Friendship will endure Brexit

There was great interest in the future of Scotland in Europe when twin town friends met at Motherwell Park.

Brexit was a big topic of discussion during the recent visit by North Lanarkshire (Motherwell) to its twin town of Schweinfurt in Germany.

The Burgerreise visit was organised by the Friends of Schweinfurt Twinning Association and involved residents of Motherwell, Wishaw, Cleland and Shotts.

There were questions about the future of the twinning partnership, but North Lanarkshire provost Jim Robertson made assurances in the local newspaper that the friendship would continue.

He pointed out the twinning had begun between the Burgh of Motherwell and Schweinfurt 54 years ago, long before Britain was part of the EU.

A visit to Motherwell Park in Schweinfurt by the Burgerreise group was one of a number of outings during the eight day trip.

There was also a walking tour of the city, with a reception hosted by burgermeister Sonya Lippert, and a trip to the Wildlife Park in Schweinfurt which is home to Helen the Highland cow, named after former Times & Speaker reporter Helen Russell, who is secretary of the twinning association.

Uwe Walther, chairman of the Friends of North Lanarkshire Twinning Association, invited the group for lunch and they also accepted an invitation by Marion Both to a community event involving Syrian people living in Schweinfurt.

They also went to the towns of Rothenburg, Bamberg and Sennfeld, in the latter they met with mayor Emil Heinemann, who visited Motherwell eight years ago.

Schweinfurt is also twinned with Chateaudun in France and the Burgerreise Group were guests of the Friends of Chateaudun Twinning Association at a garden party to mark Bastille Day.