SPORTING figures from Wiltshire, the young writers whose careers he launched and former colleagues have been recalling the life and times of Michael Bristow.

The former sports editor of the Wiltshire Times and at times its sister paper the Gazette and Herald died on Friday.

Mr Bristow was a truly traditional journalist, who joined the Wiltshire Times after leaving school as a teenager, and never worked anywhere else. He moved from news reporting to covering sport as soon as possible and later took over as the paper’s sports editor. However he continued to report on news from Trowbridge for some time, covering Trowbridge Town Council well into the 1980s.

For many years Mike, as he was known to sportsmen and women across the western half of the county, was the Times’ sole sports writer, covering football, cricket and rugby as well as editing reports from angling to cribbage with aplomb.

Cricket was his greatest love, and he spent many hours watching the game, either professionally or for fun, including making frequent trips to Taunton by train with friends to see his beloved Somerset play.

He had a great sense of humour and was delighted when, in 1994, a friend of his watching England play the West Indies in the Caribbean witnessed Brian Lara’s then record-breaking 375 score: he sent Mike a postcard reading simply 375.

Happily he later conquered his fear of flying to make his own trip to see the Windies play at home. He was a regular at Trowbridge Cricket Club and supported Wiltshire Cricket’s efforts to attract top class games to the county, helping steward major games involving international touring sides at the County Ground.

A Moonraker born and bred, he loved his county and often joked that you needed a passport to go past Semington roundabout and that the world ended east of Great Bedwyn.

Later in his career the sports department was expanded and he was responsible for selecting and training reporters, who without exception remember him as a first class mentor, sharp-eyed at spotting ‘mistrakes’, as he called them, and always ready with valuable words of advice.

Andrew Cryer, who was one of Mike’s first junior reporters and who now works for BBC Sport, remembers that when he was interviewed in Trowbridge, having begun to doubt his ability after being rejected by other papers, Mike told him he would be recommending he got the job, adding: “You’ll do for me”.

Other colleagues recall Mike’s fondness for a pint, a chat and his reputation as a wit and teller of tales, especially on a Thursday afternoon after the paper had gone to press. Many said they learned more in those sessions in the White Swan, the paper’s watering hole, than at any other time in their careers.

Mike knew everyone in the sporting world in Wiltshire, with enviable contacts across many sports. Neil Shardlow, former Wiltshire county wicketkeeper, who Mike persuaded to write a column for the papers for several years, said: “I formed a sporting bond with Mike when he was working as sports editor for the Wiltshire Times and got to know him well throughout my cricket career covering both Corsham and Wiltshire cricket and also local football.

“Mike was an extremely friendly, funny chap and we had many laughs together discussing the matches and sport in general and he always had the interest of local sport at heart. RIP Mike and my condolences to his family.”

Manny Schneider, who has provided copy on local level football for several leagues for the papers for many years, said: “Mike was a great bloke, so friendly and always had the time to explain to you what was wanted and how to submit copy.

“I used to spend hours with him in the office helping him get match and league reports, tables and so on, ready.

“I think we all know and realise that sport in local papers is not the same now as it was when he was there, and regret it, but what he did for the sporting community can never be replaced and should not be overlooked.”

Mike left the Wiltshire Times with deep regret in 2009, following a merger between the Times and the Gazette editorial departments .

Mike was married twice, firstly to Celia, which ended in divorce, and then to Christine. For much of his working life he lived in Hilperton Marsh, Trowbridge, later moving to Devizes.

The proud son of a Great Western Railway worker, Mike loved trains, steam most of all. He spent holidays in Swanage, a place he always said could not be bettered as a seaside destination and to which he returned countless times.

He leaves his wife, a brother, daughter Emily, stepchildren and a four grandchildren. Covid restrictions mean his funeral is expected to be a quiet family affair, though friends and former colleagues around the country intend to raise a glass to him.