'˜Emotional' reunion at last for 93-year-old twins

Nearly 70 miles apart and with no means of travelling to see each other, Donald and Geoffrey Oates felt a lifetime of memories together had come to an end.

But on December 20, the two came face to face with each for the first time in four years in an emotional moment at Cornmill Nursing and Residential Home on Bonds Lane, Garstang.

And Donald’s son Ian says it was an “amazing” reunion.

He said: “About 36 years ago my dad moved from Halifax, where they both grew up, to Garstang and my uncle stayed there and eventually went into a nursing home.

“They used to visit each other regularly and were very close but my father’s condition deteriorated which stopped him being able to go and see his brother.”

Born on January 14, 1923 near Halifax in West Yorkshire the pair grew up side by side and saw the post First World War depression and growth of the nation leading onto and through the Second World War.

Both then went into the engineering industry of tool making and dye casting industry.

“They have always been very close,” said Ian. “It was the home in Halifax’s idea to reunite them and they brought Geoffrey up to Cornmill to see him.

“They had a meal and it was amazing to see them back together because they were always doing things as a pair. They really did think they would never see each other again, so it was a very happy and emotional occasion for us all.”