The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
NCR engineer a huge help in town projects
Tony Gowland, one of the driving forces behind the creation of Tayport’s Larick Centre, has died aged 73. After retiring from a senior engineering role at NCR, Tony took an Open University course on environmental decision-making.
He joined the group fundraising to build a community and sports centre and formed Tayport Community Trust with the associated Tayport Community Enterprises to generate income.
In 2020, after a delay because of Covid, the Larick Centre was finally opened, after a near three-decade community effort.
Tony was born in County Durham in 1950, the only child of Tony and Ella Gowland, but his childhood was spent in Leicester, where he developed a love of rock climbing.
He returned north to study for a science degree at Durham University followed by postgraduate teacher training in Aberdeen.
In 1979, Tony got a job as a software engineer with NCR in Dundee and it was there that he met his future wife, Maggie Curtis.
They worked together building early ATMs, set up home together in 1981 and in 1987 moved to Tayport.
In the mid 1980s, Tony left NCR to work at Dundee University’s Institute of Computer-Aided Engineering but returned to NCR in a new role supporting banks as they installed ATMs.
During the 1990s, he joined a team supporting the Commonwealth Bank in Australia that led to a 15month secondment in Sydney.
Tony and Maggie enjoyed active holidays camping, walking, skiing and cycling, mainly in Europe.
In 2012, six years after retiring from NCR, Tony was diagnosed with cancer, but after a year of gruelling treatment was given the all-clear and enjoyed 10 years of good health until the cancer returned in 2022.
In retirement Tony threw himself into community work – first with the Harbour Cafe, a community enterprise opened in 2011 that contributed revenue towards the creation of the Larick Centre.
The site for the centre was bought from Fife Council in 2016 and an award of £1 million from the Big Lottery helped propel his dream to fruition.
Tony was also a man with many hobbies, ranging from bread making to beekeeping and permaculture, and he and Maggie enjoyed many campervan holidays, often to Germany, which was a particular favourite destination for the couple.
Shortly after receiving his MBE in the New Year honours, former Fife councillor Andrew Arbuckle, a fellow trustee of Tayport Community Trust, described Tony as tireless in his work to improve his community.