THE FIRST official visitors from Australia have visited Cirencester as part of a growing friendship.

Visitors from New South Wales, Australia came to the town last month as the friendship between the two continues to grow.

Brother and sister, Andrew Prior and Denise Garland, were made aware of the friendship through the Bathurst press as well as Andrew’s within the city’s regional council.

When they decided to visit the UK, specifically Old Sodbury where Andrew has relatives buried, it made sense to then take a look around Cirencester.

Upon visiting, Andrew and Denise were given a guided tour of Cirencester, taking in sights such as the Corinium Museum and Black Jack street before being taken around Cirencester Church by Abbey 900 founder Corinne Lamus.

They were also joined by Earl Bathurst who showed them round Bathurst estate.

Simon King organised the visit, who recently spent time in Australia as part of a fact finding and relationship building tour.

“It was great to show them round our town and talk to them about the possible links we can develop with their council and educational bodies,” Simon said.

“We are expecting other visitors from Bathurst over the coming months and this was a significant step into bringing the town and city of Bathurst closer together.”

Bathurst Regional Council approached the Cirencester Town Council with a view to forming a friendship in 2015.

Since then, a series of events have taken place to further the friendship between them.

There are plans to send someone to Bathurst from Cirencester as part of an educational opportunity coming up later in the year.