A TEAM of adults and youngsters from Okehampton and District Twinning Association spent five days in Okehampton's twin town, Craon in France, over the August bank holiday weekend.

Each year Okehampton and Craon take it in turns to host an exchange, which involves around 80 residents, including families, couples and singles.

Town mayor Maureen McDonald accompanied the team on the 34th exchange, getting the chance to experience the town's culture and lifestyle.

This year guests enjoyed a visit to the dockyards of Nantes, which have recently been transformed into state-of-the-art workshops.

Cllr McDonald and the mayor of Craon, Paul Chaineau, exchanged speeches in French at the midday reception ceremony.

The formal evening meal allowed both groups to enjoy dancing to both French and international songs, and the trip was rounded off with a shared picnic and fun afternoon of sports, including boules and dodgeball, which earned the Okehampton tea the Twinning Sports Trophy.

Nike Westman, chairperson of the Twinning Association, shared the team's experiences: 'The group trip to Nantes took us to the disused dockyards which have been transformed into formidable workshops that are producing amazing handcrafted machines that will all form part of a fantastical fairground next year.

'Councillor McDonald delivered an excellent speech in fluent French which reflected the general feeling of conviviality.

'At the formal evening meal, old and young alike danced the night away to a mixture of French and international tunes — even normally reluctant teenage boys were spotted strutting their stuff.

'The weekend was all too quickly over, and fond farewells were exchanged on Monday morning.'

If you are interested in joining Okehampton and District Twinning Association, call Nike Westman on 01837 52246.