Farewell to a true adventurer

​Hundreds of family and friends packed into Gloucester Cathedral to pay tribute to Martin Bromage - a devoted father who ‘was always looking for the next great adventure’.

The church fell silent as several hundred people remembered the microlight pilot who died in the English Channel on the first leg of his charity flight to Australia last month.

At the memorial service in celebration of the 49-year-old, from Churcham, he was remembered by friend Mike Riley.

Mr Riley said: “He did the things that other people only think of doing.

“He was never still, yet he was always available to his friends for help and advice.

“Many people considered him to be their best friend and he was always up for an adventure - canoeing, rock climbing, paragliding, sailing or flying microlights.”

Mr Bromage who has two sons George, nine, and Benjamin, 25, was also remembered by his eldest son in a moving poem.

Ben Armitage, read a poem entitled 'Not how he died, but how he lived' by Summer Sandercox.

Before, a guitar instrumental of Paris Texas by Ry Cooder, was played and another friend Andy Williamson paid tribute to his long time friend.

"He loved making people happy," he said. "He had an enviable ability to make and keep good friends and he had a huge love of life."

Mr Bromage, a successful businessman and experienced pilot took off from Gloucestershire Airport at Staverton, on January 19, for the 11,000 mile journey in the hope of raising £150,000 for the Help for Heroes charity.

But later that day he died after his microlight crashed off the coast of France in bad weather.

Dave Eastlake, who had known Mr Bromage since he ran his first electrical shop in the 1970s, said he was always happy to try every challenge put in front of him.

“Not all of his sporting forays were successful but his sense of adventure meant that he would give anything a try,” he said.

“We raced off-road motorcycles together and it would have been impossible for me to compete without the help of Martin and his wife Christine.

“Over recent years I did not see him very often but we regularly spoke on the phone, and he was always looking forward to the next great adventure.”

Mr Bromage is also survived by his girlfriend Sharelle Wodehouse, ex-wife and life-long friend Christine Bromage, his brother Roger and mother Betty.

Donations can be made in Martin’s memory at www.flytoaus.com.