Four lit candles, representing each of the teenagers killed in a car crash at the weekend, could be seen in the windows of many homes and businesses in their home town of Shrewsbury.
Wilf Fitchett, Jevon Hirst, Hugo Morris and Harvey Owen were college students with a love of the outdoors who died when their car came off the road while they were driving through Snowdonia (Eryri) to go camping.
A steady stream of college friends visited Shrewsbury Abbey on Wednesday. “Many students have brought flowers and to see big strapping lads carrying bunches of flowers and laying them down, it was really quite a moving thing,” said Steve Swindon, the parish administrator who was overseeing the vigil.
One fellow student, 17-year-old Flo, said of the boys: “They were all such characters in the best way possible – and we loved them for it.”
Harvey Owen, 17
“Easy-going, warm, funny, gentle, bright, hard-working and humble – we all had a soft spot for Harvey,” said his colleagues at Dough & Oil, the Shrewsbury pizzeria where Harvey worked.
They said he joined the team two years ago, “earning his stripes” as a pot washer before moving front of house and then into the kitchen. “He gave it his all, developing a passion for dough, and had dreams of one day opening his own bakery,” the restaurant team said.
He would have been following in the footsteps of his mother, Crystal Owen, who runs a cake shop in the town. She has been left devastated by her son’s death, saying she is “in a nightmare”.
Harvey’s colleagues said that on his break he could often be found “listening to music or with his head in a book” – he was a fan of the Doors and Jack Kerouac – and he was “always keen to chat and discover something new”.
“Harvey you’ll be for ever in our hearts,” the team said.
Wilf Fitchett, 17
Wilf’s girlfriend, Maddi, described him as “the sweetest and most loving boy I’ve ever known”. The couple had recently celebrated their first anniversary.
“Thank you for loving me endlessly, I promise I’ll do the same for you,” she said, alongside a photo of Wilf kissing her cheek and another of the pair shopping together. “I can’t imagine my world without you.”
Her mother, Lisa Corfield, said Wilf was “a lovely kind young lad who treated Maddi in a way only a mother could hope”. She added: “Maddi is heartbroken and we will all miss you dearly Wilf. Thank you for bringing so much love and happiness into Maddi’s life,” she said.
All four boys came together through their love of music and the outdoors, having posted a number of pictures of their trips to the countryside over the summer.
One Shrewsbury resident posted a tribute on Instagram, saying: “I’d chatted on occasions with Wilf about hiking and exploring. I loved the fact these kids went out to enjoy the outdoors, not enough youngsters do these days.”
Jevon Hirst, 16
“The kindest boy I knew,” friends said of Jevon, who at 16 was the youngest of the four boys killed in the crash.
His social media profile showed he loved spending time outdoors and listening to music, particularly artists such as King Krule, who he had travelled to London to see live last month. The singer-songwriter posted a tribute to the four boys on his Instagram, saying he was “devastated to hear the news”.
Jevon also clearly admired his older brother, Tristan, who plays in a band, posting a number of videos and pictures of their gigs. One friend posted that they would “give anything to listen to Jev’s music recommendations”.
Hugo Morris, 18
A branch of Pret a Manger in Shrewsbury town centre was closed on Wednesday as a mark of respect for Hugo, who worked there.
Like all the boys, he was well liked and popular in the Shrewsbury college community, with one student writing “Hugo, thanks for the good times” on social media.
The steps leading up to the college’s English Bridge campus were covered in flowers, photographs and chalk messages to the boys on Wednesday, with students sitting quietly around. “This doesn’t feel real. We loved you all so much. Rest easy lads,” one message said.
Friends lighting candles at the abbey nearby said the four boys were a close-knit group of friends and were “characters in the best way possible”.
“They were unique in a way we could all admire and we are proud to call them our friends,” said Lois Williams, a friend.
