a bracing post christmas walk! · droitwich spa german twinning group page 5 spring 2015...

Droitwich Spa German Twinning Group page 1 SPRING 2015

BAD EMS DROITWICH SPA

A Bracing Post-Christmas Walk!


DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Friday May 22nd to Tuesday 26th May – Bedspring 2015 Sunday 26th July – Garden Party at Salwarpe Village Hall Saturday 26th September – Antiques Evening Wednesday 18th November – AGM, Community Hall, 19:30. Saturday 21st November – Coach trip to Winchester.

OMBERSLEY WALK. The final social event of 2014 was a Post-Christmas walk, held on Monday 29th December, which started and ended in Ombersley, followed by lunch at The Honey Bee in Doverdale. Sixteen intrepid twinners (and one dog) arrived at Ombersley on a very cold and frosty morning. Everyone arrived on time, and were well wrapped up against the cold. We set off walking north through Ombersley, then crossed a very quiet A449 and continued along Haye Lane towards Had-ley. After a short stretch along the A4133 Droitwich Road, we turned off and headed south. After a stop for refreshments, where we were watched from a nearby tree by a friendly Robin, we skirted around Knight's Grove and on to Sinton Lane. The A449 was much busier, and a kami-kazi dash got us back across. We were soon back at our cars, and having worked up an appe-tite, were ready for lunch. So next, we drove the few miles to The Honey Bee at Doverdale, where we were joined by several twinners for lunch. Upon arrival, I thought that the place seemed familiar, and found that it used to be called The Ripper-idge, which I had been to several times in the past. Once everyone had arrived, our lunch order was placed, and our meals arrived surprisingly quickly and were very good. Many thanks go to Peter Field for organising this event. Peter had tried to organise a couple of walks previous to this one, but had to cancel them due to lack of support, so it was good that this one could go ahead. It was really nice to get out and have some exercise after Christmas.


All photos of the walk were taken by Ian Peden.

Above: The walkers had just crossed the A449 at the north end of Ombersley.

Above: The walkers gather in a cold Ombersley. Below: Well on the way!


A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRMAN.

Monday Bank Holiday finally saw our winter reluctantly take a back seat giving us the best weekend weather this year. Many of us will have spent time in our gardens and allotments sowing seeds and planting out flowers and vegetables all of which we hope will enhance the rest of the summer months.

Over in Bad Ems there has been some preparation too. We have it on good authority that we will be well entertained during our forthcoming visit, including a boat trip and other social events but also lots of “free time” to enjoy the company of our hosts at our own pace.

May I conclude by adding my condolences to Annaliese whose husband Willi Diel passed away recently. Willi was involved in sowing the first seeds of twinning between our two towns.

May I wish all our twinners a healthy and enjoyable summer.

See you all in Bad Ems

Peter Gilfeather (Chairman)

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 Tuesday 30th June for inclusion in the next newsletter, due out in the Summer. Penny and Will Owens 01905 381757 Our web site - www.droitwich-twinning.freeservers.co.uk


VALENTINE'S DAY The Valentine's Day social event was held this year on Saturday 14th February 2015 at the Community Hall in Droitwich. We arrived to find that the tables had all been nicely decorated with red hearts and flowers as a centrepiece. On each table were three pages of quiz questions, and an-swer forms for later. So we settled in to our places, tried to answer the quiz, and soon the meal of Fish and Chips was delivered. For afters, there was a very good selection of homemade puddings, provided by twinning members, and many of us went back for seconds (or thirds!). After the meal, we had "The Great Twinning Game Show", hosted by the Morris brothers, David and Richard. This opened with a quiz, which in-cluded questions asking which 10 countries had scored "Nul Points" in the Eurovision Song Contest, and to name all 12 winners of Strictly Come Dancing. The quiz was followed by the Twinning Bake-off. Each table was given a small cake, a variety of decorations, a tube of instant cream and a tin foil plate, and had to produce a valentine cake. Each of the six tables pro-duced a unique design, and Adrienne had a hard job to pick a winner. The final event was "Pot the Penguin". Each contestant had two toy pen-guins. There were three bins placed about ten feet away, and the idea was to throw the penguin into a bin. It sounds simple, but was not that easy, and only a small number of penguins were actually potted, although Pat Jacobs potted both of hers! The evening finished with the raffle, which had a large selection of prizes. It was a wonderful evening, greatly enjoyed by those who attended. Our thanks go to David and Richard for the entertainment, Adrienne for organizing the event, those who provided the puddings and those who helped set up and put away the tables and chairs.

WILLI DIEL We have been informed that Willi Diel has passed away. A card has been sent on behalf of Twinning with our condolences to his wife Anneliese. Willi Diel will be greatly missed both here and in Bad Ems.We held each other in high esteem and affection. I believe it was his puckish sense of fun that originally coined the phrase " gang of four" to describe the Droit-wich delegation back in the day. He has gone to the great fire station in the sky. Dennis Beasley


Above and Below: “Pot the Penguin”

Above: The six cakes are dis-played. Below: The winner!


INTER TOWN TWINNING QUIZ The annual Inter Town Twinning Quiz was held on Friday 27th March. As winners of the previous year's quiz, it was our honour to host this year's event, which was held at the Sacred Heart. The quiz was hosted by David Pearson, who as always did an excellent job. A total of 9 teams took part in the quiz. There were 10 rounds of 10 questions. After the first 6 rounds, we had a break for supper, which consisted of a selection of cheeses, crackers and bread, pork pie, tomatoes and pickle. During supper, we completed round 7 of the quiz, which was a picture round where we had to identify 10 paint-ings and their artists. The winning team consisted of Steve and Gloria Harper, with their friends Dave, Dot, Lynn and Val. They scored 85 out of a possible 100, and won by a margin of 6 points. They each won a box of mini-eggs. However, only an Official Town team could win the trophy, and the winners were the Droitwich French Twinning team. The trophy was presented by Peter Gilfeather, our chairman, to their captain Mike Johns. Many thanks to Adrienne and her team for providing the very good supper, which we enjoyed very much.

TRIP TO BAD EMS 2015 38 twinners will travel by plane, car and train for the visit to Bad Ems. We understand that the Bad Ems Committee have organized another in-teresting visit concluding with a trip on a river boat. A request from Bad Ems is for a tin of Post Office Red paint to spruce up the telephone box. This will be purchased and transported to Bad Ems. I am sure that lots of photos and reports will appear in the next newslet-ter. Joyce Holliday


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

Above: Droitwich German Twinning Chairman Peter Gilfeather presents the Inter Town Trophy to the Captain of the Droitwich French Twinning team, Mike Johns.

Anneliese and Willi Diel, Bad Ems 2013

Presentation by Droitwich Spa Town Council to Willi Diel in appreciation of his prominent role in the Twinning of Bad Ems and Droitwich Spa. 1992

Right: Mike Johns proudly displays the trophy.

a bracing post christmas walk! · droitwich spa german twinning group page 5 spring 2015...

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