MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

MLA Spink visits Whitby, twinned to Falklands Stanley City

The sign of Stanley and Whitby twinning at the access of the Falklands capital

As part of the commemorations marking the 40th anniversary of the Liberation of the Falkland Islands, the city of Whitby welcomed a special guest, reports the local media. The special guest is none else than elected lawmaker MLA Roger Spink who has been doing the round of commemoration events in the United Kingdom.

On Thursday 23 June MLA Spink was scheduled to visit various attractions around Whitby, which is twinned with Port Stanley, and was later expected to attend a civic reception at the Captain Cook Memorial Museum.

On his arrival in Whitby MLA Spink said, “It's wonderful coming to Whitby - we have had a long-standing relationship with the town. ”This is an opportunity to come up to see the people of Whitby to say thank you for all their support today and the support in the 40 years since 1982.”

MLA Spink co-chaired the current Falkland Islands Economic Development Strategy and has, over the years, served on other boards including Falkland Islands Tourism.

One of the things Roger was interested in seeing was the Peace Rose, a sculpture on display at Pannett Art Gallery.

Repurposing smelted shell casings and bullets, Argentine craftsman Juan Carlos Pallarols and his volunteers created hand-crafted roses in tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in the 1982 conflict.

The Peace Rose in Whitby is on loan from the Imperial War Museums.