Town Twinning
West Lancashire has thriving links with two twin towns,
Cergy-Pontoise in France and Erkrath in Germany.
Cergy-Pontoise, France
West Lancashire twinned with Cergy-Pontoise in 1983. Cergy-Pontoise
lies 30km north west of Paris and has many similar characteristics
to West Lancashire. It has a population of about 150,000 and
includes a new town, Cergy, as well as a number of small towns
(communes) and villages within the same local authority area.
Pontoise is a very old market town which is comparable with
Ormskirk. The are is an excellent holiday centre, not only for its
own attractions but also for the surrounding countryside and for
visiting Paris.
Web: Cergy-Pontoise (external
link)
Map:
Find Cergy-Pontoise on the map (external link)
Erkrath, Germany
Erkrath was formally twinned with West Lancashire in 1988, and has
been twinned with Cergy-Pontoise since 1981. Erkrath has a
population of 47,000 and lies east of Dusseldorf. It includes three
sub townships of Alt-Erkrath, Unterfeldhaus and Hochdahl - each
with its own centre but administered by a single civic authority
based in Erkrath. With the mixture of old and new, and including
both industry and agriculture, it has much in common with West
Lancashire. Erkrath is surrounded by attractive countryside,
situated at the head of the world famous Neanderthal Valley - an
area of enormous geological antiquity where one can see boulders
bearing fossilised imprints made 360 million years ago.
Web: Erkrath
(external link)
Map:
Find Erkrath on the map (external link)
Town Twinning Association
West Lancashire District Town Twinning Association is very active
in promoting relations with our twin towns at all levels. It's
found correspondents and arranged individual and group exchange
visits for students of all ages, teachers, brass bands, choirs,
sports clubs, organisations for the disabled and many others.
If you, or your group, would like to get in touch with your
equivalent in either town, the Twinning Association will try their
best to help.
To get in touch, contact the Association through Paul Dickie on
01695 722076, email paul-dickie@westlancs.fsnet.co.uk,
or Cllr Peter Gartside, the Chairman of the Association, on 01257
463177. The Association meets monthly.
Related information