Guests used various means to reach us from south-west Germany and by the evening of 2nd July there were 19 visitors staying in Hexham and surroundings. The first event on Friday was a morning walking tour of Hexham, led by Mark Benjamin and Gill Warren, that proved popular with both guests and hosts. Participants met in the Queen's Hall before setting off to visit points of historical and social interest. The majority of the visitors were first-timers in Hexham and for some it was their first visit to the UK.

On Friday afternoon at a book event in the Queen's Hall led by Cllr Suzanne Fairless-Aitkin, Metzingen visitors and Hexham residents discussed their view of the book and film 'Hamnet'. At 6pm the Mayor of Hexham's reception followed on in the same space. Deputy Mayor Penny Grennan welcomed our visitors and there was an exchange of presents between the Deputy Mayor and the Chairperson of Metzingen's town twinning committee, Christine Schlett. That evening many of the guests enjoyed a ceilidh in Riding Mill Parish Hall performed by Hexham Village Band.

Image: guests in the Queen's Hall for the Mayor's civic reception on Friday 3rd July

Early on Saturday cars set off from Hexham for a visit to Howick Hall, Northumberland, the ancestral home of Earl Grey, with its magnificent gardens that reach along the valley to the North Sea. After a walking tour of part of the garden, time was spent relaxing in the café, tasting both Earl Grey and Lady Grey tea varieties. The different parties with their drivers were then free for the rest of the day. Most left for the coast, a favourite destination being nearby Craster harbour with its smokery, and the chance for first-time visitors to Northumberland to try fish and chips by the sea. A walk to Dunstanburgh Castle was within easy range of Craster and allowed a people to experience the medieval heritage of the area.

Image: part of the group visiting Howick Hall and gardens on the morning of Saturday 4th July

On Sunday, the final day of the visit, hosts had time to showing their guests around Hexham and enjoy the music in the bandstand in the Sele Park. At 3pm a group of 40 town-twinners took over Errington Coffee House for an afternoon tea with traditional music played by Whinberry Music Group. Afterwards a game of pétanque took place in the car park.

Organiser Penny Giddings said that it had been a lot of work to coordinate travel plans and logistics but that by Sunday evening she could really relax and, like everyone else involved, simply enjoy the many happy memories of this latest visit from our friends in Metzingen.

Image: a group photograph of guests and hosts at the end of another successful visit from Metzingen

Image: the sundial on the Martinskirche in Metzingen