John was born on May 22nd 1934, the only child of Fred and Ethel Berridge. His mother was quite ill after his birth and for the first few months of his life Bert and Ivy Turner cared for him.Initially the family lived in Catford, London but nearly all his childhood was spent in Orchard Crescent, Enfield, Middlesex.Living just north of London his early childhood was influenced by the outbreak of the Second World War.
| At the age of six he was evacuated to a farm in Gloucestershire where he stayed for around six months before returning home. The family had an air raid shelter at the bottom of the garden and, despite the austerity caused by the war, as a young boy life at times seemed exciting watching aircraft overhead and collecting warm shrapnel!! |
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Also in Orchard Crescent lived Michael Bird and Brian Spall. Together the friends went to Lavender Road Primary School (renamed by them Lavender College!). John then had a spell at a Preparatory School before completing his education at Tollington Grammar School, Muswell Hill. It was a long journey each day of at least eight miles each way and John remembers that in the winter months his mother would send him off with a warm baked potato.John was a keen Boy Scout. In his teens he developed many hobbies particularly making and flying model aircraft through his involvement with the Society of Model Aeronautical Engineers. At the age of 16 John joined the RAF as an apprentice and later was accepted for training as a flight engineer, becoming a Flight Sergeant. He served at many RAF bases including Aden in Cyprus, and Changi Singapore. Not much can be gleaned of the years between leaving home and marrying Pauline. However in that time he enjoyed owning a variety of motorbikes and cars. |
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He had met her six years previous through his good friend Tony Gordon who also came from Enfield and was also in the RAF. Tony was married to Pauline’s sister Margaret.
| A few months after the birth of their first daughter Julie he was posted to Changi, and here Steven was born in November 1965. John and Pauline enjoyed their few years in Singapore and made some good friends there including Dave and Hilda Tisbury, and Brian and Kay Terry. |
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On return to England John and Pauline bought their first house in Hatfield Doncaster, and John started a stream of jobs to improve house and garden which has continued non stop to the present day. No job has ever been too small and one of his first tasks was chopping down huge trees in the back garden with the help of a neighbour.In 1968 John joined BOAC as a flight engineer on VC 10’s, later retraining to fly Boeing 747’s for the company renamed as British Airways. The family moved south to Ampthill, Bedfordshire, to be nearer Heathrow and John’s parents. |
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| At the first house in Fallowfield John rebuilt the kitchen interior and the children’s bedrooms, and at the next house in Grange Road he completely relandscaped the garden.During this time John took up windsurfing, sailing on a few lakes in Bedfordshire but preferring the warmer waters of the Caribbean or Indian Ocean that he could enjoy on his many trips overseas. On leave at home he was involved as a member of the Rotary Club of Ampthill. On one trip abroad John fell ill, and in hospital back in England it was discovered that he must have been born with just one kidney. The doctor’s instructions to keep the kidney regularly flushed with liquid were taken very seriously by John and a daily intake of a few good beers ever since seems to have kept it ticking over nicely. |
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In 1984 John and Pauline moved to Charmouth. Here he continued to do some windsurfing but also took up golf, playing for a number of years at Lyme Regis Golf Club. Ever the perfectionist he often despaired at the behaviour of the ball, feelings no doubt shared by many other golfers.Whilst still flying for British Airways John and Pauline enjoyed many trips to exotic locations, including a couple of postings to Australia. John, who has always kept himself fit, continued to fly beyond the normal retirement age for flight crew until the first Gulf War in the early 1990’s brought about recession in the industry. |
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| Since that time John has continued to keep himself busy pursuing many different enterprises from his office at home. Although ‘The Blevins’ has never needed major work John is always doing jobs around the home either through his own volition or under the direction of Pauline. He has always enjoyed a ‘project’ and must have just about every tool under the sun to suit any given job. His expertise in DIY is well known and he is often called upon by distressed neighbours, the family, the church, and more recently the Heritage Coast Centre to either mend, fix or build something. |
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John and Pauline are great entertainers of family and friends in their home. John has become famous for his barbecuing skills of wide variety of food, and is often asked to barbecue at various functions.John has always had a great sense of humour and will laugh off any cruel suggestion that he could easily be mistaken for ‘Phil the Greek’ (Duke of Edinburgh) or Victor Meldrew. Whilst some may see fleeting glimpses of similarities, his family and friends recognise that he is uniquely John with his own inimitable personality that they have enjoyed over the years. |
| NB: The photos can be viewed in a larger format at the Photos page. |
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