My husband Alan first met Mike when he was 16 at a Christian house party in the Lake District (Witherslack) and he and his best buddy John went over to stay in Lowestoft a few months later.  The two famous stories from that occasion still resonate around the family even though the girls were very tiny at the time.     Alan was persuaded to get up from his put-you-up settee in the lounge by being literally folded up inside the bed much to everyone’s amusement (except Alan’s of course!)   I don’t know whether it was a pay-back or just high spirits, but when Pauline came down into her kitchen the next morning the lads had festooned ALL Mike’s ties (and he had LOTS) from the clothes rail and made the kitchen like a festival celebration!                                                                                                                 He took me over to Lowestoft when we were 19, a very naïve 19. I hadn’t been a Christian long and didn’t know about Christian hospitality, so I made Alan book into a B & B at Carlton Coalville before we announced our arrival – and Pauline sent us straight back to cancel the booking and welcomed us with the warm hospitality we enjoyed ever since! (even though my first my bed was an Apple pie!!)                                                                                                                                                                                         We continued to spend many, many holidays together over the years and our children grew up together, and those visits have continued when the visits became transatlantic! My son Simon wishes me to add here that he really appreciated his godly, prayerful Godfather so much!                                                                                                                                                                Alan and Mike sparred with each other in their inimitable way and Alan was in the gathering in the room in heaven when Mike was greeted with a cheer when he entered in the picture Pauline was given in hospital on the day he died!                                                    The Cartwright family will all miss him!