MIKE SKIDMORE fondly known as “SKIDDERS” We have been friends of Sue & Mike for many years. We have known Mike and Sue for many years (40 years) to be precise and are saddened at the loss of Mike. We had not seen Mike and Sue for many years with them living abroad, we had tried several times to go and visit in Luxembourg and then in Spain but things were always against us. However, we were so glad to meet up with them last October in Bognor Regis. We talked, laughed and recalled many good times which seemed to lift Mike. So glad we did, here are some of those times: 1969/70 I have known Mike (Skidders) since he turned up at Rovex (Hornby). He joined in the Drawing Officer with 10 other draughtsman and 10 model makers. Little did we know of the fun that was to follow. We all mixed well in the Drawing Office and Skidders was no exception. Many of us would often go for a beer: Lew Barnett, Dave Stone, Dave Mitchell, Paul Bignold, including wives and girlfriends and we soon got to know Skidders lovely Sue. Mike would often turn up for work with odd socks and we discovered that he always had a supply of spare underpants and socks hidden away in his drawer, not always clean!! The unforgettable day that Sue arrived, in the Purple People Eater, at the factory, parked outside the D.O., threw his suitcase on the pavement, one of the lads spotted her and shouted “Sue’s outside Mike with your suitcase". Mike leapt up from his drawing board, ran to the window, saying in his Welsh accent “Oh No!! , we had an argument this morning – what the bloody hell she doing”. He ran off down the stairs but by this time Sue had left in the infamous purple people eater! I recall one of his songs – I am God of Hell Fire – Crazy world of Arthur Brown. He would start by singing – “I am God of Hell Fire”, Lew Barnett would add “and I bring you FIRE!!!!” – before we knew, the whole drawing office would be in full song – where was X Factor in those days! The infamous Dave & Diane Mitchell parties in Eastry – Mike would give us a fabulous Elvis impression after many jars, sliding up and down the wall. Golf at the 9 hole course at North Foreland with Lew Barnett. Mike had an original style golf bag – a plastic carrier bag!! Mike’s comment to not winning, in fact losing was “You lot make me bloody sick, jammy gits, you would fall in shit and come out smelling of roses”!! November 1969 - Skidder’s hitchhike adventure. Having read Sue’s diary on the web it would seem that this coincided with them not getting engaged. A night in the White Swan, Reading Street, St Peters, Broadstairs and things not going well with their relationship. Mike decided to meet up with some mates camping in Sweden! We had arranged to go to the Red Lion in Ramsgate for a few jars and Mike asked me to drop him off at the Dover ferry – “I’m off” and just like that he disappeared on the midnight ferry to Calais and that was that. A couple of weeks later, early one morning, there he was knocking on the door of my Mum and Dads house – he had hitchhiked back from Sweden, sleeping in ditches, he said he was feeling pretty rough and I have to say he looked it. Skidders ended up in the Sea Bathing Hospital with pneumonia!! I went to visit him and of course there was Sue at his side using her nursing skills - “must be love” and of course IT WAS!! Memories of the many nights spent in the Mulberry Tree Pub not far from the infamous house in Caraways Place, Margate, Mike & Sue`s home. Mike could be likened with Frank Spencer for his DIY escapades!! The fantastic Purple People Eater – a wonderful old Morris Minor car, which Sue would only drive in bare feet, even in the snow. We remember one such night, snow on the ground, it was New Year, we were at Lew and Diane’s house in Windermere Avenue and ended up doing the conga down the street, across the road and into a friend’s house, we danced through the house and out the other side! The car treasure hunts, where Rob would drive, Mike would be the very competitive navigator, while Sue and Beryl would be happy in the back of the car with our special bottle of Vodka!! Of course we would not cheat and open the envelope to find out the destination! Holidays in the house at Chichester when all the kids were little, going for walks – the massive cooked breakfasts. There were so many happy and mad times, too many to remember. Of course, we treasure that we were able to catch up with them in their lovely new flat overlooking the sea at Bognor Regis. It will always be a comfort to us that we were able to spend a weekend with Mike and Sue and catch up with Dave, Will and the family. We hope that some of these memories will be a great comfort to Sue and bring a smile to her face. We hope to keep in touch with Sue and the family. With lots of love and happy memories from your dear friends Beryl and Rob Bladon.