Local historian Joanna Moncrieff uncovers the surprising history of Chingford’s twinning with the quaint Parisian suburb of Saint-Mandé
Are Chingford residents aware that back in April 1956, before the creation of the London borough of Waltham Forest, Chingford
was twinned with the Paris suburb of Saint-Mandé?
Bi-lingual World, an organisation based in France dedicated to the improvement of international understanding, had suggested that Chingford might want to twin with a town of comparable size and character.
From 20th to 23rd April 1956 there was an official visit to Saint-Mandé headed by the mayor of Chingford, Aubrey Austin. The visit was followed in 1957 with Saint-Mandé gifting Chingford a Limoges style vase. This vase is currently residing in a corner of the foyer at Waltham Forest Town Hall.
In the early days of the twinning there were regular exchange visits and Chingford residents were very much involved and interested in the arrangement.
The Evening News of 18th January 1960 reported that those who had hosted French families from Saint-Mandé would be able to do a return trip there in June 1960 “when a mayor-led delegation spends a long weekend in Saint-Mandé”.
The report went on to say that a strong tennis team would accompany the delegation and that many other Chingford residents would make arrangements to spend the same weekend in the town.
This was at little cost to the people of Chingford with most of the funding coming from the French government.
In The Evening News on 13th May 1961 the then town clerk of Chingford said that “criticism of Chingford Council’s expenditure on town twinning… was unfounded. “Since 1957 the annual visits to and from Saint-Mandé have cost the ratepayers of Chingford nothing.” For extra context, the inaugural 1956 visit had cost them a grand total of £30 (about £700 today).
Chingford Historical Society says that in 1956 a family from Saint-Mandé arrived to camp for ten days but it was too wet to pitch their tent; thankfully they found other accommodation. By 1964 there had already been five visits to Saint- Mandé and four return visits to Chingford with a fifth planned at that time.
There were of course other gifts back and forth. In 1996 Waltham Forest’s gift was a red telephone box. This wasn’t as unusual as it sounds. A quick sweep of old newspapers in the British Newspaper Archive during 1995 and 1996 reveals a whole host of red telephone boxes going over the channel to various towns in France often taken there in the back of a van driven by a member of the twinning committee.
The telephone box from Waltham Forest can still be seen on the south-east corner of Place Charles Digeon in Saint-Mandé.
According to Waltham Forest’s website there have continued to be school exchanges, most recently with schools in Highams Park, but not Chingford.
Do you have any memories of exchange visits to Saint-Mandé? Chingford Historical Society would be very interested to hear from you. Email: [email protected]
Author Joanna Moncrieff leads local history walks in Walthamstow and Chingford and monthly tours of Waltham Forest Town Hall. To see her upcoming walks go here
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