the liberating Allied troops arrived in this part of France the year before the victory year. In Operation Undergo in September 1944, they reached Calais and conquered the German garrison holding the huge fortifications. Much of the town had already been bombed by Allied planes.
Linking and twinning
In the wake of that war in Europe, Winston Churchill was among those who set up the European Movement International to strengthen ties between the nations of
Europe. Across the decades since, various communities on both sides of the Channel have set up twinning links. Dover is twinned with Calais. The Mayors of Dover and Folkestone attended the Twin Fair, invited by the Mayor of Calais.
Deal, which has a vibrant Twinning Association (with St.Omer) sent across their Regatta Queen and two princesses, who performed elegantly on stage dressed in sparkling photogenic dresses. The enthusiastic couple from Deal who facilitated this trip told me that although some of the coastal towns in Kent still maintained their Carnival traditions, many inland market towns, like Ashford, had abandoned Carnival as nobody was willing to organise it. That is a point worth pondering. As we click away on our phones forwarding photos taken at such events, are we now in danger of losing the actual events, because people are preferring to spend time on their phones rather than joining together to organise them? In a few years’ time, Carnival in Kent may be just a few old selfies discoverable by AI!
Invited to run a stall, but what to sell?
Not so for the East Kent branch of the European Movement, when, during the 30-year anniversary of the opening of the Channel Tunnel in Calais, the organiser, Marie-Christine Livermore, invited us to run a stall at the Twin Fair in 2025. Realising the value of maintaining live links, and interacting with customers in French, we started looking around for what to display and sell on our stall. A trip around antique shops in Tenterden revealed the post-Brexit difficulty of sending any such items, even small, across to Calais. Then we tried to interest toy model car collectors, but neither the model car museum in Rolvenden, nor the Hornby Museum in Broadstairs, were interested.
Then we got the bright idea of a wine-tasting stall, with Kent wine paired with French cheese placed on an English cracker. It would not be possible to sell bottles of wine, as this would entail extra costs of transport and customs. Chris, who is an enthusiastic visitor to vineyards in S. Germany, was happy to put the time into making links with six Kent vineyards and collecting whatever sample bottles they provided. Michel from Lydd (who was the photographer for the Channel Tunnel anniversary) was happy to join the team, along with Jolyon, who as an original shareholder in the Eurotunnel still retains the right to pay only £1 per journey through the tunnel which would save us on costs. As we would also face costs of accommodation for two nights, we needed to recoup funds by selling the tasting at €3 for 1 or €5 for two.
Which Kent wines?
For a party of four, with a customs allowance each of four litres of ordinary wine and two of sparkling (total 21+10 bottles of 750 mls each), Chris obtained the varied stock as follows:
| Simpsons of Barham | Biddenden of … |
| Westwell of Westwell (nr. Charing) | Gusbourne nr Appledore |
| Domaine Evremond (Chilham) |
Some as donations and some at trade price.
Chapel Down was notably negative and provided none. It is reported that its share-price has suffered a protracted slump since it listed on the stock exchange in 2023. Billionaire Lord Spencer of Alresford (a major donor to the Conservative party) has increased his stake. He reportedly wants to take it into private ownership. He also has a major stake in Gusbourne through a company registered in Belize, a notorious tax-avoiding location.
If we had been trying to sell bottles (and we did have customers who asked!) they would have found the wine expensive compared to local French wine. This is understandable when each Kent wine-making enterprise, still in its early years, and small, cannot yet build up economies of scale. Their sales are probably mostly to English customers who are willing to spend the money on the novelty and to support a nascent industry.
In Kent it is now not that small. There is more land now given over to grapes than to apples. Climate change is shifting crops northwards: apple-growing to East Anglia, and viticulture from Champagne to Kent (the geology is similar). One enterprising French company, Evremond, is already signalling the shift by investing in a Kent vineyard. The customers in Calais enjoyed looking at the map and commenting on climate change.
They also proclaimed the wine was ‘très bon’.
Conversations in French
These conversations were mostly in French, Jolyon being fluent after 40 years residence in Paris, Chris having taught French in English schools, Michel with a background as a French Canadian and Charlotte, with grandchildren in Brussels, making long-term efforts to improve conversational skills.
It was good to see another stall at the Twin Fair featured Café Polyglotte , which is run by Muriel,who organises zoom conversation practice in various languages. Charlotte has been attending the French one during the past year, for a weekly chat with a variety of other participants from Germany, US, Italy, Mexico, the USA, China etc. There is always a native French speaker in the group to help us out when lost for words.
Language-learning is a vital part of cross-cultural linking. The people who came up to interact at our stall were either people with confident English from their jobs (with Eurotunnel, or with Border police, or from their business with computers) or people (like ex-teachers) who had visited England to learn the language. Some had fond memories of doing summer courses in Brighton, or exchanges with Kent schools. As they looked at the map, some commented on the beauty of the Kent countryside, villages and towns. But then they sighed and said that since Brexit another visit is too expensive. Within the EU they can travel with just their carte d’identité which is a free document compulsory for all French citizens. But to travel to the UK, they need to buy a passport. Furthermore, from April the UK will also impose the entry visa on EU citizens.
I commiserated with them. Since World War 2, we have enjoyed 70+ years of school exchanges, group trips to Canterbury, summer language schools, pen pals and family visits, young people from Europe working in pubs and restaurants, future teachers of English studying in English Universities, or as French assistants in Kent schools – all this abandoned in the folly of the referendum. Let us do what we can to restore some links! Joining in the Twin Fair is but a small start.
