Scottish village Dull twins with Boring town in US

Dull, in Perthshire, and Boring, Oregan, forged an unlikely link (PA)

Residents of a small village called Dull are confident they will become a "sister community" with the US town of Boring today.

Dull, in Perthshire, and Boring forged an unlikely link when Elizabeth Leighton, who lives in Aberfeldy, near the Scottish village, was on a cycling holiday in the US.

She passed through Boring, Oregon, and immediately phoned her friend Emma Burtles, a resident of Dull, with an idea to link the two communities.

Mrs Burtles contacted Dull and Weem Community Council as well as Steve Bates, chairman of the Boring Community Planning Organisation, to discuss the possibility of twinning the communities.

Differences in the towns mean they cannot be twinned, as Boring has a population of more than 10,000, to Dull's 84 residents.

Dull's main businesses are guest lodges and chalets, aimed at the tourism market, as well as Highland Safaris, which operates out of the village.

Boring is said to be "quite an industrial place".

Officials in Boring, which is six hours behind the UK, are set to vote today on whether they can be officially linked.

Marjorie Keddie, chairman of Dull and Weem Community Council, said they are likely to hear the news of their decision by early morning.

A celebratory street party has been planned for Saturday June 23, to which all of Dull's residents will be invited.

Mrs Keddie said: "The party will show that we are neither dull nor boring.

"We are also excited at the prospect of a new road sign, which will say something like 'Dull, in association with Boring' or 'in sisterhood with Boring'.

"I'm sure it will stop a few people in their tracks for photos."

She said she was confident the pairing would go through, after receiving positive feedback from officials in Boring, including a mock-up of a declaration with today's date, which states: "Boring in Oregon has become a sister community with Dull, Scotland."

Mrs Keddie, 68, who lives in Dull, said the response from other village residents has been positive.

She said they hope it will drive tourism into the area.

"Already we've had four cyclists from overseas, who were travelling from John O'Groats to Lands End, stop here," she said.

"It wasn't on their original route, but they had heard about it because of what's been going on and decided to do a stop-off in Dull.

"Extra tourism is the main reason we're doing this as most of the businesses here are holiday homes and lodges."

Boring was named after William H Boring, an early resident of the area. Dull is believed to have got its name from the Pictish word for field.

PA