Touching tributes have flooded in for an 87-year-old father-of-two following a tragic cycling accident in Chesham Bois last week - just 500 yards from his home.

Alan Welch MBE was pronounced dead at Stoke Mandeville Hospital last Monday evening (January 4) after the incident on the A416 Amersham Road.

Mr Welch sustained serious head injuries after a loose screw became caught in the spokes of his bike, which caused him to fall.

However - according a pathologist’s report – Mr Welch, who had been suffering from a weakened heart, died because of a heart attack which occurred simultaneous to the fall.

The Chesham Bois resident was a science teacher who taught a Nobel Peace Prize winner and - upon retirement - set up a charity providing science equipment to the developing world for which he received an MBE from the Queen in 2001.

He leaves behind two sons, Chris (57) and Martin (55), as well as a grandson Ben (15).

His son Chris said: “Charity work was his life – it was almost as if he did his career on the side.

“He was meticulous in checking details and was always thinking about what other people would need.

“Everything he did was very low key. He was modest in the extreme, he didn’t like the limelight.

“He used quiet influence for extreme positive good. We shall all miss you dad - your giving has blessed thousands.”

Mr Welch, alongside his wife Margaret, taught science in Ghana from 1955-61 with one of his pupils being a young Kofi Annan, who later went on to become UN Secretary-General and a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

He then went on to teach Chemistry and Physics at Chesham Technical High School (now Chesham Grammar School) from 1961 until 1985 – including a year teaching in San Diego in 1981 – before setting up an entire science department at a school in Kenya.

After retiring, Mr Welch founded the charity Lab Aid – based in Chiltern Road, Amersham – in 1990 amongst other charity projects which included working for the Samaritans for over ten years.

Outside of work the former teacher was a train enthusiast and an active member of the St. John’s Methodist Church in Amersham.

Rev Vincent Jambawo, from St. John’s Methodist Church, said: “Alan was a source of sensitive encouragement and powerful inspiration.

“His capacity to listen with sharp yet unobtrusive insight is hugely appreciated by me and many others in the church and beyond.

“His thoughtful presence and quiet wisdom suffused any conversation that he would be part of.”

Read Rev Vincent Jambawo's full tribute here

Mr Welch’s memorial takes place on Friday January 22 in Amersham.