A POPULAR ex-Winchester head teacher has toasted reaching a remarkable milestone.

Arthur Blake, who was at the helm of Weeke Junior School from 1964-1980, and twin sister Grace Tapper, have been celebrating turning 90.

Mr Blake, who had been ill in the run-up to the anniversary, was only reunited with his twin three years ago when she decided to move to Winchester from Kent.

Mrs Tapper, who lives at Eastacre, a sheltered housing complex in Bereweeke Road, said: “I think it’s quite an extraordinary achievement, it’s great. Arthur was always a friend as well as a brother.”

Mr Blake, now at Sunrise Nursing Home in Stockbridge Road, having previously lived in Bereweeke Avenue, has three children and three grandchildren.

His daughter, Liz Blake, 53, said: “It’s amazing that they have both reached this age. Dad has been ill this year so we didn’t think we’d make it to this, so that makes it extra special.”

Mrs Blake, a children’s research nurse at Southampton General, added: “It’s lovely having the both of them together again.”

Mr Blake, an aeroplane fitter in the RAF during World War II, said Weeke Junior School was “very overcrowded” when he joined, with 520 pupils on the roll.

He said there were around 40 to a teacher and five temporary classrooms in the playground.

“They’d gone ahead with the building of the Harestock estate but minus a school!” said Mr Blake, who lost his wife Dorothy in 1989.

“Life was difficult but it was a good school. It was such an improvement on my previous school in Wootton Bassett because it had playing fields.”

The twins — who hail from Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire — toasted their special birthday with a meal at The Old Vine in The Square. They also enjoyed parties at Eastacre, Sunrise and Mrs Blake’s home in Keats Close, Oliver’s Battery.

Joining the celebrations were Mr Blake’s three grandchildren, former Peter Symonds pupil Anita, 24; ex- Kings’ student Kiran, 21, who works at Café Monde in The Square; and Melanie, 16, who has just left Thornden School, Chandler’s Ford.

Mrs Tapper, who is the older of the twins by two-and-a-half hours, said the duo have a special bond, which was a major factor in her upping roots from Kent to move to Hampshire.

“When he was ill I always knew,” she said.

“It’s a very strange feeling, I can’t describe it, but it’s there.”

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