The UK & British Commonwealth Twin Cities Coventry, October the 2nd, 5 o’clock https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87189106088? pwd=aTFDS2FpQmhOWnU1SFpLb0lYQ1g5Zz09 Meeting ID: 871 8910 6088 Passcode: 571032 The map 53 countries Europe The UK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_twin_towns_and_sister_cities_in_the_United_ Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_twin_towns_and_sister_cit ies_in_Malta 5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_twin_towns_and_sister_cities_ in_Northern_Cyprus 0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_twin_towns_and_sister_cities_in_Afica 3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_twin_towns_and_sister_cities_ in_North_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_twin_towns_and_sister_cities _in_South_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Category:Lists_of_twin_towns_and_sister _cities_in_Asia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_twin_towns_and_sister_cities_in_Australia 13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_twin_towns_and_sister_cities_in_Oceania 1 Parkes,Australia, 1956 Parkes is located in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia and has a population of 11,700. The link with Coventry was established in 1956 when a plaque was sent to Parkes illustrating the birth-place of Sir Henry Parkes. A gold rush in 1860, when 10 000 gold seekers organised a tented town known as Bushman's was the origin of the town of Parkes. The town was renamed to honour Sir Henry Parkes, after the Coventry-born Australian statesman visited the town in 1871.Today Parkes is a quiet, yet thriving town whose main industries are brick-making, steel fabrication and agriculture. The town's historical museum commemorates Sir Henry Parkes and has over 2 000 relics and artefacts from Australia's past. Situated in New South Wales, the town is a centre of a prosperous agricultural area where wheat production, and sheep, cattle and pig rearing are big business. Parkes is perhaps most famous for the CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope, which is one of the world's largest radio- telescopes, second only to Jodrell Bank. The Telescope or "Dish" as it is affectionately known, is a scientific instrument of great renown, having been involved in countless astronomical discoveries since its commissioning in 1961. It is best remembered however, for its lasting relationship with NASA, evolving from the Apollo Moon landing by Neil Armstrong in 1969. The Parkes Radio Telescope relayed pictures to an estimated TV audience of 700 million people that day and forever forged its association with one of man's greatest achievements. Parkes hosts an annual "Elvis" festival, which commemorates Elvis Presley's birthday, each January, which brings in tourism, thereby boosting the local economy. Coventry Spires City of Culture Project - Parkes, NSW Coventry's twin towns & cities - Parkes, New South Wales, Australia Parkes is located in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia & has a population of 11,700. The link with Coventry was established in 1956 when a plaque was sent to Parkes illustrating the birth-place of Sir Henry Parkes. A gold rush in 1860, when 10,000 gold seekers organised a tented town known as Bushman's was the origin of the town of Parkes. The town was renamed to honour Sir Henry Parkes, after the Coventry-born Australian statesman visited the town in 1871.Today Parkes is a quiet, yet thriving town whose main industries are brick-making, steel fabrication & agriculture. The town's historical museum commemorates Sir Henry Parkes & has over 2,000 relics & artefacts from Australia's past. Situated in New South Wales, the town is a centre of a prosperous agricultural area where wheat production, & sheep, cattle & pig rearing are big business. Parkes is perhaps most famous for the CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope, which is one of the world's largest radio-telescopes, second only to Jodrell Bank. The Telescope or "Dish" as it is affectionately known, is a scientific instrument of great renown, having been involved in countless astronomical discoveries since its commissioning in 1961. It is best remembered however, for its lasting relationship with NASA, evolving from the Apollo Moon landing by Neil Armstrong in 1969. The Parkes Radio Telescope relayed pictures to an estimated TV audience of 700 million people that day & forever forged its association with one of man's greatest achievements. Parkes hosts an annual "Elvis" festival, which commemorates Elvis Presley's birthday, each January, which brings in tourism, thereby boosting the local economy. Sir Henry Parkes was born on 27 May 1815 in Canley, Coventry & christened in the nearby village of Stoneleigh. His father, Thomas Parkes, was a small-scale tenant farmer. Little is known about his mother, who died in 1842. He received little schooling, & at an early age was working on a ropewalk for 4 pence a day. His next work was in a brickyard, describing it as "breaking stones on the Queen's highway with hardly enough clothing to protect him from the cold". He was then apprenticed to John Holding, a bone & ivory turner at Birmingham, & around 1832 joined the Birmingham political union. Between then & 1838 he was associated with the political movements that aimed to improve living & working conditions for the working classes. As a young adult, Parkes educated himself by reading extensively, & also developed an interest in poetry. In 1835, he wrote poems (later included in his first volume of poems) that were addressed to Clarinda Varney, the daughter of a local butler. On 11 July 1836 he married Clarinda Varney & went to live in a single room home. Parkes commenced business on his own account in Birmingham & had a bitter struggle to make ends meet. After the loss of their two children at an early age & a few unsuccessful weeks living in London, Parkes & his wife emigrated to New South Wales.[citation needed] They travelled aboard the “Strathfieldsaye”, which arrived at Sydney on 25 July 1839. Another child was born two days before. On arrival they had only a few shillings between them & had to sell their belongings as Parkes looked for work. He was eventually employed as a labourer with John Jamison, one of the colony's wealthiest settlers, on the Regentville estate near Penrith. He was paid £25 a year & food rations. After spending six months at Regentville, he returned to Sydney & worked in various low-paying jobs, first with an ironmongery store & then with a firm of engineers & brass-founders. About a year after his arrival in Sydney, Parkes was hired by the New South Wales Customs Department as a Tide Waiter & given the task of inspecting merchant vessels to guard against smuggling. He had been recommended for this post by Jamison's son-in-law, William John Gibbes, who was the manager of Regentville & the son of Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes who led the Customs Department.[citation needed] Parkes' financial position improved due to his stable new government job, even though he was still burdened with a backlog of undischarged debts. Parkes continued to write poetry. A volume entitled Stolen Moments was published in Sydney in 1842. He met the poet Charles Harpur & William Augustine Duncan, the editor of a local newspaper; he mentions in his Fifty Years of Australian History, that these two men became his "chief advisers in matters of intellectual resource". In early 1846, he left the Customs Department after a disagreement with Colonel Gibbes over a press leak that concerned the alleged behaviour of one of Parkes' co-workers. Despite this, Parkes would continue to remain on friendly terms with Gibbes & his family for the rest of his life. Gibbes' grandson, Frederick Jamison Gibbes, was also a member of the Parliament of New South Wales in the 1880s & like Parkes became a supporter of federation.[citation needed] After his departure from the Customs Service, Parkes worked in the private sector. He worked as an ivory & bone turner & later ran a shop of his own in Hunter Street. At one stage, he owned several newspapers, including The People's Advocate & New South Wales Vindicator & Empire. He was not successful as a businessman & eventually went bankrupt after running up debts totaling £48,500. He continued to support Australian culture & published poetry in his newspapers. Sir Henry became a dominant political figure in Australia during the second half of the 19th century, often called the father of Australian federation. He served five terms as Premier of New South Wales between 1872 & 1891. Parkes became politically prominent in 1849 as a spokesman for ending the transportation of convicts to Australia from England. The following year he launched the Empire, a newspaper he ran until 1858 & through which he campaigned for a fully representative government. He first held public office in 1854 & served almost without interruption as a representative & often as a minister or premier until 1894. Parkes’s educational work resulted in the Public Schools Act of 1866 & the Public Instruction Act of 1880, which introduced compulsory free education & severed connections between the church & the public schools. In his ministries between 1872 & 1887 he established New South Wales as a free-trade colony. He was knighted in 1877. In his fourth administration (1887–89) he carried through measures to improve railways & public works & to limit Chinese immigration. Parkes first spoke for federation in 1867 & later presided over the National Australasian Convention in 1891. He withdrew support from the resulting Commonwealth of Australia Bill, however, & federation was postponed until 1901. After the elections of 1891 Parkes lost his position of political leadership. His autobiography, Fifty Years in the Making of Australian History, appeared in 1892. (Thanks to WikiPedia,Encyclopaedia Brittanica & Henry Walter Barnett for the above information) Parkes celebrated Coventry in 2015 Kingston, Jamaica, 1962 Kingston is the capital of Jamaica and has a population of 651,880. This link was established in 1962. The south-eastern shoreline of Jamaica curves inwards and creates a sheltered nook for the capital city of Kingston. The largest city and chief seaport of Jamaica, Kingston extends along the coast of the Caribbean Sea at the base of the Blue Mountains.