7th February 2023

7th February 2023 - Town Twinning in Clydesdale

A good turnout of members was welcomed by President Alistair Pate, returning after a period of incapacity, who went on to introduce Graham D’Uren and Bill Hutton who gave a presentation on Town Twinning in Clydesdale. Graham started by giving a brief history of the twinning movement which had existed for centuries. It took off after WWII as a means of promoting peace in Europe and reconciliation.

The first was between Coventry and Stalingrad, in 1944, growing out of the support people in the former gave during the siege of Stalingrad. Initially there was local government support for twinning with funding made available, however after local government reorganisation in 1996 this dwindled and communities were left on their own. Bill then gave a history of the twinning of Lanark, first with Yvetot in Normandy in 1974. Several other towns in South Lanarkshire had similar arrangements with other French and Danish towns. It was discovered that Yvetot was already twinned with the German area of Hemmingen, on the outskirts of Hanover in Lower Saxony, as well as with a town in the Czech republic and one in N Africa. Hemmingen was brought in to a three way twinning arrangement in 1968 which also incorporated the whole Clydesdale area.

There have been many visits by interested people between all three places, including sports clubs, cultural exchanges and school visits. The latter are much more difficult to organise nowadays due to the child protection measures in the UK, which don’t exist in France or Germany. Older students and adults have visited to carry out voluntary work, for short term employment, or to study. The sharing of cultures also takes place with visits by music groups etc.

Graham then gave us a short history of both Yvetot and Hemmingen illustrated with photographs of both areas and also places which could be visited from them. These included the church in Yvetot which had to be rebuilt after WWII and now contains the largest stained glass complex in Europe. From Hemmingen visits can be made to the Munchuasen museum, to Hamlin, Berlin (where, through the connections of their hosts, a party was able to visit the Reichstag and the Presidential Palace) and also to towns in the former East Germany.

The climate for twinning has now changed and there is no longer support from Local Government. Covid and Brexit have been drawbacks, however the links between the committees remain strong and further visits are planned between all three towns.

The next meeting is on Tuesday 23rd February when Jim Sweeney will give an update on Mary’s Meals. Meetings, in Biggar Municipal Hall, start at 10:30 with tea and coffee available from 09:45 – 10:15. All are welcome.

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