CHALFONT, Bucks County, sounds like a familiar address but this particular Chalfont is a village in America. It is celebrating its centenary with a little help from new-found friends in Chalfont St Giles. Reporter JAMES COX takes a look at two villages re-examining their historical ties.

If I told you that the quiet community of Chalfont was once home to tribes of American indians, you might be a little surprised.

But thousands of miles away from its South Bucks cousin, the village of that name in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA, has more in common with our Chalfonts than you might think.

Like Chalfont St Giles, the Borough of Chalfont is in a mainly rural area, in Bucks County, close to a big city. It lies about 30 miles north west of Philadelphia and roughly 50 miles from New York.

The surrounding land was heavily populated by English and Welsh farmers and boasts a range of familiar place names.

Neree Aron-Sando, news editor of Chalfont's local newspaper Central Bucks Life, says there is even a Wycombe.

She said: "Wycombe is a small village in Bucks County between Wrightstown and Buckingham.

"The place names around here would make you feel quite at home. There's Chalfont and Cheltenham, Wyndmoor, Horsham, Hatfield, Telford, and many others that aren't popping into my mind at the moment."

Now it looks as if the cross-atlantic cousins are to hear and see a lot more of each other. It all started in December when St Giles villager Rena Hume visited Los Angeles.

Mrs Hume, president of the Chalfont St Giles Twinning Association and a member of the residents' association, thought she would contact Chalfont, Pennsylvania, to establish links which could, among other things, bring more visitors to her village.

Mrs Hume sent a Chalfont St Giles village guide and information to the two closest tourist information centres, in Philadelphia and Doylestown. Unfortunately Doylestown did not reply and Philadelphia was not able to help much either.

But in a twist of fate, two American villagers from Chalfont had popped into Chalfont St Giles, bringing news that 2001 marked the 100th anniversary of Chalfont, Pennsylvania.

Frederick Nolan, Chalfont St Giles Residents' Association chairman, which is spearheading the links, said this started the ball rolling. He said: "This centenary (our American cousins prefer the word centennial) was to be marked by a year-long series of events commencing on New Year's Day with the residents and council gathering for the lighting of 100 candles on a cake outside the Borough Hall.

"Parish councillor Gordon Patrick and Dick Butterworth welcomed the visitors and arranged for cards signed by every member of the parish council to be sent to the council in Chalfont."

The land around Chalfont was originally home to 13 tribes of Leni-Lenape Indians which, under Chief Tamenend, signed a treaty with William Penn, freeing up a large portion of land in 1683.

The resulting settlement adopted different names over the years, including Butler's Mill, Barndtsville and Kungle's Tavern. But in 1869, the North Penn Railroad came through the village and named its station Chalfont after Chalfont St Giles where William Penn met his wife and where John Milton had completed Paradise Lost in 1665.

The station's name was later adopted for the whole village.

The village was awarded borough status in 1901 and Chalfont recently staged a recreation of the borough's first council meeting.

Chalfont St Giles Residents' Association has sent information including a specially filmed village video, newspapers and a millennium map poster. Mr Nolan believes the links could blossom into something very special. An invitation to the Chalfont St Giles Village Show in September could be in the pipeline.

He said: "I think the next thing will probably be that either some of them will come here, maybe in the summer, or some of us will go over there. "

Mr Nolan is keen to include his American counterparts in celebrating the Queen's Golden Jubilee next year. But whatever the next step one thing is sure there is more to the Chalfonts than the Chiltern Hills.