Lewes Mayor, Councillor Shirley Sains visited Lewes’ twinned town of Blois in France in October to attend a twinning summit. She met the Mayor of Blois, Marc Gricourt and Philipp Frank, Mayor of Waldshut-Tiengen along with representatives of the twinning and partnership committees, as part of a three town summit.

The three towns have not had a chance to all meet since the Covid-19 pandemic, and therefore have not had the opportunity to plan celebrations of upcoming anniversaries of their partnerships. 2023 will be the sixtieth anniversary of Lewes’ twinning with Blois, and 2024 will see the fiftieth anniversary of the partnership between Waldshut-Tiengen and Lewes.

The Mayor said “I joined the Mayors of Blois and Waldshut-Tiengen in talks to further the aims and ambitions of our respective communities to forge strong cultural links and to plan for the resumption of exchanges throughout the year.

“This meeting followed the successful visit I had with Dr Phillip Frank, Oberburgermeister of Waldshut-Tiengen in July. At that meeting we found that we were in accord in our desire to see our towns join together in friendship, and a hope that our young people are as keen to re-unite with our friends in Germany and France as we are.

“We are so proud and happy to take part in town twinning activities again. We’ve missed the cultural exchange in our town over the last few years.”

During the visit, representatives of Lewes and Blois laid flowers on the grave of a teacher, Donald Auld, who took a group of Lewes County Grammar School for Boys students on an exchange visit to Blois, creating an early link between Lewes and the French town. Mr Auld sadly died in 1954 when in Blois with a group of pupils and is buried in the cemetery in Blois.

Visitors from Waldshut-Tiengen will come to Lewes in November with the annual visit of the Waldstat Fager Band, and guests will attend the Bonfire celebrations.