A woman who helped come up with the idea to pair a village in Scotland called Dull with a town in the US called Boring says it has made Dull a more exciting place to live. Elizabeth Leighton, 62, was on a cycling holiday in Oregon in 2012 when she came across the town of Boring and an idea was born.
Returning home she spoke to her friend who lived in the picturesque village of Dull, which has a population of just 85, and soon the two communities were excited by the idea of being paired together.
Dull has seen a surge in visitor numbers since the pairing, which features on their welcome signs, in 2012, with visitors even arriving from Boring to meet their counterparts.
A delighted Elizabeth, who lives in nearby Aberfeldy, says it has brought a 'flash of excitement' to the tiny village ten years on. She added that visitors to the village are regularly seen snapping selfies with a road sign which reads: "Dull, paired with Boring, Oregon, USA."
In 2017 the mayor of a town called Bland in New South Wales, Australia, decided they wanted in on the act and together the towns are known as the 'Trinity of Tedium'.
Read more: The exciting story of how the Scottish town of Dull was paired with Boring in the US
Other US towns like Dreary and Ordinary have been touted as potential partners.
Climate change policy worker Elizabeth said: "The pairing definitely brought a flash of excitement to the area over the last ten years.
"It really increased the number of visitors, and you can see people stopping to take selfies with the road sign. There have been exchanges, with people form Boring coming here for celebrations.
"It's nice to have a bit of fun when life gets serious, and its great people want to have a laugh and a joke about the names. Other places have wanted to join, but I don't think anything official has happened yet. It's great to make something of the pairing ten years on."
Dull's name is believed to have derived from the Gaelic word for meadow, while Boring was named after William H Boring, an early resident of the area and former Union soldier in the American Civil War, and has a population of nearly 8,000.
The pair can't be officially 'Twinned' due to the different population sizes and share a 'pairing' instead.
Elizabeth added:"I was going through Boring and saw the sign so pinged my friend who was living in Dull a message saying, 'isn't this amazing I'm in Boring and you are in Dull'.
"She thought it was great and the community council and the locals jumped on the idea as something fun. It's been great for the Dull over the last ten years.
"They are both quite rural places and do have similarities. Boring is bigger, but that doesn't make it more exciting."
Emma Burtles, 53, who was living in Dull when Elizabeth text her about Boring said she never imagine the pairing would take off.
Yoga teacher Emma, who now lives in Aberfeldy, said: "When Elizabeth text me she was in Boring I could never have imagined what would happen over the next ten years.
"It just blew up and all happened so quickly at the time. Dull hasn't changed much in a practical sense but as a community the pairing has had a really positive effect.
"It has definitely enriched Dull, it's a lovely place and the pairing has put it firmly on the map. Bland wanted to get in on the action and they became part of the whole thing informally. Other places have been mentioned over the years, like Ordinary."
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