VISITORS from Itzehoe in Germany were welcomed to Cirencester for a brief visit over the Easter weekend as part of a twinning scheme.

The partnership between the two towns is now 35 years old with some friendships having spanned many years, though in recent years activity has slowed.

In order to try and combat this, the Cirencester Twinning Association has been working hard to re-establish and build stronger links with partners Itzhoe, St Genis Laval and La Couronne.

The Easter weekend visit was the result of money raised from a calendar sales project, which has allowed for a coach full of friends from the German town.

For many of the German guests, it was their first visit to the Cotswolds.

The 26 visitors arrived on Friday (April 14) for a welcome ceremony at Watermoor Primary School, before having a guided tour of Cirencester on Saturday.

The tour included a stop off at the Parish Church where the German guests added bricks to the LEGO model of the Abbey.

The rest of the visit included a trip to the Corinium Museum, as well as a Cotswold Villages Tour of Bibury and Filkins before afternoon tea at Fairford Community Centre, where they met town mayor Jennie Sanford.

Cllr Sanford welcomed Renate Wilms-Marzisch, chair of the Itzehoe Partnerschafts-Verein, who presented her with a bottle of Itzehoe wine.

Jennie and Jo Wood, chair of CTA, and two other CTA members were then invited to cut the four special cakes made of Königsberg marzipan depicting Cirencester Parish Church and St Laurentii Church in Itzehoe.

Jo said: “Each year, the Itzehoe town will invite members of the CTA to their Weinfest wine festival at the end of May and to the Christmas Markets.

"They are the most wonderful trips and are an opportunity to forge new friendships, learn another language and understand a different culture.”

The visitors headed to Gloucester to see the cathedral and docks on Monday before saying ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ today.

Twinning partnerships involve reciprocal hostings and opportunities to share experiences amongst local people with an international interest.

Visit cirencestertwinningassociation.org.uk for more information.