'We had a good upbringing and ate well. None of us feel our age': Britain's oldest set of triplets celebrate their 85th birthday



Neville Jones, Edna Doodson and Iris Hopkin were born in Manchester



Their mother was expecting twins but third baby Iris was a surprise

The triplets are close and still speak two or three times a week



They say three's a crowd, but this weekend Neville Jone, Edna Doodson and Iris Hopkin couldn't have been happier in each others company. After all, it's not every day you get to celebrate your 85th birthday - as a set of triplets.



The trio were born in Manchester just 20 minutes apart in June 1929. And 85 years later are as close as ever, still speaking to each other two to three times a week.

Twins had run in the family and their mother Margaret had been expecting two babies before youngest sibling Iris arrived to make it a hat-trick.



Britain's oldest set of triplets - (from left) Edna Doodson, Nevile Jones and Iris Hopkin - celebrated their 85th birthday this weekend. They were born just 20 minutes apart in June 1929

She weighed just 2lbs and was given little chance of survival but pulled through. Edna weighed 3lbs and Neville a healthier 4lbs.

The trio originally from Manchester, were inseparable in their childhood and although they were parted during the wartime evacuation, they lived in neighbouring houses in Lancaster.

They still remain very close today and despite their age and the fact they live at opposite ends of the country, see each other at least once or twice a year. Edna still lives in Manchester with her husband Ken while widow Iris lives in Blackpool.



Neville lives with his wife Edna in Portesham, near Weymouth, Dorset, where the trio met this weekend for their celebration.

Nevile Edna and Iris with the midwife in 1929 (left) and celebrating being 85 years young this weekend (right)



Their family has also submitted a claim to the Guinness World Records after learning that they are four years older than John Davies, Mary Davis and Joy Hillary who were believed to be the country's oldest living triplets.

Neville said, 'My daughter has found out that we appear to be the oldest triplets in the country.

'We had a good upbringing and ate well and none of us feel our age now. It would be interesting and nice to know if we are the oldest triplets in Britain or the world.'

The triplets hand-in-hand in 1936 As bridesmaids and pageboys in 1934 (left) and still looking marvelous 80 years on (right)



The siblings were born to parents Margaret and Reuben, a docker on the Manchester ship canal.

They had an elder sister, also called Margaret who died seven years ago aged 81.

Neville said, 'There is a long line of twins in our family and my mother thought she was expecting twins with us.

'In those days there weren't any scans so it must have been a shock for her, although from what I understand she was unconscious for most of it.

'I was the first to be born but there was only about 20 minutes between us. Iris only weighed the same as a bag of sugar and it was a bit touch and go for her.



'We had a great upbringing and never suffered from loneliness or had an argument.'

The trio with parents Rueben and Marg on a trip to the seaside in the 1930s

'We were evacuated during the war to Lancaster when we were aged 10. Iris and Edna lived in one house and I was just two houses down,' he adds.



Neville worked as a telecoms engineer while Edna and Iris were machinists. Neville met his wife, a nurse, when he went into hospital after an accident and they have now been married for 61 years.

The couple relocated to Cornwall where they owned and ran a village store before retiring to Dorset where they live with their daughter Alison and her husband Duncan.

Between them, the triplets have created quite a legacy. Iris has four children, including a set of twins and nine grandchildren. Edna has two children, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Neville has two children and three grandchildren.

The Guinness World Records is currently looking into Neville, Edna and Iris' claim as the oldest triplets in the UK and possibly the world.

According to Guinness, the last record of the world's oldest triplets dates back to 2005 and they were Minna Blocker, Luise Stefener and Bertholdine Bernecker from Ludwig, Germany, who were born in 1914.