Písek/ Caerphilly Twinning

Anniversaries are very important in any relationship. They provide an opportunity to remember, to take stock and to look forward to the future. To remember the events that have taken place, to remember the places and times that they took part in and most importantly to remember the people and organisations involved in making them happen. This is not to imply that all that has happened was successful or indeed totally enjoyed by all involved. In any relationship between people, be it a marriage, friendship or twinning there will be good times and also not so good times. Everyone will remember the good times they are never a problem a test of the strength of any relationship is how they deal with any bad times or events. It is testimony I believe to the relationship between Caerphilly and Písek that the friendship remains as strong as ever after 15 years.

This I think is due to the type of friendship that was insisted on at the beginning that is a relationship between the two communities and not concentrating on the councillor element. Also there have been several very strong personal relationships, which have helped support this ideal. From the initial exploratory meeting in 1993 between the then mayor of Písek Tom Zajíček and the then mayor of Islwyn Cllr. Tom Harris it was clear that this would become a very personal endeavour. The two Toms immediately took to each other and formed a very strong friendship which was tragically short as Tom Harris die a year later. This personal theme was reflected in the wider community after the official twinning visits held in both communities in 1994. 164 people from Písek visited and were hosted in families in Islwyn and 163 people from Islwyn visited Písek and were hosted in families there. The head of police Jarda Branžovský formed a strong friendship with John and Annette O'Conell, the British police representatives. Sadly John is also no longer with us. Reg Dowden the chair of the twinning committee, Mary Penny and Carol Evans of the Cwmcarn Gymnastic club have also developed very strong links with friends in Písek. Jiří Prášek from the museum still has links to the Emery family in Newbridge and there are many more of the personal links that still survive. There are more people in the Caerphilly area who know about The Czech republic than in the whole of Wales and this is down to these personal links.

There are other people on both sides who deserve a mention for promoting the friendship. From the beginning the chief executives of both authorities were behind the project, Jiří Hořánek for Písek and Brian Bird for Islwyn, Finlay Beaton the lead officer in Islwyn was passionate about the whole project and worked tirelessly to ensure its success.

These are the people but what of the groups?
The first contact between our two communities was in 1990 when a group of Folk Dancers from Písek, the Písečan visited local schools to hold workshops and performed two concerts in the area. Milan Bečka, Zdena Pavlovcová and Pavel Brůžek have since been staunch supporters of the twinning and have visited Wales many times. PIKO too have proved regular visitors to our shores and have hosted concerts with almost all of the musical groups from Caerphilly to visit Písek. We have had country dance groups, ballroom dance groups and hip-hop dance groups visit Caerphilly over the course of the last 15 years all very successful. Choirs have visited from both communities, Sonitus, the Písek community choir, The Gymnasium choir and a children's choir from Tylova škola have all performed in Caerphilly over the last 15yrs. The Mynnyddislwyn Choir, Risca Male Choir, Rhymney Silurians, Newbridge Ladies Choir, Aber Valley Male choir, Bargoed Male choir, Lewis Girls School choir, Oakdale Youth Choir, The Caerphilly Big Band and Caerphilly Childrens orchestra have all performed in Písek over the years. There is a strong relationship between The Western Valley Camera club and the Písek Camera club who have each had exhibitions in there partner towns.

It would seem from this list that it is all culture but that is not so. Since the first official visit in 1994 the Cwmcarn Gymnastic club has continued to visit Písek annually, there have been several football tournaments in Písek that have involved teams from the Caerphilly school of excellence and several football tournaments in Risca featuring Písek teams. Though to date no Rugby!

Throughout this period there have been regular visits between the two councils involved and these have focussed on discussing strategy and future planning of events. A conference on the environment was held in Caerphilly 2005. Also the relationship between officers involved in the events and organisation have always been very good and supportive. From the very beginning Lída Koštová has been a great proponent of the benefits of twinning and has striven to ensure that she does all that is possible to make everything go smoothly, latterly her role has been taken over by Edita Kučerová who is also a hive of industry and works extremely hard to ensure that all is done to ensure that events are kept up to the standards set. This attention to detail is reciprocated by Rosemary Mathews and her team in Caerphilly.

Outside of the rare atmosphere of the local authority tremendous support and advice has been provided to both sides by Mr. Peter Ferda, the honorary Czech Consul in Wales. There from the start in 1994 he has been a driving force throughout.

Both communities find themselves at a crossroads at the moment, changing political circumstances, severe financial constraints, new personnel involved in the links but these are the same things that face all communities and often it is easier to solve issues by discussing them and working together than to just ignore them or pay lip service to them. The challenge is to make the next 15yrs as strong as the first 15yrs.

Lyn Evans, June 2009

File date: 1.10.2009