Our Twin Towns - Where are they?





Background to the twinning links

The first twinning link was set up in 1984 on the initiative of the then Town Mayor, Councillor Roland Cope. Newark registered its interest with the Local Government International Bureau asking for a twin town in Germany with a similar sized population situated by a river with a brewery and a castle. Three German towns were suggested, and, following visists by a delegation from Newark to Emmendingen and one from Emmendingen to Newark, all those involved felt that the two towns were a perfect match, so the decision was taken to go ahead with the twinning. The Charters were signed in Emmendingen on 24th September 1983 and in Newark on 15th April 1984.

Following the establishment, and successful first few years, of the twinning link with Emmendingen, it was felt that there might be sufficient interest in Newark to support a French twinning. The Local Government International Bureau was again approached for a suitable town but none were offered. Then, on a private visit to Tours, one of the members of Newark Twinning Association became aware that Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire was seeking an English twin town, and following similar initial exchange visits it was agreed that the towns met each others criteria. The Charters were signed in Newark in October 1992 and in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire over Easter 1993.

Newark has long had close links with Poland and the Polish community and Newark cemetery was the resting place of General Władysław Sikorski, Poland's wartime leader, until his body was returned to Kraków in September 1993 where it rests in the crypt at Wawel Castle. In 1999 a small delegation from Newark Town Council visited the Polish town of Mielec but this approach went no further than acknowledging a one year “friendship link”. Emmendingen has been twinned with Sandomierz since 1990 and, during the weekend in Emmendingen celebrating the 20th anniversary of our link, a meeting was held between the then Deputy Leader of Newark Town Council, Councillor Max Cope, and the Mayor of Sandomierz, Jerzy Borowski. Following this meeting both towns resolved to investigate the possibility of a formal twinning link and exploratory visits were held in Sandomierz in September 2005 and Newark in May 2006. Both towns agreed to twin and the Charters were signed in Newark in September 2006 and Sandomierz in April 2007.