BRITAIN'S oldest twins celebrated their 100th birthdays in style yesterday, hosting a garden party featuring a New Orleans jazz band and plenty of strawberries and cream.
Throughout their lives, however, Alice and Nellie Clarke have never been slaves to convention - they chose to run a dress shop despite being born to a life of privilege, but also spent the Great Depression holidaying in the Mediterranean. As they enjoyed their party, the pair, who are identical twins, happily gave visitors tips on achieving longevity. "Be happy," said Alice, while her sister added: "And behave properly."
The sisters, who love classical music and abhor television, said they still felt that "we're only in our fifties". They have, however, defied odds of 700 million to one to survive until 100 and are in the Guinness Book of Records.
Asked why they had never married, they both laughed and Alice said: "Because we had more sense." She once took her sister's place to deter a suitor. She said: "This fellow wanted to go out with Nellie when she was 17. But she wasn't interested so I became Nellie for a night."
The sisters were daughters of Adelaide and William Clarke, a wealthy Manchester wholesaler. They lived in splendour in Melbourne House, Hale, and were debutantes in the Cheshire Set. They travelled the world from a very young age but during their cruises in the Thirties decided not to fly until hooks had been invented to hold up the aeroplanes.
Although they did not have to work, they decided to run a dress shop their father owned in Timperley. During the Second World War, they volunteered as ambulance drivers in bomb-ravaged Manchester. Despite nursing their parents through years of illness, they retained their lust for life, spending days driving around the country with Alice at the wheel and Nellie navigating.
Alice continued driving until her early nineties, earning her first speeding ticket at the age of 91. The twins lived independently until 1995, when they decided to move into a nursing home, and held yesterday's party at Stafford House, Eccles.