FIREFIGHTERS have planted 300 daffodil bulbs outside the fire station in Abingdon to remember their former watch manager.

Heath Price, known to his colleagues as ‘Taff,’ died earlier this year ,after a 10-month battle with bowel cancer.

To remember their Welsh-born friend they came up with the idea of ‘Taff’s Daffs’, and on Sunday planted hundreds of bulbs outside the Ock Street station.

They hope they will blossom into a Field of Hope next spring, providing a lasting tribute to Mr Price and everyone else who has lost loved ones to the disease.

Station manager Graham Turner said: “This demonstrates how well thought of he was.

“He was part of the station, and hopefully these daffodils will become as much part of the station as Heath was.”

Blue watch manager Mr Price was a firefighter in Abingdon between 1989 and 2008, when he retired.

He was diagnosed with cancer in July last year and died in May, aged 55.

His death came two months before the death of his colleague Merfyn Newport, a firefighter in Didcot, who died of cancer in July.

Mr Price’s widow Chris paid tribute to her husband. The couple had two children, Rachel, 25, and Hannah, 23.

She said: “He was an amazing man. He was dedicated to his job. He cared for everyone and wanted to serve others.

“He would have been very moved by the firefighters’ response.”

On Sunday, passing members of the public were also invited to dedicate bulbs to loved ones taken by the disease in exchange for a donation to Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The charity, whose symbol is a daffodil, provides nurses for terminally-ill patients in their homes or hospices, and offers support to families.

Firefighter Andy Durndell said: “Taff was part of the furniture. It wasn’t just the fire service who knew him, he was part of the community.

“When he passed away it was a massive loss, not just for us, for everyone.”

Firefighter Dave Smith thanked Homebase for supplying the bulbs free of charge. He said: “He was a legend. He was loved and admired by everyone in the station.

“We visited him most days when he was ill, as he lived just round the corner.

“In life you don’t tend to show what people mean to you, and in death it’s too late.”

He added: “It’s going to look cracking with 300 daffodils in the spring. They will be an everlasting memory.”

Stephen Done planted a bulb in memory of his father Harry, with his sister Sarah Turner and mother Shirley Done, who lives in the town.

He said: “I think it’s wonderful. I was glad to be there. It was a beautiful thing to do.”

Another member of the public who joined in with the planting was Graeme Symon, whose mother Ellen died in the summer.

eallen@oxfordmail.co.uk