Lyme Regis Dignitaries Visit St. George’s
The mayor of Lyme Regis — birthplace of Sir George Somers — led an eight-man delegation to Bermuda recently for the annual Peppercorn Ceremony held in St, George’s, the historic English coastal community’s twin town.
Mayor Sally Holman and other Lyme Regis dignitaries spent a week on the island to mark the historical and cultural ties between the two towns.
Founded in 1612, St. George’s name is a tribute to both the English patron saint and Admiral Sir George Somers who drove his storm-battered ship “Sea Venture” onto a reef off the eastern end of Bermuda in 1609 after it was separated from a relief fleet en route to the Jamestown settlement in Virginia.
The “Sea Venture” wreck led to the permanent settlement of Bermuda three years later.
Lyme Regis mayor Sally Holman and town crier Alan Vian at the Peppercorn Ceremony
Sir George, a one-time mayor of Lyme Regis, died in Bermuda in 1610 and while his body was returned to England for interment his heart was buried in Bermuda in the area now known as Somers Garden.
As well as being presented to Governor George Fergusson at the Peppercorn Ceremony, Ms Holman visited the mayor of Hamilton at City Hall, and renewed friendships with Ed Christopher, town crier of Hamilton and One Bermuda Alliance MP Kenneth Bascombe, a former mayor of St George’s.
“These civic links are very important to the Bermudians,” the Lyme Regis mayor told the UK’s BridportNEWS website on Monday [May 13]. “They appreciate our visits and the cultural, economic and friendship connections we continue to make …”
The Bermuda activities were arranged by former St. George’s mayor Mariea Casey, who heads the East End town’s twinning committee.
A delegation from Bermuda will make a reciprocal visit to Lyme Regis for the annual Sir George Somers Day parade on July 31.
The towns were officially twinned in 1996.
– Photograph courtesy of BridportNEWS
