Civic and Town Twinning

Hochsauerland

West Lothian has had a long-standing twinning link with Hochsauerland in Germany since 1972. One of the principal aims of the partnership is to offer people from the two areas, especially young people, the opportunity to meet and form friendships thereby promoting mutual understanding between the two countries and furthering the concept of a united Europe.

The last visit from Hochsauerland by delegates took place in 2004. Many other exchange visits of an educational, sporting or cultural nature have taken place under the auspices of the West Lothian Twinning Association. The Twinning Association has the ability to fund exchanges and trips to Hochsauerland.

For more information of about this twinning partnership visit the West Lothian Twinning Association's website www.westlothiantwinning.com or Contact Liz Liddell who is the Chairperson of the Association on 01506 777995 or 07979 803314.

For more information on Hochsauerland visit the areas website on website www.sauerland.info (in German only).

Guyancourt

In addition to the regional link West Lothian has with Hochsauerland, Linlithgow is twinned with Guyancourt, a town in France situated some twenty kilometres south-west of Paris in the St Quentin en Yvelines region. The first connection with Guyancourt was made in 1984 when Linlithgow Academy chose its Paul Eluard school for a school pupils exchange. Prompted by the successes of the first exchange visits the mayor of Guyancourt contacted Linlithgow Community Council, itself actively seeking a twin town for Linlithgow, to offer his town as a twinning partner. In 1985 both Linlithgow Community Council and the Conseil Municipale in Guyancourt agreed to the twinning of the two towns. Following formal twinning ceremonies held in both towns the twinning was fully established in July 1989.

The twinning between the two towns is for the benefit of all and the Linlithgow Twinning Association seeks to encourage everyone to participate. Hence there is no formal membership of the Linlithgow Twinning Association - everyone in the town is deemed a member if they wish - and only a small annually-elected management committee looks after the affairs of the Association.

The Linlithgow Twinning Association has a wealth of information on the area, and if you would like to find out more information about this twinning link, visit their website www.linlithgow-lta.co.uk or contact Ian Donaldson who is the Chairperson of the Linlithgow Twinning Association on 01506 843854.

For more information on Guyancourt visit the areas website on www.ville-guyancourt.fr (French only) or the Guyancourt Town twinning pages on jumelage.guyancourt.free.fr (again French only).

For more information on the St Quentin en Yvelines region visit their website www.agglo-sqy.fr/en/index_en.htm (in English).

Pegnitz

Linlithgow also enjoys links with the German town of Pegnitz in Bavaria as 'Cousin Towns'. This link was established through the link with Guyancourt as Pegnitz and Guyancourt are formally twinned. Exchange visits between Linlithgow & Pegnitz take place annually thus expanding Linlithgow's twinning links to Germany as well as France.

For more information on Pegnitz visit the areas website on www.pegnitz.de  (in German only).

Grapevine

Outside of Europe, West Lothian also has a twinning arrangement with Grapevine, Texas.  This twinning arrangement was signed in June 2008 marking the beginning of a series of educational, economic and cultural partnerships.  A delegation from West Lothian travelled to Grapevine in September 2008 to showcase the West Lothian region and its industry.

More information about Grapevine and the West Lothian Grapevine Twinning Association is avaliable at www.westlothiangrapevine.co.uk