Abernyte.org and Abernyte Community Company

In 1993 Abernyte joined with four other villages in the Carse of Gowrie to form the Inchture Area Twinning Association. The chosen twinning partner was Fleac, situated on the beautiful river Charente, near Angouleme in South-western France.

 In October 1993 a party of 63 Scots travelled to France for their first taste of Fleacois hospitality. On a bright sunny morning they gathered with the folk of Fleac outside the lovely Hotel de Ville for signing of the Twinning Charter. The following year in October, some 90 French friends paid a return visit for the signing of the charter in Scotland.

Since then there have been numerous exchanges, both official and unofficial.

The raspberry and the grape have been adopted as emblems of Inchture Area and Fleac respectively, symbolizing soft-fruit growing in the Carse of Gowrie and cognac of the Charente.

Like our community area, the commune of Fleac is situated on both sides of a very busy main road. On one side is the old village with shops, an ancient Romanesque church, Mairie (Town hall), the primary school, sheltered retirement homes and Sports Centre. The Mairie has beautiful gardens and a shady tree-covered path leading down to the river Charente, a lovely place to walk or cycle.

There are lots of new houses on both sides of the main road, but on the north side the country roads wind through this gently rolling countryside with its ancient farmhouses, Roman gateways, and vineyards. Like our area, the land round Fleac is largely agricultural, but most younger people commute to work in Angouleme. The secondary schools are there too.

Anyone living in this area is welcome to join the Twinning Association. There is no annual subscription or fee. You certainly don't need to be a fluent French speaker! The only cost of involvement is your time!

For further information on Twinning contact one of the committee members:

Rait: Fiona Jurk (Chairperson) 01821 670228

Inchture: Anne Roberts 686230, Christine Allan 686430,

Abernyte: Suki Stobbs 686444

Kinnaird: Jane Woodford 686371, Trefor Woodford 686371

Ballindean: Jackie Guest 686950 Louise Klaassen 686711