TRIBUTES have been paid to Mick Brown, a stalwart of Scouting in Colchester for almost 65 years, who has died at the age of 82 following a short illness.

He was admitted to Colchester Hospital last week and died at the weekend.

Mick was married to his wife Margaret for 57 years and they had three daughters - Susan, Jane and Christine - and four grandchildren.

Leading the tributes was Colchester High Steward Sir Bob Russell who had known Mr Brown from when the two were founder members of the 1st Myland (35th Colchester) Scout Group in 1956 when Sir Bob was a ten-year-old Wolf Cub and Mr Brown was a Leader.

Sir Bob said: “Mick was an inspirational leader who did so much towards helping me throughout my teenage years, and likewise for hundreds of other young people in Mile End and across Colchester over six decades. He always made sure that Scouting was both a joy and a challenge.

“He was a great organiser, with fantastic support from his wife, Margaret, who was also a Leader with the Myland Cubs, promoting Scouting in contemporary times while also being an enthusiast for archiving Scouting memorabilia.”

In 1956, aged 18 and while in the sixth form at Colchester Royal Grammar School, Mr Brown helped establish the 1st Myland Scout Group with whom he was to serve for decades as a leader as it grew from a single Wolf Cub Pack to featuring at the time the only Scout Group in Colchester with all four sections which the Scout Movement then had: Cubs, Boy Scouts, Senior Scouts and Rovers.

For several years Mick was a District Commissioner for Colchester Scouts.

Although no longer active as a uniformed Leader, in more recent years he was a member of the Wednesday Team which (until the pandemic lock down) met at the Scout training ground at Thorrington throughout the year to voluntarily undertake various maintenance and other tasks.

A year after helping to form Cubs and Scouts at Mile End, Mr Brown was called up for National Service and served in the Royal Air Force for three years from 1957 but whenever he could he fitted in Scouting events including running Scout camps.

After leaving the RAF in 1960, for 21 years he also served as a Special police officer in Colchester reaching the rank of sergeant.

Mr Brown worked for the GPO, later British Telecom, firstly in London where he met Margaret and subsequently at Telephone House in Colchester.

He was a leading member of St Michael’s Church at Mile End and for five years was a church warden. He was a founding member of Myland History Society and wrote articles for The Mylander community magazine.

His long service to this part of Colchester was recognised when Myland Community Council presented him in 2003 with an Order of Merit for extraordinary contributions to Scouting in Myland for more than 40 years and work for St Michael’s Church and Myland Community.

Mick was born in Bovington, Dorset, in 1938, and his early years were spent living at Aldershot and then Newport in Wales.

The family moved to the Colchester area in 1948 when his father, a former Welsh miner who had served in the Tank Regiment in the Second World War, was appointed agent for Colchester’s then Labour MP, Charles Smith.

An only child, for a year he and his parents lived on a houseboat at West Mersea before moving in 1949 to Chitts Hill at Lexden.

His father, Ivor Brown, was later elected to Colchester Council and was mayor in 1960-61. He also served on Essex County Council.

Mr Brown attended St John’s Green Primary School before passing the 11-plus examination to go to the Colchester Royal Grammar School.

A sixth form friend, Peter Bowers from Mile End who was in the Scouts, encouraged Mr Brown to help with the new Scout Group being formed at St Michael’s Church.

Mr Brown had never been in the Scouts, but had been in the Sea Cadets.

A private funeral will take place due to the current restrictions. There will be a thanksgiving service in due course.

The family has set up a JustGiving page in Mr Brown’s memory, raising money for St Michael’s Church at Myland, Thorrington Scout camp site, and British Heart Foundation.

To contribute, go to www.JustGiving.com/crowdfunding/mickbrownmyland.