Beryl Brookman is now 83. Louise and I have known Beryl as a
Quaker of deep faith and strength of character for the four years we have been
attending the Marazion Meeting. I interviewed Alan Newton, her husband, and wrote
up the outline story of his extraordinary life last year (see the blogpost here);
now it is Beryl’s turn .
 |
| Beryl and Alan in their Gonewoods home in April 2024 |
Beryl Brookman was born in 1942 in Lancashire. Her guardian
angels sprung into action immediately. Unresponsive, the doctor resorted to
giving Beryl, the newborn baby, the ‘kiss of life’, a technique then new to the
world. Beryl had had her first lesson in the art of survival and passed with
flying colours.
Beryl was born into adversity. She was the second child of her mother, Betty and her father’s first and only child. Mum had married Jack who worked on the Manchester Ship Canal and they lived in Manchester. Then in 1939 came a tragedy which was to have such ripple effects. Jack suffered a broken neck in an industrial accident when a load fell on him. As he lay on the ground dying, he turned to his best mate, Henry Tobin, and said: ‘Look after Betty’. Betty was eight months pregnant. Henry was a
