Welcome to the Dorchester-Bayeux Society. We are the oldest Twinning Society in Dorchester and our aim is to promote and participate in twinning events between the towns of Dorchester and Bayeux, in Normandy. Organisations that have benefited from exchange visits include music and sports groups, and local schools.
Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to speak French to enjoy being a member of the Society. Many of our French friends speak little English but we all manage to communicate one way or another.
Bayeux is a lovely town full of history, interesting architecture, museums, and excellent shops. Visit the Bayeux page to see what the city has to offer.
At the heart of our annual programme, is the two-year cycle of alternating exchange visits with our equivalent society in Bayeux. In September 2023, members hosted their Bayeux friends in their homes, and in 2024 we in turn will be hosted by them in Bayeux. The hosting is co-ordinated jointly by the two societies.
Visits usually take place over a long weekend and are very often arranged to coincide with a local event such a fair or a pageant. The 2024 dates for our visit to Bayeux are Friday 13th to Monday 16th September.
The Dorchester-Bayeux Society is a membership organisation. There is a joining fee of £10 per person, or £17.50 for a family, and an annual subscription of £10 per year.
In addition to twinning visits we offer the following for our members:
- A winter programme of interesting talks around a variety of French themes.
- If you are interested in boules, we organise occasional tournaments at the Sandringham Sports Centre, usually with the Dorchester-Lubbecke Society.
- The civic town twinning relationship, around which the society is founded, is maintained by Dorchester Town Council. Society members can take part in some civic twinning events.
- We also participate in a number of the Dorchester-Lubbecke Society's events.
- The society is keen to recruit more members, and is looking to do so by brokering potential connections through groups in both towns with similar interests such as walking, cycling, tennis, football, music, archaeology, horticulture etc. We would be delighted to hear from any group who might be interested in a connection. In addition, we have some contact with education providers in Bayeux.
If you are interested in joining us, fill in the form on the 'Contact us' page.
We look forward to hearing from you.