I was pleased to meet exchange students from one of our Twin Towns of Bagnols is France on 13 July. They were hosted by Newbury Twin Town Association members and parents from Park House School. They were accompanied by their English-speaking adults.
In welcoming them I gave a short speech about the history of the town, from its mention in the Doomsday Book and the growth in the Middle Ages of the cloth trade, which made Newbury and it's traders prosperous. I emphasised the decline of the cloth trade following the two Civil War battles in 1643 and 1644 and its renewed prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries as a staging post for travellers between London and Bristol, and Winchester and Oxford. The building of the Kennet and Avon canal was also beneficial to the town's prosperity. I concluded my speech by describing Newbury as it is today, as a prosperous market town with high employment in a hi-tech area of the country.
I wished then an enjoyable visit and hoped they would return in the future.
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