STUTTGART MEMORIES Roger Kilshaw contacted me after the article in CoffeyTime (May 15) regarding the post-war link with Germany. “Your article brought back some happy memories for me,” wrote Roger.

“Dr Arnulf Klett, Oberburgermeister of Stuttgart, visited St Helens during the late 1940s with members of Stuttgart Council. A formal dinner was held at the Town Hall at which my late father, Frederick (who was a member of the St.Helens Choral Society), sang a number of solos.

“Afterwards Dr Klett complimented my father on his singing and presented him with a signed copy of the official menu.

“During the summer of 1962 at the age of 16 I was one of the party of young people on the official exchange visit to Stuttgart, staying with a family in the Bad-Canstatt area of the city.

“It was a very memorable visit, with a trip to the Daimler-Benz factory at Underturkheim; a climb to the top of a rubble mountain made from the remains of the original city after the bombing raids of WWII. On top of it a huge cross had been erected made from charred embers.

“We were shown the only mediaeval building to have escaped the bombs, attended a wonderful concert held in the Beethoven Halle, made a trip to Der Bodensee (Lake Constance) on the borders of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

“The Oberburgermeister at that time was the recently deceased Manfred Rommel, (son of the famous Field Marshall), who gave the welcome and farewell speeches at the two official dinners.

“The other thing which stands out to me is the size of the German steam locomotive engines which took us from Holland to Stuttgart and back.

“Since then I have kept in touch with my host, Ulf Rapp and we continue to exchange Christmas cards to this day.

“As I grow older I have started to wonder what happened to the other boys and girls of the party, I remember the name of only one, Peter Bradshaw, whose father was the Vicar of St Thomas’s Church, Westfield Street.

“Perhaps if any of the party are still in St.Helens, we could arrange a reunion?”

Thank you Roger for those interesting details. In 2015 the Laurel and Hardy European Convention is in Berlin and I plan to travel there by train, with a diversion for my first visit to Stuttgart, which our Mayor visited in 1948.

Your memories of trips to Stuttgart are welcome and it would be good to follow-up other St Helens connections with Germany.