WHILE picturesque Lymm village is seen by many as a highly desirable place to live it didn’t leave much of an impression on a French visitor in 1902.
Local postcard collector Dr Mark Cottrill discovered a card posted from the village by a French visitor which translates as:“Very little of interest here. An industrial town with a lot of smoke”
The card came into the possession of Dr Cottrill who discovered it on a European website.
Dr Cottrill was born in Lymm 70+ years ago and collects Lymm related postcards and memorabilia.
He said:”It was sent by a French visitor to Lymm in 1902. The caption is interesting; my translation as follows:
“Very little of interest here. An industrial town with a lot of smoke”
“How times have changed!
He added: “There is a companion card of Warrington Park Gates (Golden Square) written by the same gentleman which gives the 1902 date.
“Many of the old postcards of Lymm were produced by C.E.Arden whose shop, ‘The Bazaar Library’ was on Eagle Brow. However, his cards were mainly produced a decade later.
“He produced a booklet on Lymm in 1913, dedicated to his mother, Mrs Wheeler, a native of Lymm who taught at the Village school.
“She led the singing in during the rebuilding of the Parish Church in the 1850s. Her father fought under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo!”
Fortunately the French visitors impressions of the village had little impact on Lymm’s relationship with France.
Lymm Twin Town Society has “twinned” with Meung-sur-Loire in the Loire Valley in France for more than 50 years, promoting French-themed family social events and cultural exchanges.
