Pupils at Bishop Barrington school have joined with youngsters from Kreis Wessel in Germany to celebrate the 60th anniversary of a twinning agreement.
A life-sized plastic donkey was hand painted by students from England and Germany, and was unveiled at a ceremony on Thursday. Cllr Pauline Charlton, Chairman of Durham County Council, and Ms Frederike Mueller of the German Embassy spoke to the children that painted the donkey, and those involved in the partnership over the last 60 years.
The school won a competition to come up with a design and worked with German students and a local artist to decorate the donkey, with the English pupils decorating one side with landmarks in Durham and German students the other side with Kreis Wesel icons.
“We did the viaduct and loads of parts of the cathedral,” explained Lucy, a student at Bishop Barrington.
Several smaller donkeys were also decorated.
A children’s nursery rhyme links the German word for donkey (Esel) with the town, and Wesel adopted the animal as a symbol. Numerous painted donkeys dot the streets in Kreis Wessel.