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

135

Comments

  • Bournemouth Addick
    Bournemouth Addick Posts: 16,284
    RIP Mike. Thoughts tonight with his family and friends, of which there are clearly very many. 
  • Rock Spectacle
    Rock Spectacle Posts: 1,442
    RIP Mike 
  • rananegra
    rananegra Posts: 3,692
    RIP Mike and condolences to friends and family. 
    Eltham's a bit out of my way and remember thinking on the Upbeats walk that I hadn't been to the Long Pond in a while as we passed it. He did a cracking job with that pub and the fact there are now so many more trying to do something similar is a tribute to trailblazers like him. 
  • Addickhead86
    Addickhead86 Posts: 1,152
    RIP
  • jimmymelrose
    jimmymelrose Posts: 9,753
    Sad. I remember chirpyred on here. RIP.
  • Curb_It
    Curb_It Posts: 21,232
    Yes @suzisausage I remember that bottle! 

    Lovely tributes from AA and Nomadic. And reading all the comments. 

    Sending condolences to you all. Just very sad news. 
  • carly burn
    carly burn Posts: 19,473
    RIP
  • O-Randy-Hunt
    O-Randy-Hunt Posts: 10,668
    RIP Mike
  • ChicagoAddick
    ChicagoAddick Posts: 4,394
    Very sad news. My condolences to his family and friends. RIP Mike.
  • soapy_jones
    soapy_jones Posts: 21,358
    RIP. A very emotional thread.

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  • Fanny Fanackapan
    Fanny Fanackapan Posts: 18,740
    Sleep tight, Mike.
  • AndyG
    AndyG Posts: 5,911
    RIP. From the comments he was obviously a loved and respected man who made his mark on those he met
  • Weegie Addick
    Weegie Addick Posts: 16,535
    Oh what shocking news. Like many, I was on the end of Chirpy wind ups from time to time. Rest in peace, fellow Addick. Thoughts with family and friends. 
  • PaddyP17
    PaddyP17 Posts: 13,037
    RIP Mike.
  • SaySomething
    SaySomething Posts: 2,529
    RIP Mike
  • Callumcafc
    Callumcafc Posts: 63,787
    RIP to a CL legend
  • Themightyath2
    Themightyath2 Posts: 931
    Was my parents neighbour on Glenesk Road. 

    Nice guy and a great family. 

    Shocking news. 

    RIP Mike.  
  • LoOkOuT
    LoOkOuT Posts: 10,859
    Aw, such very sad news. Condolences to Mike’s family and friends. RIP Mike.
  • stoneroses19
    stoneroses19 Posts: 7,224
    RIP to a great CL poster. 

    Special to read so many wonderful tributes here. 

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  • StrikerFirmani
    StrikerFirmani Posts: 2,743
    Sorry to hear this sad news.  

    Condolences to his family.
  • RIP Mike
  • RIP Mike.
  • Chris_from_Sidcup
    Chris_from_Sidcup Posts: 36,042
    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
    Very nice post, he seems like a great guy.

    Sorry for your loss @NomadicAddick

    RIP Mike.
  • Sillybilly
    Sillybilly Posts: 9,236
    RIP Mike. 
  • se9addick
    se9addick Posts: 32,055
    RIP Mike
  • RIP Mike 
  • northstandsteve
    northstandsteve Posts: 14,330
    Such sad news, why I along with Ketman organised the first CL coach away to Ipswich, Mike and the boys came along. RIP
  • Carter
    Carter Posts: 14,253
    Such sad news, why I along with Ketman organised the first CL coach away to Ipswich, Mike and the boys came along. RIP
    I was wracking my brains to work out where I'd met him and you've just answered it. What a day that was, proper away game where the football was a distraction to a great day with pals, still laugh when that photo of you and @Ketman heads together like a freshly shorn scrotum in the pub 

    I liked him. I never went to the Long Pond as its right out of my zone but used to drive past it regularly when working nearby and absolutely admired his balls to commit to the pursuit of happiness in the way he clearly did. 

    May Mike rest in peace your family have my deepest sympathy 
  • roseandcrown
    roseandcrown Posts: 7,588
    RIP