BEDSPRING 2012 A WINNER! - droitwich-twinning.freeservers.com€¦ · e-mail: [email protected] Welcome to New Members We would like to welcome new members Stephen and Valerie

Droitwich Spa German Twinning Group page 1 SUMMER 2012

Droitwich Spa Twinning Association

DROITWICH SPA GERMAN TWINNING GROUP

SUMMER 2012 BAD EMS DROITWICH SPA

BEDSPRING 2013 Celebrate 30 years of Twinning when we

visit Bad Ems next year from Friday 24

th May till Tuesday 28

th May

BEDSPRING 2012 A WINNER!

Despite the weather, a great time was had by all. Many Thanks to all those who helped in the arrange-ments and participated in the weekend.

Saltfest 2012 This year the two day Saltfest will take place in Droitwich Spa on Saturday 15

th and Sunday 16

th September. We hope to have a stall on the Saturday only,

with plenty of publicity and also a taster of Black Forest Gateau on offer. We need volunteers who are happy to chat with passers by about Twinning on a rota basis for approximately hour-long slots between noon and 4:00 p.m. Your help on these days will be much appreciated – please contact a committee member if you can help. Thank You

Sam Spencer leads the newly arrived visitors into the hall

The re-created Parterre at Hanbury Hall

described by Neil Cook in his talk


Next Newsletter Many Thanks to everyone who contributed to this newsletter. If you have any twinning articles or photographs for the next newsletter please send them to:

[email protected] Any items sent by email for the newsletter will be acknowledged by email. Hand written articles and printed photographs also welcome—ring Penny or Will on 01905 381757. Items must reach us by Sunday 16th September for inclusion in the next newsletter, due out in the Autumn.

Penny and Will Owens 01905 381757 Don’t forget our web site - www.droitwich-twinning.freeservers.co.uk

Baby Congratulations! Many congratulations to all parents and grandparents, especially… Rob and Pat whose twin grandchildren, Jessica and Benjamin were born

on 7th March and live in Australia

Mel and Joe whose first baby daughter, Willow, was born on 19th March

Gladys and David whose twin grandchildren, Ella and Carl were born on 20

th March and live in Frankfurt

Best Wishes to all!

Coach Day Trip to Cambridge Saturday 27

th October

Cost £15 Open to non-members

Please contact Steve Harper (not Adrienne this time) to book your place Tel: 01905 795661 e-mail: [email protected]

Welcome to New Members We would like to welcome new members Stephen and Valerie Hawley. We

hope you enjoy your time with the twinning group and look forward to seeing you at some of our events.

AGM Don’t forget our AGM will be held on Thursday 22nd November.


A marquee in Vines Park was the venue over the Jubilee weekend for a jointly organised German/French twinning event, open to everyone. Committee members decorated the marquee with colourful bunting, bal-loons and flags on the tables, to enhance the atmosphere. We were entertained in ‘true party mode’ by an Oompah Band and four tal-ented French Accordionists. Audience participation was certainly

the order of the day! Several people were extremely good sports and entered into the spirit of the occasion, with a little encouragement! The evening was rounded off in true traditional style, befitting the Jubilee celebrations, with the National Anthem. Altogether, a fun evening of contrasting en-tertainment and one or two surprises! Chris Smith

An Indoor Start to Bedspring 2012 The wettest drought on record meant that the Bedspring 2012 Welcome on Thursday 7

th June had to be held at the Sacred

Heart rather than the usual Lido Park. Twinners gathered early for the expected 7:00 p.m. arrival of our German guests. Music was provided by Swing 42, a trio on keyboard, guitar, and guitar and mouth organ.

However, a delay to the ferry, and an accident on the M25, resulted in an hour’s delay to the coach from Bad Ems. Beer, juice and sausage rolls were served while we waited for our guests. Sam Spencer was there with her Olympic Torch, which she had carried through Fern-hill Heath, and many people had their photo taken with the torch. The coach eventually arrived just before 8:00 p.m. Sam Spencer, carrying her Olympic Torch, led our German friends from their coach into the hall.

The welcome speeches were made by Jenny Leonard, Wolf-gang Heuser, the new mayor of Droitwich Anne Taft, and Josef Oster of Bad Ems. Everyone then left, anxious to feed their guests. Will

Not what I expected - much better! Good atmosphere - plenty of people here.

Mike (non-member)

Jubilee Celebrations in Vines Park

We liked the German tunes especially “Auf Wiedersehen” which was our theme tune in the 1950’s.

Gladys and David

It’s been a bundle of fun. Karl’s Bavarian Brass were hilarious. Mimi (French twinning group member)

Fantastic! Dindi

Very good. I liked standing up and sitting down best. Angela (non-member)

talented French Accordionists

began the evening Karl’s Bavarian Brass entertained us

Swing 42

Speeches

Twinners with goody bags


I have had a few German lessons at Worcester Sixth Form College over the past couple of years, and I can recommend our teacher, Stuart. Penny

Looking to Improve Your German?

- for any purpose : conversation, holiday, business, all levels of exams including GCSE, AS, A level and higher.

- very experienced teacher. B.A (Hons) degree in German, post-graduate teaching certificate.CRB check certificate.

- for more details or to discuss further please email: [email protected] or phone/text : 07939 058881.

Twinning - the Theatrical experience

Our guests having arrived from Germany in the pouring rain it seemed appro-priate that we should spend an evening in the dry at the theatre - although probably most of our guests were a little apprehensive as to whether they would understand anything!

At 7pm we all gathered at the Norbury Theatre in Droitwich for happy chatting and mingling and deepening of friendships before all trooping into the theatre which was reserved solely for us.

Within a matter of minutes there was a lowering of tension as it was clear that the whole performance was in mime with no words to confuse anybody! A brilliant performance of Much Ado about Wenlock by a very talented cast in-troduced laughter as the cast performed scenes typical of the period in Wenlock as the games were being created; with a Priest, a Doctor, Mum, Dad and children, a Butcher and goodness knows who else - all hidden behind masks and in a wide range of costumes. Humour was followed by tragedy and the audience were fully absorbed in the performance and could talk of little else when the evening came to its close.

A surprise awaited everyone as the cast took their bows as there were only three people involved - all brilliant mimics, stretching, bending and convincing us all that there was a very large cast involved. Congratulations to the person (or persons) who made the inspired choice of the production which was a highlight of the visit.

Tom & Barbara Cryer


77 Twinners set off at precisely 9am (well nearly) on Saturday June 9th. Jenny asked us all to take careful note of who our neighbours were so that no-one would get left behind on our subsequent and return trips. This seems to have worked as there are no "missing persons" reports that I am aware of! We arrived at RAF Cosford just after 10am. The Museum has a wide variety of aircraft

which was interesting to most and fascinating to the enthusiasts among us (they know who they are!) There were 70 or more aircraft on exhibit and the three hours we spent there was plenty of time for us to get a real sense of the technological progress which has been made over the last 100 years or so. Strange then that my own favourite is the James May Airfix life size model of the Spitfire made during a recent TV series... ah well.

Much Wenlock however took us much further back in time..........I like to think that I was not alone in knowing very little about the significance of

MUCH WENLOCK & THE OLYMPIAN CONNECTION

A GREAT DAY OUT AT RAF COSFORD AND MUCH WENLOCK

Penny keeps Adolph

under her wing, left

Right - James May and

his Spitfire - both are

life size models

William Penny

Brookes , left

Below -

Wenlock Priory

A warm welcome

at Much Wenlock

Church

Listening to

the audio

story at

Wenlock

Priory

Continued over page...


The Priory was, for me the biggest treat of all. An Anglo-Saxon monastery founded here in about 680 by King Merewalh of Mercia. Without the Priory, Much Wenlock would never have existed as it be-came a place of pilgrimage.

I think everyone who visited the Priory would agree "It was well worth phoning home about!"

Though the weather at Cosford was cold and dull, it did cheer up in Much Wenlock allowing us all to slowly wander around soaking up the atmosphere of a village most of us said we must visit again.

We headed home at 5.15. The coach was quieter on the way back and sever-al heads were seen nodding, no doubt full of memories of yet another suc-cessful and pleasant Twinning Day Out.

Penny and Peter

A Great Day Out at RAF Cosford and Much Wenlock continued...

William Penny Brookes was born in Much Wenlock in 1809 and was respon-sible for the first Games, held in October 1850, and were a mixture of athletics and also traditional country sports such as quoits, football and cricket. The streets of Much Wenlock were not built for

coaches

Our visit coincided with the expecta-tion of a penny farthing bike race which attracted a Brass Band provid-ing excellent entertainment for those in need of a break from the sightseeing around this pretty village.

There were plenty of little shops to see, a craft market and a very good muse-um, and an Olympian Trail to follow. Holy Trinity Church was very welcoming and was the place to have tea (free!) for numerous Twinners.


BEDSPRING 2012 – THE FINAL EVENT

The Concluding Event of Bedspring 2012 was the Farewell Dinner held on Sun-day June 10

th. This splendidly organised finalé provided firstly a sumptuous

meal, followed by “The Olympic Games”, or as near as we Twinners could get to it!

Colossal thanks must go to Peter Field and Steve Harper for finally selecting the Nevill Arms at Astwood Bank for the venue. At great personal effort and ex-pense, these intrepid explorers scoured the Worcestershire countryside (and be-yond) for a suitable hostelry. Having been disappointed with many, Peter finally pointed out the error of their ways to the manager at the Nevill Arms, who rapidly succumbed to Peter’s every wish and command. The result was magnificent – a great meal, which everyone enjoyed, served happily by a band of waitresses, several of whom afterwards admitted that they had enjoyed the whole evening, not least the antics which followed the meal. Never before had they held an event for 90+ at this venue – they certainly will do again.

We felt a little sorry (not for long) for those few individuals with no connection with twinning, who had been unfortunate enough to visit the Nevill Arms for a quiet meal! Little did they know of what was to come!

After our meal, and a well timed toast to the Queen to mark her Sixty Years on the Throne, Jenny began to explain the Olympic Games – a la Twinning. We had twelve tables, and therefore twelve teams, with a Captain for each team, who se-lected (without malice) the competitors who were to take part in each of the events. The teams each had individual names from faraway counties – as far away as Tuvalu, one of the smallest and most remote islands in the Pacific, but with the best Cheerleaders by far.

We all took part in the events – no-one was allowed to escape! We threw the Hammer, Discus, Javelin and Shot-Put, leaped over Hurdles, and magnificent teams of three took part in Cross Country Skiing. The results were amazing, cul-minating finally in Gold medals being presented – in true Olympic style, we even had a disqualification for having a damp Hammer! The mind boggles! The Cross Country Skiing separated the men from the boys, or at least the men from the Ladies. The staff at the Nevill Arms couldn’t believe their eyes, and those few remaining diners beat a hasty retreat – perhaps our suggestions that they should join us were the last straw!

Eventually, the exhausted competitors returned to their tables, to hear the words of our Chairman, Jenny Leonard, followed by Bad Ems Chairman Wolfgang Heu-ser, who thanked us for our hospitality, presented us with some splendid German wines and invited us back to Bad Ems next year to celebrate Thirty years of Twin-ning. Avoiding the rain, all present raced outside and in time-honoured tradition, sang Auld Lang Syne.

A splendid evening – thanks to all concerned for the organisation of the whole event. JBH


Five Weeks Five weeks don’t seem to be long but spending five weeks in an-other country is as if you were living in another world with another life. And summarizing my five weeks in England on only one page is virtually impossible but I’ll try my best. I arrived on the 25

th Feb-

ruary being very tired because I had been too nervous to sleep and a little bit relieved because I had been afraid I wouldn’t find the right train from London Stansted Airport to Birmingham. Peter and Jenny picked me up at New Street Station and my first day here started with sandwiches and rugby. We do not play a lot of rugby in

Germany so I did not know the rules but Jenny tried her best to give me an idea about it - as about so many other things! But maybe I should start by introducing myself: My name is Nicole Beer, I’m 20 years old and I’ll become a teacher of English and Italian, so I’m studying in my 4

th semester at the

University of Würzburg, which is in the southern part of Germany. I wanted to improve my English skills and I applied to several high schools in England and was invited to come to Droitwich Spa High School for five weeks. As I wanted to live with an English family to see everyday life and to get to know the culture and food, I tried to find a host family and eventu-ally it led to Jenny and Peter because they are members of the twinning association. I have learned so much in the last few weeks but mainly that I love England. First I had a sort of stereotypical picture of England: London (I was there in 2009, but now I know: London is not England!), the Queen, teatime, pubs, not the best cooks, queueing and Shakespeare. And a lot of the pupils at the High School had a very stereotypical picture of Germany as well: I asked them about it and 15 of 22 pupils in Year 8 told me that they con-nected Hitler, Nazis, World War 2, Swastika and Sausages with Germany - that day I was very depressed. I had hoped at least some of them would have known our capital or some-thing about our cars or economy or famous people… so I tried to change their picture a bit and one of my highlights was when a girl told me that I really had changed her picture of Germany and Germans and that she now thinks about taking part in the German exchange (which she didn’t before because she was a bit scared of Germans) and maybe even study-ing a language. But back to my new picture of England: Jenny and Peter were fantastic and showed me around: They took me to Birmingham one Saturday and another day we went to Stratford-upon-Avon. I like both cities, even if they are very different and as I had hoped I got to know a lot of the culture and food. I can not really understand why English people should be bad cooks because I love the food and especially the desserts and Scones! Fur-thermore I have learnt to prepare English tea and have drunk it with milk, you see, I have tried to assimilate. On my fourth weekend here I went to Bristol by train and was proud that I found my way and as I love shopping I was captivated by all those won-derful shops. Another highlight was the days when my aunt came over from Germany to visit her English friends. We stayed with them for a weekend and went shopping in Malvern, which is such a lovely city with all those little shops and especially the Second Hand shops are abso-lutely my cup of tea. But unfortunately we don’t have such in Germany. We also visited Ross-on-Wye and I could admire the area when we drove along the Jubilee Drive. All together I’m really happy that I came here: I have improved my lan-guage skills. I have learnt a lot about the culture. I have tried so much and experienced a lot. I have seen a lot of the area (but not enough, so I think I’ll come back one day). I learnt that German is an awful lan-guage ;-) and I got to know so many nice people who have made me feel welcome and didn’t allow me to feel homesick. I wanted to improve my language skills and learn something about the culture, but I got a lot more than that! Nicole Beer

Nicola and Jenny

Nicola and Peter


Hanbury Hall Gardens Talk – 22nd

March Members and friends gathered at the Sacred Heart hall in keen anticipation of hearing Head Gardener Neil Cook talk about the Re-creation of the Hanbury Hall gardens. There was much chatter as everyone sat at the laid tables and organised themselves with drinks and nibbles. Jenny gave a warm intro-duction to Neil and his assistant on the projector, Mark.

Neil began by outlining his own involvement at Hanbury Hall, which stretched over several decades, and the development of the house and grounds to what it is today. Hanbury Hall was almost closed at one time by the National Trust because it at-

tracted very few visitors. However, ideas were investigated to improve the house and gardens and gain interest in the property. The house itself was very plain and sparsely furnished when it was acquired. Many of the garden areas we enjoy today were grassed over, and when the idea to reinstate the gardens was mooted, there was al-most 300 years of design to choose from. Various plans and charts were considered, and archaeological investigations were carried out to discover the scale of former fea-tures. Soil sampling was carried out to find, using pollen, the type of plants grown in the past. Unfortunately, they only revealed overwhelming numbers of nettles! Plans were eventually made to re-establish the early 18

th century parterre and work was carried out

over the 1994/5 winter.

We then had a break for food – a light supper including pate, variety of cheeses, pickle, tomato, cucumber, bread and butter, followed by a delicious selection of sliced cakes. The raffle was then drawn and prizes distributed.

Neil resumed his talk by telling us about the development of the Orangery. Again, es-tate owners of the past wanted to show their wealth by exotic garden displays and pro-ducing their own citrus fruit. There was a budget for restoration which included re-decorating the Orangery walls, and as the new specially made terracotta pots cost £80 each and contain £40 plants, the money was soon used up.

Behind the Orangery is the original 1860 mushroom house which, when years of debris were removed, revealed a slate three bed layout. Today it is the only mushroom house in the National Trust and produces mushrooms, as well as forced rhubarb for ice-cream during the spring.

The pathway down to the walled garden was very overgrown, but after it was cleared, was soon populated by primroses, so became the primrose walk. The garden also in-cludes an orchard and an Apple Day is held every September. Neil rounded off his talk by briefly mentioning other garden features in the just under 400 acre garden. Jenny thanked Neil and Mark for their interesting and informative talk, then Neil took questions which he answered without difficulty. Following a comment on the use of peat in the garden, Jenny concluded the talk by expressing her view that she would prefer not to have a “Pete free” garden!

A very informative and interesting talk which included slides showing work as it pro-gressed, as well as old plans and documents, all of which gave a complete picture.


Quiz Night – 27th

April

Last April in the cold, wet Spring, we met at the Sacred Heart hall for a quiz evening. Dindi and June were unable to come, so I “helped” Chris on the entrance table with the raf-fle. We were soon joined by Pat, and found out that doing the raffle was not as easy as Din-di and June make it seem! The tables and chairs were set ready for teams of about 6, and David Pearson, our quiz master, put out

the list of topics, blank answer sheets and rough paper.

We began the quiz with 10 general knowledge ques-tions, trying to suggest answers while not giving any-thing away to our neighbouring tables. We passed our answer papers on to the next table for marking, and David kept the overall score. After 5 rounds, it was time for our light supper of

various sandwiches including corned beef, egg, cheese, tuna and also pate on crackers. Just right and very deli-cious. At the same time we had a quiz to answer on fa-mous dogs, real and fictional, which proved a challenge on our table.

After the break, the quiz resumed with rounds including Art and Literature, Geography, Britain at war, Science and Technology. The second half also included “Watch the Detectives”, where David played us ten well known television detective series theme tunes and we had to name the show.

It was well past my bedtime when we marked the final round, and David cal-culated the winners. Meanwhile, Adrienne organised the drawing of the raf-fle, and many prizes were won, including a prize for me!! David announced the winning team, Encore, and we speedily packed away our things as well as the chairs and tables, and made a hasty retreat.

A very enjoyable evening with friends, and a testing time for our brains. Many Thanks to our quizmaster, David, and everyone involved with organis-ing the event, getting the chairs and tables out and tidied away, making the refreshments etc. Come back soon, Dindi and June!

From the evening we made £165 profit towards our forthcoming twinning weekend. Penny

Quiz Master David

Chris and Penny on the raffle

Swapping answer papers


Arzbach – Droitwich Trip 2012 Britain has been invaded! Well, Droitwich anyway. Yes, our little town was commandeered by our German counterparts, all the way from the picturesque dwelling of Arzbach, bringing with them familiar faces and new ones. Laughter and smiles were the anthem to the trip, with plenty of banter over the upcoming European Champions competition. While we differ in language, the similarities between us are endless from, a love and pride in our football to a different kind of love for beer. For all those unaware, Droitwich Spa Boys & Girls Football Club has an annual trip to Arzbach, Germany as part of the Twinning Association. We take it in turns to visit each other and this year, it was Arzbach’s turn to visit us. This is the sixth year the exchange has taken place and it certainly has come a long way from 2007, the first trip where a mini bus of a meager fif-teen travelled to Arzbach. This year there was a party of over fifty. The arrival on Wednesday was ultimately British, with the Cricket Club being transformed into tea room in honour of the Diamond Jubilee. There was tea, coffee and enough cake to keep even Marie Antoinette happy. Thursday, our German visitors took a trip up to Ragley Hall which unfortunately was washed out by the rain, barbeques were cancelled and instead, half of the party descended on the Hungry Horse for dinner and merriment. Continued over page...

Sadly we must advise you of the death of Otto on 11

th April this year. He was 86 years old in body but

young in heart. We were twinned with the Jantke’s in 1983 and have enjoyed one another’s company all these years making visits other than Twinning weekends. He was a good friend, a kind man and we will miss his humour especially. His widow, Eva has asked us to thank those of you who sent messages to her and her daughters. Adrienne and Tony

Otto Jantke

Dr David Williams Dr David Williams died peacefully at home in Kingswear, Devon, on 2

nd June 2012

aged 64 years after an illness he faced with courage and dignity. David was a former GP in Droitwich Spa and became senior partner in 1986. He moved with his wife, Carolyn, to Kingswear in 2002 and settled as a valued part-ner in a Brixham practise until 2007. During his time in Droitwich Spa he was chair-man of the Tennis Club 1983 to 2002. He was an active and enthusiastic Tennis player and was heavily involved in the formation of a Twinning link with Arzbach Ten-nis Club, situated in the hills surrounding Bad Ems. He even learned to speak Ger-man so he could communicate more easily! David's gentle, caring nature, his fair-ness, honesty, diplomacy and above all a sense of humour have shone through in all the facets of his life. It has been an honour to write this article in his memory.

Pat Charlton

Wenn ihr an mich denkt, Seid nicht traurig. Erzählt lieber von mir Und traut euch, herzlich zu lichen.


Printed by Kopy Kats of Droitwich http://www.kopykatsprint.com

Friday arrived and the traditional football tournament was upon us. However in true British fashion so was the rain. But we soldiered on. It was all hands to the barbeque, even if it was just to keep warm and the demand for hot drinks was so high that the lovely ladies who offered to serve them didn’t have a moment’s peace. There were three age groups of teams; with the young-est being eight and the eldest being fifteen. The teams were a mixture, with Germans playing among English and girls rising

to challenge the boys in terms of skill and pace. There was a range of talents, with players step-ping out of their comfort zones to try out new positions, working with different people and creat-ing some memorable moments for all involved, including goals scored from almost half way, saves made by some who were almost half the size of the goals and skills and tricks you would expect to see from the likes of Ronaldo. The rain and wind were persistent. However so were we. Mums dressed in fluorescent wel-lington boots, clutching umbrellas, stood on the sideline and cheered for English and German alike. Dads coached in dripping waterproofs with nothing but enthusiasm and encouragement. And of course, the players who fuelled the tournament with their tireless energy, as they contin-ued to run around in their sodden, muddy football kits and chase a ball despite the efforts of most to get them to sit inside and warm up. A moment should be taken to mention the numerous umbrellas that were tragically lost dur-ing the course of the day. The healthy rivalry between the German and English almost outshone the sportsmanship as the old saying “It’s not the winning but the taking part that counts” went out the window. Teams battled incessantly through the pouring rain and the howling wind until only the final was left to be played. Shivering and huddling like a colony of penguins, dedicated parents stood to watch as the efforts of the day were congratulated. Every participant received a medal, although everyone there deserved an award for sticking it out in the rain, which suspiciously stopped after everyone had left. Friday night after drying off and warming up, the German visitors were treated to a night out at the Norbury Theatre to see a performance of Much Ado about Wenlock, and enjoyed an evening of entertainment. And then in almost no time at all, it was Saturday and the final evening together. A party of 140 people crammed into Salwarpe Village Hall for an evening of barn dancing. At first many shied away from the idea of getting up and doing a “dose-do”, but once the first couples were up it was infectious and as entertaining to watch as it was to be involved. The evening accumulated with the arrival of two flat screen TVs in order to watch Germany play Portugal in the opening rounds of the Euros. Lucky for us Germany won and it didn’t spoil the end to a fantastic weekend. It would take ages to thank everyone involved, so let’s just say a heartfelt thank you to all. Those who organised everything, everyone who worked behind the scenes, anyone who took people in and offered out their homes, anyone who stood in the rain to cheer on the players and everyone who made this weekend memorable. With our trip over for another year, we all turn to the Euros and hope for an England vs. Germany final. Megan Harrington

Arzbach – Droitwich Trip 2012 continued...

Documents

BEDSPRING 2012 A WINNER! - droitwich-twinning.freeservers.com€¦ · e-mail: [email protected] Welcome to New Members We would like to welcome new members Stephen and Valerie