Christmas babies reunite 40 years on

From left: Verity Cowley, Cheryl Cowley, Jon Gill, Suzanne Gill, Jane Armstrong, Rachel Armstrong, Jen Humpherson, Claire Brain

A group of Christmas Day babies who were featured in a newspaper article have been reunited 40 years later.

The Nottingham Evening Post, of 28 December 1983, carried an article on the children born in local hospitals three days earlier.

And one of them, Verity Cowley - who is now a BBC Radio Nottingham presenter - set out to track down as many other people as possible who were in the picture.

And she managed to bring four mums and now fully-grown babies back together for a reunion, in which they swapped stories, including being handed a glass of wine in hospital, and a consultant carving the turkey.

The original article featured babies born at both of Nottingham's main hospitals, with Verity's group on the left

Suzanne Gill, who was one of the mothers in the original photograph, said: "Where has that 40 years gone?

"I remember the photograph being taken, I remember it really well.

"I remember thinking 'oh gosh what do I look like, I have just given birth'.

"But we all got together and posed with the babies.

"But it just doesn't seem like five minutes really, since they were all born."

Jen Humpherson, with daughter Claire Brain, said she could not pull her festive cracker until her husband turned up to help

Sherrina Kelly, from Colwick, Nottinghamshire, said: "I was the first one born. Nan came to the hospital and she brought turkey sandwiches and they had a bit of a buffet with Babycham."

Mrs Gill said: "I went into hospital and Jon was born three minutes to one on Christmas morning. He was the first boy born on Christmas Day that year.

"There was a bit of a competition between the QMC [Queen's Medical Centre] and City Hospital to see who got the first born. There was a hotline between the two.

"They decorated all the cots, we had small gifts and for each of the babies. They made it very special.

"We had Christmas dinner there and there was a big table all set out. The funniest thing I remember is the consultant coming to carve the turkey and then went home to have his dinner."

Sherrina Kelly said she was the first born and her nan brought Babycham to celebrate

Jen Humpherson, who lives in East Leake, Nottinghamshire, said: "They served Christmas lunch on a tray with a glass of wine and a cracker.

"I thought, 'I can't drink the wine and I have no-one to pull the cracker with', but my husband arrived later to pull the cracker with and drink the wine."

Rachel Armstrong, with mother Jane, says she gets a "half-hour birthday" at the exact time she was born

Jane Armstrong said some of the families had stayed closer than they realised.

"We've since found out that mine and Jen's grandchildren go to the same school in a very small village in Leicestershire," she said.

"They're both six so may be in the same class."

Her daughter Rachel Armstrong, who lives in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, said: "[The reunion] was a big surprise.

"A friend sent me the link [to the Radio Nottingham appeal] and I went 'oh wow, that's me'!

"I'm not on Facebook but my friend tagged my mum and she got in touch with Radio Nottingham."

Birthday 'slot'

Many of the families have traditions to juggle the double celebrations.

Claire Brain, from Leicestershire, said: "When I was growing up we always had Christmas in the morning and my birthday in the afternoon.

"Mum always did an extra birthday tea and we had the cousins and the family around, which was lovely.

"My husband always makes a special effort and never lets me cook the Christmas dinner."

Mrs Armstrong said: "I was born at half past three, so at half past three we have my birthday for half an hour and then back to Christmas.

"It happens every year because the kids want to get on with it but I wouldn't have it any other way."