Selby is twinned with two towns: Carentan in France, and Filderstadt in Germany.
Carentan Twinned with Selby since 1973
In 2023 the Selby-Carentan Twinning Association celebrated 50 years of friendship between the two towns.
Carentan is situated in the beautiful French region of Normandy, about 50km south of Cherbourg. With around 10,000 inhabitants, the town is most famous for the role it played during the D-day landings in 1944. It is a short distance from the historic Utah and Omaha beaches and it was liberated on June 12, just six days after the Allied invasion began.
Because of this Carentan has featured in films, TV series and even video games.
Getting involved with the Twinning is a great way to make lasting friends on both sides of the Channel, learning how French people live by staying as a guest in a welcoming French home. The Selby group visits Carentan every two years and hosts Carentan visitors in alternate years. Understanding French is not necessary, but it’s a great way to pick up new language skills.
Interested in finding out more? We’d love to hear from you! Contact us by email at Selby.Carentan@gmail.com or contact our president Brian Lawrence by email: brian649173@gmail.com or mobile 07890 649173.
Visit us on Facebook – search for Selby-Carentan Twinning
Filderstadt, which means “five towns” is situated close to Stuttgart and is a mostly rural area.
Filderstadt is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located approximately 13 km south of Stuttgart. Filderstadt is located next to the Stuttgart Airport and the new Trade Fair. Line S2 of the Stuttgart S-Bahn terminates at Filderstadt station. Filderstadt was created as a town in 1975 from five smaller villages called Bernhausen, Bonlanden, Plattenhardt, Sielmingen and Harthausen. Her Royal Highness Princess Claire of Luxembourg was born here on March 21st, 1985.
For further information on joining the Selby/Filderstadt Association or joining us at an event contact the Chair Andrea Faller – email address: andrea.faller65@gmail.com. Facebook (2) Selby-Filderstadt Town Twinning | Facebook
Selby, North Yorkshire is also twinned with Selby, in Ontario, Canada.
The twinning came out of a podcast project created by Canadian comic and America’s Got Talent contestant John Hastings and Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee and Pittancer of Selby, Tim FitzHigham. In ‘A Tale Of Two Selbys’ Tim and John set out to investigate the story behind Selby, Ontario. How did Canada get a Selby? What does this tell us about cultural identity? Are there any historic links between the two? And more importantly, why are they not connected now, and can this be remedied?
The pair were met with such open hearted warmth and enthusiasm from their compatriots in Canada that talk eventually turned to the creation of a lasting bond between the two settlements in the form of a twinning agreement.
The twinning was formalised on 14th April 2022 in a joint meeting between members of Selby Town Council and Greater Napanee Council (Selby is a small village in Ontario and Greater Napanee Council is their local authority).
The twinning documents were signed by Mayors Michael Dyson and Marg Isbester in the presence of council members from both sides of the Atlantic as well as Tim FitzHigham and John Hastings.