Chelmsford – a Big Name Across the World

By Robin Lucas, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

Chelmsford is a city with plenty of international connections. It is twinned with two towns in Europe and shares a name with another three communities in North America.

Greens Removals offers highly competitive house moves to Chelmsford as well as many other destinations in Essex, Suffolk and across East Anglia and the UK. We also operate a comprehensive international removals service to Germany and France, plus other countries in Europe and worldwide.

Here is our guide to the worldwide links enjoyed by Chelmsford and its neighbouring towns.

Annonay, France

This town, in the Ardeche region of southern France, has been twinned with Chelmsford since 1999. It was the birthplace of the Montgolfier brothers, who were paper manufacturers from the town but who are better known as the inventors of the hot air balloon in the 1780s. Annonay still has an annual hot air balloon festival.

These days the town, which has a population of around 16,000, is home to paper, textiles, plastics and pharmaceutical companies. Its warm climate is ideal for growing cherries, apples, pears and apricots, as well as grapes for the region’s wine.

Regular exchange trips are held between the two towns involving families, sports clubs and other groups, including choirs, local Rotary Clubs and the Caprice Orchestra.

Backnang, Germany

Chelmsford is also twinned with the German town of Backnang. It lies on the River Murr, around 20 miles north east of Stuttgart, and is the capital of the Baden Wurttemburg region. It has a population is around 35,000.

Historically important for leather goods and the textile industry, these have largely died out and now the local economy is dominated by high-tech telecoms companies.

As well as families, groups to benefit from exchange trips to Germany include Chelmsford County High School, the city’s Adult Education College, the Baptist Church and the Essex Police Band.

Chelmsfords in the USA and Canada

Chelmsford in Massachusetts is named after its English counterpart, but the two places are not twinned. The American town is 24 miles north-west of Boston and has a population of around 35,000 people. It was officially founded in 1655.

Essex’s Chelmsford also shares a name, but no twinning connection, with a Canadian village in New Brunswick, which has a population of around 6,000. Until 1968 there was a second Chelmsford in Canada, in Northern Ontario. Some believe that this Chelmsford was named after its Essex namesake by an English engineer who was helping build an outpost of the Canadian Pacific Railway there. However, it has now been amalgamated into the neighbouring town of Balfour.

Other Essex Twins

Chelmsford is not the only Essex community to benefit from international connections. Colchester is twinned with three European destinations: the southern French city of Avignon, the northern Italian town of Imola, and Wetzlar, a German town around 30 miles north of Frankfurt.

Billericay has two American twins. Billerica in Massachusetts is named after its Essex near-namesake and is less than six miles away from the US Chelmsford. Fishers, a city in Indiana, is Billericay’s other American twin, and it has a major park named after its English counterpart.

Meaux in northern France, Gweru in central Zimbabwe and Heiligenhaus in western Germany are twinned with Basildon. Witham also has a German twin, the rural town of Walbrol, which is around 40 miles east of Cologne. And Chipping Ongar is partnered with Cerizay, a town in western France.  

Greens Removals arranges competitive house moves to Chelmsford, plus other Essex destinations including Colchester, Billericay, Basildon, Witham and Chipping Ongar.  If you are thinking about moving to the area, follow the link above to find out more about our friendly, professional services. We can also arrange moves to all parts of the UK, to European countries including Germany, France, Holland and Switzerland, and other worldwide destinations.

Removals to Essex – Rochford