A party of 12 town twinners visited Moosburg, near Munich, from 19 to 22 October; our first post-Covid visit since 2019, and our fourth to Moosburg. On arrival we were warmly welcomed at the town hall by the mayor, Herr Josef Dollinger and our twinning contact Erwin Weber, as well as by other councillors. This was followed by a meal in a local restaurant.

On Saturday we went by coach to Passau, where three rivers converge: the Danube, Inn and Ilz. After an entertaining guided walk, we had lunch at the traditional ‘Altes Brauhaus’, which, needless to say, involved beer! Another meal together followed in the cinema restaurant back in Moosburg, where there were short speeches and presentations. We gave each host family and the mayor and other local contacts a copy of our magnificent Sawbridgeworth 50^th anniversary photobook (copies available from www.sawbridgeworthtowntwinning.co.uk).

Saturday was spent with hosts and most of us went to Munich, for example to visit Ludwig II’s grandiose Versailles-like Schloss Nymphenburg. On Sunday morning, some of us went on a guided visit to see the remains of the large Stalag VIIA prisoner-of-war camp, which housed 70,000 inmates from many countries and the memorial erected by the town council.

We will host our friends from Moosburg next October but in between we plan to keep in touch, not only through our German conversation group, but also through online discussions of common issues: energy, climate change, sustainability etc. (Moosburg also has a Repair Café, for example).

David Royle 23/10/23