Honiton Town Twinning: Fifty years on

By Roger Sleeman

Road signs like this one (see first photo) tell visitors entering Honiton that they have arrived.

This one is on the A35 as you descend the Axminster Road into the town. Signs like these are a reminder that we are twinned with two other towns: Mezidon, in France, and the German town of Gronau.

A twin towns sign on the A35 as you enter Honiton (Roger Sleeman)

There are other reminders of our twinning links as we walk around the town.

Avenue Mezidon-Canon is to be found at the top of Church Hill, near the junction with Weatherill Road. A short walk along Weatherill Road in the direction of Tesco brings us to Gronau Close.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of our twinning partnership with Mezidon, and to celebrate this landmark the Deputy Mayor of Mezidon and another council member will be visiting our town in July. The visit will coincide with Charter Day, when there is so much to see and do in the town.

Twinning began as a civic link between Honiton Town Council and its counterpart in Mezidon and this was soon followed by the formation of the Honiton Twinning Association. The purpose of the association was to establish links and visits between the people of the towns, and the work of the group continues to this day.

Some of the earliest visits in the 1970s took the form of exchanges between pupils at Honiton's primary and secondary schools and the schools in Mezidon. There are people living in our town today who remember taking part in these early exchanges. The twinning associations of Honiton and Mezidon have also exchanged visits many times.

A road name in Honiton (Roger Sleeman)

Mezidon is a small town in Normandy, about an hour's drive from the channel port of Caen . The region around the town is known for its cheese, cider and Calvados. There are many towns and cities in the south-west of England which are twinned with similar towns in this part of France.

Twinning began during the years following the end of the Second World War. By building links between towns and cities across Europe it was hoped to bring reconciliation and to contribute towards a lasting peace.

Honiton's twinning link with the German town of Gronau started in 1987. Gronau is a lovely small town in northern Germany, to the south of Hannover and close to the Harz mountains and the town of Hamelin which is famous for the legend of the Pied Piper.

Members of the Honiton Twinning Association last visited Gronau in 2018 and received a return visit the following year. The Covid pandemic came a few months later, putting activities such as twinning on hold.

Our association is now back to normal running, and we are delighted to announce that we have been invited back to Gronau for the annual 'Weinfest' which takes place at the end of August this year.

In addition to maintaining friendships and exchanges with our twin towns, the association also has a full programme of social activities. In recent months we have enjoyed a wine tasting and meals together at local eating places.

Meetings take place every three months and all members are welcome to attend. There is no fee for membership; instead we hold fundraising events which help towards the cost of funding visits from our twin towns.

If you would like to get in touch to find out more then we would love to hear from you. (Please use the contact details given below.) A knowledge of foreign languages is definitely not needed!

You may like to come along to one of our social events, or even join our visit to Gronau in August and sample the Weinfest.

Come along and find out the significance of the names on the signs you've passed so often driving around the town! We would also love to hear from anyone who took part in any of the early exchange visits between schools in Honiton and Mezidon.

For more information, please contact Roger Sleeman (Secretary of Honiton Twinning Association).

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