A visit by French people to the Telford town their hometown is twinned with has been deemed a huge success.
Organisers of the Wellington Shropshire Twinning Association have hosted 26 visitors from Chtenay-Malabry for four days.
The French delegates enjoyed a welcome from the Mayor of Wellington, a trip to Stokesay Castle near Craven Arms, a trip to Acton Scott Working Farm near Church Stretton and an evening of entertainment at Buckatree Hall Hotel in Wellington, near The Wrekin.
Brian Harpham, one of the organisers, said: “We thoroughly enjoyed the visit from our French friends.
“It is always a good opportunity to show off the beautiful county of Shropshire, not just Wellington itself, and they certainly got to see a lot of it with the activities we did.
“The trip went without a hitch and everyone seemed to have a great time.
“We thank all those host families who provided accommodation and look forward to visiting Chatenay in France next year.”
The group stayed in 12 different houses across Wellington and enjoyed a three course dinner and entertainment at Buckatree Hall Hotel to mark the end of their stay on Sunday night.
Wayne Jenson, General Manager at Buckatree, said he was more than happy to host the event.
He said: “We regularly have visitors to Buckatree from France so this was a huge honour to be able to host people from the town that Wellington has been twinned with for many years.
“We made sure everything was extra special for them and in case they were missing home, we put up a French flag on our flagpole outside.
“We have guests from England, Germany, Poland and further afield like America and China as well and always encourage overseas visitors to Shropshire.
“We do all we can to make sure their stay is comfortable and they get a true reflection of Shropshire.”
Wellington has been twinned with Chtenay-Malabry since 2001 when the Twinning Charter was officially signed, although contact between the two towns started in 1998.
Annual visits have taken place since as well as other exchanges between schools, other organisations and individuals.
Future events being considered include wine tasting and a walking treasure hunt in Wellington.
To find out more about the Wellington Shropshire Twinning Association visit the website www.wellington-twinning.co.uk/
For more information about the menu or events at Buckatree Hall Hotel email sales@buckatreehallhotel.com, call (01952) 641821, search for Buckatree Hall Hotel on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @buckatreehall.
Mayor of Wellington Phil Morris-Jones with the French visitors
