Manuel Francisco Turnes Garcia, who passed away in February aged 77, was born in Galicia (north west Spain) and earned the nickname Machote (Buster). In 1967 he moved to London, spending the 1970s working at the Turk’s Head in St Margarets. He married Janet in 1976 and took over the Wych Elm (Fullers) in Kingston in 1982. There he developed a beautiful garden and served great beer for 32 years. He won multiple awards and, at one time, was the longest serving landlord in Kingston. In retirement he helped out at Twickenham Brewery on Saturdays while having more time to focus on six grandchildren. Manny’s funeral, at St Agatha’s, five minutes’ walk from the Wych Elm, was very well attended. One of my abiding memories is drinking his excellent ‘Chiz wick’ (Spanish for Chiswick apparently) and watching Spanish TV with him on Wednesday mornings on my day off. Muchas gracias Manny; hasta la vista.
Dave Morgan