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Welcome to Wirksworth Twinning Association
Wirksworth is twinned with Die in France and Frankenau in Germany. For the latest news and plans see below or go to News and Events. For information on past events, go to Past Events and News. We welcome members from Wirksworth and the surrounding area and villages. If you'd like to know more, please go to the membership page and if you're thinking about joining us, click here to find out how.
Film - The Taste of Things - 4 & 5 March
| The Taste of Things / La Passion de Dodin Bouffant |
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Souper Day on Wirksworth Market Saturday 2 March
Our partners in Varallo in Italy mark Shrove Tuesday with a soup served to the whole town so we have adopted this tradition and once again we offered soup at the Saturday market (a little after Shrove Tuesday) on 2 March. |
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Twinning film season launches with Maigret -
Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th October
We start our autumn season with films from France. Come and join us, and on the Monday night we also have pre-film nibbles and canapés.
This 2022 French-Belgian crime drama film in French with subtitles is directed by Patrice Leconte. It is an adaptation of the novel Maigret et la jeune morte by Georges Simenon, published in 1954 and featuring the police detective Jules Maigret played by Gérard Depardieu.
Monday October 9th 8.00pm
We launch the season of twinning films with pre-film nibbles and canapés from 7.15.
(French wine available at the bar).
Tuesday October 10th 5.30pm
Includes an on-screen welcome from our twin towns
Book now:
https://www.tnlcinema.co.uk/movie/maigret
Twinning Social Evening Friday 27 October – Twinning Past and Twinning Future.
Join us at the Memorial Hall for a chance to chat about twinning while joining in some fun activities together.
Welcome drinks from 7.00-7.30
Informal programme 7.30-9.30
Join us to share highlights of the June visit and other twinning activities.
· Photos of visits
· Re-live the pancake race and other lock-down events
· Fun Quiz
· Raffle.
· International Music
· Meet fellow twinning members
There is no charge but we hope you will have a generous flutter on the raffle.
Welcome drink and nibbles will be provided and we invite you to bring your own drinks (we have glasses).
To book your places please contact: viv.macdonald@btinternet.com
Revised date for AGM
This will now be Friday 24 November – please put this in your diary.
Celebrating 30 years of twinning with our partners 22-26 June 2023
Visitors from our partner towns, Die & Frankenau, visited Wirksworth 22nd - 26th June. We had a fantastic group of hosts and an entertaining programme of events, based around our theme of sustainability and Wirksworth Open Gardens.
| English Visit Programme | Our visit programme - in English, French and German |
| French Visit Programme | |
| German Visit Programme |
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Ecologie au Quotidien This important 10 day environment event starts today in Die (France). We are delighted that our 23 minute video montage from Wirksworth was presented on Saturday 21 January 2023 around 17.00 French time. A huge thanks to members who contributed to this (and sorry to anyone who missed out due to the tight schedule). The montage is called 'Les Voix de Wirksworth II ( It follows Les Voix de Wirksworth I which was sent 4 years ago). World Premier! Les Voix de Wirksworth II Watch now our messages to Die (mostly French and English): Les Voix de Wirksworth II on - YouTube French Film at The Northern Light - 8pm on 13 and 14 Feb
Book now for François Truffaut's classic for Valentine's Day JULES ET JIM. Tickets include a glass of Prosecco and chocolates.
Based on the novel by Henri-Pierre Roché, this classic of the French New Wave
chronicles a love triangle between two friends, one French and one German,
and an alluring woman, over twenty-five years.
German Themed Walk: Sunday 15 January 2023
A hearty crew of walkers set off on the afternoon of Sunday 15 January for a gentle walk around the town with a German theme. At the start of the walk, language skills ranged from total fluency to no German at all, but by the end, everyone had been offered their own personal new word - and a glass of glühwein (mulled wine). Christmas Twinning Messages Video
In our Twinning activity at the Christmas Market, on Sunday 4 December in Wirksworth, we encouraged local children to make a Christmas tree decoration using clay and to design their own Christmas messages of international friendship.
The creative contributions from the next generation of twinners can be seen on this YouTube video montage.
A Christmas message to our Twinning friends in Die, Frankenau and Varallo - Click here to watch the YouTube
Thanks to Ukewirks for the rousing musical background.
2022 - June visit to Die A small group of Wirksworth residents visited our wonderful twin town Die in June 2022. You can see some photos here: https://youtu.be/yfg8OUl7ERM
Fundraising for Twinning Did you know that whenever you buy anything online you could be raising free donations for Wirksworth Twinning Association with easyfundraising? There are over 7,000 brands on board ready to make a donation – including eBay, Argos, John Lewis, ASOS, Booking.com and M&S – and it won't cost you a penny extra to help us raise funds.
All you need to do is:
1. Go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/
causes/wta/?utm_campaign=
raise-more
and join for free.
2. Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first to find the site you want and start shopping.
3. After you've checked out, the brand will make a donation to Wirksworth Twinning Association at no extra cost to you whatsoever!
There are no catches or hidden charges and Wirksworth Twinning Association will be really grateful for your donations.
Thank you for your support.
We remained active despite Covid 19 !
Although visits to twin towns were not possible, we remained active as an association and continued to arrange safe activities. We had a popular programme of Zoom meetings and we encouraged members to use technology to stay in touch with friends in our twin towns. Check out News and Events to get a flavour of our Twinning Cabaret and the SpringFest.
| The friendship route - download in English |
| Il sentiero dell'amicizia - scarica in italiano |
| La route de l'amitié - télécharger en français |
| Der Freundschaftsweg - auf Deutsch herunterladen |
Twinning Soup at Farmers Market
Saturday 5th March
Inspired by the 'Paniccia for all' tradition in Varallo - come and say hallo and enjoy a taste of our own Wirksworth soup.
Download the recipe for Pannicia (in English, French, German and Italian).
A Christmas message from Varallo...
Bellissimo l'inverno a Wirksworth!!
Anch'io vi faccio i migliori auguri di Buon Natale e di Buon Anno!!
ASSUNTA RASTELLI
Thank you very much for your auguri. We hope to see you soon here in varallo and valle sesia.
Arivederci see you soon. Happy Holidays
Bye Mauro
Feedback from the History of Stoney Wood presentation:
Grazie per questa bella iniziativa, è stata molto piacevole e interessante.
Natalie
Thank you very much for an extremely well-organised evening.
Marion Blenkinsop
Gehard Bastet
I wanted to send my thanks and praise to everyone who created and presented the event yesterday evening. It was not only a real triumph of technology to bring us all together so cleverly and so smoothly, but a hugely informative and entertaining session and I was really glad I'd been fortunate enough to take part.
Rusty AhearneA recording of part of the Stoney Wood presentation can be found on past events page
NLC / WTA Partnership Launch
Cllr. Andy Jordan, the Mayor of Wirksworth, joined us on 30 September for the first of our Foreign Film Evenings this season to celebrate our co-operation with Northern Light Cinema and marked our gratitude for their invaluable help in working with us towards our shared aim of bringing international films to Wirksworth.
WTA artist, Susie Botting, receives a warm welcome in the Diois at the Arts et Vigne Festival, Chatillon-en-Diois
Susie was invited by the Diois Jumelages to exhibit her work and give workshops at the Arts et Vigne Festival at the beginning of August. She took work of other artists local to Wirksworth and was hosted for her one-week stay by two families in the Diois area.
WTA visit to Frankenau, 20 to 24 June 2019
In June Twinners from Die and Wirksworth travelled to Frankenau, our twin partner in the Hesse district of Germany, to help them celebrate the 777th anniversary of the founding of their town.
The programme of events included visits to the Dulfers Hof cheese factory, the Schreufa Weather Museum and Meditative dancing! There was also plenty of "down-time" where guests could relax with their hosts and several "fuddles" had been arranged for one evening, where groups of guests and hosts got together for informal meals.
The official welcome meal was held at the DGH in Louisendorf on Saturday lunchtime and we were all able to sit outside and make the most of the warm sunny weather our hosts had arranged for us!
On Sunday, following the church service, there was a colourful display of quilts made by quilters in all three twin towns, including a beautiful joint friendship quilt.
We'd like to thank all our friends in Frankenau and the surrounding villages for their wonderful hospitality during the stay.
Varallo
Over the last two years we have been developing ties with the Twinning group of Varallo, a town in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy, which has been twinned for many years with our partner in France, Die. The town became a special place of pilgrimage in medieval times. It has its own charm and many artistic treasures and the ski resort of Alagna, with its chairlift into the mountains, and the beautiful Lake Orta, are nearby.
A group of four from Varallo visited Wirksworth during our hosting visit in June last year and earlier this month a small group from WTA travelled to Varallo to join the carnival celebrations there. (For a link to Phil Richards' photos of the recent trip please click here.)
The last visit gave us the opportunity to further develop friendships and we were delighted to find there are so many potential links between our towns including the carnival, the arts and football….and there may be more!
We are now considering formalising a twinning link with Varallo and are keen to involve our members in the process of making a decision. We are currently gathering feedback. Watch this space for news!
