Report from Thomas Bitsch in 2006

Exposé sur le séjour à WAKEFIELD de Thomas, Isabelle et Caroline Bitsch, du mercredi 12 juillet au lundi 17 juillet 2006.

BACKGROUND

Thomas, President-in-Office of the Rotary Club of Mulhouse and his wife Isabelle, recruited for the occasion, accommodated our English friends when they visited Mulhouse in March.

Thanks to a vehicle borrowed for the occasion from a friend of Thomas, all the group as well as the luggage could be accommodated inside two cars, for a small tour of Sundgau. It quickly became apparent that these gentlemen were, for the most part, frequent travellers, and that many knew France well, even knew our area. It was thus obvious that our English friends travel frequently to France, and do not hesitate to drive their vehicles, which it should be recalled have the steering wheel installed on the right side.

That evening Thomas had organized an aperitif at his residence in Rantzwiller, so that the members of the Mulhouse club could become acquainted with the English Rotarians. A very friendly contact was established very quickly, as was often pointed out it thereafter by the Rotarians of Wakefield. It is true that generally, the barrier of the language matters very little.

These aperitifs were followed by a meal in Rantzwiller, for representatives of the Mulhouse club in addition to the English Rotarians. The evening was merry, for it was a question of all and of nothing and contributed to the birth of bonds between members of the two clubs.

On Tuesday March 28, our English friends visited the car museum. Our Club had been able to organize a guided tour for them, with technical explanations in support provided by a former director of the museum, Patrick Garnier. In the evening we met our friends at the hotel and took them to a wine area, visited a cellar and also dined at the cellar with representatives of our Club. Our English friends reacted with surprise to the sight of the rhubarb tart which had been prepared for dessert, as Wakefield is the English capital of rhubarb.

On Wednesday March 29, Friedrich and Lola Koenig very nicely proposed to organize a visit to the town of Freiburg, before our Rotarian friends returned to Wakefield. After these two days passed the feeling, I believe, and agreed unanimously by the participants, was that we had the impression they wanted take forward our friendship and not end it at this time.

First of all about Wakefield, and some precise details about this city. Wakefield is located at the centre of England, in Yorkshire close to cities such as Leeds, Manchester and York. It seemed to us that Wakefield had many resemblances to Mulhouse. The size of the conurbation is comparable to Mulhouse, but could be a little smaller. 350000 inhabitants live in the district of Wakefield. The city is an old industrial area which obviously flourished in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, in particular thanks to the coal mines and related industries. More recently the city has had an industrial decline, in particular with the closing of all of these mines. The city has a strong immigrant community, and has known problems of unemployment and integration.

Now more of our visit for five days to Wakefield. It should be specified that it is at least as much as Past President of our Club, following the very friendly contacts in March, that we were invited to Wakefield for five days. To go to Wakefield we took a direct flight for Liverpool airport, located a little more than 100 kilometers from Wakefield. At the airport we were met by Jean and Michael Stead, which immediately put us at ease, their reception being very cordial. The language of Shakespeare not being my forte, it is true that I was not too talkative at the beginning of the visit, becoming more so progressively. Fortunately Isabelle and Caroline could save the day at the beginning. I in particular remember asking Michael how much his car consumed. It had a consumption in miles to the gallon!

Thanks to a very extensive motorway network, we arrived in Wakefield in a little more than one hour, through a landscape of hills (Pennines) and pastures. It is necessary that I thank here Jean and Michael, because the road is not easy. In particular because of the very dense traffic, and a journey from Wakefield to Liverpool and return is not a small one.

On the evening of our arrival, we went directly to the home of David Grace and his wife Maureen, who had organized in our honour a reception in their splendid typically English residence. We were received extremely cordially, as one receives old friends. That was a constant of this visit and we immediately felt ourselves at ease, and all was done to put to us at ease. We were touched by the kindness of Richard Edge, who had just lost his wife, and on whom much was dependent. At the end of the evening, Richard Hensby, the former President of the Club, and his wife Yvonne took us to their home, which is also a vast typically English residence. We remained during all the stay at Richard and Yvonne's house.

Summer time of course allowed us to get the maximum benefit of the splendid garden, which was decorated very beautiful with beds of flowers in the middle of small stretches of water. Time passed with Richard and Yvonne without one realizing it really. Yvonne looked after the garden, and we had the pleasure of speaking to her about it. Richard, on holiday, showed us his house and his hidden treasures, namely a 1912 Rolls Royce as well as a 1925 Bentley.  We simply took pleasure to share the everyday life of Richard and Yvonne. To note however that I was quickly intrigued by Yvonne who watched on TV what I thought of as being a baseball game. Yvonne was horrified by this confusion. 'Its an insult" she said, while joking: it was actually a match of cricket which was going to last three days, but I did not really understand the rules of the game. The play of the game stops from time to time to take tea. An inexhaustible subject of jokes, you can imagine it well!!!. It should be said that Yvonne and Richard did everything to make the stay pleasant, and that it was a perfect success.

Thursday morning, with the dawn, after an English breakfast, Richard suggested to me that we take a small turn in the Bentley, whilst the women pomponnent themselves (Note: Translation could not do justice to such a word!). Later, we left with all five of us for an excursion in the 1912 Rolls, in the famous hills called "Pennines". For midday, we stopped to eat, in fact a "Yorkshire Pudding", a kind of chicken vol-au-vent, but filled with meat and vegetables, which was delicious, it should be said. On this subject, I can confirm you that "poor English grub" is a myth, and that we always ate very well.

That evening, I went to the meeting of the Rotary Club of Wakefield. The club counts approximately 80 members, and meets in a restaurant within a golf club. My impressions were primarily the following ones: - very good attendance for the time of year, with about fifty members present. The Club is mixed, but I believe with only two women, of which one will soon be President. - A meeting of very good quality, I will say very British, with a "God Save the Queen" and a short thanks to God. - A very cordial environment, with very strong bonds of friendship between members of the Club. This last point is really to underline what strongly impressed me. - Much enthusiasm and engagement of Rotary.

For the evening I very was well hosted by President Dennis Edwards, my visit appearing on the agenda. I went as far as to say a few words, as well as taking a Rotary greetings in the name of our Club. The agenda related primarily to a report of a voyage by two young people that the Club had financed. A very alive report, of which I unfortunately did not understand all the details, the lecturers speaking a little too quickly for me.

The Club is very active the subscriptions are very low, and the Club finances its charitable actions only by Rotary activities. For example at the beginning of August the Club organized a flea market, which is obviously very important. Every year, on May 1, the Club organizes a large charity event for the city, which raises more than 10,000 Euros, if my memories are good. Another example: during each meeting, a champagne bottle is auctioned. In short, a very active Club, very accessible, with habits really very different to ours. A very informative time for a Rotarian. After this meeting, we joined our wives in a Pub, to finish the evening in a very convivial way. Small anecdote: while leaving the evening in Richard and Yvonne's car we met a hedgehog and its young, which were determined to want to return in my trousers.

Friday morning, John SOUTHALL and his wife ALLISON sought us for an excursion towards the North Sea. A very pleasant day and we were pampered again, our hosts taking pleasure to help us discover this beautiful country. After a stop at a small brasserie to taste a very good local beer, the landscape was transformed progressively into a moor, similar to what one finds in Scotland. This imposing landscape, with hills as far as the eye can see, ends in the North Sea. Great fine sand beaches, high cliffs, typical small coastal villages and more important small towns. After having eaten excellently of fish and chips, we visited a coastal harbour city (Scarborough?), surmounted by an imposing ruin of an old monastery destroyed by Henry VIII. A superb countryside surrounds the port. The evening was very very pleasant. I visited the pub with John Southall, Richard Hensby and Richard Edge, where we drank very good beers, before arriving at the residence of John, for a very convivial Chinese meal and at last we were in the company of our wives. It should be noted that champagne and good wine are far from being unknown in this country, and that the beer is excellent. We returned that evening to Richard and Yvonne's for a short well deserved sleep.
On Saturday it was the turn of KEN PINDER and his wife MAUREEN to seek our company for a visit to the city of YORK. You will certainly know this very hurdy-gurdy city, with its splendid cathedral. A very beautiful visit with hosts who again showed extreme kindness, and were happy to let us discover this jewel. What a beautiful day!!!

That evening there was a Rotary Garden party at Richard and Yvonne's house. Lots of guests in the garden for a cold buffet and a barbecue. John Southall and Ken Pinder with the bar, Richard EDGE with other Rotarians at the barbecue, William Smith and Michael Stead are also there with lots of other Rotarians, whereas Richard Hensby and Yvonne direct all this small troop. The evening is for the profit of the charitable works of the Club.

A good atmosphere as we meet again a number of Rotarians who have looked after us now for several days. Much humour (English) at the table. Still, an evening that we will not forget, and we feel a deep mutual Rotarian friendship.

It should be noted that our hosts often spoke about their visit in Mulhouse, and the Mulhousian Rotarians of whom they had met. The evening finished quietly with the last guests with a glass of wine, but now inside, the night being cool. Progressively, we familiarized ourselves with other Rotarians, of which unfortunately we memorized very well their faces, but not all their names.
Sunday was a beautiful day and we remained quietly at Richard and Yvonne's home, or we were joined by some other Rotarians. The match of cricket continuing, Yvonne however extremely nicely let me look at the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Sunday evening, ended (in fact traditionally for our hosts) in a very good Italian restaurant in Wakefield. Very pleasant evening again, in the middle of several Rotarians, with extremely cordial exchanges.

The best things having an end, we set out again Monday morning for the John Lennon airport at Liverpool, and it is William who took us this time. With the natural kindness which characterizes him, William spoke to us much about this area during the journey. A last photograph of the "yellow submarine ", then a little sad departure, as you can imagine, after these five days with a wealth of exchanges, the kindness of all of those who welcomed us, drove us around and made it possible for us to discover the country which hosted us.

Caroline, our 17 year old daughter, pointed out to us that she had been struck by the quality of people whom we had met, and that it had improved her understanding of the Rotary movement. She pointed out to us that during the five days, all had constantly taken care that they regarded her fully as an adult, were interested in her studies, appreciated her taste in music and ensured she took part fully in all the activities. Isabelle and myself took note of these comments, as for us it is undoubtedly the most beautiful compliment that we can make about those that we had the pleasure of meeting during this stay.

A small special mention for Richard and Yvonne Hensby, whose reception was unforgettable, and will remain in our hearts. In conclusion, I would like to recommend to you, and recommend to the Club, to maintain these contacts with the Rotary Club of Wakefield who have made to us a proposal of which I give you the gist. If you agree, I propose to leave it to the Committee to discuss.

Thank you with all Friendship