Malcolm's Wake

 

                                                                   Malcolm (Bronco)

Yesterday we waked Bronco although it was anything but woke. He had sadly died on January 5th and had been cremated by Maria a day or so ago.
The Bish alerted the NERDS to the wake which was to be held at Malcolm's favourite (and nearest) pub, The Anchor at Ringmer.
Lafayette got on the phone and managed to round up Steve Gorilla Brown, Colin MBE Crowe, and Roger and Ed Coombe from The Darkside ( a minor rambling group). Surprisingly they all managed to make it (one with only a couple of hours notice).
The grand meeting took place at Lewes station where Lafayette, Paco and Froggy met Les Autres and were then bundled off quickly to Waitrose to get the 28 bus.
With five minutes to spare we got the bus and Laf. telephoned Sandyballs so that he could be picked up at the end of his road.
Getting a bunch of NERDS and Les Autres into the same location from disparate places is a logistical nightmare but finally we arrived at The Anchor just as things were starting to kick off. Apparently the whole pub had been reserved for this special occasion and there were lots of people we didn't know there who had come to celebrate Bronco. Maria was not there, however, even though she must have paid for it all.
The NERDS et Les Autres grabbed some tables by the fire and got served drinks by a jolly waitress. Then more drinks, then more drinks. The waitress service was pretty impeccable and in addition there was a hefty brandy ration doled out to everyone so that we could drink to Bronco's memory.
Then we had more drinks and laid into the free sausage rolls and sandwiches and took lots of photos of each other so that we could remember who we were. At one point a small delegation arrived from Newhaven Port. There was Shirley and another nice girl plus Can of Beans and somebody else called Simon. It was all very jolly which is what a proper wake should be.
Finally someone thought we ought to pay for the vast number of drinks we'd had and then, since we were probably in the middle of Storm Zebedee and there was a bus to catch which only turned up once a week, we wound it all up and departed.
Lafayette has vague memories of leading everyone into The Lansdown Arms but after that things got a bit misty.
It had been a good wake with lots of people there all of which testified to Bronco's popularity and in his favourite pub too. We shall probably all remember him for different reasons but especially for his good nature and bawdy humour; he was the Rabelais of The NERDS.
All for now.
Lafayette,