Well I've thought about it a bit more and wonder if this idea would work. What if I have 3 of 555 timers as in my first circuit, the first timer will change state on the first trigger, so I take its output and via an AND gate use it to trigger timer 2 the other input of the AND gate will be the same trigger source. This will change state on the second trigger pulse. I then take this output and again AND it with the same trigger source to a third 555, so this will change state on the 3rd pulse.
I think the only thing I have to be careful of is the there is a slight delay in each 555 triggering, so that they changes state after the trigger pulse has gone, or all the timers will just respond to the first trigger. Does what I'm proposing make sense, is it a way I can achieve a change of state on pulse 3? Should I be aiming to NOR them instead so they trigger on the rising pulse?
I'm sure this is all simple well know design, but I feel stuck with the logic states and the timing of the one shot compared to the trigger.