There are other Malverns
'Our local newspaper, the Malvern Gazette, is also interested in printing stories about our Malverns Worldwide project.'
By Mbavhalelo Malofha
A resident from Malvern, United Kingdom, Cora Weaver (65), would like to make contact with residents of Malvern (Gauteng) as part of her research about all the Malverns in the world.
She said she is looking for information about each Malvern in the world to publish on the website, www.malvernsworldwide.info, and also to print stories in a newsletter.
“Our local newspaper, the Malvern Gazette, is also interested in printing stories about our Malverns Worldwide Project. People here in Malvern UK think it’s a great idea because anyone with an interest in a Malvern can be involved – it’s not dependent on age, gender, education, race, politics, colour, location, wealth or religion,” said Weaver.
Weaver has lived in Malvern UK for 40 years and has written several books about its history as a Victorian spa town, as well as books about some of the famous people who have lived there or visited the town.
“I also give lectures on these topics and occasionally talk about them on national television. I have written several books on the famous and celebrated springs and wells of the Malvern Hills. It was the purity of the spring water that made our Malvern famous,” she said.
She said playwright George Bernard Shaw visited Malvern every year for its drama festival between 1929 and 1939.
“He planted a mulberry tree in the park to celebrate his 80th birthday in 1936. In 2000 it blew down and was cut up. However, I discovered that a cutting of the tree had been sent to Malvern near Melbourne and they inquired about what had happened to the cutting. It was a huge tree, and their mayor sat in it to have his photograph taken.
“Eventually, six cuttings of that tree were sent back to Malvern UK and one was officially unveiled in the park two years go by Di Foster from Malvern, near Melbourne.”
“Over the past few years, we have visited two Malverns in Australia, near Melbourne and near Adelaide, and in the USA in Virginia, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and on Long Island, New York,” she said.
Weaver said when they visited Long Island last year, the mayor there suggested that every Malvern should have a mulberry tree. “We would like to send a cutting to every Malvern around the world so that we have more than just a name in common,” she said.
Weaver said they would like to get in touch with someone who can tell them about the history of Malvern Gauteng and why it was called Malvern.
Residents can share their information and stories about our local Malvern with Weaver at cora.weaver@talktalk.net, b.osborne2@ntlworld.com or go to www.malvernwaters.com
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