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Reflections of trip to Trebbin by our young people

Raymond Hagger • Sep 04, 2023

Samuel Postica-Hammond

Thank you for taking me on this wonderful trip. 

I really enjoyed all the activities we did.

I also liked meeting new people from Germany and I was glad to make new friends especially with the two girls and the band.

We hope we can see them all again and we can do this trip again.

I really enjoyed the trip thank you for the opportunity 


Eleanor Grant

 

The Trebbin trip was a wonderful experience. Not only did we stay with the kindest of hosts, but we got to learn all about the culture in Germany, which myself, as a humanities student, found profoundly interesting. 

We partook in a range of activities where we got to learn a lot about Trebbin’s past, as well as visiting Berlin with our hosts. I gained a lot of knowledge around this, which was incredibly valuable as I am studying history at A-level. 

Not only did we learn if the past, but we met many new people and created many new experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life. We became friends with Paula and Laura who made our stay comfortable and it was lovely to be able to make friends with people our own age. 

One day we visit the open mines where we got to see the unique work that Germany is doing to fix the land scarring which they leave behind. This introduced us to the idea that perhaps we should begin to also try this in England because it turns a once horrible eyesore into an idyllic camping site and holiday destination. 

Overall, it is an experience I will never forget and one I will always be grateful for being given the chance to experience. 


Oliver Sygulski 

Germany was amazing although I barely knew any German at all! 

First of all, I must say that the trip was very well organised and planned ahead, from the moment Bob met us at Bognor Train station all the way to Trebbin and back. 

It was great to see how well I got on with the different age group. I have learnt a lot from this trip, like the coal mine which was very interesting, or the historical trip to Potsdam or even the Berlin wall.

The evening parties were very entertaining and I had the chance to try traditional German food with a very friendly atmosphere. 

We met two lovely German students who were very kind and friendly, their English was really good. In addition, we met a young German band from a music school and we exchanged numbers and still stay in contact. My host family were very nice, they gave me and Sam a very warm welcome. We still stay in touch. 

I enjoyed this trip so much that it was difficult to find any negatives! It was such an amazing experience which I will definitely treasure for the rest of my life. 

Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Spring Ramble

By David Roche • 20 May, 2024
On Saturday May 18 th 13 BRTA members walked 4 and a half miles from outside the Ship Inn Itchenor along the harbour coastal path to West Wittering and then back to Itchenor cross country. The weather forecast was for light rain but there was only one rain shower during the walk and the sun came out towards the end. The walkers then enjoyed a good lunch at The Ship Inn Itchenor before going home.

St Maur-des-Fossés exchange visit – 2024

By Maralyn Green • 19 May, 2024
Twenty adults from Bognor recently enjoyed a very successful French exchange visit to Bognor’s twin town of St Maur-des-Fossés, near Paris. Travelling by Eurostar to Paris and then by RER to the nearby town of St Maur-des-Fossés, guests were welcomed by their individual hosts into their homes for the duration of the visit. Not everyone could speak French but, as many of the hosts spoke good English, careful placement meant everyone felt relaxed and happy during their stay. A programme for the visit, organised by Les Amis de Bognor Regis, included an outing to the Chateau de Vincennes, a former fortress and royal residence, with a talk given on the history of the castle. Guests also had the opportunity to visit the Abbaye de Saint-Maur, an old monastery, which is mostly in ruins, but a guided tour took visitors into the cellar and underground passageways not usually open to the public. It wasn’t all monuments as St Maur-des-Fossés is the town in Ile-de-France with the largest number of food markets and a visit to one of these, a regular shopping venue for locals, was also on the programme. All have a huge range of high quality, fresh food products, with the market at La Varenne being the first to have over 100 traders. A veritable feast for the eyes and enough to make one very hungry! There were also opportunities for visiting Paris, where the ongoing reconstruction of the burnt-out cathedral of Notre Dame could be seen. After a devastating fire in 2019, during which the roof and spire collapsed, the historic renovation of Notre Dame is now nearly 90% complete but at an estimated cost of 700 million Euros. Preparations for the 2024 Olympics, to be held this August in Paris, were also well underway and visible throughout the city centre. Riverboat trips down the Seine, walking through Les Tuileries, the Ile de Paris, the South Bank, visiting the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides (Napoleon’s tomb), Les Halles, Galeries Lafayette, were all places visited by some of us on our city excursions. On the last evening in St Maur-des-Fossés, the local association of Les Amis de Bognor Regis treated all 20 visitors from Bognor, with their French hosts, to a sumptuous three course meal in a local restaurant. Speeches from each side were made and thanks given to those who had helped make this exchange visit such a success, after a hiatus of several years, when the exchange visits had to be suspended due to Covid. Special thanks are owed to Mr. John Russell, whose tireless efforts for more than a year, on behalf of the Bognor Regis Twinning Association, resulted in a very successful visit. It is hoped that this very enjoyable visit will now form the basis for the return of regular annual exchanges and that friendships, old and new, that have been reinforced or begun, will continue the long-standing connections between our twin towns. 

D-Day 80 Years On - Talk by Dave Smith

By Maralyn Green • 19 May, 2024
D-Day 80 Years On D-Day 80 Years On was the subject of a very detailed talk, given recently by popular historian, Dave Smith. Planning for D-Day actually took place not far from Bognor and very close to Portsmouth. It was at Southwick House, which stands on the northern slopes of Portsdown Hill, where the preparations for Operation Overlord were laid. It was there that General Dwight Eishenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, took the decision to launch the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944. You can still visit the house and see the Map Room but have to make an appointment to do so. The date of 6 June was chosen because it fulfilled the requirements necessary for the beach landings. The weather forecast was good, there would be a full moon and, importantly, a half tide. Originally 2 other dates were considered, 5 June and 19 June. 5 June was discounted because of the bad weather forecast for the day before and 19 June was deemed too late. Several million men, tanks, landing craft, etc., were waiting secretly, in multiple locations, across the South Coast of England and there was a very real risk that waiting too long might lead to discovery. So, the date of 6 June became the date of D Day. This was fortunate as the weather turned out to be appalling on 19 June. Dave Smith asked the audience what the D stood for in D Day. The answer was that it stands for Day. Apparently there were many D Days (Day Days), a name for the beginning of Operations during the War, but 6 June is the only one remembered by everyone. Much effort had gone into covering up the true destination of D Day. Double agents fed wrong information back to Germany about possible invasions at Calais in July or even on the Norway coast. Inflatable tanks, trucks, airplanes and landing craft had been placed as decoys, even as far North as Scotland, to deceive reconnaissance aircraft. Decoy dummy paratroopers, known as Ruperts, were also dropped at 4 different locations on the morning of 6 June to lure the Germans away from the beaches of Normandy. The dummies self-destructed on landing. These were just a few facts from Dave Smith’s presentation as his enthusiasm for his subject gave us many further insights into the planning before the invasion, the intricate detail of the invasion itself and what must have been a logistical nightmare to get everyone and everything to where it was needed before, during and in the days after the invasion. Dave Smith also recounted stories of a few of the soldiers, who had been part of D Day, as well as the personality clashes between some of the leading organisers of Operation Overlord. Roll on next year for another of Dave’s brilliant talks!
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