Britain's Oldest Identical Twins Celebrate 100th Birthday

Britain's oldest identical twins have just celebrated their 100th birthday.

Dorothy Sivyer and Kathleen Whitehead moved in together at the start of lockdown and are now back living in the childhood home their grandparents built.

Kath and Dotty, from Rochester in Kent, said they've 'never quarreled' and put their long lives down to balancing wine and chocolate with healthy food and exercise, as well as having a large group of female pals.

Kath, who is older by a few minutes, never married or had kids, while Dotty is a widow with three children, six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Dotty said: "I came up here because of the lockdown to be with my sister and now we're both turning 100 together.

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"It's been nice living together during lockdown. We haven't come to blows or anything!

"I don't mind turning 100. Nobody has got this old in our family before.

"We're having a garden party under a marquee with family and our friends are coming for morning coffee but they'll be in the garden to keep distance because of the virus."

Kath added: "We've had a lovely time together. It's been good and we want to say thank you to all those people who have made our birthday so happy and nice.

"Being together has kept us positive whilst staying inside - and eating chocolate! We play cards together and just chat a lot.

"We can't do much about turning 100, can we? It just kind of comes, doesn't it, I don't really want it - I'd rather go back the other way!

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"We are the oldest identical twins in Britain, which is nice!"

Both women reckon that being active and enjoying everything in moderation is key to a long life.

Dotty said: "I used to cycle every day to the hospital and we still go out walking a few days a week when life is normal.

"I have a lot of good girlfriends. Every week, I play cards with one of my lady friends."

While Kath added: "We've always been active - we would cycle and walk a lot, we even cycled to Guildford on the hottest day of the year!

"I used to walk to my work and play badminton in the garden. I enjoy my beautiful garden, that keeps me going.

"We do have naughty food but we also eat very healthily as well. We've never smoked but we do have the occasional glass of wine!"

Topics: UK

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19