Issue 193 - North Down BT18 •BT19 • BT20 • BT21
North Down triplets celebrate Special Birthday! Primrose Page, Iris Bull and Marigold Milliken recently celebrated their 90th Birthday at Holywood Golf Club. Originally from Gillingham, near London, the girls moved to Northern Ireland where they attended Belfast Royal Academy and all went on to settle in the area. Primrose lives in Holywood, Iris in East Belfast and Marigold settled in Bangor. The triplets like to celebrate every birthday jointly — and have managed this every year with two notable exceptions - in 2020 due to the pandemic, and when they turned 26, as Iris had been in hospital with tuberculosis. The ladies have so far enjoyed a wide life experience and varied careers. Primrose trained to be a nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, before running the family stationery business. Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Karen Douglas with Age Friendly Alliance Members, Gary Hill Libraries NI and Dorothy Beattie AGEnda.
Big Guide Launched
A new 65-page Big Guide to Age Friendly Ards and North Down has been published by Ards and North Down Borough Council with the support of Ards and North Down’s Age Friendly Alliance. Unveiled by Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Karen Douglas at Bangor’s City Hall, the guide is designed for all ages and is packed full of useful information, including a directory of support services, details on how to access them, and where to go for help if someone has a specific problem. Based on feedback received from a survey of older people, the guide was produced
as a hardcopy with a focus on assistance for older people, easier access to mental health services and help to reconnect people, with guidance on how to stay safe at home and how to avoid being the victim of a scam. An online version is also available on the Council website at www. ardsandnorthdown.gov. uk/thebigguide Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Karen Douglas, said:
“The Council’s Big Plan, a community plan that details how we want to make life better for everyone living in Ards and North Down, gave the commitment that through our statutory, voluntary and community partnerships, Ards and North Down would be Age Friendly. The publication of our Big Guide is yet another step towards making our Borough an even better place to live and grow older.”
Pick up a copy of the guide in our public buildings or access a digital copy of the guide on our website www. ardsandnorthdown. g o v. u k / t h e b i g g u i d e . Requests for hard copies can also be submitted to agefriendly@ ardsandnorthdown.gov. uk or by contacting 0300 013 3333. For more information, visit https://www. ardsandnorthdown.gov. uk/resident/community/ the-big-guide
Marigold worked as telephone operator and Iris worked with deaf children in Belfast and later became a Civil Servant. The three ladies have lived through remarkable times including the Second World War, two coronations as well as experiencing the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It is thought that the ladies may be the world’s oldest recorded living triplets! An application for the title is currently pending with the Guinness World Book of Records. The last set of oldest Guinness-authenticated triplets were the Cardwells — Faith, Hope and Charity — who were born on May 18, 1899 in Texas. Hope, the last living triplet, passed away in 1997.