Gift from Corsham is a piece of history (From This Is Wiltshire)

Gift from Corsham is a piece of history

1:42pm Thursday 22nd October 2009 in

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A stonemason's saw dating back more than 100 years and a large print of Corsham will be given to the town of Jargeau, in France during Corsham Twinning Association’s annual trip this weekend.

A group of 60 people including youngsters from Corsham Youth Council will be travelling to Jargeau tomorrow by coach with the frig-bob saw used by stonemasons in quarries around the town and a print of an old map of Corsham with photographs dating back to the late 1800s on it.

The association president, Maurice Hancock said: “We are going on our annual trip this weekend and always take a gift with us.

“We decided to take the frig-bob as it was given to us by Corsham stonemason, Richard Cook, who is a member of the twinning association. We try to give the people of Jargeau gifts that relate to our history and stone quarries is a big part of that.”

He said he approached The Corsham School resident artist Mazy Bartlett to ask if she could create a picture to go with the saw and was delighted with the results.

“The print is better than we could have imagined. It is an old map of Corsham and round the edge of the map there are old photos of Corsham. It just looks marvellous. It is 5ft 6ins long and 2ft 6ins high.”

The group will enjoy the annual Jargeau chestnut festival and a trip to Paris with their hosts.

Miss Bartlett said: “I was happy to help with the print because it was for our twin town and it is part of my community outreach role.”