TRIBUTE has been paid to a former bouncer, farm worker, and coal man known as ‘the beast’, who died at the age of 64.
Michael Evans, who formerly worked in Tenbury Wells’ Cellar Bar, died after an 18-month battle with cancer on March 1.
Mr Evans, born in 1961 in Hereford Hospital, was raised at ‘The Goggin’ near Richard’s Castle as the eldest of six children.
He had a “hard start” to life in the family home, which had no water, which meant he was forced to carry buckets of water from a pump through the woodlands.
After attending Orleton Primary School and then Wigmore High School, he was encouraged to work on the family farm in his teenage years and was given laborious tasks of cutting nettles and thistles from the fields to ensure the cows could eat.
His working life consisted of working at J P Woods Chicken Farms in the mid to late 1970s, working on the farm and in forestry with his cousins, and then going on to work as a coalman and running a firewood business.
In the same time frame, he was a well-known bouncer around Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Powys.
Most notably at Tenbury’s Swan Hotel and Cellar Bars, when he then became known as ‘ The Beast’.
Describing him, his family said that although many people have two sides to their personalities, his were “two polar extremes”, and when on his bad side, you could “expect a wrath”, but when someone was on his good side, he would “give you everything of his being”.
They added that he often cared about others before himself, and “would always go out of his way to help when needed”.
His later years in life were “scarred” by a battle with mental illness, where he became a private person, “leaving behind his former life”.
He turned to caring for a number of animals, and kept busy in his vegetable garden, which helped to keep his mind at ease.
But regardless of his personal struggles, he supported his children “no matter what” and was always there for them.
He leaves behind his beloved soulmate, Sarah, his five children, Jack, Jasmin, Jacob, Ellie and Mollie, and all of their partners, whom he saw as his own children.
He is also survived by five grandchildren, Keira, Archie, FfionMae, Poppy and Daisy.
Mr Evans was said to be happiest whilst holding a chainsaw, and Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club became “his religion”, and he became a loyal defender of the badge.
His funeral is to be kept private, as per his last wishes.
Source – Ludlow and Tenbury
