Thank you for giving space in your pages to our plans to further links between Ilkley and Coutances.

But please allow me to clarify certain points. First, the visit scheduled for April 2011 is that of a civic delegation and will be led by Coun Brian Mann, leader of Ilkley Parish Council.

Secondly, no committee member ever said that the committee had “passed its sell-by date”. This is a mis-reporting of a conversation during which it was suggested that the committee had been a victim of its own success in promoting links between our two towns. Many organisations which forged links under the auspices of the committee are now entirely autonomous. This is clearly a good thing – and our raison d’être – but it does not end there.

Our cross-channel counterparts are now keen also to pursue more personal connections and see the twinning committee as an essential vehicle. We are happy to respond, while keeping our commitment to the civic dimension of the link – equally important to the French. I am especially grateful, in this context, to Catherine Cheater who (as freelance primary schools co-ordinator) has mobilised primary schools across the Wharfe Valley to create links with children in Coutances. As a result, at least one teacher will be going to Coutances in April and we hope for many fruitful years ahead.

Judith Dunn

, Chairman Ilkley-Coutances Town Twinning Committee