Author: Barry Mellish

Taken from the Old Askean Magazine in his presidential year of 2017:
Mike was born in South East London in 1943 and joined Aske’s in 1954. He tells me his mother was interviewed by Ned Goddard whilst he was interviewed by Charlie Prince; his dad was working as a lorry driver for a Waste Paper Company so really couldn’t afford to take time off. Mike says that Ned was quite a daunting gure for his mum but she was certainly not afraid of him. Ned said that his Maths was quite good but his English left room for improvement. He didn’t seem to realise that a different kind of English was spoken in the Old Kent Road area says Mike!
He captained the 3rd Eleven School cricket team and left Aske’s in 1962 with three A Levels and several O Levels. His first job after leaving Aske’s was with Distillers Company for a year and he then studied at the Borough Polytechnic for four years taking a “Sandwich” course in Chemical Technology specialising in Polymer Technology. Following that he worked for Gillette Industries for 3 years and then another 3 years for Van Leers, a Dutch packaging Company who produced steel and plastic drums for the oil industry.
By this time his father had started his own business in the waste paper recycling industry and, since Mike had always wanted to run his own business, he joined his father in the family business in the mid-seventies that later expanded into condential data destruction. The family business currently operates from two sites in the Blackwall Tunnel area and, having passed on the family business to his son, he is soon to retire.
He tells me he will always be grateful for the education he received at Aske’s which was only possible by having brilliant and supportive parents.
He currently lives in Petts Wood and has a son, two daughters and grandchildren and, because it is impossible to go through life without suffering some disadvantages, his wife and himself are, like our ex-President, Charlton season ticket-holders.

It was a moving funeral ceremony with emotional tributes from his son Kim and grandson David, both celebrating the 92 years that George had graced the playing fields at Kidbrooke.

George played in every team for Askeans and in his later years, was captain of the most successful side – the B’s which went unbeaten for two seasons.

There is a saying that “They broke the mould when they made him”.

It’s a phrase that applies in spades to George Martin, a man who was Team Secretary for a staggering total of 36 years, a fact that drew a collective intake of breath at the service.

Even those of us who had been members of the club for over 5 decades didn’t realise just how long George had been working his magic in getting teams out every week of the season.

Long before mobile phones and email, George handled getting Askean teams onto the various pitches, not just in Kent and London, but all over the country. A tough enough job until you remember that Askeans ran 7 teams each week of the season. For the mathematically challenged that’s over 100 players! If someone dropped out from the Princes, George had to make at least 14 calls to organise a reshuffling and to let the captains know of the changes. Hoping that he could reach all the players concerned at home….not easy on a Friday night before the pubs shut!

And he did this for 36 years…no wonder he lost his hair…..I suspect he might have pulled it out himself!

Not only was he a cornerstone of the Club for such a long time, but the finest tribute, which was much repeated yesterday was ‘He was such a lovely man’

By George..they got that right!

This Tribute to George was written by Shutey aka Dave Shute