100-year-auld twin sisters

Published: 01 Jan 2008

IDENTICAL twins Betty Richards and Jenny Pelmore have double reason to celebrate today – it's their 100th birthday.

The sprightly pair were born on New Year's Day 1908 – the year Henry Ford produced his first Model T car.

King Edward VII was on the throne – one of five monarchs whose reigns they have seen.

Betty and Jenny still live near each other and plan to mark their century with a holiday in Budapest, Hungary.

A little of what you fancy ... Betty, left, and Jenny toast each other

Jenny said: "We never think about our age much – it's other people that make the fuss."

Betty added: "Life is much faster now but the only thing I don't understand is computers."

The sisters were born in Manchester in a different age – the doctor arrived on horseback to deliver them.

And their brother William was more excited about being allowed to hold the horse.

Betty said: "I remember seeing two small planes in World War One. I ran in screaming and got under the table." Later the family lived in Kent.

Betty was a secretary and Jenny a nursery teacher.

Betty married Brandon Richards in 1936 and had children Peter and Gina.

She now has two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Jenny met her husband Hugh Pelmore in 1940 and they married in 1947.

Hugh was a World War Two RAF pilot who raced Bentley cars.

Both sisters are now widowed and live in Feock, near Truro, Cornwall.

They still enjoy a tipple – gin and Dubonnet for Jenny and brandy and ginger for Betty.

But there will be no champagne today.

The girls tried it on their 21st birthday and hated it.

Asked the secret of a long life, Jenny said: "Keep smiling and keep going."

Betty joked: "And keep breathing."

JENNY and Betty may be Britain's oldest twins.

Previously the oldest known were Ivy Shermer and Olive Tucker. The pair, from the North East, were 98 in May.

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