TOWN TWINNING ASSOCIATION: Forty members ignored portents about the Ides of March as they enjoyed themselves last Saturday at a spring social evening hosted by Mary Berry at her Stratford riverside home. Good food, good wine and good companionship helped raise funds for the next visit of 50 French friends from L'Isle Adam, near Paris, who came to Stratford for a four-day visit early in May.

The Mayor of Stratford, Vince Seaman, has already agreed to welcome these visitors at the Town Hall. During the evening, John Winterburn, chairman of the district council, announced that, as the original founder of the Stratford Town Twinning Association, he will receive them at the council offices during the closing days of his tenure of office.