FRIENDS, family and activists from around Oxfordshire have paid tribute to Allan Meager, the former secretary of the Oxfordshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Born on May 11, 1938, in Northchurch, Hertfordshire, Mr Meager studied interior design at Northern Polytechnic in London.

It was there Mr Meager was to meet his wife Mollie, a Greenham Common activist.

It was in the capital that Mr Meager was also able to embrace his love of music, especially jazz, by playing in various bands and on river boats along the River Thames.

The couple later had three sons Joseph, Miles and Paul. His eldest son, Joseph, died in 2004.

His son, Miles, recalled how his father would take them all out on peace marches and demonstrations as children.

Mr Meager first became involved in Oxford CND when he joined them to protest against the American F-111 bombers, armed with nuclear bombs, at RAF Upper Heyford in 1968.

His close friend, David Gill, recalls: "His caravan was stood on an unused bridle-path between hawthorns and apple trees.

"There was no electricity and no water. For cooking and heating you had to use Calor gas, and drinking and washing water involved a two-mile round trip to a public tap in Lower Heyford.

"When the F-111s had finally left the base and the peace camp had broken up, Allan, with his taste for the simple life amid nature, stayed on. He was the last person to leave the camp."

The caravan, which Mr Meager named The Peace And The Spirit, is now on display at the Peace Museum, in Bradford.

In 1996 Mr Meager became the secretary and treasurer of the Oxford CND, running operations from their offices, which at the time were in the Old Jam Factory.

When their offices later moved to Northgate Hall, on St Michael's Street, he cleared out a cubby-hole where he could retreat from the world and indulge in instant coffee and ginger biscuits.

He was considered among members of Oxford CND as their link with the world, playing an active role in the organisation's newsletter. He could often be seen behind their stall in Cornmarket Street, Oxford.

Over the past two years of his life, he devoted much of his time to looking after his sick brother in Kent, while trying to fulfil his obligations to Oxford CND.

After increasing bouts of illness, Mr Meager died on Sunday, March 11, in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. He leaves behind his two remaining sons and four grandchildren.