THE coming few months will see quite a few developments in the long-standing link between Ledbury's parish church - and other churches in the deanery - and a church in Tanzania.

The link with the church in the town of Mtwara dates back more than a decade and is part of a wider link between the Hereford Diocese and Tanzania.

Ann Tombs, a member of the congregation of Ledbury who has been involved with the link for some years, said: "It started because there was a couple who joined our church here in Ledbury. They had a fair amount of experience of connections with Africa in other parishes where they had lived, and they thought it would be an inspirational move to have this first-hand connection with a church in Africa."

The Rev John and Valerie Low therefore went out to Tanzania - chosen because of the existing link with Hereford - in 2000, and met people from Mtwara in the south-west corner of the country.

Mtwara, on the Indian Ocean coast, is perhaps best-known for its association with the the ill-fated Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme. This attempt in the late 1940s and early 50s to make south-eastern Tanzania a leading producer of peanuts failed because the climate was far to dry for the crop to thrive.

Mtwara was built as the scheme's main port. It was planned to accommodate up to 200,000 people, but the population is now around 80,000.

"They found there was a Church of St Michael and All Angels, which is the same as the Ledbury church, and a connection was made right from the start," said Mrs Tombs.

In June that year, two members of the Mtwara congregation came over. "We all felt that having face-to-face contact would be really important," said Mrs Tombs. "The whole idea is that we would find out what they wanted and needed, and work with them to help them. There would be none of this Lady Bountiful stuff about telling them what they wanted."

The visits have continued each year, with people from Ledbury deanery churches going over to Tanzania and Mtwara residents coming over here.

Among the projects that have linked the two congregations is the building of a hostel attached to the church in Mtwara.

Another was assistance with a kindergarten run by the church, which was provided by members of the Much Marcle church.

Recently a new diocese was created in Tanzania, called Newala, which encompasses Mtwara.

Last month, the bishop of the new diocese, Oscar Mnung-a, visited this country, where he attended a diocesan conference in Hereford, led a Sunday morning service at the parish church, and took part in an evensong service at Cradley.

There are also links for schools: Ledbury Primary School is linked with the Lilungu Primary School in Mtwara. Last summer, two teachers from Ledbury went out to build up the link, and a return visit is being paid to Ledbury next month, when two teachers from Mtwara will spend a week teaching at Ledbury.

There will also be a visit in September from two members of the Mtwara congregation, who will be staying for two weeks.

"It's very exciting because we really feel that the whole link is developing and going forward," said Mrs Tombs.