Town Twinning

Our 2024 Twinning weekend began with an early Friday morning coach departure from Wolverton and included residents, WGTC Councillors and Youth Councillors, Officers, members of the Western Front Association and members of the TS Whaddon Milton Keynes Sea and Royal Marine Cadets to journey to Wolverton’s twinned community Ploegsteert (part of Comines Warneton) in Belgium.  

Before we knew it, we had reached Dover and took a smooth sail across the Channel, arriving at our hotel in Ypres around 5pm local time. After a short break allowing a quick change and time to unpack, we arrived in good time to register for the wreath laying service (held daily) at the famous Menin Gate, where the TS Whaddon proudly paraded alongside the SAS Association. The short ceremony included the Mayor of Wolverton Cllr Lewis, Cllr David Robertson and Andrea Vincent the Town Clerk as part of the dignitaries paying their respects to the soldiers who fought and fell during World War I (WW1), reminding us of the immense sacrifices they made.  

On Saturday, after a restful night’s sleep and a filling breakfast, the delegation began their packed itinerary. Starting with a visit to ‘Musée de la Rubanerie’ where we learnt about the rich history of the local ribbon industry and how it had evolved through the years, the delegation were then able to explore a small German bunker which was built during the WW1, situated just outside the ribbon museum and a short 3km from the original front line.  

Shortly after we were greeted with welcome drinks and a spot of lunch with our Belgian friends at the ‘Plugstreet 14-18 Experience’, this gave us an opportunity to explore the museum which provided us all with a deep insight into the events of WW1, and the impact it had had on the local towns. 

We then all enjoyed some free time exploring Ypres before all of the delegation, (except the cadets) boarded the coach to visit ‘Musée de la Brasserie’ for a local brewery tour followed by tasting. Into the evening, we were all treated to a delicious meal and a fantastic concert by the amazing ‘Harmonie royale les vrais amis de Ploegsteert’ band with our immensely musically talented Councillor Robertson playing alongside them, on his clarinet a perfect ending to a wonderful day. 

On the Sunday, the communities came together in attendance at ‘Hyde Park Corner Cemetery’ for the formal Service for Albert French. We heard readings from our local cadets and local young people, laid wreaths and held a minute silence as an act of remembrance for the fallen. After the memorial, we headed for a Civic farewell gathering, where some lovely mementos and gifts were exchanged between the two communities to say our thanks for the most wonderful weekend.  

We finished by sharing one final meal together, then it was time to say our goodbyes and to hop back onto the coach, double looping around the roundabout as we said our goodbyes and began our journey home, eventually arriving back in MK at around 11.40pm. 

The Twinning weekend began with a welcome ceremony for our guests from Ploegsteert at the civic offices in Milton Keynes. This was a packed event as we welcomed representatives from Belgium, Wolverton, Wolverton Town Band, Army Cadet Force, 1st Wolverton Scouts, TS Whaddon Milton Keynes Sea and Royal Marine Cadets, St George the Martyr and Western Front Association as well as the Mayor and Mayoress of Milton Keynes and Dame Ann Limb DBE DL, the Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire!

Both the Mayor of Wolverton and the Bourgmestre à la Ville de Comines-Warneton gave speeches before the traditional exchange of gifts. Our gift hampers were made up of items from local businesses here in our parish: Wolverton Gin, Mrs B’s Emporium, the Urb Farm, Bucks Star Beer and Think Food Café. We were gifted beautiful Comines-Warneton branded hampers filled with a bottle of beer, honey cake, a mug with honey flavoured boiled sweets, a doll and various brochures from Plugstreet 14-18 museum. Afterwards WGTC formally signed the Armed Forces Covenant and there was a short speech by Major Hellard from the Army Cadet Force about the Covenant. The Covenant is a promise from the nation to those who serve or who have served, and their families. It says we will do all we can to ensure they are treated fairly and not disadvantaged in their day-today lives. The Covenant relies on the people, communities, and businesses of the UK to actively support it in order to make a difference. For more information about the Covenant visit the Armed Forces Covenant website.

After some light refreshments our guests travelled to Bletchley Park, once the top-secret home of the World War Two Codebreakers. They were most interested in this heritage attraction which is full of immersive films, interactive displays and museum collections.

Following a brief stop off at their hotel, our Belgian friends arrived at Milton Keynes Museum for the evening celebration. After welcome drinks, our guests enjoyed a tour around the museum and a hog roast in the courtyard. At 20:00 we were joined by local residents for a concert featuring the Wolverton Town Band and the Harmonie Royale Les Vrais Amis de Ploegsteert. Popular songs included ‘Over There’, a promotional song from 1917 announcing the American involvement in WWI which you may have heard on Go Compare’s adverts, and ‘Fun for Band’. You can watch videos of these performances on Wolverton Town Band’s Facebook page.

We Made it to Ploegsteert- Finally! by Stuart Macfarlan

The bi-annual Twinning trip to Belgium in November 2022 was a great success and well supported by parishioners, members of Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council (WGTC) and of the MK Western Front Association (MK WFA). Leaving Wolverton early on the Friday morning, we made our way to Dover and across the Channel, arriving at our hotel in Ypres late afternoon. We then headed for some free time in Ypres before attending the wreath laying service at Menin Gate, where myself and another member of MK WFA laid a wreath.

On the Saturday our Belgian hosts, representatives from the city and municipality of Comines-Warneton (of which Ploegsteert is a district), took us to the Museum of Ribbon, which was packed with working looms and was very interesting. Also on site was a German bunker with an excellent display showing German Sappers at work, the original occupiers of the dugout, and a collection of WWI relics and artefacts. After a welcoming reception at the Town Hall at Comines we visited the site of the Christmas Truce and toured the Plugstreet 14-18 experience before heading to the Vanuxeem brewery for a beer tasting session. I’m sure many bottles made their way out of the shop and onto the coach! Free time in Le Bizet (we all ended up in the same cafe) was followed by a meal in the Café de la Grand Place in Ploegsteert.

Sunday was slightly curtailed as we learned that P&O cancelled our ferry, so we had to leave earlier than previously arranged. However, we still visited Hyde Park Corner Cemetery for the civic ceremony for Albert French. Albert was a young boy from Wolverton who enlisted in The Kings Royal Rifle Corps aged just 16 and was killed only six weeks after leaving for France. A chance discovery of letters from Albert to his sister at home in Wolverton led to a formal twinning of the towns of Wolverton and Ploegsteert, or ‘Plugstreet’ as it was called by the soldiers, which was where Albert died. The Belgians had arranged an impressive ceremony with their brass bands, readings and the Last Post. I read ‘In Flanders Fields’ and laid a wreath on Albert’s grave on behalf of MK WFA. Then it was off for another civic ceremony in a café at Ploegsteert, and then the ferry and home. You can watch a video of some of the service on Facebook.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip, made even more pleasant by the good company of those who joined me on the trip. The Belgians certainly did us proud as did Joe, the Community Engagement and Project Officer, who very effectively organised the trip, so many thanks to him and the team at WGTC.