BDTA LINK June 2015

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French visit July 11th to 13th Nicky Bradbury has found accommodation for all our visitors but

still needs a couple of offers of transport to take visitors short dis-

tances to group events. Please contact her on

nickybradbury@hotmail.com if you can help.

Our guests are arriving at 11.00 am, Welcome in the

Spadesbourne Suite.

HOSTS’ MEETING Tuesday 30th June 7.00 –8.00 pm

Bromsgrove Sporting Club (tbc)

Editorial

We are pleased to be able to send

you another Link Newsletter. The

articles by Adrienne Hall and Tim

Marshall on the highly successful

visit to Gronau make good reading.

Thank you everyone for your contribu-

tions. Unfortunately we have had to

cancel BDTA's participation in the

Elizabethan Market this year as the

usual stall was unavailable. We plan

to go ahead next year but please

keep the third Saturday in June 2016

free so that you can help myself and

Janet King on the rota.

Ros Cooke, Editor

FROM THE CHAIRMAN JUNE 2015

It has been a pleasure for me to serve as your Chairman for a second year. If

my first year was somewhat quiet with no international visits and no annual

dinner to arrange, the past 12 months have certainly made up for that. We

have hosted two visits from our twin towns and visited one of them. Also our

annual dinner took place in July, and we ran a busy and well supported so-

cial programme.

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The recent visit to Gronau was a

milestone in the history of our Asso-

ciation as it marked the 35th Anni-

versary of the twinning link between

Bromsgrove and Gronau, and they

laid on a superb programme for us

culminating in a grand Dinner hosted

by the Burgermeisterin and attende

d by several members of the local

Gronau Council. I was delighted that

Trevor Porter who I’m sure many of

you know, was able to join us on the

visit with his wife Jo. Trevor went on

the first ever visit to Gronau in 1980

and I asked him to present a plaque

which we commissioned from a local

potter to celebrate 35 years of

friendship between our two towns, to

Heidrun Hofmann who is chairman of

the Gronau Twinning Association. I

also presented a crystal glass vase

to Frau Sonja Jürgens, the Gronau

Burgermeisterin, on behalf of Broms-

grove District Council. John Ruck,

Bromsgrove’s Civic Head was due to

join us on the visit, but had to cry off

at the last minute. I know that John

was devastated at having to miss the

trip and he has been a very support-

ive friend and member of our Associ-

ation for the last 12 months.

We have a busy social programme

planned for the next few months -

full details can be found elsewhere

in this edition of Link—and we are

looking forward to the visit in July

from our friends in Saint-Sauveur-

Lendelin. Please join us for some of

the social events on the visit pro-

gramme. Full details will be sent to

you shortly.

Please support as many of our

events as you can over the remain-

der of the year and make sure that

you get the most out of your mem-

bership of our Association. I look for-

ward to seeing you.

Roger Westbury, Chairman

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CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF TWINNING WITH GRONAU :

APRIL 2015 VISIT

It was an early start on 8th April for

the 17 of us who assembled at the

Council House at 6.30am to travel

with Harris Coaches to the Channel

Tunnel on our way to Gronau. Twelve

hours later after a good journey we

were en route and eagerly looking

forward to meeting our German

hosts for what was to be a memora-

ble few days of celebration and

friendship. In Gronau we met up with

the other 5 people from Bromsgrove,

making a total of 22.

As always we were warmly greeted at

the Rathaus where we were wel-

comed by Freundeskreis Gronau

chair Heidrun.The evening meals we

enjoyed with our host families were

very welcome and we soon caught

up with local news.

This year’s programme was very in-

teresting and varied. Our first day

was spent in nearby

Enschede where we were offered a

choice of visits. Some chose the

Twentse Welle Museum and Tim

Marshall writes as follows:

Enschede's Cultural Mile

Four years ago my then hosts, the

Kempers, took me to Enschede to

see the new and impressive Twentse

Welle Museum. It was not possible to

do it justice in 2-3 hours so I was

glad to have a second chance to ex-

plore it further with an English

speaking guide.

The vast Museum shows man’s ad-

venture from the last ice age to the

present technological age. There are

interactive presentations, dioramas

as well as countless exhibits, includ-

5

ing a mammoth, farmhouse, and tex-

tile machines through the ages. Many

of these are typical of the area of Gro-

nau as well as Enschede.

This time I was able to have a better

look into some of the hundreds of

drawers which expand holding small-

er items with others displayed in vast

cases.

I also visited the Knowledge and Infor-

mation Centre to look through some

of the old photos, maps, postcards

which showed strong connections

with Gronau.

Next joining the other half of the party

which had been to the Synagogue as

they went down to the other end of

the Cultural Mile to see the Muz-

iekkwartier with its new concert hall,

the opera house and conservatoire

where the bassoonist, whose chair I

endowed in the CBSO, started her

career. Finally we relaxed with a drink

and snack at an Irish bar—I sent my

bassoonist a photo and she con-

firmed that she too had had happy

times there.

Our evening at the Latuchte Kneipe

(pub) in Epe turned out to be a family

games evening with bilingual cha-

rades and Pictionary and enjoyed a

traditional German meal of Frankfur-

ters and potato salad. Congratula-

tions to our members who drew so

well that we managed to guess the

catchphrases.

Day 2 was even more fun as we were

invited to make delicious chocolates

at Das Turmhaus chocolatiers in Sud-

lohn. This new enterprise was started

up by 2 young men, who both love

chocolate and wanted a challenge.

They sought out the best chocolatiers

in Germany and invited them to send

3 new handmade chocolates each

month, choosing the best 15 to make

up a box. They now have a club with

members receiving a monthly selec-

tion throughout the world including

the UK (but only during the winter!).

They make the attractively-decorated

chocolates and run a café/restaurant

which is filled with beautiful glass-

ware. Their cocoa beans are pro-

duced in Peru where a third member

of the team teaches local farmers

how to grow sustainably to get the

most value from their land. Whilst not

Fairtrade Foundation members the

farmers are paid a good price and the

community benefits from payments to

improve the facilities.

We all had a go at making two choco-

lates by rolling the filling in chocolate;

a very easy task with enjoyable re-

sults. After all this `hard’ work we en-

joyed a Munsterland lunch of ham

and cheese with huge slices of deli-

cious cake to follow.

Our final evening was spent at the

Dinkelhof, which now specialises in

Schnitzels; the meal was very good.

The hot news in Gronau this year is

the 16th May unveiling of a public

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statue of Udo Lindenberg, the locally-

born pop star and inspiration behind

the Rock `n’ Pop Museum set up in a

former textile factory turbine hall,

which brings some tourism to the

town.

It was therefore appropriate that

`Udo’ himself should provide our en-

tertainment accompanied by a very

lively all `girl’ dance group.

After the fun came the more serious

business of the exchange of gifts to

mark our 35th anniversary. Roger pre-

sented a cut glass Stourbridge glass

vase and original Twinner Trevor Por-

ter presented a handmade ceramic

plaque by Bromsgrove potter Liz

Clarke to Heidrun on behalf of Broms-

grove Twinning.

We all received anniversary cake in a

jar (to preserve it) and a cookbook

compiled by Gronau Twinners. In her

speech Heidrun took the opportunity

to remind the assembled German

councillors that they could do far

more than they are doing to support

Twinning and there were a few red

faces as she took them to task in her

best headmistressy way.

It was a very happy group, who

reached home on 11th April with lots

of stories for those waiting for them.

Tim Marshall

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David Turner takes a turn for the worse and back again

Our President David Turner was

rushed to 'The Alex' on Tuesday April

21st with suspected pneumonia. He

was so poorly that he was not ex-

pected to pull through. David is

made of strong stuff though! He has

been out but currently is back in. On

the two occasions when I have visited

him at the Alex he has seemed strong

and expecting to return home within

days (with oxygen cylinder). However,

in the meantime he had to return to

the high dependency unit again

where he had antibiotics intra-

venously. It was at this time that

Avery conveyed his welcome to us at

the AGM; she seemed fearful that he

would not recover.

Avery is putting on a very brave face

but she is also feeling the strain of

daily visits and constant setbacks as

above. Get well soon David!

Cllr John Tidmarsh

It is with sadness that the death of long-time twinning member Council-lor JOHN TIDMARSH, District Council-lor for Stoke Prior, was announced last month. Born 12.01.1925, he died 27.03.15 still in office. He served as Bromsgrove District Council Chairman in 2003 for the Conservatives. Throughout WWII he was in Bomber Command. John leaves his adored wife Joan of 68 years, who he looked after through many difficult years. He and Joan at-tended many BDTA AGM's. He was liked and respected by all, even by opposition councillors like myself back in the late '90's. He will be missed by very many of all ages. John was also President of the Worcestershire branch of the aircrew association and President of the Han-bury and Stoke Works branch of the Royal British Legion.

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Dutch Synagogue

On the first morning of the Twinning

visit, about half of us chose to visit

the Synagogue in Enschede. What a

wonderful experience it turned out to

be. We arrived in private cars and

began to assemble outside the im-

pressively large Synagogue, designed

by a Dutch architect. We were

quickly ushered inside, though at the

time we didn’t know why.

This Synagogue is of the Orthodox

tradition which means they abide very

strictly to the 613 rules found in the

Torah (first five books of the Old Tes-

tament) as Jews have done for many

centuries without change.

The main Synagogue room can seat

600 people and indicates that in the

1920’s the Jewish community of En-

schede was a large community of

about 1500 members. This room is

capped by the largest of three copper

domes in oriental style. Other parts

of the site consist of a Rabbi’s house,

offices, classrooms, bathing rooms, a

small theatre, café and gift shop.

Our guide, Margaret, gave a very clear

account of many parts of the main

room and of the Jewish religion. Eve-

rything in the main room is designed

around numbers which have special

meaning in Judaism. They are 3,4,5

including additions and multiplica-

tions of them e.g. 7,10,12,18. 3

stands for the three patriarchs, 5 re-

fers to the name of G’D, (Orthodox

Jews to not write or say the name of

God as we are accustomed to do), 7

symbolises the seven days of crea-

tion. The dimensions of the room and

its furniture, mosaics, zodiac signs,

light/lamps, stained glass windows

even stairs all relate to these num-

bers. The stained glass windows de-

pict Jewish festivals, the six days of

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creation and symbols to do with their

Sabbath.

We were saddened but not surprised

to learn that today the synagogue

only has 120 members and it is still

declining due to the persecution in

the Second World War and after the

emigration of 1945. This results in

the main synagogue room very rarely

being used. For the small numbers

of today, a side room about the size

of a large lounge is used for weekly

Sabbath/Saturday services.

As our visit was shortly after the Jew-

ish Passover (Pesach) festival we

were able to see how a Passover ta-

ble was set out with the kosher

(correct) foods that are eaten.

We finished our tour in the café par-

taking of coffee and cake. There was

a gift shop where you could buy all

manner of Jewish Kosher foods and

many Jewish artefacts.

On leaving the synagogue, on the

opposite side of the road, there

was a small portacabin set up

about 5 feet from the ground. It

was for the police and there were

CCTV cameras attached. Since the

terrorist attacks in Europe on Syn-

agogues this safeguard has been

put in place outside the Syna-

gogue in Enschede. That is why,

on our arrival we were ushered in so quickly so as not to alert the police

to any possible trouble. It brought

home to many of us that even today,

Jews are still persecuted and still live

in the fear of being abused, ridiculed

and insulted because of their religion.

We are all probably shocked by this,

we must also feel great admiration

for the stoicism and faith that people

like Margaret portray.

We are very grateful to our hosts for

arranging this thought-provoking and

sensitive visit.

Adrienne Hall

NB This fear is not new, previous

Jewish neighbours of mine in the UK,

have been living with this fear for a

long time and still do. Sue Douglas

Douglas

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New Year Party 2015 Gemini Choir

As the twelve days of Christmas had

passed, the Gemini Choir was una-

ble to bring members and guests a

selection of traditional music. How-

ever, on a more positive note, it did

afford us the opportunity of singing

other music and entertaining items

from our now extensive repertoire.

Items such as the ‘Jazz Spirituals’,

the military wives' ‘Wherever You

Are’ and Gary Barlow's ‘Sing’. The

audience participation number

‘Cottage in a Wood’ was very enter-

taining for us!!

It was, as always, a pleasure to per-

form for the Association and in par-

ticular to the larger audience this

year, certainly compared with the

dwindling numbers for previous

Christmas parties. Perhaps the later

date after all is more favourable to

members. Time will tell. We look

forward to performing for you again

on 11 January 2016.

Philip Morris

Inter–town Twinning Quiz 2015

Having come second in last year's

competition, Bromsgrove were able

to field 2 teams for this years Inter-

Town Quiz. It was held in Droitwich,

as their German Association were

last years winners.

We had a very pleasant evening in

the All Saints Church Hall. There

were a total of 7 teams. Sometimes

we surprised ourselves with the facts

that were buried deep, but it was not

enough. One of the Bromsgrove

teams finished second. The winners

were Droitwich French Twinning Asso-

ciation, so next year we will be head-

ing back down the M5 for the replay.

A good evening's fun was had by all.

We came away feeling that we'd done

well by coming second (again) but

without the pressure of having to or-

ganise next years event. There was a

very friendly atmosphere and Droit-

wich made us very welcome. If you

enjoy the challenge of a good quiz,

come along next year.

If you can't wait until next year, join

us at our own Quiz and Sausage

Evening at Bromsgrove Sporting Club-

house in September.

Shelagh O’Loughlin

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LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARDAGM 2015

At this year's AGM on Friday 15th May Bromsgrove and District Twin-ning Association members looked back on a year full of activity. The highlight of the year was the celebra-tion of 35 years of twinning with Gro-nau, Germany when Bromsgrove Twinners visited the town in April. All BDTA's officers were re-elected so Roger Westbury remains as Chair with Janet King as Vice-chair, Sue Douglas as Secretary and Judith Ste-phenson as Treasurer. In the normal course of events I will become our new Chair at the next AGM. In his annual report the chair thanked his Executive Committee for their hard work and spoke of the opportu-nities afforded by town twinning. Sev-eral members had provided accom-modation for a French student who came to Bromsgrove to improve his spoken English and gain some work experience. We are likely to get many more requests like this in the future as it is now a school requirement.

Monthly fund-raising and social events throughout the year had re-sulted in a healthy bank balance and closer friendships. Skittles, the inter-town quiz, a boules match with fellow Twinners in Redditch, a pantomime visit to Droitwich Norbury Theatre, the annual dinner on Bastille Day and a very successful visit to St. Sauveur - Lendelin in Normandy all contributed to a very enjoyable year. In addition, to raise BDTA's profile in Bromsgrove the Association had or-ganised a stall for the Elizabethan Street Market. Also Roger and Shelagh have given talks to local WIs with the aim of finding new members and shortly the local U3A group. This summer we will be offering hos-pitality to a German student, who will be working at Birmingham Museums Trust to improve her language skills. We are looking forward to another year of friendship and fun with our friends in Europe.

Janet King

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BDTA Forthcoming Events 2015

Date Event Organiser

July 5 Spring Walk meet All Saints Church CP

10.30am or Waitrose long-term CP Droit-

wich, on R, L off Saltway, at 10.45am.

Barbara Murphy

July 11-13 Visitors from Saint Sauveur-Lendelin Roger Westbury

Aug 7 Boules match & meal, Redditch Rugby Club

at 6.30pm.

Ivor Stephenson

Sept 25 Quiz & Sausage Festival at Bromsgrove

Sporting Club

Phil & Jane Baker

Roger Westbury

Oct 30 Skittles Evening at Catshill Social Club Phil & Jane Baker

Jan 9

2016

New Year Party, Barnt Green Parish Centre Roger Westbury

Shelagh O’Loughlin