MALDON’s twinning association is appealing for information the first visit from Dutch townspeople nearly 50 years ago.

In 1971, residents from Cuijk in Holland came to Maldon for their first visit after the towns were twinned in 1969.

Next year, the Maldon Twinning Association will be celebrating their 50 year anniversary and will be welcoming the Dutch residents once again for a long weekend of celebrations.

In June there will be a black tie event held at the Forrester Park Golf and Country Club in Great Totham, along with other entertainments.

The association is appealing for any surviving members of the former Maldon Town Women’s Guild, which no longer operates, as the guild hosted many of the Dutch visitors back in 1971.

Linda Anthony, of the association, said: “As we’re approaching this huge milestone of our 50th birthday we’d really love to know more about the people of Cuijk’s first visit here.

“I have only been able to find small pieces of information about the visit, as the difficulty lies in finding more about the women’s guild as it doesn’t exist anymore, so tracing members has been hard.

“We would love to hear from any previous member of the guild or any resident with knowledge of how the visit went, what happened, where they stayed and so on.”

The people of Cuijk have been hosted many times by Maldon over the last few decades, the most recent being in 2015 when they were taken around Stow Maries Aerodrome and the New Hall Vineyard.

The black tie event next year is also set to feature a live band, with many Maldon residents attending.

Ms Anthony added: “This will be the Dutch people’s first black tie event, which I think they’re quite excited about.

“If anyone can help us with supplying information about their first visit we would be very grateful, and it would make our 50th anniversary celebrations event better.”

Ms Anthony can be contacted on 01621 855035 or ljanthony46@gmail.com.