Despite his respectable day job as a Marine Insurance Broker, Tony was an engineer at heart. A short stint in the RAF during his National Service sparked a lifelong passion for engineering that shaped much of his life. His workshop, a series of horse stables at the bottom of his garden, was where he spent countless hours tinkering, building, and restoring classic motorbikes - especially his beloved BSA Goldies. His enthusiasm took him around the world collecting rare parts, and some of the bikes he brought home from the United States arrived in crates as wrecks, which he painstakingly rebuilt to their former glory. He took great pride in their restoration, and at one point he proudly had 17 BSA bikes with 2 Goldstars in his garage.

It was in that same workshop that Tony would often take his grandchildren, passing on his love of making and fixing things. Tinkering with bikes and taking them to shows helped inspire his grandson Tim into a career in civil engineering and, later, to start the East Essex Hackspace, which even to this day includes tools and equipment passed down from Tony’s workshop when they moved to Coachman Court.

Tony was immensely proud of what had been achieved with East Essex Hackspace. He loved visiting, seeing the projects taking shape, and was always talking about it to friends, family, and carers. He shared its spirit of making, creativity, and engineering, and it feels fitting that donations in his memory will go towards new engineering equipment, continuing the passion and curiosity that defined so much of his life.

Tony passed away after a short illness on 10 October 2025, three months to the day after his beloved Pam.