Krefeld Feurerwehr & Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service Fifty Two years of Friendship
Krefeld Feuerwehr & Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service
Fifty-two years of friendship Friday April 3rd to Monday April 7th
Friday
After much planning our Krefeld colleagues arrived in two waves, seventeen on a flight into Birmingham airport at 0730 and a further six on two minibuses arriving mid-afternoon. The early arrivals were treated to Breakfast at Attfields farm shop, Cosby before going on to Central fire station for the now traditional welcome from the duty crews and their fire appliances.
Of course, the welcome had to be repeated for second wave and after time to settle in to their weekend accommodation we all headed off for the Old Horse Pub.
The pub is under new management but the welcome was the same and despite his retirement Kev was there just to make sure and present his own gift to our Krefeld colleagues. Food and drink were laid on for our guests along with a solo musician to complete the entertainment. We now know each other so well we immediately felt comfortable in each other’s company and a great night was had by all.
Saturday
Our initial plan was to attend Leicester City’s Premier League game against Newcastle but as this had been moved to Monday night and so we had to think again. Thanks to splendid work by Anthony and his friend Jamie from Leicester City’s marketing department, a visit was laid on for us at the Team’s new training facility at Seagrave and what an amazing place this is. From the world’s best Turf Management and Development Centre through to the domed indoor training area we had the complete tour and even our non-football obsessed members could not help but be impressed.
After the tour we were allowed to watch Leicester’s under 18s and under 15s play their respective games against Arsenal and wonder what stars of the future we may be watching. Despite a cool breeze the sun shone brightly.
Next it was off to Melton Mowbray where we spent a pleasant couple of hours at the “round the corner” microbrewery and pizza kitchen chatting and playing the usual silly games.
We could not stand still for too long as Russ had invited all the Krefeld team to his Birthday party at the Heathcote Arms in Croft so it was back to Central fire station for a quick change and back on the buses for the evening trip.
Sunday
We had decided on a day away from Leicester to visit the capital with its iconic views and buildings sure to impress any foreign visitor. An early start saw our two mini buses head off down the M1 to Central London where we had secured parking for the day at the fire station. One of our number had set up a self-guided tour which included the Fire Fighters memorial outside of St Pauls Cathedral. The memorial displays the names of all fire fighters killed carrying out their duties and includes our own, much missed, Bob Miller. Bob was a favourite of our Krefeld friends as well and a toast was shared in his memory with our visitors.
Another popular jaunt was Greenwich and up the hill to the Observatory as well as a trip on the Thames clipper and a visit to the Tower Bridge Experience. Sustenance was provided at a well-known Pie & Mash shop before making our way to Camden for some downtime before heading home to Leicester. Our guests thoroughly enjoyed this day and many slept soundly on the drive home.
Monday
The Mini bus travelling guests needed to be on their way by 0930 but wanted to visit the Leicester City fan shop before leaving. Our contact had arranged for the shop manager to open up early to allow this to happen and they had the place to themselves whilst purchasing shirts and memorabilia.
For those not flying home till the evening we had been invited to lunch with the Lord Mayor, councillor Bhupen Dave, at the Town Hall so we took a relaxed stroll into Leicester before this happened.
The Lord Mayor welcomed us all with a short speech and immediately commented on the obvious friendship between ourselves and the Krefeld team and how comfortable we were in each other’s company. Mark van Allen replied to the Lord Mayor on our behalf and we spent a couple of hours chatting.
It was then back to Central Fire station to say our farewells before loading up the buses and returning our guests to Birmingham Airport for their return flight.
Jerry Askham
