When Henry V spoke through Shakespeare about the impending Battle of Agincourt, he made a bold claim: “This story shall the good man teach his son;/And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,/From this day to the ending of the world,/But we in it shall be remembered.” Shakespeare’s penmanship (with support from Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Olivier) has achieved as much as 1,000 history teachers in searing the epic achievement of the vastly outnumbered Band of Brothers on to our national consciousness. But the mood is understandably different across the Channel. The 276 residents of Agincourt are feeling forgotten and generally left behind in the 21st century. Perhaps surprisingly, given the havoc wreaked by Henry’s archers some 600 years ago, they have resolved to trust their future to British youth.

The hamlet’s decision to enter an educational partnership with Southlands Comprehensive, in Kent, is fitting, demonstrating that history has no boundaries. As a result, this particular corner of a foreign field will host thousands of English school children on what for them will probably be an unforgettable visit. They will learn how topography, appalling conditions and English longbows helped Henry to lead 6,000 diseased and starving troops to resounding victory against stronger, better-equipped and overconfident Frenchmen.

The tale today is all the more resounding for its contemporary setting. The willingness of Agincourt, a traditional farming area, to diversify shows the rest of France’s agricultural industry that there is more to life than annual subsidies. It is equally laudable that in the midst of a national crisis of confidence (stirred by a lost Olympics) Agincourt should feel comfortable highlighting an inglorious chapter in French history, even if it expects 80 per cent of new visitors to come from Britain. And so also does it set in context the intemperance of Jacques Chirac towards most things English, and particularly the cuisine.

Paris will probably not be marking the 600th anniversary of Agincourt in 2015. After all, that year will also mark 200 years since the Battle of Waterloo. But the hamlet, and its visitors, will keep the memory alive.