6:45 am on Saturday, 26^th May, and nine of us had gathered at Preston Railway Station: Rev. Jane & Verity Wild, Moira Black, Jackie Clarke, Veronica Frost, Anne Garsed, Elsie Hastwell, Libby Stone and Sandra Waterhouse. Geoff & Chris Oldham and John & Ellen Gregory had set off earlier in the week, travelling by car, as they planned to extend their holiday: the Oldhams in Germany and the Gregorys in France. They would meet up with us that evening in Recklinghausen.

Jane had prepared quite a challenging quiz to keep us entertained on the journey, but it wasn’t until the journey home that most of us got to work on it. Moira, Jackie and Libby found themselves sharing their table with a large Persian cat (in a carrier, fortunately) which was being taken to London to be handed over to its new owner at Euston Station.

St Pancras Station was hot and crowded, so we were glad to get onto the Eurostar to Brussels, where we changed for Cologne. There we would have about an hour and a half to wait but the station is close to the cathedral and those who hadn’t been there before were able to go and have a look at it while the rest of us sat in the square, in the sun, and minded the luggage.

So far, so good..........The last part of the journey wasn’t so easy on account of delays and the fact that the train wouldn’t be stopping at Recklinghausen after all. However, we managed to let our hosts know what was happening and we were met and driven to the Church where our hosts welcomed us, late as we were.

We met up again at the Church on Sunday morning for a German-English Service led by Pastor Sven and Jane, with translation where necessary. It helped that the hymn books had the words in both languages! We also sang an English hymn, accompanied by Verity on her ukulele. Jane presented Sven with our gift to the Church – a glass tea light holder engraved with the Methodist symbol.

We shared communion, standing in a circle around the table, as the congregation is somewhat smaller than at Fulwood. Lunch and, of course, coffee and cake, were eaten either in the Church foyer or in the garden, as the weather was fine. Then we were taken by cars to the Halternsee for a boat trip. The lake was lovely and we enjoyed the scenery from the upper deck, watching the boats, the water birds and the people on the various beaches. However, it soon clouded over and began to rain, so that one by one we went down to the covered lower deck – all but Jane, Verity and Chris, who hoped in vain that their umbrellas would keep them dry. Just after disembarking the thunder came, so we quickly got back into the cars. Edelgard and Bert remembered there was a cafe on a working farm not far away and most of us ended the afternoon enjoying delicious cakes and visiting the small chapel there, where a beautiful flower arrangement attracted Veronica’s attention - so you may see something similar at Fulwood one day.

On the Monday we were welcomed by the Mayor of Recklinghausen, who had returned the previous day from a visit to their twin town in Israel. Unfortunately the reception couldn’t be held in the Town Hall as renovation work was being carried out, but we were made very welcome in a civic building opposite. The Mayor spoke about the importance of international links at all levels and presented us all with lapel badges showing the Recklinghausen crest. Then he surprised us. He said that, as the new Mayor four years ago, he had wanted a gift suitable for all ages, that might even become a collectable in the future. He chose a yellow rubber duck, but not any old duck! The design is changed each year and they are only made for him to present. This year’s design is a Knight Duck to commemorate 1,000 years of the town – Sir Duckalot is Veronica’s name for hers!

Our gift to the town was a framed poster of the A - Z of Preston, purchased from the Harris Museum shop. Jackie Clarke did all the research on facts about each letter’s motif, and this was typed up and attached to the reverse side. This can be found here.

Following a picnic in the Church garden we separated to do different things with our hosts: some to visit the town park and zoo; some to look around the town centre and the shops, and all to have cold drinks and ice creams as the temperature was very high. We met again at the Church for a shared meal and then a social evening, where highlights included games led by Ellen and John – very much enjoyed by all, but especially by the children; songs by Geoff and Chris and Jane playing the Northumbrian pipes and teaching everyone to dance Strip the Willow.

Tuesday was a very full day: we used buses and the underground to get to Herne and visit Strunkende Castle, where we were given a guided tour, then on to Lutherkirche for lunch. This was the German equivalent of fish and chips! Curryworst (sausage in spicy sauce) and chips, with coffee and cake to follow. In the afternoon we visited an interesting exhibition at the Archaeological Museum and in the evening everyone got together for the last time at a Greek restaurant not far from the Church, where we could say goodbye and thank our hosts for their kindness and hospitality. We look forward to seeing many of them here in Fulwood in 2020.

We left Recklinghausen on Wednesday morning, just before eight o’clock, and had no problems on the return journey, with plenty of time in Brussels to eat the very generous packed lunches our hosts had provided. From London we managed to get the last off-peak train to Preston and didn’t care that it went via Birmingham and took about three hours. It meant we could do more of Jane’s quiz, though it’s not certain how many of us actually finished it!

We all enjoyed our time in Recklinghausen, renewing old friendships and making new ones, which all helps to foster understanding and good will. Especially we would like to thank Anne Garsed for all the work she put into organising the visit, liaising with Thomas in Germany and booking our travel arrangements. We also owe much to the tallest members of the group: Jane, Verity and Veronica, for their help in getting our luggage on and off the high racks in European trains!