Delivering the news from Henley on Thames and South Oxfordshire for over 100 years A BRIDGE in our German twin town that was named after Henley is to be rebuilt Henley Bridge is one of three crossings in Leichlingen which spans the Wupper Each of the three bridges are each named after twin towns the others are Marly-le-Roi in France and Funchal on the Portuguese island of Madeira which connects the market place and the town hall was closed in October 2019 after falling into disrepair It was first built in 1990 as a visible sign of connection between Henley and Leichlingen on the 10th anniversary of the twinning partnership The new bridge will be 44m long by 5m wide and be coloured grey and green a sculpture of which was donated to Henley in 2012 and is currently being refurbished Leichlingen Town Council owns the bridge but 90 per cent of the £1.7m project is being funded by the German government Work started on excavating the site of the old bridge in November Concrete work started earlier this month while the bridge is currently being constructed in parts in a workshop The parts will be delivered to and assembled on site in the spring and it is hoped the bridge can be reopened in the summer Part of the market place has been fenced off for the duration of the work Mayor Frank Steffes said: “I am very happy that the new Henley Bridge will be built this year to help the people of Leichlingen once more to cross the Wupper and shorten their way between the two parts of the town centre “Naming the bridge after our British twinned town is a constant positive reminder of the deep and long-lasting friendship established between our two towns Through dedicated efforts and voluntary work of committed individuals in our two towns we have created the twinning societies who organise regular visits year after year “I have been Mayor of Leichlingen for the last 10 years and during that time I have enjoyed multiple visits together with the twinning societies to Henley and the returning visits from Henley to Leichlingen.” The council originally wanted to rebuild the bridge in 2020 but this was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and shortly after the bridge was demolished in 2021 the town was hit by flooding Mr Steffes said: “This natural disaster caused heavy damage to infrastructure and many municipal buildings and needed expensive and complex renovations the bridge project was delayed again in favour of more pressing renovations of municipal buildings that were more important for the overall infrastructure of Leichlingen “Those renovations are still ongoing to this day nonetheless the rebuilding of the Henley Bridge has finally started and is supposed to be finished in the upcoming summer “The extra time gained was used to update the construction plan to make the future bridge more resistant to possible future flooding events.” the bridge will make a “huge improvement” for residents of the town He said: “It has been a long time since the citizens of Leichlingen have had to make do without Henley Bridge which spans the Wupper at a strategically vital point “It connects the market square and the town hall shortening the time needed for travellers by foot and bicycle to pass between those two central locations in the town centre “The new bridge is also a huge improvement for the town hall staff who will be much faster in the centre of town during their lunch breaks by using the bridge “Since the bridge will only be used by pedestrians and cyclists it also offers a safe and low-traffic passage for children and elderly to cross between the two halves of the town centre “It will be painted grey and green in accordance with the logo of the town hall and the city government of Leichlingen The green colour is also meant to incorporate itself pleasingly into the surrounding nature of the Wupper and its green lawn shores.“ Mr Steffes said he values the connection between Germany and the UK and he believes it will become even more important in the future He said: “A lot of countries in the European Union and the rest of the world are experiencing a rise of right-wing parties with nationalist tendencies and protectionist world views right now “The municipal government as a pillar of democracy has to promote and encourage a collaborative To strengthen the democratic ideals that are so very important for a united and free country and an egalitarian and just government not only in Germany itself but also in connection with its neighbouring countries I value the long-term connection to Henley and its citizens that the twinning societies created many years ago and uphold and encourage up to this day.” HIGGS GROUP Tel: 01491 419400 www.higgsgroup.co.uk HENLEY PAGES Tel: 01491 419419 www.henleypages.com HIGGS PRINTING & DESIGN Tel: 01491 419429 www.higgsprinting.co.uk HIGGS OFFICE SUPPLIES Tel: 01491 419499 www.higgsofficesupplies.co.uk HENLEY LIFE MAGAZINE Tel: 01491 419449 www.henleylife.co.uk © Higgs & Co (Printers) Limited 2016 | Registered in England number 1418717 Powered by Miles 33 ABOUT 20 residents from Henley’s twin town of Falaise in France were hosted at a reception at the town hall who were staying with host families in the town were greeted by Mayor Rory Hunt at the event on Thursday last week and members of the Henley Falaise Leichlingen Twinning Association They were presented with a bottle of English sparkling wine from Fairmile Vineyard a book about Henley and a Henley-themed tote bag in the council chamber Among the guests were Cécile Le Vaguerèse-Marie as well as a number of Henley town councillors who chairs the Henley twinning association said the event was lovely for members of the society to be reunited with their counterparts When they were all getting off the couch in Station Road all the hosts were there and they were all meeting each other and hugging then Leichlingen comes the next and when Falaise come here who was a teacher at Trinity Primary School said she first joined the society to improve her German She said: “I love languages very much and I love going to visit the towns over there because they are really hospitable “Our members are getting older but they’ve had friendships going ever since we started The French started in 1973 and the Germans started 1979 president of the French twinning association I have a sort of bond as I worked for British companies for about 27 years before I retired.” Mr Loock said that the association was excited for Henley members to visit Falaise in 2028 as there are set to be events marking the millennium of the birth of William the Conqueror a chemistry and physics teacher from Falaise stayed with Henley residents Anne and Edward Sandars She said it was her first time visiting Henley and she was looking forward to exploring the town Ms Autricque said: “I find Henley very cute and very typical She said: “It’s wonderful to have our visitors from Falaise welcoming them and finding something new for them to do each time.” Roy Mawdesley joined the society more than 15 years ago with his wife Marion He said: “We’ve been doing exchanges for many years and have visited both towns many times It works very well and it has been good socially.” Cllr Hunt said: “It’s absolutely brilliant to have them here particularly in this day of difficult global cooperation Having good relationships with our European neighbours is a really important thing “We’ve had our twinning relationship with Falaise for 50 years now and that’s a real testament to the friendship between the two towns.” Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks The Marseille family has been growing mushrooms since 1970. "My father and grandfather started growing cultivated mushrooms in a fruit cellar," recalls Tim Marseille (right) the business has developed from a small grower into a specialized supplier the farm in Leichlingen (North Rhine-Westphalia) grows gourmet mushrooms that have what it takes to replace meat while king oyster mushrooms have a steak-like consistency," explains Marseille These characteristics make both mushrooms ideal meat substitutes The demand for fresh mushrooms is particularly high around the holidays everyone wants to impress with their raclette," he reports many people are looking for a meat-free substitute for roasting Marseille emphasizes that the feedback from restaurateurs and end customers has been very positive especially when it comes to using mushrooms as a meat substitute "Once you've experienced the taste and the many ways in which they can be prepared you understand why mushrooms have long been more than just a side dish on our plates." Frontpage photo: © Hugo Huijbers | FreshPlaza.com FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com Cash-strapped councils would save money thanks to reduced littering and landfill charges as well as having less recycling bins to collect Councils across England could save up to £35m every year if the government introduces a deposit return scheme [DRS] for plastic bottles and other drinks containers Earlier this month environment secretary Michael Gove told the Conservative party conference that he would work with the industry to see how the scheme might be implemented in England Campaigners say it would reduce litter and help tackle plastic pollution which experts say risks “near permanent contamination of the natural environment” with potentially devastating consequences. However, some cash-strapped local authorities have expressed concern that they would lose money as people would use the scheme rather than recycle through local authorities’ kerbside systems. based on an analysis of data across eight local authorities including some with high and low recycling rates found that rather than losing income individual authorities could make savings of between £60,000 and £500,000 each due to reduced littering and landfill charges as well as there being fewer recycling bins to process said: “There is no doubt that introducing a deposit refund system would reduce littering in this country but there has been a concern that it would have a negative impact on cash-strapped councils This report shows that in fact a DRS would create savings for local government.” This article includes content provided by Facebook We ask for your permission before anything is loaded as they may be using cookies and other technologies Over eight million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans every year, with 80% coming from land. Plastic bottles are a major contributor; in June the Guardian revealed that a million are made every minute and the rate is rising quickly with annual consumption forecast to top half a trillion by 2021 At least a dozen nations already have a DRS in which a small deposit is paid when purchasing the bottle which is then returned when the empty bottle is brought back mostly through streetside collection schemes In response he announced a four-week call for views to inform how the scheme would be designed The government’s working group on the issue will also consider DRS for metal and glass containers Today’s report was commissioned by Keep Britain Tidy Campaign to Protect Rural England and Reloop It was carried out by environmental research group Eunomia It found that local authorities would lose some income as there would be a reduced number of cans and plastic bottles in the kerbside collections to sell to recyclers the savings made from having fewer containers to collect and sort as well as reduced levels of littering and reduced landfill charges would outweigh the loss of revenue from the Campaign to Protect Rural England said: “There are no longer any valid arguments that DRS doesn’t work and the environmental case is crystal clear the cost of not taking action will be far greater than any incurred by the parts of industry that are trying to block this Michael Gove can now build on the success of the government’s bag charge and the ban on microbeads by confirming England will have a deposit system.” said: “Deposit refund schemes are a tried-and-tested way of dramatically increasing recycling rates while reducing plastic bottle and other container pollution on our beaches “This report now clearly shows that introducing a DRS for England would also benefit local economies and communities saving councils money that could be redirected to vital frontline services.” Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Photo: © Christopher Williams and courtesy of the artist; David Zwirner New York/London; and Galerie Gisela Capitain CologneSave this storySaveSave this storySaveThe most striking thing about Christopher Williams’s photographs is how pristine and choreographed they seem In the “The Production Line of Happiness,” the artist’s debut exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago Williams mimics the advertorial images that compel consumers to buy products in so doing questions the conventions of commercial imaging Depicting perfectly ripe bunches of apples and the back of a dishwasher neatly loaded with orange dishes as if on display in a showroom the photographs’ perfection is in itself a critique Filmempfindlichkeitsbereich 9 bis 45 DIN und 6 bis 25000 ASA Cologne“[Williams] also brings photography into a dialogue with architecture and design,” explains Witkovsky “[He] shows how photographs can take account of the space around them.” In one gallery a single photograph of a bouquet of wilting flowers is on display a key move that emphasizes the concept of photography as a form of installation art throughout the show Williams’s vinyl “supergraphics”—texts printed on brightly colored backgrounds—add a cohesive motif across the exhibition spaces Williams also displays an extensive selection from an ongoing project For Example: Dix-huit leçons sur la société industrielle (Eighteen Lectures on Industrial Society) color correction strips—behind taking a flawlessly composed image Camera: Robertson Process Model 31 580 Serial #F97-116 Lens: Apo Nikkor 455 mm stopped down to f90 Lighting: 16,000 Watts Tungsten 3200 degrees Kelvin Kodak Pan Masking for contrast and colour correction Film developer: Kodak HC-110 Dilution B (1:7) used @68 degrees Fahrenheit Exposure and development times (in minutes): Exposure Development Green Filter Kodak Wratten PM61 10’20” 3’30” Blue Filter Kodak Wratten PM47B 7’00” 7’00” Paper: Fujicolor Crystal Archive Type C Glossy Exposure and development times (in seconds): Exposure Development Green Filter Kodak Wratten #29 15,5 1’10 @ 92 degrees Fahrenheit CologneEncompassing three floors across two buildings the exhibition was a major undertaking for the museum “Williams has managed to give the entire Art Institute a tremendous coherence,” explains Witkovsky He continues: “This is vitally important for a photography program such as ours which seeks to integrate photography into the aesthetic panorama of a large encyclopedic museum.” Through this expansive collection of Williams’s photographs viewers are prompted to reconsider the glossy surface of our modern industrial society A COMBINED AFC Henley U13s squad spent Easter Weekend in north-west Germany with their exchange partner SC Leichlingen where they enjoyed success in two competitions The travelling squad was made up of U13 players from the Hurricanes and Hammers teams and this was the first time the exchange has taken place since 2019 with SC Leichlingen having visited Henley in October 2023 The first competition was a six-team tournament for the Karl-Heinz-Goldau Cup It featured two teams from SC Leichlingen alongside two teams from nearby Solingen and one from Leverkusen The Henley team ran out as winners of the tournament The leading scorers were Nicholas Hernandez St Clair and Gabriel Robbins-Cherry but in total seven Henley players were on the scoresheet Once the team had adjusted to the pace and bounce of the impressive artificial pitch facility at the Sportzentrum Balker Aue ground controlling play and working the ball well through the team The following morning saw a bilateral nine-a-side game between AFC Henley and SC Leichlingen for the Goosens Cup Again the Henley team controlled the ball well and were quickly ahead through Jake Meredith’s goal built on a good team move on the right wing Henley had a lot of the possession but Leichlingen defended well and it was only late in the half that they added a second goal Noah Cottam making no mistake picking up the rebound from Dominic Ellis’s saved shot Leichlingen’s goalkeeper made a string of impressive saves the highlight a one-handed parry at full stretch to keep out a powerful Henley shot Robbins-Cherry produced a fine ball in which Shiva Vadhoolan slotted past the keeper and minutes later also produced the pass to set up Oscar Robinson for the fourth Leichlingen came close to pulling a goal back it was Henley captain Jack Tookey who had the final word scoring from Robbins-Cherry’s accurate corner with the final kick of the game to win 5-0 visiting historic Cologne and watching current Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen win at home MEMBERS of two of Henley’s twinning associations came together for a summer party About 35 people gathered for the annual event to celebrate the town’s link with Leichlingen in Germany and Falaise in France The party was hosted in the garden of Sue Fitzsimons and guests were served a buffet and drinks chairman of the Henley Leichlingen Twinning Association said the party was one of a series of events during the year to help attract and retain members He said: “It gives something more to the groups than just us going to them or a group from there coming here the next year We have an autumn party in King’s Arms Barn and we run film nights with French and German language films “The Falaise group organises events at Café Rouge where they have French speaking so people get a chance to practise the language.” HUNDREDS of visitors flocked to Mill Meadows in Henley over the bank holiday weekend the riverside beauty spot filled up with families who made the most of being allowed to play Many said it was their first big outing since the Government put the country on lockdown on March 23 to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic Until those restrictions were eased on May 10 people could only go outside once a day for essential shopping or work solitary exercise or an urgent health appointment and weren’t allowed to sit on grass or benches But in recent weeks they have been allowed to take unlimited exercise or relax in destinations further from home play certain sports and gather in groups as long as they come from the same household They can also meet one friend or relative from outside the home as long as they always remain two metres apart the car park was full and visitors were gathering in family groups while maintaining the correct distance from others Many were enjoying ice creams from the kiosk on the towpath near the Hobbs of Henley boatyard taking orders through a Perspex screen and only accepting contactless card payments A queuing system was set up to keep customers safely apart and staff had a fan to stay cool as did Henley Town Council’s public toilets at the Leichlingen pavilion where signs directed customers to use the 24-hour facilities at the station car park said: “It’s nice to have a little more freedom and to be able to go out in the fresh air again “After so many weeks of lockdown it makes you appreciate all the little things said: “It’s busier than I thought it was going to be but it’s nice to see people out “We’re very mindful of the rules and most people we’ve seen are being cautious.” said: “The atmosphere here has changed considerably over the past week or so and it’s good to see people starting to get on with their lives again.” you’d expect it to be really busy but it’s not that bad so people are clearly still being a bit cautious.” said: “People are really pleased that we’re open again and it has been a good day for us A lot are saying it’s their first day out since March we could have stayed open the whole time and some people were saying we should have but I felt it wasn’t morally right when the overall message was to stay at home We didn’t want to encourage people to go against that.” Visitors also enjoyed canoe and kayak outings on the river organised by Henley Canoe Club which had a stand near the River & Rowing Museum and private pleasure boats were cruising up and down the Thames the canoe club only allowed four boats on the river at a time and was only accepting pre-booked journeys while staff wore gloves and enforced social distancing while queuing said: “It has been quite busy and we were out early wiping everything down before people started arriving “There has been huge demand and we’ve been giving out lots of information to people who couldn’t go on the river today “I think everyone who has wanted to book over the past few months has tried to do it at the same time which is really encouraging and it’s a shame we had to turn some people away restrictions are still in place and it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Several Henley people said they didn’t want to be photographed saying the lockdown was still an emotive issue and they feared others would criticise them for going outside A number of visitors had come from further afield travelling from across the Thames valley and even west London appeared not to be observing the restrictions My working life has always been based in Henley for my family.. My working life has always been based in Henley for my family business (J Hooper) on the river and in the building trade I am lucky to still have my family all living in the town I have always been involved with sports in the town I have mainly been involved in youth football with AFC Henley since 1976 I am chairman of Henley Town Football Club working alongside other dedicated Henley residents to promote the club for our town I have been awarded the sports personality of the year award as well as a medal for my service to Henley and the town I have also been awarded the same awards by Leichlingen I want to serve my town and fellow residents to the best of my ability and believe I can do this well within HRG Support and encourage sports groups and clubs in the town Provide more activities for all age groups Work with other authorities such as the Environment Agency to clean up our section of the River Thames and the banks coaches and players were at Henley Town Hall on Wednesday evening last week for AFC Henley’s end of season presentation evening The club’s 21 teams playing in the East Berks Football Alliance league had experienced the usual mix of fortunes this season many of them finding life hard in the run-up to Christmas but finding their feet and the opposition’s goal more frequently in the second half of the campaign The U13s found themselves struggling in too high a division but after some adjustments by the East Berks League enjoyed a much improved second half of the season culminating in a creditable performance at the Easter Tournament in Leichlingen where they reached the semi-finals against formidable local teams the U12 Hurricanes found themselves languishing near the foot of the table by the half-season point but improved rapidly to finish in the top six for whom this season was their first taste of competitive football and they did not lose a game in league and only lost on penalties in the cup The Hurricanes came top of Division 2 and reached the cup final One of two club persons of the year awards went to Toni Aitken for her many years of fundraising and attendance on the gate at Jubilee Park The other club person of the year award was jointly presented to Mike Turner and Jim Atkinson for their much-lauded approach to the manner in which they have managed their U12 Hurricane team AFC Henley Hurricanes U9s’ Harry Biggs was named player of the year in his age group with Rupert Arsyad most improved player and Corban Galloway seven-a-side top scorer with 28 goals Player of the year and most improved player for the various other seven-a-side age groups were as follows: U9 Hotspurs In the nine-a-side section Jenson Lea won the top scorer for the U12 Hurricanes with 20 goals Player of the year and most improved player for the various other nine-a-side age groups were as follows: U11 Hurricanes Finnbar Flood scored 19 goals for Henley Hotspurs U14s to secure the 11-a-side top scorer award Player of the year and most improved player for the various other 11-a-side age groups were as follows: U13 Hurricanes