Twinners exchanging knowledge, ideas - and friendship
Bramsche (pronounced Brahm-sher) lies in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, about an hour's drive from the Dutch border, on the North German Plain and at the edge of the Teutoberg Forest.
It's a pretty place: clean, colourful and peaceful, with some charming old-fashioned buildings and surrounded by pretty countryside dotted with hamlets and small lakes.
It has many similarities to Todmorden, despite the obvious difference of being surrounded by flat countryside rather than hills: it has a textile-making past, which is far less important in the modern day than previously; it's rarely been touched directly by history; and has a similar sleepy feel to its twin in the English Pennines.
It's also a small town situated close to a much larger and more important one – in Bramsche's case: Osnabrck.
But there are differences too: most of the towns surrounding Bramsche are small, while Todmorden is within easy travel of the densely-populated areas of West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.
Because of this, and the fact that Germany is a larger and more sparsely populated country, everyone drives. In Lower Saxony, only in and between cities is public transport used very often.
The Todmorden group found the people to be very friendly.
In fact, many of the group had been to Bramsche several times before and stayed with old friends.
The German hosts that the Todmorden group stayed with for the week made the trip much more enjoyable, as it allowed them to see the area through the eyes of the locals, rather than as tourists.
Two members of the group, Matthew and Sarah Bowers, were in Bramsche as guests of the St Michael Pflege group of elderly care homes, which are twinned with Todmorden's own Waterside Lodge Residential Home.
The twinning of the care homes has resulted in new friends being made and a good deal of knowledge and experience being shared.
The group made several trips away from Bramsche, including ones to Bremerhaven, Bad Essen and Osnabrck (which is a good shopping location and has a excellent, huge zoo).
On the way back, the group stopped at Scheveningen in the Netherlands, which is a part of the Dutch capital The Hague and has a fantastic beach.
The trip to Bramsche from Todmorden happens every two years and involves a coach ride to Hull, an overnight crossing of the North Sea to Rotterdam, and then back onto the coach for a drive through the Netherlands and into Germany.
Anyone interested should contact the Todmorden Town Twinning Association – contact details can be found on Calderdale Council's website www.calderdale.gov.uk
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
