Memories from Jo's album of Bridgnorth twinning

She has sent us these reminders of the original twinning celebrations, which saw hundreds of visitors from France come over for three days of events to mark the link-up.

The official twinning ceremony took place in Bridgnorth High Street on Sunday, October 1, 1978, before big crowds.

Jo said: "Reading that there are going to be celebrations for the 40th anniversary of twinning with Thiers prompted me to look in our old photo albums.

"Having just moved to Bridgnorth four weeks before the twinning celebrations and being keen to find out all about our new home, we went to watch.

"We first came to Bridgnorth on holiday from Yorkshire in 1971 specifically to see the Severn Valley Railway. We moved to Oxfordshire in 1972.

"My husband, Peter, heard that Bampton station close to where we lived was being demolished and parts of it were going to be incorporated in the SVR so he and our sons, aged five and seven, went along to help with the demolition.

"We then paid several working visits to the SVR, pitching our caravan at Arley, where Peter and the boys did 'railway stuff’ but our daughter and I preferred the river.

"In 1978 Peter was promoted which meant a move to the Midlands. There was a unanimous family vote to come and live in Bridgnorth. We still live in Bridgnorth and Peter still volunteers at the SVR, currently telling school parties what it was like to be a child in the war."

Jo added that the locomotive that played a part in the 1978 celebrations is now on display in the engine house in Highley.

During the 1978 ceremony, for which the 300 Thiers visitors, including Thiers Mayor, Monsieur Maurice Adevah-Peouf, had suffered a nightmare 20-hour trip because of gales in the English Channel, the French national anthem was played by Bridgnorth Junior Band and the British national anthem was played by the Thiers band.

About 1,400 balloons in red, white and blue, bearing the names of Bridgnorth schoolchildren, were released over the town.