“A wonderful weekend” was the verdict of one of Hexham’s town twinners after hosting Metzingen visitors; “a really positive experience” said another. In all, 16 people of all ages came over to Hexham from its twin town in the Schwäbische Alb region of southern Germany.
Arriving on various flights to Newcastle, the group had a varied programme organised for them by Hexham Town Twinning Association and their Hexham hosts. Fortunately the visit coincided with 2 important events in the local calendar – the Hexham Abbey Festival and the Allendale Folk Festival, so there was plenty of music on offer to suit all tastes and guests were able to choose which concerts they wished to attend with their hosts. In addition, the programme included a mayor’s reception on the Saturday afternoon, a Sunday outing to Alston that included a traditional roast beef dinner and a return steam train ride to Slaggyford. The visit was rounded off with a ceilidh on Sunday evening in Hexham Community Centre.
In the group were three mothers with their daughters, ranging in age from 12 to 15 to early twenties. Some twinning relationships have been forged over time, with members returning again and again to renew contacts with their old friends. New friendships develop each time, too, however, as word of mouth draws in a younger set to enjoy twinning for the first time.
Over the past year Kay Cooper from Allendale has been teaching herself German through the internet, so that she’ll be able to hold a conversation with her son’s German girlfriend. Hosting one of the mothers with her 15-year-old daughter, Chiara was a perfect opportunity for her to try out her new-found German skills, even though she found her guests very fluent in English. She and husband Andy took pride in showing off our wonderful Northumberland countryside to their guests and the weekend gave them an insight into the value of twinning, especially with BREXIT looming. Kay couldn’t believe how well matched she and Andy had been with their guests and how appreciative, helpful and curious they were about everything. “Every town should get more involved with twinning”, asserted Kay. It’s important to show that we’re not insular, that we’re still a part of Europe; we need to make up for the impact of Brexit.
One lovely feature of the visit is the way our Metzingen friends have in recent years been supporting local Hexham charities and community interest groups. On their last visit Metzingen presented a cheque to the Hextol Foundation and so it was fitting that this time round Hexham mayor Tom Gillanders should host an informal reception for both guests and hosts in the Hextol-supported Tans café. On this occasion the beneficiary of Metzingen council’s generosity was Core Music, who are just celebrating their first ten years of community-based music. Hexham Town Twinning Association has a long-standing relationship with the Hexham Village Band whose base is within Core Music and this band was very much in evidence over the weekend, some of its members involved in hosting and the band providing the music for the successful ceilidh that concluded the weekend. Metzingen’s mayor, Dr. Ulrich Fiedler, made a short but significant impact during the visit. At the reception he made an impassioned defence of the European Union’s role in maintaining peace and harmony since the second world war and he also stressed the importance of building friendships between individual citizens throughout Europe: something that is dear to the heart of all who are involved in twinning. At the ceilidh Dr. Fiedler was the recipient of a very special gift from Hexham’s youngest twinning member, Elspeth Corder. She and her mother Marianne had noticed that the German mayor wore no mayoral chain, unlike his counterpart, Tom Gillanders. They set about addressing the problem, making a very special hand-made version that they presented to the mayor, accompanied by their own very special rendition of Aretha Franklin’s Chain Chain Chain. Needless to say the words had been adapted for the occasion and included a reference to BREXIT. Hexham’s relationship with Metzingen now goes back 29 years.
For those who want to get involved when Hexham visits its German twin town next year, or who fancy practising their German speaking skills in the meantime, HTTA is the organisation to join. For details phone Mon Richford on 07985 184581 or go to their website: https://www.hexhamtowntwinning.co.uk/. The association has flourishing conversation groups running for both French and German, each organised by native speakers, and has an equally successful exchange with its French twin town, Noyon.
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