We (Shelley, her Mum Jan, brother Craig and myself) were confident that we'd found the place, The Loyal Caledonian Corks Club on Birmingham's Alcester Road.
The room is large but not too large to feel lost in, it is the right size to create a good atmosphere and give him the send off that he requested and deserved.
Mick's friend Jimmy had sorted out the venue for us and we were told to ask for Alice. Thankfully the bloke at the door had heard of her as I'd got visions of a rendition of the chorus from the famous Smokie song.
Alice does the event catering and knows her onions (which she informed us were of the pickled variety). She must be good, she had originally only intended to do the job for two months but sixteen years later she is still there !!
Once we'd sorted out the room and finalised the arrangements with a man called Dan, there was only one more thing to do...try out the beer !!..
I can only describe it as old school and this is not a criticism, a choice of M & B Mild and Brew XI is like stepping back to a pub in the 1980's. Craig and I both agreed that the pints of Brew were excellent and at less than £3 a pint were at a price Mick would have approved of. Infact we all commented that we could picture him in there yarning and enjoying the 'craic' with a few blokes over a couple of jars !!
All we need to do now is to stage a hoolie to end all hoolies !!
UPDATE 22nd August
Well, we did it, we gave Mick the send off he requested and so richly deserved. The real tragedy is that he wasn't there with us to enjoy it, he loved a good party did Mick.
The actual funeral could not have gone better, the fact that there were so many people there (it was a standing room only event) was a fitting tribute to the popularity of the man. Craig set the tone delivering a tribute to his Dad that summed Mick up perfectly, it had the congregation wiping away tears of both sadness and laughter throughout.
The room at the Caledonian Corks afterwards was packed with well wishers eager to say their goodbyes in a manner that Mick would have approved of. The drinks flowed and flowed over stories and great memories everyone had got of their times with him.
Dan the man had put extra staff on behind the bar to cope with demand and it was a good job he did, we were a thirsty bunch. Alice also had her work cut out at the buffet ensuring that there was enough food for all. Infact I spoke to one of her helpers and asked why there was a set of weighing scales positioned next to the buffet tables...
...She told me that they weighed people when they came up to the buffet and again once they've finished their food to make sure that they've eaten enough !!
I was on the Brew XI, and, although I wasn't counting, the roman numeral number after the word Brew must have been close to my overall pint tally !!
As you would expect, the whole family (plus Jan and Mick's next door neighbours Tina and Carl) were the last to leave over nine hours after we'd arrived !!
Cheers Mick !!!
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