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Friends who are 103 and 96 celebrate birthday together

heron lodge friends birthday 2021

They are friends who have a lot to reminisce about – for between them they have lived 199 years.

And earlier this week (March 29) Doris Harris and Phyllis Foster, who have neighbouring rooms at Heron Lodge care home, in Wroxham, had even more to talk about than normal.

For Doris was celebrating her 103rd birthday on the same day Phyllis reached the age of 96.

The Kingsley healthcare home’s chef Martin McGrath surprised them with cakes fitting for the occasion.

Doris, who has two children, Graham and Carol, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, was a land girl during the Second World War and went on to work in a shoe factory.

She was married to James for 45 years and Ron for six years, describing both her late husbands as “lovely”.

Before Christmas, Heron Lodge staff surprised Doris with a chauffeur-driven trip to see her last home, a bungalow in Sprowston, the family home in Spixworth where she brought up her children, and St Peter’s Church, in Spixworth, where she wed.

When asked the secret behind her long life, she said: “To be happy and make others happy.”

Her lifelong passion for poetry had also sustained her.

Phyllis, who was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, was married to an RAF pilot Ron for over 60 years until his death. Their two main loves were dogs and caravanning.

She came to Heron Lodge a year ago where her elder sister Ruby Cragg, 98, has been living for three years.

 

Author: Stephen Pullinger

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