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  History of the Verwood
& 3 Legged Cross Twinning
Association.
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Summary
 In 1984/5, after
the formation of the Verwood Twinning Association the
first twinning ceremonies occurred. First in Verwood and
then in Champtoceaux. In 1992 due to the expanding size of
Verwood it was extended to include the other eight French
communities in the canton. These include Bouzillé,
Drain, Landemont, Liré, Saint Christophe La Couperie,
Saint Laurent des Autels and Saint Sauveur de Landemont as
well as Champtoceaux itself.
Champtoceaux is situated south of the
river Loire between Nantes and Angers.
In 1992 Verwood also twinned with
the small German town of ' Liederbach am Taunus', which is
close to ' Frankfurt am Main'.
Plaques and photographs marking the formal
twinning ceremonies are on display in the Town Council
Chamber and Various other gifts received from our
twin towns are displayed in the Council Chamber, the
Library and the Heritage Centre.
The subsequent articles are
derived from the recorded information such as minutes and
press cuttings along with memories and anecdotes of
current and past members. If anybody reading this knows of
further information then please get in touch with the
Webmaster at  .
The information has been split into
separate chronological pages for ease of downloading so
you can view them in any order you choose.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As an early member of the Twinning
Association and a member of the committee during some of the
early years it seemed that the details of its inception of
the Verwood Twinning Association should be documented by
speaking to those directly involved who are still with
us.
Sadly a number are no longer are, including
Bill Williams one of the past mayors of Verwood who was one
of the initial instigators and the MP for Verwood, Robert
Adley (of Steam Train fame), who attended the initial
Celebration Dinner. I am particularly indebted to Ron Curd
who had already produced a booklet covering the period from
1981 to 1995 from which a large portion of this initial data
is drawn and also to Gordon Thorne (The first mayor of
Verwood).
Those to whom Ron Curd is indebted include
past Chairmen (in order of tenure) Gordon Thorne, John
Palethorpe, Geoff Higley and Brian Bowey, and co-founder
member Bill Williams. I have included below the introduction
to the leaflet written by Ron Curd. When he first became a
member of Verwood Parish Council (as it then was), he
suggested that to twin with a French or German town was a
good idea.
Webmaster
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INTRODUCTION from
the booklet by Ron Curd.
"When I first
conceived the idea of writing the story of our first
fifteen years, I thought it desirable to get the
views of founder members and each of our Chairmen,
past and present, on what should be included. I
passed it first to Mr F E (Bill) Williams, a friend
of some twenty-five years, who mentally "pulled
me up short" by asking "Why are you
writing it, and for whom?" I think the answer
must be because I felt it ought to be written, and,
as an easy reference for members of the society who
want to find out when a particular event took place.
"
"When twinning first
started in the 1950s, I thought it was a good idea.
Having lived through two world wars, it was obvious
to me how important it was for people of different
countries to get to know each other well to help
reduce the "them foreigners" attitude, and
relate to each other as individuals. "
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SOURCES
These include Minutes of Committee Meetings,
Chairman's Annual Reports, Press Cuttings, Members'
anecdotes and reports written for inclusion the Verwood
Viewpoint Magazine before it became a commercial enterprise
plus my own recollections and photographs.
This article will be extended as time allows. If
you have any other reminiscences then please send them to me
at  .
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