Well over 100 people of all shapes, sizes and ages dancing together in Hexham Abbey’s Great Hall is something wonderful to behold. When they’re ceilidh-dancing to Hexham’s very own Village Band and consist of French and English folk in equal measure, it’s something even more magical.

Hexham has just been hosting friends old and new from its twin French town Noyon in Picardy, and neither their difficult journey nor the inclement weather did anything to dampen their enthusiasm. On the Saturday morning Hexham’s recently appointed new mayor, Bob Hull, hosted a welcome reception in the Beaumont Hotel for the French visitors. Mr. Hull, speaking in French and in English, in the presence of Mme Catherine Naour, Deputy Mayor of Noyon said: “Town twinning will be an important and relevant part of Hexham and the UK’s relations with our European friends, whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.

There is a need to strengthen relations to allow both towns to become even closer and to involve young people from our respective towns more”. Members then attended a meet-the -author event with Noyon poet and writer Anick Baulard. The visitors from Noyon had expressed a wish to visit the seaside so Sunday’s excursion to Tynemouth turned out to be a huge success. Shopping in Tynemouth’s weekend market, visiting its iconic priory and tucking into a traditional fish and chip lunch made for a perfect day for the majority.

The time passed all too quickly and by Monday morning no-one wanted the visit to end. Invitations for a return visit to Noyon next year came thick and fast and a date for this will soon be fixed.

The photograph shows Mayor Bob Hull, extreme left, with Andy and Kate Gessey and their guests Martine and Franc in Tynemouth.