My amazing Dad

Its been quite a while since I last posted but the past month has been pretty awful to be honest so I haven't really felt like sitting at the computer.
On the 19th November I lost the most amazing Dad in the world. He had been in ill health for many years but the last year had really taken its toll on him and after a short stay in hospital he passed away with my Mum, Grandma, Me and our Methodist Minister at his side.

I have so many happy memories of my Dad and they will stay with me forever. I am so thankful for every minute that I spent with him and luckily since having Eliza I saw him almost every day. I will miss him more than I could ever put in to words but I find comfort in the thought that he is now in a better place.

Christopher James Pickerill

31st August 1951 - 19th November 2010

My Dad was born on the 31 August 1951 in  Newcastle under Lyme. His background was very working class but he managed to get into Grammar school which his parents were very proud of.  As he progressed through the school, he developed his social conscience and was politically active even in school.  He and his good friend Pete were remembered for being far more interested in the betterment of the world than their studies. As a teenager, he would try to get to the letterbox before his dad in order to collect his socialist magazines so that his dad wouldn’t throw them away before he could read them.  He was active in going to demonstrations even as a teenager and his causes included Anti-Apartheid, Anti-Vietnam war, and  also the CND.  


In his early twenties my Dad trained as a nurse at North Staffs Royal Infirmary where he met my Mum on Ward 10.  Eventually they married and they have been together for 34 years. Later, he trained in learning disabilities and worked at Stallington Hospital.  He then became a Nurse Tutor and received a Masters degree in Learning disabilities. He showed great compassion for his patients, by organising parties and buying Christmas presents. He could tell a good story and had many a tale to tell particularly about his time at Stallington. He was greatly respected by his students but retired early and devoted his time to his family and home, and his special loves, his garden and his music. 


One of my Dads greatest loves was his music, he saved up for months to buy his first guitar which he taught himself by slowing down records in order to learn the chords.  He had an incredible memory for songs and became as knowledgeable as nearly anyone about folk music.  He had hundreds of songs in his head.  At one stage, he was part of  a group of folk musicians called “The Higglers”  and he always remembered it warmly. He wrote many of his own songs which were full of his characteristic sense of humour.  He played music on the local folk scene which he had been part of since his youth and in recent years he attended many festivals and developed much more music.  In particular, with my Mum and the banjo he bought her as a surprise.  There was barely an evening in the last 3 years that they haven’t played music together. 


He was a character who was known and loved by so many people, there were over a hundred people at the funeral despite the heavy snow that was falling. He was a man who touched many people’s hearts and enjoyed a good joke, even joking with the nurses on his last day.  My Dad always said that when he died, all that he wanted was for people to have a drink and a sing song because he knew he was going to a better place.  So, as a tribute to my Dad we held a celebration at his home following the funeral and gave him an amazing send off. It was a completely magical evening with singing, beer, lots of friends and family, a Tipi, camp fire and lots and lots of snow. It was so lovely to see so many people who cared about my dad and I think we will always remember the day with fond memories. We gathered everyone in the Tipi and sat around the log fire to sing songs and celebrate his life. One song that we sang was 'Log Cabin in the Sky' which I will always remember my dad singing. I have included the Lyrics to this song below because I thought they seemed so fitting.

All around this wide country the winter it has now begun

Now is the time to slip away from the California sun

To a place where a man can be free as the wind

As wild as the huskies' cry

Now winter is nigh let us fly to my log cabin in the sky

With snow piling all round the door

And many a log on the stove

Where the chickadee's singing a comforting song

I'll show you it's you that I love

O let the wolves howl, they won't find us here

By a soft oil lamp we will lie

Now there comes a time to every man

When he must turn his back on the crowd

When the glare of the lights gets much too bright

And the music plays too loud

When a man must run from the deeds he has done

Recalling those days with a sigh. 

Above all my Dad was a family man.  Loving husband to my Mum, amazing Dad to my Sister and I, and great father-in-law to Pete.  He was also a very proud Grandad to Nazca, Benedict and Eliza Mae who he thought the absolute world of. We will always Love you Dad and will never forget you xxx