The Association runs an annual Orchestral and Jazz music workshop. It is a great opportunity for young musicians to make friends and play music together. Our standards are high and with 17 years experience behind us we know how to ensure cracking performances at the end of the weekend!

Registration is now open for the 2013 music workshops. Please download the Registration Form. We would ideally like to have them in at the end of May, but do let us know if you have problems making a decision this early – there is some flexibility. Download a copy of the letter to parents/musicians.

The orchestral workshop is being run by Chris Walker. This experienced teacher and conductor, is supported by a team of sectional specialists to ensure that everyone gets the most from the weekend. We always aim to have a full symphony orchestra with all the instruments covered and have been successful in achieving this in previous years. The orchestra learns to play a program of about an hour over the course of the weekend. This is performed on Sunday evening in the Christchurch Centre in Henley.

The Jazz workshop consists of group tuition. Groups consisting of a rhythm section and front line players are taught pieces and improvisation techniques, leading up to a performance on Monday evening in the Eyot Centre. We are lucky to have Steve Waterman, Andy Crowdy, Thorsten Lehmann and another German tutor teaching this workshop. The German tutors are all fluent English speakers and a translator is on-hand just in case there is any linguistic confusion. View at the provisional schedule of the weekend.

The German visitors stay in the homes of the English young people taking part in the workshops and every effort is made to match up according to age and instrument played. We have had lots of success with young people and sometimes whole familes making friendships that last well beyond the workshops. Hard work and fun in equal measure! The German visitors normally go into school/college with their hosts on Friday and we take all the German visitors out for a day’s sightseeing on Monday. The rest of the weekend is spent making music. There is not a lot of time for other activities and the young people are usually tired from a long day, so please don’t try to organise too much extra. A chance for small groups to get together round each other’s houses or at one of the local restaurants is usually all that is needed.

If you would like to find out more, please get in touch via hltamusicworkshop@gmail.com

The Knitting Circle (Strickkreis) is going from strength to strength. One new member, Jo, hadn’t knitted in a while and brought along a jumper project that had been sitting in her cupboard waiting to be finished. Being motivated by the chance to engage with fellow knitters, Jo was really pleased she joined. Jo contacted Carol this week to give her an update. “This photo is proof that I finished my jumper project. Thanks for your help. I may start another one soon – watch this space!”

By popular request, the Knitting Circle (Strickkreis) is expanding to encompass other crafts and activities. From now on, the monthly knit-and-natter group will be known as the Craft Group. The knitters will be joined by some spinners at the next meeting. Do come along and join us.!

Neuerdings hat die Henley-Leichlingen Twinning Association einen deutschen Stammtisch gegründet. Ziel des Trinkkreises ist es, dass man seine Deutschkenntnisse in einer freundlichen und lockeren Atmosphäre üben kann. Über Gott und die Welt wird auf Deutsch diskutiert. Leute aller Sprachniveaus sind herzlich willkommen.

Der allererste Trinkkreis fand gestern Abend statt. Gesprächsthemen reichten von Karneval in Köln/Leichlingen über die Kunstausstellung im Goethe Institut bis hin zu allgemeinem Geplauder.

Der Trinkkreis trifft sich am letzten Freitag im Monat um 20 Uhr im Pub “Bird in Hand” in der Greys Road, Henley. Weitere Details finden Sie unter dem Rubrik “Events & Visits” auf dieser Website.

Wir freuen uns, Sie beim nächsten Treffen dabei zu sehen!

I was at the annual New Year’s reception of the British-German Association last night. It was held in the magnificent former East German embassy building in Belgrave Square, London.

The Association holds a number of events throughout the year; this year’s programme includes a piano recital in the Mayfair showroom of the famous German piano-maker, Blüthner, and an art lecture on the ‘new’ Berlin. Check out our events page for more details.

The town of Henley has been very generously given an apple sculpture by the German delegation of The Henley Club that visited us from Leichlingen at the beginning of June.

The sculpture weighs around 175lb and took German artist Helga Potthoff some 200 hours to make. The apple was unveiled by Mayor Elizabeth Hodgkin, and sits in pride of place in a flower bed in Gravel Hill. Watch the video below to relive the unveiling ceremony:

“It’s a fantastic present. It was a bit of shock when we found out about it — it’s not often you are presented with an 80kg apple. But we had a great conversation with the town council and this site, with the flower arrangement that’s going to be put around it for Henley in Bloom, will be really constructive.”
Patrick Fleming, Chairman of the HLTA

The apple has already attracted much comment from local residents in both Henley and Leichlingen. Below, you’ll find some links to the press coverage:

• Germans give us 175lb apple sculpture (Henley Standard, 18 June 2012)

Carol stepped down at the AGM last year as Chairman of the Twinning Association I would like to thank her personally and on behalf of the committee and members for the contribution she has made over the last six years. I would also like to thank Peter for taking on the duties of Chairman for the first half of the year whilst I discharged my sailing club duties.

Membership

Our membership at the end of 2011 stands at 53 of whom three are corporate and of the remaining members slightly over half joined last year because of the music workshop. It is our ambition to spread twinning more widely and I would particularly like to welcome new members David & Beccy who joined the visit to Leichlingen last year and have also gone on to join the committee and set up our new website.

Town Visit

It has been a busy year with varied activities, starting with the visit to Leichlingen in May. Mayor Jeni Wood and her husband Barry were part of the group which was joined by the Ladies’ Band Nine Lives. They were a great hit when they performed at a dinner at the Stadthalle on the Saturday evening. On the Saturday afternoon the group were taken to Haus Vorst – a very interesting house in a beautiful setting on the edge of Leichlingen which was the home of a German painter and part of which is now a museum.

Music Workshop’s community P.R.

We are very keen to spread the word about our music workshops and a group of the young musicians did brilliant work playing for the mayor’s dinner. This in turn lead to an invitation to play at Lady McAlpine’s summer fete.

Summer Garden party

The garden party held, together with our friends from the Falaise Twinning, on July proved a success in spite of the weather. The association’s marquee with its new cover provided shelter from the showers.

Leichlingen Committee Visit

We welcomed the Leichlingen committee in the summer for a visit to Henley to discuss future visits between our towns; one of the issues addressed was why we cannot get more people interested in visiting
Leichlingen. We have great success with Music, Swimming and Football. The Gillotts School exchange takes place each year and we will be seeking ways of encouraging more people to take part in the main exchange in the future. (All ideas welcome)

Music Workshops

As always the music workshops held in September were a great success and enjoyed by all who participated and listened. At the Orchestra Workshop Concert at Christ Church, we were given a well polished and varied programme. The Jazz workshop had to re-locate at short notice to the Eyot Canoe club and this concert also proved to be a great success. We had a total of 70 young musicians taking part in the
orchestra and 37 in the jazz, with 40 young musicians coming over from Leichlingen.

Football

I was very pleased to watch the triumph of the Henley FC over the visitors from Leichlingen. Both sides played well and the Henley team proved their superiority early on with good ball control and attacking play

Autumn Party

This was a very sociable evening run in conjunction with the Falaise twinning group. It gave the opportunity to talk to other members in the pleasant surroundings of the Margaret Day room.

Christmas Fayre

We continued with the same format as last year. However this year with increased overheads due to insurance and material costs, we returned only a small profit. The committee is considering how we present ourselves at this event this year with greater emphasis on spreading the ideas of twinning.

Trees

I hope you saw the cheerful photo in the Henley Standard of the Mayor dedicating the trees that we had been given by the Leichlingen group when they visited in 2010. We planted the five fruit trees in the Transition Forest on “40 acre” field by Pack and Prime Lane. This should be a fitting place for them as people start to harvest fruit and nuts from the new wood.

Website www.henleytwinning.co.uk

This now exists thanks to the work of David & Beccy. You will now be able to book events and share photos online! We will also use it as a showcase for interesting stories and information about the twinning and the towns of Henley and Leichlingen. We will also include photos of past visits and links to the websites of other groups and societies involved in twinning activities, like the Henley music group and orchestra. Existing members will be able to access the exclusive Members’ Area, where they can reserve tickets for forthcoming events, access minutes of past meetings and update their contact details. Check the site regularly to stay up-to-date with the latest news and events. If you have any ideas for articles or content, please get in touch with David Wheatley or Beccy Cunningham (info@henleytwinning.co.uk).

We envisage sharing this website in the future with the Falaise twinning and Borama friendship group, and with other organisations that promote international links.

Looking forward to 2012/13

Recruitment is one of the key areas the committee will concentrate on this year. We are setting a target of 10 new members for 2012 and we plan to organise our events with this goal in mind.

I would like to note a twinning activity that has been taking place on and off since the association was founded. In March Gillotts school will welcome a group of Year 8 children from the Gymnasium in Leichlingen and this is reciprocated with a trip to Leichlingen in April. I hope we will have a full report of this on the website in due course. We are in the middle of organising the visit from Leichlingen to Henley which will run from the 7th to the 10th of June. This will include a trip to Oxford on the Friday and a garden party at 21 Berkshire Road on the Saturday. The music exchange this year is in Leichlingen and will take place from the 27th September to the 2nd October. We hope to recruit young people from local schools for this and we are promoting the event during the Henley Youth Festival this month.

Patrick Fleming
Chairman

When last year’s delegation from Leichlingen visited, they brought with them a very special present: five fruit trees.

These trees have now been planted in the Henley New Forest, which has been created as part of the Henley in Transition project.

Leichlingen is known as die Blütenstadt (town of the blossom) thanks to its history as a major fruit-growing centre in North-Rhine Westphalia.

“The idea is that people will come out and harvest (if the squirrels don’t get there first!)”

Patrick Fleming, Chairman of HLTA

A reminder that next year’s visit to Henley has been fixed for Thursday evening 7th June to Sunday morning 11th June; they anticipate again bringing quite a large group so we will be seeking as many hosts as possible to accommodate them – please therefore put the date in your diaries now if you haven’t already done so.

A Short History

The Henley-Leichlingen Twinning Association was founded in 1979 with the aim of fostering friendship and understanding between the people of the Henley district and those of Leichlingen, which lies on the River Wupper in the German Rhineland. Regular group exchange visits are arranged and other visits, especially by young people, are encouraged so as to broaden the understanding of the sporting, musical, educational and commercial activities of the two communities.

Visitors in both directions usually stay with families in the town and many firm friendships have developed as a result. When you visit Leichlingen, centre of the fruit and flower growing region, your German hosts will delight in showing you the town itself and the beautiful surrounding upland scenery, as well as the nearby cities of Dusseldorf and Cologne. Knowledge of the German language is not essential, although it can make visits more rewarding and enjoyable.

The Committee

You can contact the committee via email: info@henleytwinning.co.uk. Alternatively, please use the contact form on the website.

We continue to flourish and we currently have a membership of around 80 families from Henley and surrounding villages. The committee meets around six times a year. Events have a sub-committee assigned to them, which often include members not on the committee.

Highlights of 2011

Another eventful year has passed. We welcomed the Leichlingers for a brilliant visit in May. The weather was very kind to us and they enjoyed their coach trip around the West Country. The dinner and dance at the Golf Club was very successful and was a good celebration of our 30 years together. As this visit was quite late in the year, we decided to
forgo the summer garden party. It will make it all the more special this year!

Mandy Beard and I took 35 young musicians to Leichlingen for the annual Music Workshop weekend. The Jazz Workshop was amazing in quality and turnout. We had four full groups and the overall standard was very high. Both the Orchestral Workshop Concert and the Jazz Concert were well attended and all the young people had a very good time.

Our joint Twinning Association Autumn Party was well organised by the Falaise and Borama committee in the Christ Church Centre. Attendance was good and we were very happy to welcome the Mayor and consort. It is a great opportunity for the members of each association to meet and chat.

We were thrilled to see John Hooper honoured in Leichlingen this year with a special town medal presented by the Burgermeister. He has been encouraging the football team’s exchange for many years and it is wonderful to see him honoured in this way. We hope that Henley Town Council may follow suit in due course.

We are very sad to say goodbye to a couple of stalwart committee members. Derek Toms has manfully wrestled with our accounts and has now decided that the lure of travel is far greater than that of our accounts. We thank him sincerely for serving on the committee and wish him and Liz well in their travels.

Richard Bradley has also decided to step back from the committee. He originally came onto the committee 5 years ago to act as liaison for the Henley Symphony Orchestra’s visit to Leichlingen for the 25 year anniversary. We obviously did something right that he stayed, but he now has taken on more responsibilities on the HSO committee and needs to focus on that. We thank him hugely for his support. We will miss his wise council.

The coming year looks like it will be eventful as usual. Our focus is going to have to be getting more people onto the committee to spread the workload a little. We are planning an open brainstorming meeting soon to which all organisations and interested parties will be invited to create a plan for the next years.

The Kantorei Choir will be singing the Brahms Requiem on Friday 4th March at St Mary’s at 3pm with the Henley Choral Society. There are already plans for a return visit in 2012. One of the music workshop jazz groups has been invited to play at the Mayor’s Annual Dinner. We are planning our visit to Leichlingen and it looks like we will have a party of around 20 people to take over there. We are also looking forward to welcoming Andreas Genschel and the music workshop students to Henley. We are hoping our application to the EU for funding will be successful. There will also be our usual social events of the Garden Party in the summer and our Autumn get together. The German Circle and German Literary group also have fortnightly meetings throughout the year.

The last 6 years as chairman have been very fulfilling and I am happy to hand over the role to Patrick Fleming and to take up the Treasurer’s role. We look forward to another wonderful year of friendship and fun!