Beryl


Who was Beryl?

A Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mum, Nan, Great Nan, Other Nanny, Auntie -  and much more besides -  but more importantly, friend to all who knew her,




Beryl was born in 1935, the second of four daughters. She grew up in Forest Hill with her Mum, Dad and sisters Elsie, Audrey and Jean. 

A few years after she was born, WW2 broke out and she was evacuated to Wales. She had fond memories of the area she stayed and could still recite the address at age 86! She often mentioned playing in the lovely huge garden that had woods and a stream.


She returned home aged 10 and attended school before going on to do a secretarial course - however, she wasn’t the brightest speller and her typing tended to be one fingered.


Eventually she got a factory job working for Colegate Palmolive. She worked here until 1956 which incidentally was their 150th anniversary - an event that she talked about celebrating with her colleagues by way of a day trip to the beach.


By this time, her eldest sister, Elsie, had married Russel - ‘Rusty’ - and in doing so, introduced Beryl to to love of her life, Russel’s brother, Gordon. They married in the summer of 1956.


The following year, Beryl and Gordon welcomed their first child, Sonny and then Pauline 3 years later.  They moved to the East End of London.


During the same year that Pauline was born, Coronation street first aired - a soap that was soon to become Beryls favourite. She rarely missed a single episode.  You soon knew about it if you rang her while she was watching it!!


Beryl gave up work to raise her two babies, and Gordon worked hard for them all. Sundays became family days and were often spent at local parks, taking picnics along the River Roding or heading out to Hollow Ponds.


When the children were older, Beryl returned to work. Firstly working as a cleaner in a school, where she would sometimes take Sonny and Pauline with her, before moving on to work in the catering team at a finance company, Gardener Merchants


She enjoyed quiet days by the river with Gordon, where he would fish while she sat reading or knitting. She loved day trips and enjoyed regular games of bingo with her neighbours.


With her children all grown up, she was promoted to ‘Nan’ - Firstly with Leslie Kay and Sarah, then Christopher and Holly


Once they had both retired, they moved to Peterborough to be closer to the grandchildren before being granted 3 more - Emily, Olivia and Ethan.


By this time, Gordon had become very ill and passed away shortly after meeting their youngest grandchild


Now a widow, Beryl moved house again for the final time to the same street as Pauline where she could see the grandchildren a lot more.
She was kept busy with the 9 great grandchildren that followed - Demi, Caleb, Dexter, Paisley, Alice, Aria, Tilly, Bridget and Bonnie.


Beryl enjoyed herself by going to weekly coffee mornings run by Tash and she loved shopping trips with her friend Mavis.


Towards her final days, Beryl spoke about having dreams about Gordon. She had achieved all that she wanted in life and was ready to to be back with him.


Beryl will leave a huge hole in our hearts, But we know she would be happy, being back with her true love, Gordon watching over us all together.