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Good
Europeans I try to be a good European. I have driven in nine Eurozone countries last year - OK so the Netherlands was only a brief interlude as we were looking for an overnight hotel in Belgium and strayed into Dutch territory before finding a suitable bed for the night. Oh, and Luxembourg was an economic visit. We were on our way to Germany and I wanted to visit the restored castle at Burg Reuland in the south-eastern corner of Belgium. An extra two mile detour along the N68 took us to a roundabout on the Belgian-Luxembourg border. Well the roundabout was in Belgium as were three of the four approach roads but one corner was Luxembourg and that was covered by a large filling station. The credit card bill showed that the fill up with diesel was at 72p a litre. No wonder we had not seen a filling station for over 15 kilometers in Belgium and, guess what, all the cars at the pumps had Belgian plates. We were driving to Germany for a town twinning visit. It was not the only twinning visit we made last year, which is why, in September my wife and I found ourselves heading south from Paris for a two day visit to the Loire valley above Orleans. This one was a bit different. There were about 80 of us. My wife, Jane, and I were the only two people whose first language was English. We were on a German registered coach (which was manufactured by DAF probably in the Netherlands) following a French registered coach (manufactured by Mercedes of Germany). Kenilworth has two twinned towns. One of the is Bourg-la-Reine, a southern suburb of Paris. They are more European minded and have four twins. One of them is Monheim, a small town on the Rhine between Koln (OK, Cologne) and Dusseldorf. 2009 was a major anniversary - 20 years of twinning - so it was a big “do”. Kenilworth was invited to send two representatives. As there was an inaugural visit by Kenilworth to a new link in Sicily in the offing and as my wife had the days in question booked as leave, we volunteered our services. Also invited were representatives from Bourg’s other two twins: Sulejowek in Romania sent the Deputy Mayor and his wife - both fairly young and speaking better English than French - hence we got on quite well with them - not quite strangers in a foreign land but English is now just about the predominant language of the European Union. Then there was a family of three from Reghin in Romania, one of whom was a French teacher. The town twinning movement dates from the post-war era when European travel was still something of an adventure and the package tour industry was some years away. Towns such as Coventry, which had suffered massive devastation during the war years, linked with towns such as Dresden which had suffered a worse fate. Staying in the homes of host families was a cheap way of having a foreign holiday and had a further advantage of building links and friendships. Over the decades which followed, these links were seen as useful for school and cultural exchanges as well as assisting in forming economic links. Sadly the declining cost of package tours to the sun has served to discourage many of the post-baby-boom generation from becoming involved. However, most towns and cities have active links with at least one town abroad. When I retired and moved back to the Midlands I decided to renew my involvement in twinning. Kenilworth is a small town with a population of about twenty one thousand and only became involved in twinning some twenty or so years ago. Twinning links usually follow a pattern. So the Germans come to us at the end of May in even years and in September or October we go to France, alternating in odd numbered years. There are also visits some years to the Armistice commemoration in Bourg in November and by the French Anciens Combattants to us. However the lack of enthusiasm for the Lisbon treaty and the accession of many countries from the East has thrown in a new dimension: European Union grant funding from Brussels. There is a pot of gold (Euros actually but, on the current rate of exchange, it’s the next best thing) available to those who are able to complete the electronic application form and put up a good case. A chunk of the money is allocated to “citizens’ meetings” - that’s Eurospeak for town twinning exchanges. One of the aims of the funding grants is to foster greater links and understanding amongst the peoples of Europe and a sense of European identity. There are a number of criteria which increase the chances of a successful application: one is a major anniversary. That is how Kenilworth managed to siphon off a significant number of Euros two years ago for the 25th anniversary of our Eppstein link. The cold war museum had just been opened at RAF Cosford and that was a useful lever in our application. We also put on a traditional evening of English folk entertainment by inviting the local Morris dancing group to perform for us (we thought it was better than a visit to a typical English pub). However a major criterion is links with the recent accession countries. Hence my feeling that we should be scouring Poland for a town that would like to link up with us. Our German twin town has a very business-like approach to grant applications and has strong links with a town in Latvia and with a town in the former East Germany. The largesse lavished on them from Brussels has been outstanding. Our French twin has its two Eastern twins but didn’t manage to get their application to Brussels before the cut-off date. These remarks may well indicate a penchant for stereotyping our European friends but that’s the way it is. We have had a lot of fun on our various visits. Last year we made a coach trip from Bourg-la-Reine to Mont St. Michel with a guided tour of Bayeux. We stayed overnight in a hotel at the landward end of the causeway. It was June and it was a cloudless evening and we walked up the causeway just after sunset. It’s the stuff of dreams. We have now made strong friendships with a couple from Bourg (I believe that it has improved my GCSE French) and with another couple from a village on the edge of the Taunus hills near our German town. They share our love of the outdoors and live less than 15 kms. from the highest point. If one has plenty of time, there is much to savour en route between Dunkirk and Eppstein. Belgium has some fascinating countryside and industrial archaeology. This year we stopped to visit the new hydraulic lift on the Canal du Midi. A completely new length of canal was constructed to avoid the four previous ascenseurs hydrauliques built at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. That and six locks enabled boats to ascend or descend the 92 metres between the river systems of the Meuse and the Scheldt around the town of La Louviere. But these triumphs of the industrial age are not able to accommodate the largest size of European barge. Apart from general widening this meant that it would be necessary to improve the Charleroi to Brussels canal (which links with the Eastern end of the Canal du Centre) by building the world’s biggest inclined plane at Ronquières in 1968. It is 1,432 metres long and makes possible a change in height of 68 metres. Each of the two barge containers is 91 metres in length and can take a total capacity of barges of up to 1,350 tonnes. The two containers are balanced by a 5,200 tonne counterweight and the containers travel over 236 rollers each of 70 cm diameter. At the upstream end there is a 300 metre long canal bridge and a 150 metre high tower. The solution, so far as the Canal du Centre was concerned, needed to be more drastic. The proposal was to build an entirely new section of canal to replace the middle section of the existing canal where the four hydraulic lifts are situated. The new canal lies to the north-west of the original canal. The difference in height was solved by constructing a massive funicular boat-lift at the western end of the new section at Strépy-Thieu. By the time of its completion in 2001 (it took ten years to build the canal and the lift) the cost has escalated to 675 million Euros. The difference in height that is required is 73 metres and it takes seven minutes for the lift to raise or lower a barge. The lift comprises two independent tanks each 120 meters by 12 metres and having a draught of 3.75 meters. The counterbalance has a total mass of 8,500 tonnes. Other statistics are equally impressive: The height of the lift from its lower end is 110 metres; each of the two lifts acts independently so there is no counterbalancing arrangement as was needed with the old system. The approach from the east is over the new viaduct of Pont du Sart. This is a reinforced concrete trough cast in 36 meter sections. The mould was located on the western bank and, when one section had hardened, it was pushed outwards by hydraulic jacks onto a series of two rows of thirteen reinforced concrete pillars. Then the next section was cast until the entire 500 metre length was completed. The total weight of concrete cast was 63,450 tonnes. The building which houses the new funicular lift also has a visitors’ centre and various exhibition halls and a visit to it and the old section of the canal may well take a number of hours. The old canal itself and its four ascenseurs are now preserved and the towpath makes a very pleasant walk (and climb!) This now forms part of a UNESCO World Industrial Heritage site. There are occasional boat trips along the old canal departing from the Cantine Des Italiens. Southern
Belgium contains some magnificent countryside. We spent a few days exploring
the woods and deeply-incised river valleys around La Roche en Ardennes.
Further east, into Germany, like the two great river valleys of the Rhine
and the Moselle. Roads hug the banks and much of the Moselle is reasonably
quiet away from the peak tourist season. Many of the villages have 19th
century restaurant-hotels - mostly fairly small. What they lack in amenities
is made up with reasonable prices. A recently-created long distance footpath
runs along the crest of the left bank giving impressive views southwards.
There are honey-pot towns such as Cochem but the left bank of the Rhine
contains very few towns which are not. For a quieter existence there is
always the Rhine’s right bank with its many vineyards and almost
as many old castles and hiking trails as the opposite bank. The two rivers
meet at Koblenz. On the opposite side a smaller, but peaceful, river flows
in: the Lahn. Town like Nassau and Bad Ems have their own charms, but
the crown of the area is Limburg with its tall cathedral. Does the grant funding produce value for money for the European Union? I will preface the answer by saying that not all of our trips are funded by the rest of you. Usually we pay our host town the costs of hosting us (meals out and the cost of any trips) although sometimes the municipality funds a reception in the local town hall. Also we would be paying our travel costs. A grant helps to meet the cost of an incoming visit and the visitors get a travel contribution - for Germany it is something like 30 Euros. It definitely helps to foster a Euro-consciousness; yes, Jane and I definitely feel part of Europe. It may well depend upon how you view membership of the EU, the Euro and where the Union is heading. The Germans and the French tell us that over 60 years without war is a bit of a first for mainland Europe and that, of itself, has to be worth a lot. The countries of Eastern Europe will eventually become integrated into a European identity and, hopefully, most of the continent will become an economic entity rivaling, or excelling, the USA, China and Japan. However there are so many problems to overcome: language, national identity, whether or not to head towards a federation, to name a few. I suspect that, for the countries of the Eurozone and the Schengen agreement, they will not really want to go back to how they were in the past, with different currencies, customs checks and problems with free movement of labour. But then I try to be optimistic about the future. First published in VISA 89 (Feb 2010) |