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» Identical twins, 83, still living parallel lives » Pair share their hols, clothes & love of jokes
A PAIR of identical twins have lived parallel lives for 83 years, sharing jobs, holidays, clothes and a love of playing pranks on friends.
Margaret and Maureen Beckwith were born five minutes apart on July 17, 1940 and have been inseparable since.
They went to the same school after failing the 11-plus exam and got jobs at a dress-making factory aged 15.
The pair regularly played pranks on their workmates by switching places at their machines to see if anyone noticed.
Over the years they have never lived more than a few minutes away from each other and share clothes, holidays and even street names.
Margaret, who is the eldest, lives on Queen Eleanor Road in Northampton while Maureen lives on the next street named Queen Eleanor Terrace.
The twins say they often know when the other is not feeling well and regularly turn up to each other’s houses wearing identical outfits.
The sisters were both hired as machinists at Lincoln Models dress factory in Northampton.
Margaret said: “We had the same hairstyle, glasses and clothes. People got us mixed up all the time.
“I hated it because people used to stare.
“Maureen has even knocked on my door and I’ve said, ‘I shan’t be a minute’, and she’s said, ‘Where are you going?’ I’ve said, ‘To change my top because it’s the same as the one you’ve got on’.” Maureen added: “She’ll phone me up and say, ‘How have you been today?’, and I’ll say, ‘A bit iffy’, and she’ll say, ‘I’ve not been very well’, so she knew that I wasn’t feeling 100% because she wasn’t.” Margaret’s late husband Richard also had an identical twin, Roger, for 55 years before he died in 2017 aged 76. Maureen married too but divorced her late husband and now dotes on her five grandkids, including 14-yearold twins William and Daniel. Margaret, who has six grownup children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, said: “My sister and I have always been very close.
“We went to the same school because we weren’t clever enough to pass the 11-plus but it didn’t matter as long as we were together.”
The twins spend every day together and are members of the same keep fit group, history society and lunch club.
Maureen said: “We’ve always been best friends, as well as sisters.
“At school and the dress factory, we’d often switch places to see if anyone noticed. No one ever realised and we often pretended we were the other one. It kept us entertained.
“Having a twin means you’re never on your own and you always have a friend who knows you better than you know yourself sometimes.”