Mike Edwards died just a few weeks after his wife, Ann.
Mike was a life-long cyclist, having ridden in his youth with cycling clubs in north London. When he moved to this area he concentrated on photography and built up a business as a wedding photographer with a studio in Havant. This fitted well with his interest in old cars, and he would use his vintage Rolls-Royce as a wedding car.
He built up a collection of veteran bikes, amongst them: a penny farthing, a boneshaker and a side-by side 1897 fixed wheel sociable which he and Ann rode on veteran cycle club rides.
He drove his Bullnose Morris Oxford to Australia.
I recall him saying that when he married Ann he told her something to the effect of: ‘You won’t be rich, but you will have fun’. And Mike was all about having fun and adventure. He bought a Freddie Grubb tandem and two weeks later, having ridden it 15 miles, he and Ann toured in Thailand on it. They also toured in India, Costa Rica, Brunei, Bangkok to Singapore and of course, rather mundanely, in France.
The Freddie Grubb was replaced by other tandems and finally by a George Longstaff tandem trike, on which I think he was the first of us to install an electric motor.
Most of us knew him as a keen member of the Portsmouth CTC. He was a supporter in the 1980s of the Havant Cycling Campaign which lobbied for the conversion of the Hayling Billy Trail. When he retired, he was instrumental in getting the Wednesday rides going. He and Chris Davies would ride from the Havant Post Office and gradually more and more riders joined them.
Mike's photography skills and interest led him to found the Havant Camera club in the 1950s and this is still thriving today.
Many of us remember how practical he was at all manner of tasks, and in his garage were bound to be the correct tool for most tasks. No puncture was too hard to fix.
When he and Ann found it difficult to get on and off the tandem trike, they both rode solo tricycles for short rides around home.
When we lose someone, we lose not only their physical presence but also their lifetime of experience and knowledge, and all their memories.
Mike's long history of riding around the area as well as abroad led to him leading rides, often to unusual places, such as Ford Open Prison, or following the line as near as possible of the old Arundel - Portsmouth ship canal which added interest to the usual 'scenery and coffee stop' rides.
Some club members will remember a short hands-on tutorial he gave at home in how to build a bicycle wheel. In this case putting new rims on to existing wheels.
Mike donated copies of many of his old photographs to Your Postcode, so he tried to make sure his knowledge and memories were passed on.
The club will miss both of them.