Twinning visits are returning to Welwyn after four years away, with a party from France being welcomed to the village this week.

A group from Champagne-sur-Oise will arrive this Friday and be welcomed at the Welwyn Civic Centre in Prospect Place, before taking in Waddesdon Manor and enjoying a gala dinner on Saturday and return to France on the Sunday.

The visit will be the first since a 2019 trip to Welwyn, with the planned 2020 excursion cancelled as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into lockdown.

But now they are back, much to the delight of Graham Howat, vice-chair of Welwyn Anglo-French Twinning Association and organiser of this weekend’s visit.

"Around about the middle of the year, a group of them got together and decided they wanted to restart the twinning link with us," he explained.

"November is an unusual month for them to come because you can’t rely on the weather. Twinning visits happen in alternating years, so hopefully we’ll be going to them in May next year.

"Those that are coming have been before so there is no shortage of hosts for them as they stay at our homes, and once they arrive here, they don’t spend a penny, we pay for everything."

Welwyn’s link with Champagne-sur-Oise started back in 1973, when the headmaster and pupils of St Mary's School visited the French village.

The link goes back even further though, with Champagne only about 20 miles from the River Marne, whose name is said to be the origin of the alternative name of Welwyn's Mimram river, the Maran.

This was brought about by a migration of the Catalauni, a Belgic tribe from the Champagne region of France, to England around 2,000 years ago.

Graham was keen to express the importance of twinning and maintaining the historical link between the villages, saying: "You’ve only got to witness one visit to get a sense of why twinning is so important.

"I’ve only lived in Welwyn for six years, but I joined the association the first summer I was here.

"My wife and I joined because we go on holiday to France a lot, and I thought it was something we’d like to do."