John Berridge
Celebrated on: December 30, 2025
Johns funeral/ life celebration was a joyful service in our local church in Bridge of Allan, where he had been a chorister and active participant in refurbishment of the woodwork. During the service his son and daughter, who are professional musicians, played on a viola and cello and with bows that he had made for them, providing atmospheric interludes of beauty and reflection. In the middle his wife joined in with the guitar he’d made with a fellow maker for a re run of the family folk band that John used to play with. As his bodhran playing was missing we asked the congregation to clap or stamp to provide his rhythm section. This they did with gusto keeping up with the increasing tempo and ending with laughter and a huge round of applause. John would have loved that!
John’s ashes were launched in a water soluble urn from the footbridge over the Allan Water in Bridge of Allan, where I often see the heron. It’s a tranquil spot. His 6 youngest grandchildren each chose a pebble or shell from the collection we’d saved on our beach combing travels, and dropped it into the water as with love in our hearts we let him go. We explained to the children that though grandad was released to the water he would remain with us in our memories, our laughter and our lives. He started this last journey down the river which would join the River Forth and would eventually be carried to the sea - his happy place.
John was a kind, loving, adventurous man. He was a talented maker and restorer of stringed musical instruments and specialised in their bows. He trained as a bank fitter, then taught wood and metal work to high school pupils before setting up his own business run from home in Leeds. His great joy was sailing, and in 2000, after fitting out our Moody 42 cc ketch, we spent the next 20 years from April to October sailing it from Hull, near where we lived, through to the Mediterranean, continuing our adventures in this area, leaving it each Autumn and returning to Scotland to continue bow making to partly fund this way of life. He loved exploring and meeting people and made friends easily.
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