'They are so different' Kettering twins celebrate 90th birthday with party and trip to the Poppies
There’s only 20 minutes between them, but twin brothers John and Pete Threadgold have spent the rest of their 90 years leading parallel lives, leading to a joint celebration of their nine decades.
Growing up in a two up, two down house in Gas Street – now Meadow Road – Kettering, the twins and their four brothers were encouraged to ‘go out and play’.
In those days, the Meadow Road Rec was fields, the unfenced mainline carried steam trains, housing estates the ‘other side’ of the tracks were still the ‘Hilly Hollies’ and children were left to explore under bridges, in the river and admire all the infrastructure brought by the Second World War.
With three older brothers (Richard, Arthur and Robert) the twins were guaranteed hand-me-down clothes with little brother Victor the last in line, but mum Lily kept them clean and made sure they behaved. Their father Bert worked as caretaker of JB Wright’s shoe factory in Durban Road.
Pete said: “All the children played together. We just wandered around the fields. We were left to roam. With six boys, mum had a lot to do. There were no hoovers or mod cons, so she had a lot to do. We were a happy family and mum was the boss.”
Peter and John started at St Andrew’s Primary School when they were four, walking all the way to Grafton Street, and back twice a day coming home for lunch, on their own.
Sundays were to be dreaded as the children were not allowed out to play and with six boys, and one room, and their grandad, it could be tricky but they knew to behave.
Pete said: “We weren’t allowed to be naughty, we were very well controlled – you had to be.”
By this time the war was having an effect. Sugar coupons were collected and saved by their mum to make jam from fruit grown in their big garden with an orchard.
The war brought added excitement, especially at local airbases.
Pete said: “We went to go and see the planes. For us boys the war didn’t affect us. We went up to Grafton Underwood. It was really exciting. Sometimes we would go and look at the German Prisoners of War on the Northampton Road Rec. They were in barracks.”
Highlight of the year was Christmas – a stocking containing a quarter of sweets or a bar of chocolate (never both), a board game and an orange.
The twins carried on their schooling at the Parish School in Horsemarket with John leaving to get a job at 15, Pete going to go to the Boot and Shoe Technology College.
National Service led the siblings to meeting up a long way from home in Germany. Whilst serving in different tank regiments, the twins were given permission to meet up and have dinner.
John used skills honed in the army to his job back in civvy street driving HGVs. Pete returned to the shoe industry working as a clicker for Freeman, Hardy and Willis, then at the British Shoe Corporation. He finished at Griggs working on the famous Dr Martens.
Still both living in Kettering, the brothers celebrated their joint birthday with their wives and wider family. Pete was treated to a special sponsorship day at his beloved Kettering Town Football Club, after following the Poppies for years.
Pete said: “We are entirely different but we got on well, it was the only way. We never wanted to be identical, but it’s a good thing to be a twin.”
John added: “I take life as it comes!”
Paul Threadgold, Pete’s son, added: “They are so different! I imagine it’s a very rare occasion for twins to reach 90. It’s very special.”