My Good Friend Charlie Kyle

[mercuryg]

Didn't know whether to post this on here, or in the chat central, or at all, but decided to in the end. Many of you probably know that Charlie Kyle - AKA Charlie the Parky and a local character of the highest order - died earlier this week after being ill for some time. That he died in his regular spot in Breakers Bar was fitting indeed. Charlie was a great friend to me, a good man and one with a sense of humour. For any who do not already know but may be interested, his funeral is at Blyth Crematorium, 2.30 next Friday. I, for one, will miss him a great deal.

[moe19]

I first meet  and became friends with Charlie in the early seventies  when I worked in Morpeth,  he was  a well known and well liked lad who enjoyed a drink but never caused any trouble or had a bad word to say about anyone. He had a brother called Geoffrey (Geoff) but Geoff and Charlie were like chalk and cheese, total opposites, Geoff died very young  I think he would be in his thirties, he contracted some tropical parasitic disease while i think he was working in Africa .       

Charlie’s  favourite drinking dens in those days would have been the old Grey Bull , the Earl Grey, the George and Dragon and the Queens Head, (all long gone) , I can well remember one particulate night  after a lock in at the George and Dragon Charlie rather worse for wear after a good day on the hoy left the Dragon to go home in the early hours and on exiting the front door of the Dragon turned a full circle and walked through the large plate glass window of the Abbey National Building Society , he ended up sitting among  the window display covered in glass but did not have a mark on him, we still had Bobbies on the beat then and it was not to long until an amused looking  copper arrived to de-tangle Charlie from the window display.

I did not know Charlie had passed away until I read it here today ,

He will be missed by those that  knew him (and by the pubs he drank in ).

God bless Charlie mate, and rest in peace.            

Edited September 23, 2017 by moe19

[mercuryg]

Hi Moe, great story - typical! I posted here as I know not everyone would have had access to the Facebook pages it was announced on. Charlie was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas some months ago, and knew - as many of use did - that the end wasn't far away. As I mentioned, he passed away in his spot at the bar, with friends around him. Lovely bloke.

[Chris Kyle]

On 23/09/2017 at 12:46, moe19 said:

I first meet  and became friends with Charlie in the early seventies  when I worked in Morpeth,  he was  a well known and well liked lad who enjoyed a drink but never caused any trouble or had a bad word to say about anyone. He had a brother called Geoffrey (Geoff) but Geoff and Charlie were like chalk and cheese, total opposites, Geoff died very young  I think he would be in his thirties, he contracted some tropical parasitic disease while i think he was working in Africa .       

Charlie’s  favourite drinking dens in those days would have been the old Grey Bull , the Earl Grey, the George and Dragon and the Queens Head, (all long gone) , I can well remember one particulate night  after a lock in at the George and Dragon Charlie rather worse for wear after a good day on the hoy left the Dragon to go home in the early hours and on exiting the front door of the Dragon turned a full circle and walked through the large plate glass window of the Abbey National Building Society , he ended up sitting among  the window display covered in glass but did not have a mark on him, we still had Bobbies on the beat then and it was not to long until an amused looking  copper arrived to de-tangle Charlie from the window display.

I did not know Charlie had passed away until I read it here today ,

He will be missed by those that  knew him (and by the pubs he drank in ).

God bless Charlie mate, and rest in peace.            

Charlie’s brother Geoff (my step father) did pass away in South Africa but died of a brain haemorrhage not some mysterious African parasite. 
 

It’s very true Charlie and Geoff were very much the polar opposites, even more so with the third brother John. 
 

Geoff was more a family man with fantastic values and an ambition to live a better life abroad. A great sportsman, running for county with Morpeth Harriers alongside Jimmy Alder whom went on to bigger success in the sport and, almost, playing lawn bowls for England. 
 

Geoffs greatest achievement was raising another man’s children as his own. Giving them his name, his all, and his unconditional love. 
 

Although born to a different father, I have proudly carried the surname Kyle since immigrating to SA at the age of 9 back in 1982. 
 

Geoff left a lasting impression on all he came into contact with. Loved by many and now, missed by a few.