Bath - Alkmaar Twinning Association

15/06/2026

18 Alkmaarders hebben vandaag een lintje ontvangen🎖️
Mensen die zich al jaren inzetten voor anderen. Vaak op de achtergrond, maar van grote waarde voor onze stad en dorpen.

Daar zijn we trots op ❤️

Benieuwd wie het zijn en waarom zij een lintje hebben gekregen? 👉 https://www.alkmaar.nl/deze-alkmaarders-kregen-een-lintje-in-2026/

05/06/2026

Exciting news for those who want to know more about the origins of the Bath-Alkmaar link. Mayor of Bath's Honorary Guide, Adrian Amber, created a special city centre walk last year for the 80th Anniversary of our link, and this walk is now one of the official Special Summer Walks being offered by the Mayor's Guides, led of course by Adrian himself.

It is described as “the unique story of our long friendship with Alkmaar. A journey through oppression, escape, the Holocaust, human kindness and liberation”

Spaces are booking fast, but here are the dates with places still available:

Fri 26 Jun
Wed 8 Jul
Fri 31 Jul
Sun 16 Aug
Wed 26 Aug

If you have been on one of Adrian's walks you will know he is a superb story-teller and brings our city's history to life vividly.

Places (which are limited) must be booked in advance. Full details including how to book a place are here on the Mayor's Guides website: https://www.bathguides.org.uk/summer-special-walks-2026/

Thanks to Adrian for all his effort in researching, designing and leading these walks, which will help spread our story of international friendship and solidarity ever wider.

If you can’t make the Bath-Alkmaar walks, Adrian’s excellent guided walk telling the story of the Bath Blitz - an incident central to the Bath-Alkmaar story, and of course of huge significance to Bath itself - is also available on Wed 22 Jul, Wed 5, Fri 14 and Fri 28 Aug.

06/05/2026

We celebrated Koningsdag - Dutch National Day - at our Alkmaar Cafe tonight (the closest to the actual date).

There was traditional food, music, a Vrijmarkt and even a Royal Quizmaster!

We welcomed a visitor to Bath from Amsterdam, Diana, who joined us, having seen the details online. (She and a friend are great fans of TV’s McDonnald and Dodds, filmed in Bath)

A truly gezellig evening. Thanks to all who joined us and to those who helped put it all together.

28/04/2026

KING’S DAY CELEBRATIONS IN WIDCOMBE
At our May 6th Alkmaar Cafe, our informal get-together at the Ring O Bells Bath pub in Widcombe, Bath, we will be holding our own celebration of “Koningsdag”, or King’s Day: effectively the Netherland's national day. It's always a big party across the nation.

The event is held on the monarch’s birthday, 27th April, but we will be bringing the same spirit to our regular monthly gathering on the first Wednesday of each month, on 6th May, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, upstairs in the pub.

Do come along and join us anytime, and wear something orange. We may not be sailing along the canal in Widcombe, but we plan to capture the same atmosphere of fun and “Dutchness”!

17/02/2026

“The Remarkable Journey of Mr Prins"
A chance to meet author Aletta Stevens and pick up a signed copy of her story about how the communities of Bath and Alkmaar came to be sister cities, a link still vibrant and very much alive, 80 years on.

04/01/2026

https://bath-alkmaar.org.uk/event/alkmaar-cafe-2026/

We meet on the first Wednesday of each month. Check the planned dates for this year in our events calender. The first Cafe will be held 07-01.

03/12/2025

"Vrolijk kerstfeest!" as the Bath-Alkmaar Twinning Association Christmas Chalet Opens !

There will be a Dutch flavour to the Bath Christmas market this weekend (6-8 December) as the Bath-Alkmaar Twinning Association chalet opens for business.

The BATA stall is this year situated towards the top of Milsom Street, a new location but with the same popular Dutch festive goodies on sale, including chocolate, cheese, liquorice, beer and advocaat. Also available will be Speculaas biscuits and children's favourite, kruidnoten, as generously thrown to children across the Netherlands by Sinterklaas himself.

The stand will be open for three days from Saturday 5th to Monday 8th December, providing Dutch goodies and also spreading the story of the Bath-Alkmaar link to locals and visitors alike, in this special 80th Anniversary year.

31/10/2025

Coming Wednesday, the 5th of November at 6.30pm.

We will be meeting for a drink and a chat at our monthly informal Alkmaar Cafe next Wednesday, 5 November, from 6.30 to 8.30.

29/08/2025

https://bath-alkmaar.org.uk/the-annual-ceremonial-striking-of-the-alkmaar-gong/

David Hall from BRLSI joined the Mayor of Bath and BATA members for the annual ceremonial striking of the Alkmaar Gong.

29/08/2025

Many thanks to David Hall from BRLSI, the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, for joining the Mayor of Bath, Cllr Professor Bharat Pankhania, and BATA members yesterday for the annual ceremonial striking of the Alkmaar Gong.

The gong was a gift from Alkmaar to Bath, first announced in August 1946 and delivered in 1947. It now resides in the Guildhall, just outside the Council Chamber.

We started a new tradition, a few years ago, of inviting someone who has played a key role in our twinning link over the year to ceremonially strike the gong. David kindly arranged for our chairman, Chris Davies, to tell the story of how our link was formed as part of BRLSI’s rolling programme of public talks. As a result of David’s invitation, many more people have now heard about our city-link.

We hope there may be more opportunities for us to partner with BRLSI in coming years.

Thank you David, and Mr Mayor, for both “bonging the gong” with style!