A world of FRIENDS; THE IDEA TO LINK IN THE NAME OF PEACE BEGAN AFTER COVENTRY WAS BOMBED - THE FRIENDSHIPS ARE KEPT ALIVE TODAY.Byline: Catherine Turner ALMOST every town or city or town across the world has a twin. But did you know that it all started in Coventry? After it was bombed in the Second World War a peace movement was set up in the city to establish links with other war-ravaged towns. Coventry is now twinned with 26 towns and cities from the Bosnian city of Sarajevo to Jinan in China. Feature writer CATHERINE TURNER reports. COVENTRY is twinned with two other Coventrys in the USA - one in Connecticut and one in Rhode Island Rhode Island, island, United States Rhode Island, island, 15 mi (24 km) long and 5 mi (8 km) wide, S R.I., at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. It is the largest island in the state, with steep cliffs and excellent beaches. . Relationships have been developed over the last 40 years by the city's Association of International Friendship (CAIF CAIF Coalition Against Insurance Fraud CAIF Common Announcement Interchange Format CAIF Child Abuse Intervention Fund ). A party of 20 from Rhode Island Friendship Link will be coming to Coventry in October. If you wonder what another country's Coventry looks like you can go on a virtual tour via the internet. Even the smallest of towns in the US appears to have its own website. Like a microscope it magnifies the smallest dot on the map. www.coventry.ri.us - Coventry, Rhode Island's community website - is no exception. It provides information about historic sites, recreation and even offers a virtual slide show. "The town of Coventry," it reads, "has so much to offer its residents and visitors alike! From sparkling Johnson's pond to the newly paved bike path that runs through a tree-lined corridor." Coventry, Rhode Island Coventry is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 35,072. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 62.3 mi². 59.5 mi² of it is land and 2.8 mi² of it (4.49%) is water. , New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. , is built on land bought from the Narrangansett Tribe of Indians in 1642 for pounds 36. It was named by settlers from Coventry, England, and is situated close to towns by the name of West Warwick West Warwick (wôr`wĭk, –`ĭk), town (1990 pop. 29,268), Kent co., central R.I., on the Pawtuxet River; set off from Warwick and inc. 1913. Textile manufacturing remains a leading industry. West Warwick includes the village of River Point. and Warwick. The town is the largest in the State of Rhode Island with an area of 64.8miles and a population of 33,000. Friendship between the two towns strengthened after the wartime air- raid which destroyed Coventry in November, 1940 when the US town organised an aid package. In the summer of 1970 the Lord Mayor of Coventry, England visited his city's namesakes in Rhode Island and Connecticut to initiate cultural links and exchanges. Coventry, Connecticut Coventry is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 11,504 at the 2000 census. The birthplace of Capt. Nathan Hale, Coventry is home to the Nathan Hale Homestead, which is now a museum open to the public. , which was twinned with its UK counterpart in 1962, also has its own website - www.town-usa.com/connecticut Established in 1712 it is a semi-rural town with 10,900 residents and offers "historic sites, a herb farm An herb farm is usually a farm where herbs are grown for market sale. The herbs may also be grown for their essential oils or as raw material for making herbal products. Some herb farms also have gift shops, classes, and sometimes offer food for sale. , a vineyard, antique shops antique shop n → tienda de antigüedades antique shop antique n → magasin m d'antiquités antique shop antique n , two public beaches and a boat launch on Coventry's lake". Coventry is known across the world for the devastation it suffered in the Second World War. It sustained the heaviest bombing of any British city in a single night and in 1946 a new city was rebuilt. At the height of the Cold War in 1962 there was a real threat of nuclear war between the East and West. This fear led to the formation of Coventry Association for International Friendship (CAIF), a peace and reconciliation organisation. The aim was to form friendships with "ordinary people" in towns across the world to initiate a process of "understanding one another". Secretary of CAIF, John Moore John Moore may be: Clergy
"Coventry had a feel-good factor stemming from the rebuilding of the city and full employment. So 85 organisations committed to peace came together with a view to making their voices heard. "Coventry invented town twinning. It started with places also bombed in the war - Volgograd in Russia, Kiel in Germany and Lidice, a Czech village raised to the ground by the Germans. "Belgrade, another war-torn town, was very close to Coventry and supplied the wood for the Belgrade Theatre The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue seating 866 and situated in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built after the second world war in Britain and as such was more than a place of entertainment. . "This friendship has branched out to other towns. The last twinning was with the Chinese city of Jinan in 1983." A new booklet telling the story behind CAIF has just been published and will be followed by the launch of a website later this year - www.caif.net The group has 100 members, two-thirds of whom are retired. It receives a conditional annual grant of pounds 800 from Coventry City Council. Mr Moore, a retired economics college lecturer, said: "Our belief is that developing contact between citizens as well as professional, educational and cultural groups is important for peace. "Staying in the homes of foreigners and having them stay in our homes is an excellent way to get to know them. "After a civic welcome, we show our visitors around our mediaeval me·di·ae·val adj. Variant of medieval. mediaeval Adjective same as medieval Adj. 1. buildings, the cathedral and the environs of Stratford and the Cotswolds. We would like to redress the balance and encourage more young people to join." Mr Moore has visited Meschede, Kiel, Volgograd, Dresden and Lidice since he has been a member. He said: "I find my knowledge of the countries is much more real and alive than if I went as a tourist and stayed in a hotel." PROFILES OF FIVE OF COVENTRY'S TWIN CITIES VOLGOGRAD, RUSSIA VOLGOGRAD has, in its 400-year history, experienced three name changes - Tsaritsyn, then, during Stalin's reign, Stalingrad and in 1961 Volgograd, after the river on whose bank it stands. It was the site of one of the most decisive battles Decisive Battles was a television show on the History Channel that depicted historic battles. It ran for thirteen episodes in mid-2004. The show used the game engine from to present 3-D versions of the battles. of the Second World War from 1942-43. Sites include several war museums including the Panorama Museum of the Stalingrad Battle. LIDICE, CZECH REPUBLIC Czech Republic, Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. IN 1942 the Nazis destroyed the Czech village of Lidice to avenge a·venge tr.v. a·venged, a·veng·ing, a·veng·es 1. To inflict a punishment or penalty in return for; revenge: avenge a murder. 2. the assassination Assassination See also Murder. assassins Fanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52] Brutus conspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. of Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was an SS-Obergruppenführer, chief of the Reich Security Main Office (including the Gestapo, SD and Kripo Nazi police agencies) and Reichsprotektor (Reich Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia. , the mastermind of Nazi genocide. German soldiers blew up all the buildings and altered the flow of the river so the landscape would never be the same again. WARSAW, POLAND VIRTUALLY everything in Warsaw today was constructed following the Second World War. By the end of the war 85 per cent of the city had been destroyed and the entire population deported or sent to concentration camps. Despite its wide streets with Soviet-era tower blocks visitors are surprised how green the city is. DRESDEN, GERMANY ON February 14, 1945 the city centre was almost totally destroyed by bombing and for nearly 50 years the blackened black·en v. black·ened, black·en·ing, black·ens v.tr. 1. To make black. 2. To sully or defame: a scandal that blackened the mayor's name. 3. ruins of the Frauenkirche church lay where they fell. Renowned as The Florence on the Elbe, many of the the beautiful Baroque city's old buildings have now been rebuilt including the famous church. British fund-raisers last year presented a replica of the original copper and gold orb to the citizens of Dresden. SARAJEVO, BOSNIA and BELGRADE, SERBIA SARAJEVO and Belgrade have suffered the effects of two wars - the Second World War and the recent civil war. TOWNS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE THAT HAVE COME TO BE TWINNED WITH COVENTRY 1944 Volgograd, Russia 850,000 2,009miles 1947 Kiel, Germany 250,000 548 1947 Lidice, Czech Republic 500 783 1955 St-Etienne, France 250,000 600 1956 Dresden, Germany 505,000 652 1956 Parkes, Australia 10,000 10,622 1957 Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina 250,000 1,174 1957 Warsaw, Poland, 1,650,000 1,044 1957 Belgrade, Serbia 1,000,000 1,148 1957 Caen, France 130,000 261 1957 Graz, Austria 250,000 835 1958 Arnhem, Netherlands 135,000 287 1959 Ostrava, Czech Republic 330,000 992 1960 Bologna, Italy 500,000 783 1960 Cork, Ireland Cork, Ireland is a term which may refer to the following places in southern Ireland, depending on context.
1962 Coventry, Connecticut, USA 10,000 3,497 1962 Dunaujvaros, Hungary 50,000 1,044 1962 Galati, Romania 200,000 1,409 1962 Kecskemet, Hungary 85,000 1,096 1962 Kingston, Jamaica The City of Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica. It is located on the southeastern coast of the island country at Coordinates: . 600,000 4,515 1963 Granby Quebec, Canada 45,000 3,393 1963 Windsor, Canada 260,000 3,784 1971 Coventry, Rhode Island, USA 33,000 3,236 1972 Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario. Cornwall is Ontario's easternmost city, located on the St. , Canada 46,000 3,445 1983 Jinan, China 3,000,000 5,324 2001 CALENDAR OF CAIF'S INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES APRIL April: see month. A VISIT to St Etienne, capital of the Loire in central France, has been confirmed for the last week in April. Accommodation will be in private homes. Places are available. JUNE FRIENDS in Meschede, in the Sauerland region Germany, have invited CAIF over for a visit. Places are available. AUGUST A PARTY from the Vannes area of Brittany will be coming to stay in Coventry for a week. OCTOBER A PARTY of 20 from Coventry Friendship Link, Rhode Island, USA, will be coming to Coventry for a week. Offers of hospitality are welcome. Anyone interesting in finding more information about becoming a host or joining an exchange John Moore at the Coventry Association for International Friendship on 024 7625 7853. CAPTION(S): FOREIGN EXCHANGE: Members of Coventry Association for International Friendship enjoy a picnic on a visit to Vannes, Brittany and (right) John Moore, secretary of CAIF; WARMLY WELCOMED: Local government workers from Ostrava, in the Czech Republic, who visited Coventry last October UNION: Coventry's twin town of Dresden AMUSING: A public sculpture in Kiel, Germany, which amused a·muse tr.v. a·mused, a·mus·ing, a·mus·es 1. To occupy in an agreeable, pleasing, or entertaining fashion. 2. CAIF members as it is supposed to represent marriage |
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