Anyone visiting St Ives will have seen from the roadside signs on the boundaries that St Ives is twinned with Camaret. Many people though will not be aware of the origins of this connection.
Camaret-sur-Mer is on a peninsula in north-western Brittanny. Its harbour, the deep blue sea, beautiful beaches, spectacular cliff scenery and a well-established artistic community mean that it has many similarities with St Ives.
It was these similarities that led St Ives to become twinned with Camaret in 1982. Following the twinning there were regular exchange visits between the two towns and the St Ives Twinning Association was formed to co-ordinate these events. Leading councillors of the time including Mike Peters and Terry Tonkin took a prominent part in these activities.
More recently, artists in the two towns participated in exchange visits. In 2014 many local artists designed individually painted t-shirts and these were displayed along the harbour front in Camaret and the St Ives harbour front was adorned with t-shirts designed by Camaret artists.
2022 is the 40th anniversary of our link with Camaret and to mark the occasion a group from Camaret will be visiting St Ives from 22nd to 26th September. . A working group has been established to plan this visit and it is particularly hoped to involve people who have not participated in previous events.
The next meeting of the working group will be held in the Council Chamber at the Guildhall at 7pm on Monday 30th May and anyone interested is very welcome to come along. If you are unable to come to the meeting but wish to be kept informed please contact St Ives Town Council on 01736 797840 or enquiries@stives-tc.gov.uk.
For more information about St Ives Twinning visit this page
