The planting of 300 bluebells got underway at the weekend to honour the contribution a councillor made to a community.
On Saturday, Jill Smith, widow of Councillor Malcolm Smith, and their three sons - Jamie, Mark and Dan - set the bulbs on the endge of Johnstan Copse in Stotfold Watermill Nature Reserve.
The bulbs were donated by the Town Council in honour of the contribution which Cllr Smith made to the area.
Following a career in the Royal Air Force, which included postings in places as varied as Madagascar and Germany, the Smith family settled in Stotfold in 1983 and Malcolm took up a post with British Aerospace.
A friend who knew him from his days at BA said: " In my experience he always fought for what was right, even when this meant pushing against the tide of opinion."
Cllr Smith became interested in working for the town from the time the family moved to Stotfold; he also served as a district councillor for a number of years.
Despite his severe illness and significant pain towards the last years of his life, he was a regular attender of council meetings, usually in a wheelchair.
Jill said, "He had a lot to cope with, including a very complex drug regime to deal with the pain, but he never gave in."
The Mayor of Stotfold, Councillor Brian Collier, added: “The Council felt this would be a splendid tribute to a man who gave many years of dedicated public service both as a town councillor and a member of Mid Beds District Council.”
