Britain's oldest twins are 104 and share secrets to long life

The sisters were born half an hour apart in Stockport in August 1919 and now live at Pear Tree House Care Home in Kirkham.

They’ve seen a lot in their lifetime including the start of World War Two at the age of 19, 22 different prime ministers and the coronation of three monarchs.

The pair have shared that they enjoy a tipple and even believe it’s what keeps them going.

Thelma and Elma didn't always get on as children (Image: SWNS)

"If you feel young, you stay young"

Elma, who enjoys a brandy and a lemonade at night, said: "If you feel young, you stay young."

The brandy must be in a brandy glass though, explains Elma's nephew and Thelma’s son Tony.

He said his mother Thelma likes her food but “prefers a whiskey, or more often than not a Baileys” when it comes to enjoying a tipple.

The sisters started working at the age of 14 as packers and labellers at Smiths Crisps after asking if there were any jobs available on the way home from school.

Their father came back from the First World War missing a leg and on the way back, he was baptised in St Omer as he wasn’t expected to live, Thelma’s son Tony explained.

They lost their father at the age of two when he died in a military hospital near Manchester.

Thelma and Elma lost their father when they were two years old (Image: SWNS)

Thelma and Elma both got married at 21 and gave up work

When they got married at 21 just three months apart, they decided to give up work.

Elma married Bill Hewitt, a joiner, and Thelma married Joseph Barratt, a hatter, just as World War Two started.

Elma was called up to work at Fairey Aviation's factory, making parts for the RAF during the war.

Thelma's husband was captured in Italy and became a prisoner of war at the same camp as Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader, famed for losing his legs while attempting aerobatics.

In 1959, Thelma and Joe became the landlord and landlady of a pub in their hometown of Stockport but left when their son Tony was a few months old.

The twins both got married aged 21 (Image: SWNS)

What is the best thing about being twins?

The sisters said the best thing about being twins was always having each other for company.

Elma, a great-grandmother-of-six, said: "You didn't need pals. We always had each other."

However, the twins said they didn't always get along as well as they do now and were close to "scratching one another's eyes out sometimes" in their younger days.

Tony said as children, the sisters would “go down to the railway lines to get coal that had fallen from trains.”

Elma's first husband Bill died soon after the war while Thelma's husband Joe worked as a hatter in Stockport.

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Thelma told the BBC: "He worked for the hat trade and if he was caught without his hat, he got fined half a crown.

"Many a time when we were courting I would find myself whisked down an entry because he'd seen them in the distance."

The sisters said they always enjoyed a good night out and would go into town looking for new dresses to wear.

Thelma added: "We look at each other and say, 'Who'd have thought we'd live to be this age?' We didn't, but we're still here."