Raise a glass to Mirror man Garth Gibbs over lunch at the Cheshire Cheese on 1 May

Friends and colleagues of former Daily Mirror diarist Garth Gibbs will hold a Fleet Street gathering in his memory next month.

In a recent Press Gazette obituary for Gibbs it was said he ‘made a great many friends – largely because of his devil-may-care optimism, disdain for petty bureaucracy and his refusal to take anything too seriously”.

But friend Bryan Rimmer said Gibbs ‘went to the Great Newsroom with hardly a grape being crushed in salute”.

‘Now’s the time for us to put that right,’he said. ‘The Johnson Bar in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese has been chosen for a swapping of Gibbs Gossip, plus some ales and tales.

‘Everyone who knew and admired the most merry of scribblers and Lucan hunters is invited to partake from 12.30pm on 1 May.”

To help with arrangements let either Rimmer or Pauline McLeod know if you are attending. Bryan’s email address is bryan.rimmer@btinternet.com and Pauline’s is paulinemcleod@hotmail.com.

Rimmer added: ‘To help with ‘housekeeping’ it would be great if everyone is happy to bung in a tenner on the day to cover costs of the room and sarnies/sausage rolls…If there’s money in the kitty at the end of the afternoon, then that will be donated to a cancer charity.”