A CROSS-CHANNEL partnership has been forged by members of the Worcester Bridge Club thanks the efforts of a former county resident who now resides in the Loire Valley.
Alain Gillier, president of Bridge-Club Romorantin in the Loire Valley paid a visit to the Faithful City to formalise an exchange partnership with the Worcester Bridge Club.
The partnership was the brainchild of Steve Garry, who now lives in the French town. He contacted the Worcestershire county chairman Mike Willoughby who passed the idea on to Mike Vetch, chairman of Worcester Bridge Club.
Exchange partnerships are second nature to Mr Vetch who has 30 years experience of running French exchanges for school pupils at RGS Worcester.
This led to an exploratory visit from Steve, who then returned to France to sell the idea to his home club, Romorantin. There was immediate enthusiasm, so Steve returned to Worcester with his bridge partner Marie Couppé and M Gillier.
The trio were hosted by local families, and played three sessions of bridge, at Cutnall Green, Hallow and Worcester’s home base at Royal British Legion in Claines. To make up the numbers, Mike played with Steve or Alain.
On the Wednesday evening at the club, Alain and Mike formally signed the partnership agreement, and exchanged gifts and commemorative plaques.
In his speech, M Gillier spoke of the history of Romorantin and of the exciting prospects for visits to châteaux and vineyards which await Worcester’s first travellers
“The game of Bridge is truly international and we look forward to receiving our friends from Worcester here in Romorantin in 2019”, he concluded.
The exchange envisages stays of four to five nights, in families, with opportunities to play bridge, visit the region and sample some of the culinary delights.
Monsieur Gillier, who worked for many years at Matra, the Formula One car make, also revealed his desire to see the Morgan factory in Malvern.
