HE was a wonderful man, mentor, friend and environmentalist.

Those are some of the kind words said about former Mayor of Winchester Norman Hibdige, who died aged 83 on Saturday, July 6.

Mr Hibdige was a city councillor from 1982 until 2002, representing Curdridge, and was mayor in 1997/1998.

A Liberal Democrat, he chaired the planning committee in the late 1990s and also worked for Ordnance Survey.

Several present day councillors remember Mr Hibdige and paid tribute to him.

Cllr Therese Evans said he was a “wonderful man” who was always happy to help new councillors.

She said: “I was very fond of him. He was a great mentor to me as an inexperienced councillor. I learnt a lot from him. He was a very steady chap and very knowledgeable about planning which made him a very able chair of the planning committee.

“He was very popular with his constituents in Curdridge and he was an avid recycler. He did it for years and years before the council even started collecting recycling. He would go around with foil and aluminium and sell it to the scouts. It was his nature.”

Cllr Evans, who represents Wickham, added Mr Hibdige would be remembered as a great mayor, even if he didn’t want the job originally.

She said: “We had to persuade him to be mayor. He was a very modest man but he was the obvious choice and very well respected by all the parties. “My overriding image of him was up by Weeke Pond where he was photographed sitting on the edge dangling his feet in the pond. It was quite unlike him because he was a reserved man but he said it was his favourite picture.”

Sue Nelmes, ward member for St Bartholomew, joined the council in 1997, during Mr Hibdige’s term as mayor.

She said: “He was a very kindly man with absolutely no pretensions. He was nice to everybody and I don’t remember anyone ever having a bad word to say about him.

“I remember very fondly when I was mayor how he arranged for a friend to take pictures of the Royal Green Jackets parade in the city and Norman went to lengths to send them to me which was a very nice thought and typical of him.”

His funeral takes place on Thursday (July 18) at All Saints Church, Botley, at 1.30pm.