A pair of Stockport sisters who are believed to be the UK’s oldest twins have shared their secret to a long life on their 103rd birthday.
Elma and Thelma are celebrating a milestone not many people achieve.
Born in Cheadle Heath on 3 August 1919, with Elma arriving around 30 minutes before her sister, the twins are marking their 103rd year of life and looking back on their humble beginnings, which stared with attending Alexandra Park School, before starting working as packers and labellers at Smiths Crisps at the age of 14, and eventually getting married, settling down, and starting families.
Elma married joiner Bill Hewitt, and Thelma married hatter Joseph Barratt, just as the war started, and they both went on to have two children and welcome many grandchildren.
Elma lives in and calls Stockport her home, but as Thelma now lives in Kirkham in Lancashire, the twins say they don’t get to spend as much time together as they used to, but they told the MEN that they still make sure to speak on the phone at least once a week.
ADVERTISEMENT
They mostly like to catch up and find out “who has had a baby, who has done what, and who hasn’t”, and when they do get together, they still like to enjoy trips to the seaside and days out.
Happy birthday to twins Elma and Thelma who turn 103 today. 🎂
The pair from Stockport say brandy and food is the secret to their long lives! pic.twitter.com/9GtELsxeDV
The centenarians were reunited for a surprise 103rd birthday celebration with their families this week, which Elma told BBC North West she “didn’t expect” and was “so wonderful”, while Thelma added that is was “lovely”.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Especially because we don’t get together very often,” she added.
Thelma’s son Tony said it was even more special to be able to bring the pair together this year as the COVID-19 pandemic had understandably kept them apart for recent their birthdays.
ADVERTISEMENT
The fun-loving pair are admittedly still pretty relaxed about turning another year older though, as when asked if they are looking forward to their birthday, Thelma said “it’s just another day”.
Elma and Thelma were born in Cheadle Heath in Stockport on 3 August 1919 / Credit: Family handout (via BBCNWT)
But what exactly is their key to living a long life then?
Well, according to Thelma, she joked that her longevity must be down to her love of food, while Elma said she “likes a drink” and opts for a brandy and lemonade – but insisted it must always be served in a brandy glass without ice.
And most importantly, Elma says we must “keep smiling – don’t worry”.
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
Emily Sergeant -
4th August 2022 
