Welcome and bienvenue to the Wetherby Privas Twinning Association, twinned with Privas since 1992.

Wetherby began looking for a partner in France in the late 1980s.  The main criteria for the search were that the potential twin town had to have a river, a bridge, a market and be of a similar size to Wetherby.  Privas was, at that time, looking for a UK partner and amply fulfilled our criteria.  They had already established a link with Weilburg in Germany in 1958, with Tortona in Italy in 1964 and Zevenaar in Holland in 1966.  The official twinning document was signed by the Mayors of both towns in 1992.

Normally, official visits take place every 2 years, but this was completely disrupted by the Covid pandemic. The Privas delegation was scheduled to visit Wetherby in 2020, but the visit didn’t actually take place until June 2023, when it coincided with the Coronation of King Charles III. The Wetherby delegation then returned the visit in June 2024, so that we are now back on track and will welcome our visitors from Privas in 2026. One of the highlights of the official visits is the McGill Challenge Trophy – on each visit, teams from both towns play boules and darts and the trophy is awarded to the winning town. The beautiful trophy was presented to the Association by the family of a former Treasurer and very enthusiastic ‘twinner’, John McGill. It was won by Privas in 2024, so remains there until the next visit to Wetherby.

When we travel to Privas, we each pay our own travel expenses, but accommodation in Privas with families and meals, outings etc. are funded by their Association.  When they come to Wetherby, the same thing happens.  Apart from some financial assistance from Wetherby Town Council to help with the cost of visits here, we raise funds by organising events such as our annual Call My wine Bluff.

We are always delighted to welcome new members, so if you are interested in all things French (even if you don’t speak a word of the language), do please get in touch.  You will see from the events page, that we organise a range of activities from wine-tasting to boules competitions.