Inseparable for 81 years

By Adam Lee-Potter, sundaymirror.co.uk 22/06/2008

Galdys, Alice and Doris

EXCLUSIVE AMAZING BOND BETWEEN BRITAIN'S OLDEST TRIPLETS.. DORIS, ALICE & GLADYS

After 81 years it's still almost impossible to tell them apart. Doris - she's the one on the right - is the oldest sister by 10 minutes.

Next comes Alice, who was born 10 minutes later. And the youngest is Gladys, who arrived just 10 minutes after that.

Together they are Britain's oldest triplets.

They have racked up 243 years in all - and have just celebrated their birthday over toasted teacakes and ice cream at their local department store.

The sisters - who are all now widows - have 17 grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren between them. They live in near-identical houses awash with family snaps. And apart from their wedding portraits, there isn't a photograph that doesn't show them standing shoulder-to-shoulder... from toddlers to pensioners.

As Alice says: "We're not exactly joined at the hip, but triplets do have a special bond.

"We are very much a team, a tight unit. I don't think a family picture exists that doesn't have us lined up together."

Only their interests mark them apart. Doris loves football, Alice favours old musicals and Gladys likes both.

As Gladys says: "We love getting together to watch the telly. But it's been quite tricky just lately because of Euro 2008.

"I have to be the mediator. Doris wants to watch the soccer, Alice wants to watch South Pacific and I just want some peace and quiet.

"But we usually find a way round it.

We all loved Britain's Got Talent. And we adore playing Countdown together over a nice cup of tea."

Looking so alike has caused lots of confusion over the years.

Even their mother Elsie had trouble telling them apart. At the triplets' christening she put coloured ribbons in their hair to identify them.

But Alice says: "One of our aunties took them out when she was bathing us and mother got confused and just hoped for the best when she replaced them.

"To this day we aren't sure whether she swapped our names round to match the ribbons.

"We soon learned to make the confusion work to our advantage - we got up to all sorts of mischief at school. The teachers could never know for sure which one of us was which.

"And when we were teenagers, one man got in a bit of a tizz because he saw all three of us with different lads and thought we were the same girl. He must have thought we were quite brazen."

Even Alice's husband Maurice was once caught out. She says: "He was once talking to Doris for half an hour before realising she wasn't me!"

But sometimes the girls got caught out as well. Once, while Maurice was away, neighbours were convinced Alice was two-timing him because they saw Gladys at a dance with another man.

When the girls were born on June 12, 1927, in South Elmsall, West Yorks, triplets were so rare that their father, Arnold Rodgers, was given three £1 notes by King George V. He bought a suit with the money.

Doris says: "Our parents deserved those pounds and more. In fact, they deserved a medal. After having us, they went on to have six more children.

Bringing up nine kids is no mean feat.

"Growing up in a big family, you either love it or hate it. Happily, we all loved it.

"Now, I've got a daughter and two grandchildren, Gladys has a son, three grandchildren and one greatgrandchild and Alice has seven boys, one girl, 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Christmas is never boring!"

The sisters only took their first trip abroad in 1994 at the age of 67. Doris says: "People forget now, but when we were younger, foreign holidays were the exception, not the norm.

"We decided to take the plunge when Alice's Maurice died. The three of us went to Majorca with my husband Allen.

"He had a whale of a time. Everyone gave us funny looks. It turns out people thought he had three wives. He thought it was hilarious - he really played up to it.

"Even now, it would probably turn a few heads. But back then it was unheard of. I think everyone reckoned we were terribly rock and roll - or belonged to some strange cult.

"But we're not like that at all. The wildest thing I do is have a glass of brandy every night.

"We did used to drink the odd half of Guinness when we were girls but we gave up. It's too fattening - it goes straight to your hips."

When the girls were two the family had moved to Leeds, where Gladys and Alice still live just minutes apart. And even Doris is only 10 minutes away by car in nearby Selby.

They meet, without fail, every Wednesday and Thursday to go shopping in Leeds. And they go on holiday together to Whitby or Bridlington.

"Being triplets," says Doris. "We've always been especially close. We always know what each other is thinking and finish each other's sentences.

"It was difficult at times for our other halves. When you marry a triplet, you're effectively marrying three women. I don't think my husband had any idea of what he was letting himself in for."

She adds: "We love being the oldest triplets. There are some young pretenders - three brothers who are just a few months behind us. But we're the real McCoy.

"And we keep each other young. We aim to be the world's first centenarian triplets and why not?

"We still feel like girls in our heads.

It's all down to sensible eating, laughs, cod liver oil and the occasional glass of sherry."

The sisters' story is shown in Identical Triplets: Their Secret World on ITV1 tomorrow at 9pm.

adamleepotter@sundaymirror.co.uk

Gladys

Married: Wally in 1954.

Widowed 2002. Children: One son, three grandchildren, one great-grandchild.

Likes: Football, old musicals. Dislikes: Rows about football & musicals.

Fave food: Buttered toast.

Fave tipple: Medium sherry.

Alice

Married: Maurice in 1949.

Widowed 1994. Children: Seven sons, one daughter, 12 grandchildren, three greatgrandchildren. Likes: Old musicals. Dislikes: Football, especially Euro 2008.

Fave food: Ice-cream.

Fave tipple: Sweet sherry.