Double celebration as twins reach 90

Peggy and Kathleen have birthday party in same venue as their 21st celebrations

A set of twins celebrated their 90th birthday in style - at the same place they marked their 21st birthday nearly 70 years ago.

Kathleen Schneider and Peggy Green were joined by friends and family when they celebrated their milestone day on Friday.

In their lifetime they have lived through the Second World War, seen 18 Prime Ministers and four monarchs and while they were born just 30 minutes apart in 1929 - they still live just a short distance from each other now.

The special birthday party had a vintage themed afternoon tea, and several generations of their families arrived to wish them both a happy birthday.

Multiple births run in the family, with the urban legend that twins ‘skip a generation’ coming true in Kathleen’s case, as two of her grandchildren - Kelly and Kevin - are also twins.

The celebrations were held at Coates Village Hall, which has been used by their family for a variety of parties in the past - including for their 21st birthday.

Kathleen said: “It was nice getting together with everyone to celebrate the occasion and at the same time reminiscing about old times.”

The sisters were the third and fourth children of eight born to Harry and Rose Clifton.

They were born in Coates, before the family moved to Turves where they went to school and spent the remainder of their childhood.

Both siblings worked on the land, and have lived in and around the Fens all their lives.

Peggy said: “We live close to each other, but we don’t see one another all the time. We know where each other are if we need something.”

Kathleen married John in 1954, and the couple still live together. They have had two children, Michael and Ann, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Peggy married Stan in 1964 and has two sons, Roger and Nigel.

Another sister, Gladys, lives near-by and a brother, Alec and sister, Audrey, still live in Cambridgeshire.

Earlier this year, the oldest surviving set of twins, Lilian Cox and Doris Hobday, celebrated their 95th birthday in Tipton.

Last year Phyllis Jones and Irene Crump, from Worcestershire, marked their 102nd birthday.

In 2017 there were 10,462 sets of twins born in England and Wales - with another 154 sets of triplets, and five sets of quads (or more).

Across the UK, about one in 63 pregnancies results in multiple births.

Women who have a family history of non-identical twins have a higher chance of producing nonidentical twins themselves as there is a genetically linked tendency to hyper-ovulate. There is no change in the probability for families who have identical twins.

‘It was nice reminiscing about the old times’ Kathleen Schneider

Peggy (left) and Kathleen (right) in their younger days

Top - Kathleen and John on their wedding day. Middle - Peggy and late husband Stan get married.