.LynEve

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Twizel began as a hydro construction town when the government laid out 1,200 sections and 23 km of road, on 260 hectares of former Ruataniwha Station land. Schools, and shopping and community centres were built. The intention was to dismantle it when the hydro was complete but opposition to that secured its future as a thriving and very popular place with a resident population of 1,660. During the summer, holidaymakers nearly triple the town's population. This lovely area is on the outskirts of town, just feet off the main road.
The town was called after the Twizel River which was was named after Twizel Bridge in Northumberland, where the English army crossed the Tweed before the Battle of Flodden in 1518. The word comes from 'twizla', meaning fork of a river.