Discussion
Have you ever visited a town or city because it was twinned with yours?
I've always wondered what it actually means to have a twinned town, or sister city. It is, "an official agreement between two distinct towns or cities in different countries to foster friendship, cultural exchange, and cooperation. These agreements often aim to promote understanding, reconciliation, and economic benefits between the participating communities." I have no recollection of my home town's twin ever being mentioned at school and other than noting the welcome sign when approaching the area, I've always wondered what it meant.
The town - or borough - I call home is 'friends of' Chaville, France and Siegerland, Germany as well as being twinned with La Raincy, Montclair, Morphou, Ramat Gan, Tempelhof and Pokhara. Would these towns have had a reciprocal welcome note too? Were there school trips between places? Did people become pen pals after the twinning nominations or ceremonies? Is there any relevance today other than an historical point of interest?
A quick glance at the wiki and it looks like Amersham were stitched up with Krynica-Zdrój never mind twinned.
I've always wondered what it actually means to have a twinned town, or sister city. It is, "an official agreement between two distinct towns or cities in different countries to foster friendship, cultural exchange, and cooperation. These agreements often aim to promote understanding, reconciliation, and economic benefits between the participating communities." I have no recollection of my home town's twin ever being mentioned at school and other than noting the welcome sign when approaching the area, I've always wondered what it meant.
The town - or borough - I call home is 'friends of' Chaville, France and Siegerland, Germany as well as being twinned with La Raincy, Montclair, Morphou, Ramat Gan, Tempelhof and Pokhara. Would these towns have had a reciprocal welcome note too? Were there school trips between places? Did people become pen pals after the twinning nominations or ceremonies? Is there any relevance today other than an historical point of interest?
A quick glance at the wiki and it looks like Amersham were stitched up with Krynica-Zdrój never mind twinned.
My home town is twinned with Angoulême, France. The biggest sign of this was a town centre bypass road, locally pronounced as the An-goolly-me Way.
There were mayoral visits and I think school exchanges, but didn't get involved with that
However, when I was choosing a place to teach in France for a year as part of my degree course, I saw Angoulême and chose it for no other reason than I knew the name and it was in the Southern half. Loved the place, made lifelong French friends and have been going back ever since
There were mayoral visits and I think school exchanges, but didn't get involved with that
However, when I was choosing a place to teach in France for a year as part of my degree course, I saw Angoulême and chose it for no other reason than I knew the name and it was in the Southern half. Loved the place, made lifelong French friends and have been going back ever since
Glassman said:
Have you ever visited a town or city because it was twinned with yours?
I've always wondered what it actually means to have a twinned town, or sister city. It is, "an official agreement between two distinct towns or cities in different countries to foster friendship, cultural exchange, and cooperation. These agreements often aim to promote understanding, reconciliation, and economic benefits between the participating communities." I have no recollection of my home town's twin ever being mentioned at school and other than noting the welcome sign when approaching the area, I've always wondered what it meant.
The town - or borough - I call home is 'friends of' Chaville, France and Siegerland, Germany as well as being twinned with La Raincy, Montclair, Morphou, Ramat Gan, Tempelhof and Pokhara. Would these towns have had a reciprocal welcome note too? Were there school trips between places? Did people become pen pals after the twinning nominations or ceremonies? Is there any relevance today other than an historical point of interest?
A quick glance at the wiki and it looks like Amersham were stitched up with Krynica-Zdrój never mind twinned.
Around 35-40 years ago I went on a couple of twinning volleyball trips to Krefeld (twinned with Leicester), plus we hosted them one year.I've always wondered what it actually means to have a twinned town, or sister city. It is, "an official agreement between two distinct towns or cities in different countries to foster friendship, cultural exchange, and cooperation. These agreements often aim to promote understanding, reconciliation, and economic benefits between the participating communities." I have no recollection of my home town's twin ever being mentioned at school and other than noting the welcome sign when approaching the area, I've always wondered what it meant.
The town - or borough - I call home is 'friends of' Chaville, France and Siegerland, Germany as well as being twinned with La Raincy, Montclair, Morphou, Ramat Gan, Tempelhof and Pokhara. Would these towns have had a reciprocal welcome note too? Were there school trips between places? Did people become pen pals after the twinning nominations or ceremonies? Is there any relevance today other than an historical point of interest?
A quick glance at the wiki and it looks like Amersham were stitched up with Krynica-Zdrój never mind twinned.
A fun way to experience another culture, share beers & learn some of their history. On one occasion we visited a war memorial with our host.
No idea what the proactive benefits are these days, but anything that brings nations together is a good thing to me.
As an aside, I’ve been very involved with a volleyball club for decades, & we have had MANY nationalities play with us. I’ve met back with pals from that club in Valencia, Slovakia, Czech Republic….& had an exchange volleyball weekend in Poland (& returned the favour in Leicester).
About 20 years ago I was called up to represent some town in Fife that was twinned with several others at some sort of Olympiad in Pontoise, France.
They needed me and my brother to make up some numbers and everything was paid for... a week off school during term time was no hard sell for us so we were quickly down the A9 and boarding a coach full of budding sports stars. It was just unfortunate that we were sharing a bus with most of the girls from athletics...
It was a great event, lots of laughs were had and the whole week was a great experience. I had a wee holiday romance and to this day we are still very good friends. Still in touch with two or three others from that trip too.
Seems it is still going too, every three years. Google AI summarises the event as the following:
Pontoise, France, is a twin town of Glenrothes, Scotland, and is involved in the annual Twin Town Olympiad, which features sports and cultural exchanges between participating towns. The Twin Town Olympiad is a tradition between Glenrothes and its twinned towns, including Pontoise, Sittard-Geleen (Netherlands), Bõblingen (Germany), Kerms (Austria), Alba (Italy), and Bergama (Turkey). Sevenoaks in England is also twinned with Pontoise
They needed me and my brother to make up some numbers and everything was paid for... a week off school during term time was no hard sell for us so we were quickly down the A9 and boarding a coach full of budding sports stars. It was just unfortunate that we were sharing a bus with most of the girls from athletics...
It was a great event, lots of laughs were had and the whole week was a great experience. I had a wee holiday romance and to this day we are still very good friends. Still in touch with two or three others from that trip too.
Seems it is still going too, every three years. Google AI summarises the event as the following:
Pontoise, France, is a twin town of Glenrothes, Scotland, and is involved in the annual Twin Town Olympiad, which features sports and cultural exchanges between participating towns. The Twin Town Olympiad is a tradition between Glenrothes and its twinned towns, including Pontoise, Sittard-Geleen (Netherlands), Bõblingen (Germany), Kerms (Austria), Alba (Italy), and Bergama (Turkey). Sevenoaks in England is also twinned with Pontoise
I think the original idea of towns twinning was to smooth the UK joining the EEC. Back in those days many people still viewed France and Spain as weird foreigners with funny food and odd toilets.
The village i grew up in embraced twinning wholeheartedly, and we visited the similarly-sized town in France (near Caen) too many times to remember. We made lifelong friends (indeed, my mum is well into her 90s now and still emails some of the families we met while twinning), went on holidays with them (as a skinny 12 year old i was went to France on my own for a fortnight's holiday with a French family who we hardly knew, seems unlikely that would happen these days)
I think it is still going, although on a much smaller scale these days. Back in the 1980s it used to be a coach full of "Twinners" going for a long weekend every year
The village i grew up in embraced twinning wholeheartedly, and we visited the similarly-sized town in France (near Caen) too many times to remember. We made lifelong friends (indeed, my mum is well into her 90s now and still emails some of the families we met while twinning), went on holidays with them (as a skinny 12 year old i was went to France on my own for a fortnight's holiday with a French family who we hardly knew, seems unlikely that would happen these days)
I think it is still going, although on a much smaller scale these days. Back in the 1980s it used to be a coach full of "Twinners" going for a long weekend every year
I live in Richmond-upon-Thames and its twinned with Fontainbleu near Paris.
My wife is French, and part of her family live there so we have visited a few times, but not because of the twinned town link...although it did click the 1st time we went a couple of years ago.
I thought - "gosh, this place name seem to ring a bell, I wonder why?", I quickly figured it out the next time I crossed Richmond Bridge as the town twinning sign is there
My wife is French, and part of her family live there so we have visited a few times, but not because of the twinned town link...although it did click the 1st time we went a couple of years ago.
I thought - "gosh, this place name seem to ring a bell, I wonder why?", I quickly figured it out the next time I crossed Richmond Bridge as the town twinning sign is there
mikef said:
My home town is twinned with Angoulême, France. The biggest sign of this was a town centre bypass road, locally pronounced as the An-goolly-me Way.
There were mayoral visits and I think school exchanges, but didn't get involved with that
However, when I was choosing a place to teach in France for a year as part of my degree course, I saw Angoulême and chose it for no other reason than I knew the name and it was in the Southern half. Loved the place, made lifelong French friends and have been going back ever since
I went to your local grammar school and back in the 80s there was all sorts of twin town stuff going on. There were mayoral visits and I think school exchanges, but didn't get involved with that
However, when I was choosing a place to teach in France for a year as part of my degree course, I saw Angoulême and chose it for no other reason than I knew the name and it was in the Southern half. Loved the place, made lifelong French friends and have been going back ever since
My home town is Rochdale which is twinned with Lviv, which I find very interesting, and that is very definitely on my list of places to visit. It’s also got a cat cafe.
mikef said:
My home town is twinned with Angoulême, France. The biggest sign of this was a town centre bypass road, locally pronounced as the An-goolly-me Way.
There were mayoral visits and I think school exchanges, but didn't get involved with that
However, when I was choosing a place to teach in France for a year as part of my degree course, I saw Angoulême and chose it for no other reason than I knew the name and it was in the Southern half. Loved the place, made lifelong French friends and have been going back ever since
Thats beautiful, we had friends in Matha and went 4 times a yearThere were mayoral visits and I think school exchanges, but didn't get involved with that
However, when I was choosing a place to teach in France for a year as part of my degree course, I saw Angoulême and chose it for no other reason than I knew the name and it was in the Southern half. Loved the place, made lifelong French friends and have been going back ever since
Pembroke is twinned with Bergen, Lower Saxony, Germany and Pembroke, Malta. I think they missed an opportunity with Pembroke, Canada. We popped up to look at it one day when in Ottawa.
Swindon was twinned with Disneyworld for one year as the result of a competition win.
Royal Wootton Bassett is twinned with Blain in the Pays de la Loire region. They have french evenings as part of it.
Swindon was twinned with Disneyworld for one year as the result of a competition win.
Royal Wootton Bassett is twinned with Blain in the Pays de la Loire region. They have french evenings as part of it.
I think it depends on the town/city.
The twin towns of Lincoln and Neustadt an der Weinstraße have enjoyed a strong cultural partnership for decades.
The first UK Christmas market was the Neustadt traders coming up to Lincoln Castle grounds in the 1970s.
For one anniversary (in the 90s) a 747 was chartered from RAF Waddington to fly everyone out for a weekend jamboree. My parents were on it.
There was also a fairly traumatic incident in the 1970s when a double decker bus full of Germans went under a low bridge, injuring a load of the visitors.
Nothing like a bit of reciprocal hospitality.
Anyway we, as a family, benefited from hosting and group holidays there back in the 1980s.
Bedford and Bamberg had (have still?) a similarly strong twinning.
The twin towns of Lincoln and Neustadt an der Weinstraße have enjoyed a strong cultural partnership for decades.
The first UK Christmas market was the Neustadt traders coming up to Lincoln Castle grounds in the 1970s.
For one anniversary (in the 90s) a 747 was chartered from RAF Waddington to fly everyone out for a weekend jamboree. My parents were on it.
There was also a fairly traumatic incident in the 1970s when a double decker bus full of Germans went under a low bridge, injuring a load of the visitors.
Nothing like a bit of reciprocal hospitality.
Anyway we, as a family, benefited from hosting and group holidays there back in the 1980s.
Bedford and Bamberg had (have still?) a similarly strong twinning.
beambeam1 said:
About 20 years ago I was called up to represent some town in Fife that was twinned with several others at some sort of Olympiad in Pontoise, France.
They needed me and my brother to make up some numbers and everything was paid for... a week off school during term time was no hard sell for us so we were quickly down the A9 and boarding a coach full of budding sports stars. It was just unfortunate that we were sharing a bus with most of the girls from athletics...
It was a great event, lots of laughs were had and the whole week was a great experience. I had a wee holiday romance and to this day we are still very good friends. Still in touch with two or three others from that trip too.
Seems it is still going too, every three years. Google AI summarises the event as the following:
Pontoise, France, is a twin town of Glenrothes, Scotland, and is involved in the annual Twin Town Olympiad, which features sports and cultural exchanges between participating towns. The Twin Town Olympiad is a tradition between Glenrothes and its twinned towns, including Pontoise, Sittard-Geleen (Netherlands), Bõblingen (Germany), Kerms (Austria), Alba (Italy), and Bergama (Turkey). Sevenoaks in England is also twinned with Pontoise
Glenrothes always used to have 'Twinned with Boblingen' under the signs as you entered but I think they must've removed them a few years ago. Perhaps when they twinned with all those other places.They needed me and my brother to make up some numbers and everything was paid for... a week off school during term time was no hard sell for us so we were quickly down the A9 and boarding a coach full of budding sports stars. It was just unfortunate that we were sharing a bus with most of the girls from athletics...
It was a great event, lots of laughs were had and the whole week was a great experience. I had a wee holiday romance and to this day we are still very good friends. Still in touch with two or three others from that trip too.
Seems it is still going too, every three years. Google AI summarises the event as the following:
Pontoise, France, is a twin town of Glenrothes, Scotland, and is involved in the annual Twin Town Olympiad, which features sports and cultural exchanges between participating towns. The Twin Town Olympiad is a tradition between Glenrothes and its twinned towns, including Pontoise, Sittard-Geleen (Netherlands), Bõblingen (Germany), Kerms (Austria), Alba (Italy), and Bergama (Turkey). Sevenoaks in England is also twinned with Pontoise
There's a foot/cyclepath that goes round a lot of Glenrothes named Boblingen Way.
It's a favourite hangout for flashers I'm told
The village of Abernethy is twinned with Grisy Suisnes which, to my childish brain, is pronounced greasy swines.
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