I have to admit when I first went away with Cromer’s Twinning Association, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of what town twinning involved. I was impressed by the idea of communities standing together and also the chance to discover more about other cultures.
But it wasn’t until I was there myself, staying with families, sharing meals and being part of day to day life, that I realised just how personal those relationships are.
Fostering cultural and commercial links
Town twinning can sound so institutional when you read about it. On paper, it can sound structured and official. In reality, it works in a much quieter way. It grows through friendships, through people opening their homes, through a simple willingness to share time and ordinary routines. That people-led spirit still shapes Cromer’s twinning relationships today.
Cromer is officially twinned with Crest in France and Nidda in Germany. Longstanding links have also been established with Ponte San Nicolò in Italy and other towns in Europe. These relationships are not merely ceremonial or symbolic. They’re active, modest in scale, and sustained through regular exchanges that place understanding above display.
Groups originating from Cromer have made consistent trips to their twin towns throughout Europe during recent years. Local hosts welcome small groups during cultural and civic weekends in Nidda and Ponte San Nicolò, which the groups finance themselves through self-funded travel and accommodation. The emphasis is always on everyday experience. Attending local events, visiting museums, meeting community groups, sitting around a table and talking.
Building trust
In Nidda, representatives from several twin towns came together for a cultural weekend that blended local history, music, and shared celebration.
The Cromer party received an invitation to a civic dinner at Ponte San Nicolò and they explored both Padua and Venice afterward. Local government and regional history details emerged at these events while creating openings for meaningful conversation and forming friendships.
What stays with you is how grounded these exchanges feel. Trust builds slowly, visit by visit, in ways no single event ever could.
Greater understanding
Twinning is not an occasion for declarations, nor a tool for furthering agendas. It is a matter of taking time to see how people in other communities live, and how they are organised, and what matters to them. People freely discuss the shared difficulties of small-town life through community traditions and education, all while acknowledging the social bonds that sustain their communities.
The earliest twinning arrangement occurred after the First World War. Soldiers from Keighley, West Yorkshire who had witnessed the devastation in northern France encouraged their local compatriots to raise funds towards the rebuilding of Poix-du-Nord’s community centre. That sense of promoting reconciliation and reconstruction led to more town twinning after the Second World War.
Back in Cromer, we’re still very firmly twinned in the town. The Association attends local events throughout the year, unloads stalls, sets out displays and of course chats to passers-by. It’s often in these informal chance conversations that we’re most likely to explain the purpose of twinning to someone discovering it for the first time. Through these actions we secure our international friendships within our local home life.
Looking ahead
Planning for the future, the Twinning Association is looking at possible future exchanges. Our vision is for a reciprocal arrangement where our ‘twin friends’ can visit Cromer, and young people are given opportunities through schools and projects. This requires agreement with our partner towns, and planning of cultural and arts-based collaboration. As always, these ideas are approached carefully and realistically, shaped by goodwill rather than expectation.
In a Europe that has shifted in recent years, town twinning offers something quietly steady. It gives communities a way to stay connected, to learn from one another, to remain friends beyond headlines or policy debates. Sustained by volunteers, by ordinary acts of hospitality, these relationships endure because people choose to invest in them.
That choice, to visit, to listen, to welcome, is at the heart of twinning. The joy of these partnerships, and the friendships forged, is that they continue to hold significance well after their initial creation. If you would like to know more about Cromer Twinning Association and how to participate, details are on our website. New members are always welcome.
More from East Anglia Bylines
Friends of Bylines Network
There has never been a greater need for grassroots journalism that investigates the stories that really matter, holds power to account and champions the voices of everyday citizens. We are proudly powered by volunteers but what we do isn’t free.
STAND WITH US for independent, citizen-led journalism that makes democracy stronger, and you will even get some exclusive benefits.
