Special connection: the Norwegian visitors at the Montrose statue of famous St Bernard Bamse.
A Nordic connection between two towns was strengthened this week with the visit of a group of school pupils.
A 2,000-mile stretch of the North Sea separates Montrose from Honningsvag, at the northern tip of Norway, and 13 pupils and two teachers arrived from there on Thursday.
The link between the two was established through the story of Sea Dog Bamse, the St Bernard ship’s dog of the Second World War. Bamse lived at Honningsvag before the war as a family pet before serving on the Norwegian minesweeper Thorodd.
He died in Montrose and was buried at the mouth of the North Esk in 1944. In 2006 a statue was erected on the waterfront and Honningsvag put up a duplicate in 2009.
The visitors, led by English teacher Linda Hanssen, are from Honningsvag Secondary School and are aged 15 and 16.
Ms Hanssen said: “We are very pleased to be here in Montrose, and are having a wonderful time.”
