News & Events

Schools’ exchanges: The schools' exchanges between the Judd School and the Adolf Reichwein Gymnasium took place as usual in June this year, with our overseas visitors spending time at the Tower of London, Brighton, Canterbury Cathedral and Historic Dockyard Chatham. At over 50 years of these exchanges, this is thought to be the longest running such programme in the country.

Pupils at Hillview School for Girls provided art for an exhibition in Heusenstamm entitled Water Stories. This was facilitated by the Freundschaftkreis Tonbridge und Malling. A video of the exhibition can be watched by following the link here.

The link between the Slade School and the Matthias-Claudius-Schule in Rembrücken continues to develop.

The Haysden Volunteer Group has turned the Heusenstamm Friendship Wood into a bluebell wood by planting 1000s of native bluebell bulbs. The Circle has contributed to this project by providing funding for 2000 bulbs, in the hope that it will encourage more people to visit. Come April, it should be a blaze of colour!

The flower border around the Heusenstamm Relic near Tonbridge Castle is creating a lot of interest from passersby. The Relic, a stone from the old castle in Heusenstamm, was presented to Tonbridge in 1994 on the 10th anniversary of the twinning link. After an initial consultation between Alison Marsden, of Gardening by Design, Debi Simpson of Tonbridge Community Gardeners (TCG) and Eileen Best and Suzannah Niklas of HFC, the garden was laid out and planted by members of TCG, together with pupils of Sevenoaks School’s Voluntary Service Unit and members of HFC. After a donation from the Tonbridge Lions for its upkeep, which enabled us to hire a professional gardener, the garden is now again maintained by volunteer Circle Members. To see photos of the progress of the border, click here . This gallery will be updated regularly.

In May, committee members of the Freundschaftskreis Tonbridge und Malling, accompanied by the mayor of Heusenstamm, Steffen Ball, visited Tonbridge for a long weekend and met our mayor as well as several representatives of the Heusenstamm Friendship Circle. They were given a tour of the Castle, the Friendship Wood and various other Tonbridge highlights and enjoyed a number of excellent pub meals! The main purpose of this visit was to discuss the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the twinning link. Watch this space!

The annual English Picknick took place in Heusenstamm on a hot day in July. Guests from Tonbridge & Malling are always made very welcome. There are photos and a brief report of the day on our facebook page. Other recent events include evenings at the Chequers and an afternoon lunch at the Vauxhall, which was enjoyed by all those who attended.

Dates for your diary:

8 Sep: Farmers Market, Tonbridge. As usual, HFC will have a stall with information about Heusenstamm and twinning. Do come and say hello and tell your friends to do the same!

15 Sep: 40th Anniversary of the Twinning link with Heusenstamm. Plans to be confirmed.

For details on any of the above, please regularly check this page or our facebook page.

Click on each event for more details

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