RIP Mike Wren (AKA @ChirpyRed / Riviera) - fundraiser in his memory (p5)

Addick Addict said:

Mike has been a friend for some 40 years and would have been 60 in September. No age at all. We originally met through cricket and I went on the tours to Somerset and Yorkshire he arranged. Every season, for about 20 years, he also used to bring a team with him made up of players from Blackheath CC (he captained at one time their 2nd XI) to my club, Sidcup. A T20 innings a side followed by "lunch" and then a "timed" second innings apiece. Then drinks into the night followed by a curry. The formula never changed and he wouldn't have wanted it to either.  

Mike was also the instigator and driver behind a number of other events. The annual Christmas meal at the Won Kei in Chinatown (purely for the abusive nature of the staff) was one such event where, at his insistence, we would have a "guess the bill" for the dozen or so there, with the nearest one being rewarded with not having to pay. He started a horseracing group called the Beehive Racing Club named after the pub we used to frequent on a Thursday night for years. He would run an annual trip to Newbury (and Cheltenham most years too) with everything from the tickets, to the coach, to the beer on the coach and even Racing Posts for everyone. And then there would be the cassette tape that morphed into a CD and finally Spotify. All singalong tracks for the journey home. We would all be given nicknames too with Mike's being "Captain". Of course. 

"Old school" was Mike and a massive traditionalist in every walk of life. He left the City to do what he had wanted to do for years. Run a pub. One that was a throwback to times when there were no juke boxes or fruit machines. The advent of the concept of a micropub afforded him that opportunity. He wouldn't just have loved that the pub was opening this evening. He would have demanded it!

The last time I spoke to Mike was a couple of weeks ago when he phoned me on his way to deliver a card to a mutual friend because he wanted to check the number of the house in question. His last words were "thanks and I'll call you soon so we can have a good catchup."  We never had that chat but then last Wednesday he sent me a photo of something he'd been on the waiting list for donkeys years for. MCC Membership. Sitting with members and friends with a drink in hand discussing cricket and everything beyond would have been his idea of heaven. So sad that he never got to do that as a bona fide Member sharing his encyclopaedic knowledge on all things especially sport and music.

It's fair to say that Mike packed in a lot more in his almost 60 years than most. He leaves behind his lovely wife, Nancy and his two sons Nick (who does post on here) and Jack and my love and condolences go out to them. For the rest of our group of friends (rest assured we weren't his only such group as he had that rare ability to bring likeminded people together) his passing effectively marks the end of an era. He was our leader. 

RIP Michael Wren AKA Captain