It was 28 years ago, in June 1987 that the first group of friends from our twin church, the Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche in Recklinghausen, came to visit us. The Pastor, Siegfried Ermlich, and four of his congregation travelled to Preston in one car. Since 1987 there have been thirteen visits to and fro between Preston and Recklinghausen, with rather larger numbers travelling by rail and sea and air - and sometimes by camper van!

The most recent visit took place in June this year, when church members hosted visitors of all ages, six of them under twenty. Some were familiar friends, with others, including Pastor Sven Kockrick, making their first visit to England. Edelgard and Bert came by camper van, planning to stay on and tour after their visit to Preston, and Pretti’s daughter Nina came a day later by coach. The others arrived at Manchester Airport in the afternoon of Wednesday, June 3rd, and took the train to Preston, where they were met at the station by their hosts. The evening was spent with their hosts, getting to know each other or renewing old friendships.

On Thursday morning the party visited the Town Hall and the Mayor’s Parlour and admired the city regalia. As the Mayor of Recklinghausen had visited shortly before, a translation of the information had already been prepared and proved very useful. Lunch at our church, prepared by the catering team, provided an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other. Our Superintendent Minister, Revd. Mark Slaney, was able to join us too. In the afternoon we had a guided tour of the Museum of Lancashire, where there is a lot to see and a lot to learn about the social and industrial history of the county and about its ecology. The evening was spent with host families and activities varied according to age and interests.

Our Friday visit was to Lancaster. We started off at Williamson Park at the Butterfly House, where there were not only exotic butterflies of all sizes and colours and stages of development, but also terrapins and even baby quail for us to admire. There was a wedding scheduled for the Ashton Memorial in the early afternoon, but we were able to go inside and admire the building and the views from the windows. We had planned a picnic lunch in the park and picnic we did, but the wind was cold and we had to look hard for a sheltered spot. After lunch we visited Lancaster Castle. We had an excellent guide and learned some fascinating facts about the history of the castle up to the present day. Some of the exhibits were rather gruesome, and the former prison cells, in use until quite recently, seemed very Victorian, but we really enjoyed seeing the flowers that had been specially planted a few hours before the Queen’s visit the previous day! The programme allowed for some free time in town. The younger members of the party wanted to shop, but the older among us decided we wanted to warm up at a Fairtrade coffee shop Anne knew. We can recommend it! On the way home we did the traditional thing, stopping at a fish and chip restaurant which offered a wide choice to satisfy all different tastes.

Some of our Recklinghausen guests had expressed a wish to see the sea, so for Saturday a trip to Blackpool - where else? - was planned, with a tram ride and an opportunity for a walk along the prom and the pier, before lunch at the Central Methodist Church. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t very kind to us. On the return journey we spent some time in Lytham for a rather different seaside experience. Saturday evening saw a Social, which was an opportunity for a wider circle of church members to meet our guests, and we were pleased that so many came along, although we would have loved to see more, especially younger people as company for our younger visitors. Malcolm welcomed everyone at the start of the evening and said grace before we sat down to our meal. (Thank you to Broadway Pantry for the excellent hotpot and the catering team for organisation on the night!). John Gregory was an excellent MC and contributed greatly to a very successful evening. Roy Smith organised dances which everyone enjoyed, Veronica a game which involved teams of mixed ages and nationalities, and Edelgard, Bert and Veronica had devised a quiz in which the Germans had to answer questions about the UK and we had to show our knowledge of Germany. Quite often the questions got mixed up, which only added to the fun, and just about everybody won a prize. Between times we could sit and relax and enjoy Christine with her handbells, Thomas Deiss with his recorder, and Geoff Oldham’s comic song. The evening ended with the whole party joining hands to sing an unseasonal but yet appropriate Auld Lang Syne.

On Sunday morning we were joined by Jurgen Voges from the Preston Twinning Committee for our service which, as it was both a communion and a baptism service, was particularly interesting for our visitors, especially Pastor Sven. Thanks to John Butterworth we were able to set up a Skype link with the church in Recklinghausen, where we shared with the congregation there the beginning of our service and the end of theirs. Thomas played his recorder for us while the offering was taken up and Sven, feeling much more confident about his English after his few days with us, didn’t need the help he had originally asked for with his speech as he handed over the Recklinghausen church’s gift to us, the candle which you can see on the prayer table. After the service there was a Jacob’s Join lunch which was a further opportunity for the congregation to meet the visitors. The afternoon was spent with hosts: some visited Avenham and Miller Parks, others Brockholes Nature Reserve. In the evening we were entertained to a meal at Duk-Pond by our guests, where the range and variety of food was much enjoyed. All the usual speeches were made, the visitors were given mementoes of Preston and we said our farewells, as the party was leaving the following morning; Edelgard and Bert in their camper van, the others by train to Manchester airport.

Everyone who took part in any way in this visit by our friends enjoyed the experience and our thanks are due to very many people, Special thanks must go to Jackie Clarke and Anne Garsed who put so much time and effort into making everything work. We are all looking forward to the return visit to Recklinghausen in 2017, and hope that more people will join us then, especially younger people; the congregation in Recklinghausen covers a wide age range. We know that the timing of this visit was not ideal, clashing with the exam period, and we hope to find a time in 2017 which will encourage more people to come along and experience life in Germany and maintain this 28 year long friendship between two Methodist churches. You won’t regret it - German hospitality is wonderful!

Libby Stone