Tributes have been paid to Mike Buttell after his death this morning.
Mike died in a Liverpool hospital some months after falling ill, with his family, Jen, Sylvie and Trish, sharing the news of Mike’s death today.
A former Energy FM and Manx Radio DJ, Mike was well known for DJing in the south of the island, particularly at the Port Disco in Port Erin during the 1970s and 80s.
Energy’s owner Juan Turner said: “Mike presented Energy FM’s weekday Drivetime show for a number of years in the late 2000’s.
“Mike’s love was presenting the Saturday Sequence each week, where he delved in to his vast personal musical archive treating listeners to songs they hadn’t heard for ages.
“The team who worked with Mike during his time at Energy were sad to hear of his death.”
Manx Radio said in its own tribute: “Last year, we were delighted to welcome Mike back to Manx Radio when he presented and produced two series of programmes on the Island’s heritage transport system. A huge railway enthusiast, these programmes were a labour of love for Mike and were very well received.
“After this, he took the reins of our brand new seventies music programme. To quote Mike himself, “the seventies was the best decade for music”, and his genuine passion for the music, along with an incredible knowledge of the decade, made him the perfect man for the job.
“Mike will be sorely missed and all of us at Manx Radio extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
Riding the Rails
Growing up in a railway family, Mike worked on the island’s steam railway himself, featuring prominently in an episode of the BBC series ‘The Train Now Departing’ in 1988.
Even after leaving the railways, he kept his hand in as a volunteer and was a font of knowledge on many aspects of the former lines and their personalities, which without Mike could have been long forgotten.
As well as helping to organise and lead tours of the old lines and engine sheds during the transport festivals, Mike was always on hand to provide a bit of gossip or background knowledge to a certain grateful journalist, often with the adage “you never heard this from me”.
His fellow rail enthusiasts have also paid tribute to Mike, with people sharing stories of when they first met him, how welcoming and generous he always was with anyone who wanted to learn about the railways and even how him seeking out a model of Manx engine led to a business growing.
As part of the team of volunteers, Mike was one of those who could be said to be vital in expanding the interest and success of the island’s railways in attracting visitors to the island, helping with organising events such as taking Caledonia back to Knockaloe, where he was slightly disappointed she wasn’t in steam, so played a recording of her whistle from his phone.
Personally, one of my favourite moments was when I first knew Mike, I think around 2019, when his model railway was featured in Railway Modeller and he told me he was proud to have beaten Rod Stewart to that particular accolade by a couple of months.
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