A CARE home may have the discovered elixir of youth as three of its most spritely residents are members of the 100 plus club.

Nora Wright, Doris Pentland and Marion Ablett are among the fittest and most independent residents at Barrington Lodge Care Home, in Bishop Auckland, despite all being 102-years-old.

Acting manager Lerato Mokake said: “We feel blessed to have them, we call them the 100 plus club.

“Despite their age they are rarely unwell, they are independent and full of character.

“The three of them are friends and sometimes there is just them left in the dining room talking about their memories over a drink.”

The home held a party for all three last week, ahead of Mrs Ablett’s 102nd birthday last Saturday. (September 21)

Mrs Ablett, originally from Winlaton, near Gateshead, moved to Bishop Auckland as a child.

During the Second World War she was an Aycliffe Angel, working at a munitions factory in Aycliffe, County Durham, and in 1937 married her late husband Ken.

In the 1960s she was the matron at Windlestone Hall School, a special school near Chilton, where Mr Ablett was headmaster.

A positive outlook on life and a love of dance her life has kept her feeling young.

Dance has also been important to Mrs Pentland, who used to compete across the North of England including at the Winter Gardens, in Blackpool. Her late husband, Frank, was a painter.

Mrs Wright, from Sunderland, moved to London during the war years but was glad to later return to the region.

She worked in domestic services and married late husband Fred, in 1938, and is a passionate Sunderland football fan.

Mrs Mokake added: “All three are mothers and grandmothers and an inspiration to us all.”