Petersfield gave a warm ‘Wilkommen’ last week as the town celebrated a twinning milestone with its German counterparts.

Glasses were raised and ditties were sung in two languages last Thursday as Petersfield and Warendorf marked 20 years of twinning.

Guests who made the trip from North Rhine-Westphalia to East Hampshire were greeted by deputy town mayor, Cllr Anne Stephenson, and town crier, Faye Thompson, during the opening get-together in The Avenue pavilion.

The 17 visitors were encouraged to “have fun, explore and be educated” before Faye’s husband and deputy, Martin, played a ditty in two languages celebrating the link.

“I hope you enjoy visiting the places you went last time and get to see some new ones – it’s a particularly exciting year,” said Cllr Stephenson.

While membership numbers have fallen slightly over the years, the link between Petersfield and its two European twins – Warendorf and the Norman town of Barentin – remains strong according to both parties.

Guests included legendary Petersfield figure and former mayor, Vaughan Clarke, who played a big part in establishing the link having travelled to Warendorf 20 years ago to seal the deal.

He said: “I was the first person over there to speak – I went to see the Germans to see if they would accept us as partners.

“It wasn’t a given as Warendorf is twice the size of Petersfield. I arrived there when the twinning association was having a Christmas party and they were reading Christmas cracker jokes.”

He added: “If you aren’t involved in twinning then have a look. You’ll find it’s a lot of fun so look at the website and come along to one of our meetings.”

The Christmas game Vaughan showed the Warendorfers to play has become the stuff of legend while the head of their twinning association, Horst Uzar, says he and his friends “very much” like coming to Petersfield.

He said: “It’s a small and cosy town, very comparable to Warendorf. It’s picturesque with loveable people.

“The link is very strong but we are always trying to fill member spaces and it’s not easy sometimes.”

Herr Uzar thanked the PTA for making them feel at home before handing a data card with aerial footage of Warendorf to chairman, Ray Vogt.

The Germans were given a tour of Petersfield and trips to Highclere Castle and the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth during their visit, before a presentation and cake cutting on Saturday.