The CDPB theme for 1st September 2008 is "Sister Cities" which is the American term for what we generally call "Town Twinning". It is a concept whereby towns or cities in geographically and politically distinct areas are paired, with the goal of fostering human contact and cultural links. It acts as a cultural bridge which is why today's post is also our contribution on the first Monday of the month to Broer som Binder [Bridges between].
I thought the signpost here on the A560 was the only place where mention was made of Hyde being twinned with Colmar, but recently I saw a similar sign greeting motorists exiting from the Eastbound carriageway of the M67.
The Tameside MBC website informs us that
- Tameside is twinned with Bengbu in Anhui Province, China.
- Ashton-under-Lyne is twinned with Chaumont.
- Dukinfield is twinned with Champagnole.
- Denton is twinned with Montigny-le-Bretonneux.
- Droylsden is twinned with Villemomble.
- Mossley is twinned with Hem.
- Stalybridge is twinned with Armentieres.
- Longdendale is twinned with Ruppichteroth.
According to Wikipedia Colmar
is a town and commune in the Haut-Rhin département of Alsace, France. It was founded in the 9th century and was the location where Charles the Fat held a diet in 884. Colmar was granted the status of a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire in 1226. During the Thirty Years' War, the city was taken by the armies of Sweden in 1632, who held it for two years. The city was conquered by France under Louis XIV in 1697. The Treaty of Nimwegen ceded Colmar to France. With the rest of Alsace, it was annexed by the newly formed German Empire in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War. It returned to France after World War I, was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940, and then reverted to French control after the battle of the "Colmar Pocket" in 1945.
This picture of Petite Venise is by Infrogmation and used here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation licenseColmar is 64 kilometers (40 miles) south-southwest of Strasbourg, at 48.08°N, 7.36°E, on the Lauch River, directly to the east of the Vosges Mountains. It is connected to the Rhine by a canal.The North-West Film Archive has a 16mm film of the CEREMONY OF TWINNING BETWEEN THE BOROUGH OF HYDE AND THE TOWN OF COLMAR, FRANCE produced by G. Wain in 1963. Lasting 4 mins 54 secs it includes brief exteriors of Hyde Town Hall, followed by interiors featuring participants from both towns, speeches and ceremony.
A number of George Wain's films have been featured on Old Hyde, but we have been unable to locate a copy of this one.
I did manage to find a little extra information in the Tameside Local Studies Library and you can read those findings on Old Hyde.
More details of and links to other participants to Broer som Binder can be found on Visual Norway.
To view thumbnails for all CDPB participants to the theme, visit the City Daily Photoblog portal
32 comments:
wonderfully quaint and informative.
have a great week :)
Yes, a bridge that links all our differences is all we need to make a better world. An appropriate choice for the theme day.
Happy Theme Day!
Again I applaud your lateral thinking to combine two contrasting but uniting themes. Very indepth post on your twin town, and pretty it is too.
interesting info - i've shown photos of my own town and my birth town that are twinned
Gerald,
That's quite exhaustive! As you'd said, it seems like many cities just sign up for the twinning and then forget all about it... learnt that there is a hierarchy to twinning too - with 'partner' cities being at a lower level than 'sister' cities... maybe the latter are ignored more frequently :)
Cheers,
Shantaram
:) They took the guessing out of this for the citizens by posting that sign. Lovely place judging by the photos.
Hi, My town of Oliver is also twinned with a town in Japan. Twinning is a great excuse for a free trip for the council members to exotic locations
Very pretty little town you're twinned with.
I enjoyed that variant of the the theme enormously. A true "bridge". Very informative.
Our her we call them "Vennskapsbyer" (Cities of friendship) and some examples for Bergen is:
UK - Newcastle-upon-Tyne
USA - Seattle
Sweden - Gøteborg (Gothenburgh)
Denmark - Aarhus
I am proud to say that I have visited all of these.
Great post and theme!
Bridges of friendship.
For a better world.
Yes, you're always very good at this lateral thinking when it comes to interpreting the theme days! How strange that there is such little official information about your twin town.
Beautiful view above!!!
I noticed when I lived in England that most towns seem to be twinned with somewhere in FRance, and quite often school exchanges were common. There must have been quite an effort. Often German towns too.
Sydney Daily Photo
Interesting and informative..thank you.
You really added lots of information, and, of course, I would have expected nothing less from you! Very thorough.
Your 'twinned' city appears to be a beautiful place. At least you have a couple of signs acknowledging the link; I have not seen any such evidence here.
Very interesting. I don't think I've ever heard the term "twinning" before. glad I stopped by
Your twinned city looks like a great place. Nice and informative post for the theme.
Great information. I'm glad I wasn't the only one to post a sign :)
Very interesting facts!
Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your kind comments. Have a great start to your week!
joy
I haven't been to Colmar myself but it's a popular day-trip destination for a lot of people in this area of Switzerland. There's an annual Christmas market there that's supposed to be quite special.
The petite venise is a beautiful sight! Thanks for the additional info about twinning, its is a really good effort for the cities...
Happy theme day!
Great post, Hyde! Love the Little Venice image!!
Perhaps someday I will visit, not only Hyde, but your twin, Colmar. I would love to visit Alsace to search for my husband's family's history, and Hyde and its surrounding areas to look more closely at mine. I like this idea of "twins." It sounds even closer than "sister cities."
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo
Twinned, a wonderful expression.
Cynical of me however I suspect most sister city relationships are mostly about commerce.
best wishes
Denton from Greenville and the Daily Photo Map.
Great bridge tie in! I think our sister city is in Japan -- I have momentarily forgotten.
Drop by and see my bridge for this meme on my new blog.
Paulie
Very informative and interesting. I am German be descent and some of my ancestors are from that region in France. Again interesting.
I really like the amount of detail - it's like a history lesson! The symbolic imagery of the bridge was a very creative touch. Researching my twin town was a lot of fun; I hope your was too.
Nice take on the theme. Frederick has two sister cities in Germany, Mörzheim and Schifferstadt. This area was settled by German immigrants in the 1740's.
Sorry to pour cold water on the twinning of Hyde with Colmar. It seems this ended over 30 years ago when Colmar decided to twin with Abingdon in Oxfordshire and, abandon its relationship with Hyde. Indeed, I recall a news item in the North Cheshire Herald some years ago in which the authorities in Colmar denied any knowledge of it ever being twinned with Hyde. I suspect that Colmar, which is described in Wikipedia as a "prosperous town", decided to twin with an English town more in keeping with its status. As any older Hydonian knows only too well, the prosperity of Hyde has declined markedly since it became part of Tameside and continues so to do. Time to take down the Colmar signs perhaps?
Hyde WAS twinned with Colmar. I went on an exchange visit in 1969 for two weeks. There was a picture of everyone on the trip, boarding the coach outside Hyde Town Hall. I think the article was in the North Cheshire Herald (and Hyde Reporter). The headline was something like :- "Hoorah Colmar and here we come!"
I have tried to find information on this but to no avail.
Angela (nee Casey)
in 1964 myself and 9 other girls from flowery field,leigh street and astley grammar all aged between 13 and 14 went for a month in the summer for £15 all in.When we came back they sent 10 boys from hyde schools.Loved it...my one time abroad...x
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