Welcome
I’m using this website to bring together and share material that might otherwise remain shut away: our family history, my own stories and reflections, writing by Mum and Dad and, in due course, some of Dad’s academic work.
At the moment, there are four main sections: Dad’s Writing, Mum’s Writing, My Reflections on Life and The Berrie Family History.
Dad’s Writing
This section currently contains 24 short pieces. Most are works of fiction Dad wrote in the late 1990s while taking a correspondence course in writing, alongside a few memories and opinion pieces.
Mum’s Writing
There are currently three pieces here. One is a collection of memories Mum wrote in about 2021, which I rescued from a notebook while going through her papers. There is also a short poem, People and Places – and our planet, and a short piece called The Beauty of Botany.
My Reflections on Life
This is a collection of about 60 short memories and reflections I wrote in 2020–21, when Anjanette gave me a Storyworth subscription. Each week I received a question by email and wrote an answer, which was then shared with Mel, Simon and Anj.
The subjects are wonderfully random – things like How did you get your first job? and Were your parents happy? They are, of course, simply my recollections and opinions. Other people’s memories of the same events may be quite different – and equally valid!
The Berrie Family History
This section contains detailed accounts of the lives of my direct ancestors, including a fuller study of the life and business of my great-great-grandfather, John Berrie (1819–1888). It also includes articles Dad wrote in the 1990s about his father (“Dad”), his mother (“Mother”), his Auntie Winnie and his maternal grandparents, together with a few other family-related pieces.
There is plenty more to come. I’m preparing further family history material, a photo gallery and Africa from Rainforest to Desert, a book Dad drafted but never published.
I hope you find something here that interests you – or perhaps something that brings back a memory of your own.
Pete / Dad / Pops
October 2026