Coventry's twin cities

According to Wikipedia, Coventry is twinned with 26 cities around the world - some well-known, some less so One of these is Lidice, now in the Czech Republic - sadly only recognised as far as I can see in an empty space at the junction of Corporation Street and Queen Victoria Road "The Story of a Czech Village" can be read here This is just one poignant image from the site where an awful atrocity was perpetrated

I've just viewed the photos, Midland Red, very poignant. When the small area at the junction of Corporation St & Queen Victoria Rd was named back in the 1960's I remember my mum explaining to me what it was named after and why. What's the odds that today's youngsters (or many parents for that matter) have a clue.

Thank you so much for showing the photos MR. How can such a place look so beautiful yet be so sad.

Lidice and its story is ghastly, as are many WWII stories. It's hard to understand why people would do it. Lidice Place is also difficult to understand. A total dump with a grim piece of metal sticking up out of it in front of blank walls. What could be a decent area with views of old Coventry and a large medieval church is disgraceful place that makes me want to vomit.

Another Coventry twin, Stalingrad Printed by kind permission of www.volganet.ru

Probably best known of Coventry's twinning arrangements is that with Dresden in Germany, savagely bombed towards the end of World War II - the Wikipedia account of the bombing may be found here. In 1993, "The Dresden Trust" was founded, and its website is an interesting read, with several references to Coventry. One of the outstanding buildings in Dresden is the Frauenkirche, which suffered severe damage in 1945, and its rebuilding took many years to complete. On "The Dresden Trust" website are details and photographs of the making of a replacement Orb and Cross for the Frauenkirche, and of its travels around Britain after completion, including to Coventry Cathedral. We visited Dresden in 2002 when the rebuilding was still in progress, and the Orb and Cross stood behind the fencing around the building site which was the Frauenkirche - I have scanned these two photographs taken during our visit This year we paid a return visit to Dresden, and these two photographs show the completed Frauenkirche (taken from almost exactly the same spot as the 2002 photographs) and also the Orb and Cross in place Closer to home, at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire, "The Dresden Trust" has helped to create a "British German Friendship Garden" - details of which can also be found on the website. The garden layout includes a number of original stones brought over from the bombed Frauenkirche - attached to these are stainless steel plaques carrying the names of cities and towns devastated by WWII bombing - here are photographs of the plaques of Dresden and Coventry There's a lot of reading there, I know, but I do feel it is worth a few minutes of one's time to read a remarkable story

Article about Coventry twinning with Volgograd, formerly known as Stalingrad. I've long thought that 'twinning' was a ridiculous waste of time and money. It serves no purpose at all, other than give Council members holidays all over the world at tax payers' expense. It doesn't boost trade or tourism and with Ukraine as an example it doesn't even make war less likely.