A twinning became a tripling when townsfolk from Kirkham travelled to Bavaria to meet up with old friends.

Members of the Kirkham Twinning Association spent a long weekend with folk from their two partner villages in Germany and France.

The spa village of Bad Bruckenau in the Rhon Mountains played host, with a 45-strong group travelling up from Ancenis in France to join the party.

“It was a wonderful experience,” said association secretary Norman Harris.

“We all had a great time.”

Kirkham formally twinned with Ancenis in 1973. When the people of Ancenis twinned with Bad Bruckenau in 1980, the triple link-up was formed.

The nine-strong Kirkham group’s trip to Bavaria was led by association president Sylvia Awbery and past mayor Peter Hardy.

On the Friday night all three groups had a get-together in the village’s Georgi Hall to renew friendships made on previous visits.

The Saturday was spent on a visit to Waaerkuppe to see the aviation museum on the site of the first glider flights in Germany.

From there the group travelled to the switch-on of the illuminations in Staatsbad.

On the Sunday evening the “twinners” attended a formal dinner addressed by both Aylvia Awbery and Peter Hardy, who invited the folk of Bad Bruckenau and Ancenis over to Kirkham for the town’s famous club day next June.