Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series on a recent visit to Billericay, England by a delegation of the Billerica Twinning Group, including a Billerica Minuteman reporter.
The grounds of Ingatestone Hall, the ancestral home of the Lord of Essex, evoke a scene from the film, "Man For All Seasons."
Elegant brick walls line the outer yards of the estate. A clock tower is embellished with French lettering that reads, "Without God, nothing."
Like the film - which depicts Thomas More's downfall after losing the favor of Henry VIII - the serenity of the green lawns and fragrant rose briars underscores centuries of political intrigue and reversals of fortunes.
Lord John Petre, pronounced, "Peter," is the master of this house and the 18th Lord Petre.
A tall, affable man dressed unassumingly in a gray suit, he greets his guests and guides them on a tour laced with dramatic stories and self-deprecating humor.
In 1540, Henry VIII, the self-proclaimed head of the newly-formed Church of England, sent surveyors to take possession of properties formerly owned by the Catholic Church, including land-rich abbeys. One such surveyor, William Petre, was first in line to buy land from one of these abbeys. With it came not only the land, but the title of Baron.
However, Petre, a Catholic, didn't lose his religious affiliation. He and his family deftly negotiated relationships with Protestant rulers while maintaining their faith - no small feat, and one that sometimes involved hiding priests in small holes in the house.
John Petre said his ancestor was so famous for his discretion that he was called "a man who never says anything."
In 1999, England saw the disenfranchisement of more than 600 so-called "hereditary peers" - nobility, whose families had held an inherited seat in the House of Lords, Parliament's upper house,
In one spacious hall sits a framed letter to John Petre and his fellow erstwhile hereditary peers.
In England, discretion may remain the better part of valor, but by all accounts, surviving the political arena also means speaking up.
In newspaper articles and on television, Prime Minister Tony Blair jousts with opponents on everything from the state of healthcare to the country's relationship with the European Union.
John Baron, the member of Parliament who represents Billericay in the House of Commons, is not among those Blair would count as a friend.
A member of the Conservative party - a party akin, in some respects, to the American Republicans - Baron met with visitors after a rare tour of the Houses of Parliament in London.
To be Conservative in England often means opposing the war in Iraq supported by Blair, of the rival Labor party.
To Baron, it also means keeping England at arm's length from the European Union and maintaining the nations' indigenous currency, the pound sterling. "I'm dead set against the Euro," he said, referring to the European Union's currency. He added, "I'm a 'never-never' man."
As a father and husband with a young family, he said, "Politics can be an all-consuming profession. There is no reason why you couldn't be out there seven days a week."
Baron said he is luckier than some MPs. He enjoys a short commute, , unlike those from the more remote parts of the country, who must sometimes stay away from their families several days at a stretch.
Baron said legislative issues may include the ages-old controversies surrounding itinerants, nomadic people sometimes mistakenly called Gypsies, and protecting the so-called "Green Belt" - conservation land outside London.


All in the game

If politics is much like a spectator sport in England, sports can speak as much to national identity. During their visit, the travelers from Billerica were able to glimpse the passion of the Wimbeldon tennis tournament which coincided with their trip, and England's unsuccessful bid for the Euro Cup, a prime soccer trophy.
The visitors were able to follow much of the games, up to a decisive match June 24 between in England and Portugal during the Euro Cup games in Lisbon. In pubs and restaurants, passionate fans, many decked in red and white for England, cheered as England struck a goal and offered up a rowdy, beer-drenched rendition of "God Save the Queen."
For weeks, all eyes had been on England's star player, a gap-toothed, 18-year-old lad named Wayne Rooney. But Rooney was soon out of contention with a broken foot bone.
A brief interview with some of those gathered at a nearby hotel bar showed of the power and passion of the world's most international game.
"It's my country," said Rob Fyvie, 22, who has played since he was 6 and has hopes of playing professionally some day, a recent knee injury notwithstanding. Fyvie, who works as a welder, sees the English team much as Bostonians see the Red Sox. "Everyone just underestimates how good the team is," adding that the current lineup includes some of the country's greatest soccer talent.
But a few seats away, Stuart McIlroy, 34, of Bangor, Northern Ireland, watched the game quietly and offered a different perspective. "I'm very neutral," said McIlroy, a civil servant working in information technology, who was visiting England on business. McIlroy explained, "I'd cheer for anyone to beat England."
Asked why, McIlroy said, "If you ask the Scottish or the Welsh, they would probably say the same thing. It's nothing to do with England, or English people."
In such comments one may hear ancient conflicts and unhealed wounds in the vitality and tensions of the ethnically diverse United Kingdom.
It should be noted that the beloved Rooney is of Irish descent and grew up in Liverpool, a city historically home to a large Irish enclave.
Asked to explain why soccer evokes such strong emotion, McIlroy said, "In England, the football rivalry from city to city is big." But competitiveness is put aside when it comes to the international games. "When they play as England, they will unite as England. Then, they're not from Manchester or Liverpool. They are playing for England."


Preserving open land

Just as Billerica wrestles with issues of protecting land while meeting a demand for housing, Billericay, a community that has become an attractive place for home construction, also has its share of concerns about preservation.
One of Billericay's claims to fame is the 175-acre Norsey Wood Local Nature Preserve. On a warm June day, David Bremner, chairman of the Billericay Society, leads visitors on a trek through the wood's trails - and its history.
The woods are home to chestnut trees, ferns, a plantation of larches, and bluebells, as well as damselflies dancing in the air without timidity and the tiny, secretive, endangered dormouse.
It is also a place where treasures such as Bronze Age pots have been discovered. It has born witness to tragedy: Many who fought the 1381 Peasants' Revolt against Richard II are buried here, with no clue about their identities.
Here, soldiers carved trenches during World War I, lest the country face an invasion on the ground.

Two towns grow closer

The Billericay Mayflower Twinning Association, founded in 1998, is in many respects a family affair. Founder Hazel Morley serves as chairman and her husband, Ernest Morley and daughters Susan and Claire also serve on the board of officers.
A charter was signed that same year to formalize the twinning relationship between Billerica and Billericay, which also has twinning relationships with communities in France and in Indiana.
Claire Morley, the association's spokesman, expressed the philosophy this way: "Twinning should be inclusive, so that anyone can take part who is interested, regardless of background or circumstance," she said. She said so-called non-governmental twinning organizations in the United Kingdom are generally more popular than those organized by local governments.
However, the twinning association and others like it are registered with the Local Government Information Bureau, a European entity that promotes twinnings between communities in different European countries. The association has about 500 members, said Claire, who added, "There is a lot of interest in Billerica here, and twinning is generally seen as a natural thing to happen. Over the years, there have been countless contacts and exchanges by groups and individuals. We keep a timeline which we add to whenever we hear about another contact from the past."
During their visit in June, the 10 members of the Billerica Twinning Group saw and learned much about the similarities between Billerica and the community to whom the town owes its origin and name.
According to co-chairman Joan Parcewski, the trip helped the group accomplish its mission, "not to forget, this is where our roots are."
The Billerica Twinning Group recently became part of the Billerica Historical Society in an effort to increase interest and expand membership. She said the move is part of an effort to make the group a link to understanding Billerica's past and to expand the role of the group in the civic life of the town.
The group that went to Billericay was only about a third of the size of the group that visited with the Billericay Mayflower Twinning Association in 2002. However, Parcewski said, "I'm glad it was a small group. I think it would have been really difficult if it had been larger. It gave us a chance to be a little bit more intimate."
The trip marked Parcewski's first visit to Billericay. "It was much more small town-ish than I expected," she said, expressing concern for a small police force that some feel is not adequate for combating the rising tide of violent crimes.

Parcewski said the trip shed light on contemporary issues facing the citizens of Billericay, as well as providing a vital link to Billerica's past. "I have a very strong philosophy. I get tired of listening to people say how much history there is in towns like Concord or Lowell. Billerica has a lot of history. People need to understand what that history is."

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