‘Our bond is more than sisters. It’s like looking in a mirror’ - Twins celebrate their 95th birthday in Horsham

For the two are identical twin sisters and will be celebrating their double lives in style next week when they mark their 95th birthday with a family meal out near Horsham.

The pair were born on June 11 1926 and have spent a lifetime being mistaken for each other.

“The bond between us has never wavered throughout our 95 years,” they said. “We shared a pram, we walked to school together, we both went to work in a factory at 14, we went to dance halls together, we double dated.

“Even marriage didn’t spilt us up as we lived very close to each other and we both had a daughter.

“Our bond is more than sisters, it is like looking in a mirror and our longest separation has been this past year due to covid.

“Finally we can reunite and thanks to our daughters we see each other regularly.”

The sisters were born in a farm cottage near the Lancashire moors and lived in the county until three years ago when Evelyn and her husband Frank moved to Horsham to live with their daughter.

And later the same year her twin Audrey - the eldest by five minutes - and husband Alan moved to Surrey - keeping the amazing bond between them.

Over the years, the pair have got used to being mistaken for each other. Evelyn recalls her first date with Frank when he went to pick her up on his motorbike.

She excitedly came out of the house but Frank suggested she went bank inside to change her sandals,

As he waited Audrey came out wearing the same dress and sandals.

“He got a little annoyed as she clearly hadn’t understood,” said Evelyn’s daughter Andrea. “But it was Audrey not Evelyn - his first encounter of not assuming who was who!”

More mix-ups happend when they shopped at the same local food market - one in the morning, the other in the afternoon. A chap selling potatoes finally plucked up the courage to ask why one woman would shop for the same things off his stall both morning and afternoon - and only then realised they were twins.

Even now, the twins often dress alike - and on meeting up last week discovered they were wearing the same colours and the same shoes.

The sisters, who received a congratulatory letter from the Queen on their 90th birthday, will be joined by their husbands and family for a 95th birthday celebration at The Greets Inn in Warnham.