Do you remember Charlie (Mr) Berry?

By Holly_Berry | Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 21:45

Many people will remember Charlie as “Mr. Berry” from St. Peter’s School, where he taught for around 24 years until his retirement in 1997. Some found him strict and slightly scary, but some say he was one of the best teachers they ever had.

Charlie celebrating Dominic's birthday in 1998
Charlie and Rosy Berry, just married, outside the Methodist Church in 1972
In Egypt, May 1999

Every morning during term time for those 24 years Charlie could be seen walking down to school across The Green in a teacher-esque jacket carrying his briefcase.

Perhaps the most frequent comment I hear from his ex pupils is,

“I remember him shouting ‘STOP, STAND STILL!’ and getting us all to look for his contact lenses when they fell out!”

He certainly had a passion for some of the subjects he taught- I remember him dragging me round Hampton Court as part of his preparation for teaching The Tudors. I was in my early teens and just wanted to go shopping in London.

Charlie lived in Marlborough from 1972 to 2000. He married Rosy Baker in the Methodist Church on New Road in Marlborough in 1972.

An active member of the Marlborough community, over the years Charlie was involved with the Marlborough Brandt Group, Devizes Constituency Labour Party, Marlborough Peace Group, Marlborough Running Club, Marlborough (Jazz) Festival, and Kennet Connections amongst others.

He frequented local pubs including The Aylesbury Arms (until it closed), The Lamb and the wine bar at The Merlin (before it became Pizza Express).

Of course to me he was always dad- infuriating at times, like all parents, but also good fun and a wonderful friend. We had some great holidays together. I remember learning to ski with him (sort of) in Austria, being dragged round karaoke bars in Tenerife with him asking if they had "any Rod Stewart numbers”, and the holiday of a lifetime we had in Egypt in 1999.

It is ten years this week since my dad took his own life before Motor Neurone Disease could rob him of it and his dignity. He had some wonderful, supportive friends around him towards the end including those from Kennet Connections, Kennet Place and Manton.

Motor Neurone Disease causes weakness and wasting of muscles, leading to loss of mobility in the limbs, and difficulties with speech, swallowing and breathing. Life expectancy is 2-5 years from the time of diagnosis.

British actor David Niven and American baseball player Lou Gehrig are probably the most famous people to have suffered from MND. Stephen Hawking has the disease, but it is extremely unusual to survive as long as he has.

Thanks to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill being passed in October 2008 there is now genuine of hope of finding a cure for Motor Neurone Disease.

If you want to find out more about the disease you can go to the Motor Neurone Disease Association Website. They do fantastic work funding research and offering advice and support to people who have this horrible disease.

p.s. If anyone is in contact with dad’s friend Jeremy Daynes please could they let me know as I am trying to find him.

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Comments

I first met Charlie whenhe was teaching in London. He was one of the most dedicated teachers I have ever met, doing his best to help deprived pupils in London's East End achieve their full potential. His enthusiasm was infectious.
Charlie'schildhood was not an easy one, and he tried hard to ensure that the children in his care enoyed their learning experience.
Rage, rage, Charlie.

By nikkim11 at 18:34 on 23/02/10
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I was taught by Mr Berry for a year and he was most certainly one of the best teachers I had. Many of his lessons have stuck in my memory, partly because of his somewhat unorthodox delivery but mainly because I think he taught us the things he was genuinely interested in, so that his enthusiasm caught our imagination. As a teacher I regularly refer to one of his lessons, based on a passage from Roald Dahl, where he made a paper hot air balloon and let it off in the classroom, fired by a tea light I think. I've never forgotten it, or our collective excitement. No doubt the gods of health-and-safety would have a fit if it was attempted in a primary classroom today. I remember him losing his contact lenses too, and shouting "Oh my giddy aunt, you're driving me up the wall!" sweeping everything off the surface of his desk, and then apologising to us for shouting.
He was a really good man and a great teacher and I feltl lucky to have been taught by him.

By daisym1 at 22:31 on 18/01/10
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Val, What a sad yet beautiful story.

I couldn't agree more about the need for this particular law to be revisited.

Of course consideration must be given to the possibility of abuse of the law if it is changed to allow terminally ill people to die. However I don't believe that the POSSIBILITY of abuse of the law by the few should overshadow the CERTAINTY of either a lonely or a slow and unpleasant death for many.

By LVDarling at 13:30 on 14/01/10
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Val, What a sad yet beautiful story.

I couldn't agree more about the need for this particular law to be revisited.

Of course consideration must be given to the possibility of abuse of the law if it is changed to allow terminally ill people to die. However I don't believe that the POSSIBILITY of abuse of the law by the few should overshadow the CERTAINTY of either a lonely or a slow and unpleasant death for many.

By LVDarling at 13:29 on 14/01/10
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Charlie Berry will forever hold a special place in my mind and my heart. We had been acquainted for some time, so when I called in the Merlin Wine Bar one evening and Charlie was there, we sat together and talked. It turned out to be a very meaningful conversation, as Charlie had just been given his diagnosis.

From that evening and on through a beautiful relationship, Charlie and I spent precious time together. He was a talented writer and wrote some wonderful poetry and prose. This is an extract from Charlie's account of an evening just after our first meeting. (The unsteadiness of his walk was due to the MND - unsteadiness often mistaken for other causes.)

"A few nights later after another meal there was the unsteady walk along the wide, bright High Street, down under the dark arch of Angel Yard and out to where we looked up to see that one solitary star and could hear the soft roar of the water over Town Mill's old weir. That reminded me of Belloc's "Han'acker Mill" and "Sally who was so kindly" and everything seemed so perfect except for the briefness of time."

Charlie was one of the most gentle, sensitive and intelligent people it has ever been my privilege to meet. More than this, he was certainly the bravest. He meticulously planned his future in such a way that it would remain under his control. Knowing that an illness is terminal leaves you with few choices except the timing of your death.

My sadness will forever be that the law in this country forces people take that final step alone. I was not the only person, I think, who offered and would have been at his side had he chosen to ask - but Charlie, true to form, would not put anyone at risk. The law around ending a life really requires revisiting. It is such a complex subject but how can it possibly be right to force a person who wishes to end their life, to die alone? It is neither a kind nor compassionate law and I truly hope that one day another way forward will be found.

I will raise a glass to Charlie tonight - for a fleeting moment in time we shared something so special, we both loved and we both lost.

By Val_Compton at 21:13 on 13/01/10
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