Oldest couple in UK celebrate Christmas

Britain’s oldest couple, Ralph and Phyllis Tarrant, boast a combined age of 208, of which they spent 77 together. Throughout these long years, they never let an opportunity pass to make Christmas special and to spend it with at least some family members.

The stories that Ralph loves to tell go back to before the start of the First World War. He said: "My first memory of Christmas was when we first moved to Sheffield from Nottingham when I was seven in 1910. I remember the four of us kids having toys at Christmas and in those days they were German made and a bit 'tinnified.'”

What make these memories special, however, is not the amount of money they spend on toys; there was not much at the time. With rationing and the war, there was not much to spend on frivolities such as Christmas.

What did make these times special was the family and human spirit that Phyllis and Ralph learned to appreciate during these tough times. Ralph told The Star how, even in times of hardship, Christmas had always been “a most happy time.”

Even today, Christmas is all about family for the couple. This year, their youngest daughter, Christine, will visit from Illinois, USA.

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