Michael, & some of the most memorable things….. Michael, Patsy and I are same age bar a month and thus we started school together, knowing someone for over 60 years and suddenly losing them is a heavy blow, you suddenly contemplate life and the memories come flooding back. The first memorable occasion was assembly in the lower hall of the Chalfont C of E School, the infant section, Michael fainted and went down with a thump and had to be carted off, this was a major event in my young life and Michael was indelibly printed on it. A little later in our young lives we developed a desire to go fishing after watching boys at the pond in Gerrards Cross. A lack of fishing tackle however was a bit of an issue, resourcefully we fashioned a couple of rods from my dads massive old TV aerial that came down in the snow and with string and bent pin we began many years of angling enjoyment. We cycled to Windsor to fish the Thames and had our reels nicked, Mick was frightened to death his dad would kill him! We took a trip to Ringwood to fish the Avon in my old 1960 mini, Mick was not impressed as the Avon was not much bigger than our River Misbourne and then he had to sleep in my mini with his feet sticking out of the window! At this time in our fishing lives Patsy was never far away and during our night fishing sessions in the woods at Tatling End Patsy would sleep on the bank whilst Mick and I fished during the wee hours. She was less than happy when he attempted to breed maggots in the outhouse of their new home! During our young lives we robbed birds of their eggs, scrumped cherries from the orchard (once even took a ladder from the cherry orchard to get to a nest under the railway bridge) We played football day in and day out on the green at Layters Green Lane and generally got into as much mischief as we could. Mick was a one off, loyal, funny and spontaneous, when we were scouts together and during our camp in Scotland he ran the whole way right up the mountain to check the water supply stream for dead sheep! When we were teenage hoodlums he once saved me from a good hiding in a fight in the village, he was very useful to have around! He ran away from home and was thwarted by the authorities when he asked how far he could go on the small amount of change in his pocket! When we started work I was an apprentice mechanic at the County Garage GX and Mick with his grammar school education was a trainee accountant in the offices above, within a few weeks he told me he hated it and within days he was working in the butchers next door (obviously in the blood). In later life he became the guy you always wanted to have at any party and nobody would throw a better more generous one than he, still however there was that mad streak in him, several of us took a trip to Wales where I had a cottage and after a disappointing round of golf at Pwllheli Mick had a little chat with one of his irons telling it that he had given it a last warning for underperforming and promptly snapped it over his knee! And who remembers the Christmas tree that was so big he had to cut the top off and put it upstairs in the room above! There were parallels in our lives too which hold you close, when I was 34 in 1989 I lost my mother, within days Mick lost his mum too, then in 1995 I lost my father and within a few months Micks Dad passed away, I remember saying to him at Derek’s funeral, well that’s it we’re both orphans now! He was a massive personality and we will miss him, so I hope he is at peace now and with us in spirit.

Finding my long lost Dad was one of the best things I have ever done in my life. I found not only a lovely Dad and step mother, but wonderful siblings, too. Michael & I seemed to hit it off from the outset. Graham and I first visited the family home at the time of Michael’s 21st and were somewhat bemused to hear that his lovely wife, Pat, had bought him his first electric razor, which he had enthusiastically used that morning - complete with shaving foam!! He seemed bewildered as to how and why it had ceased working. We were wondering what we were letting ourselves in for. We needn’t have worried, our lives were enriched. The memories are priceless. The time Michael came to Herts County Show to ‘help’ us show our sheep. I told him I would take a picnic but was a bit surprised when he turned up with a large cold box. He said that what he had in his cold box was not what I had in mine and he was absolutely right. His was crammed with booze! He ‘persuaded’ Dave Jordan to come to the next show, with Michael assuring Dave that showing sheep was easy, he would show him how. He then let his sheep roll in vast quantities of straw but still went on to win a prize with this mobile haystack. We are exceedingly lucky to have Pat, Kay and Natalie in our lives, never ever thinking I would have a sister in law or nieces. I am blessed to have you and love you to bits. Michael, you have left a huge hole in my life. I cannot imagine not being able to ring you up and have a chat. I will miss your kindness, your generosity, your love. I will love you forever, baby bro.

Was there ever anyone smilier? Michael always had a smile and a kind word. No matter what he was going through, he always had supportive and encouraging words for everyone else and a way to brighten their day. He believed in us. Thank you, Michael. We'll miss you. xxx