A “GENIUS” musician and entertainer, who was affectionately known locally as ‘Mad Mitch’ has died at the age of 88.

He will be remembered by contemporaries and fans for his spark and lust for life.

George Mitchelhill was born in 1932 and was a prominent musician with a character described as “larger than life”.

Mr Mitchelhill of Carlisle, took up drumming aged 11 with the Boys Brigade – it was simply a hobby at the time but would blossom into a notable career.

Playing drums would take him from the city’s Boys Brigade to his big break, playing with the Cliff Eland Dance Band.

Mr Mitchelhill was a founding member of Carlisle’s Jazz Club, along with Mick and Al Potts, in the mid-1950s.

During his time, Mr Mitchelhill worked at tailoring shop Tom Purves & Sons and John Laing’s. He quit his job with the latter - at the age of 30 in 1962- to become a full-time professional musician.

The following year, he made a move to Cornwall, then dubbed “the millionaires playground”, he got the chance to play at the Cornish Riviera Club, Carlyon Bay.

The respected Cumbrian musician featured in Those Were the Days - a compilation of local artistes in an entertainment review of Carlisle and District 1950-1970.

Speaking to the book’s authors, Marie K Dickens and Geoff Dickens, about his time in Cornwall, Mr Mitchelhill said: “I loved it down there. It was hard work, seven nights a week, the pace seldom slackened, but it was very rewarding.”

Mr Dickens, co-author and an entertainer alongside Mr Mitchelhill said: “He was a genius. He could hold an audience in the palm of his hand.

“As a drummer, he was world class” said Mr Dickens.

“Virtually every musician in the time held him in high esteem. Most of the drummers in this town learned from him.”

Mr Mitchelhill’s contemporary remembers him as an entertainer both on and off the stage.

“Even though you’d heard the jokes a hundred times, you knew what was coming, you would still laugh. In those days you had a collar and tie on when you went out. We used to go down to Purves’ and see Mad Mitch.”

But rather than serving the customers, ever the entertainer, “Mad Mitch” would be making them laugh.

Before he returned to Carlisle with his family in October 1963, Mr Mitchelhill was presented with a tie that carried the county insignia of Cornwall and made an honorary citizen of the county in recognition of his charity work in the South West.

Mr Dickens said: “He could entertain the full audience and not swear once.”

He is remembered as a people person who lifted people’s spirits.

“You might not see him for five or six years but he always remembered your name.

“It’s a crying shame because there’d be hundreds at his funeral.”