Teacher Tony Riley from Whitley died peacefully at the Royal United Hospital in Bath on May 18, aged 69.

Anthony Gilbert Riley, most commonly known as Tony, was born on April 12, 1946 and was raised in Chatham, Kent where he spent much of his childhood until he went to university.

At 18, he studied maths at the Battersea College of Arts and Technology, now known as Surrey University, and it was through his studies that led him to go to Heidelberg in Germany to further study the subject where he became a fluent German speaker.

Mr Riley stayed in Germany for a number of years and a favourite story he often told was when he was forced to flee Prague along with friends in 1968 as the city was invaded by Soviet tanks.

Mr Riley returned to the UK and joined Formula 1 holiday organisers Page and Moy in Leicester as an operations manager which allowed him to go abroad often. As a result, he was able to have his own travel radio show on Radio Leicester.

He was later able to travel around America while working for Thomas Cook. However, he had to return to the UK after his mother became ill.

A few months later, he moved to North Nottinghamshire and it was in 1985 that he met his second wife Leila who happened to be his next door neighbour.

After he met Mrs Riley, Mr Riley decided to return to education and studied at Sheffield University for a Masters degree in travel and tourism hospitality management.

It was through a placement at Sherwood Forest at Center Parcs that led to the opportunity of the couple moving to Lackham in 1993 where Mr Riley consulted and taught on the use of agricultural land for tourism purposes.

The couple were married at Atworth church.

In his later years, Mr Riley had a heart attack which slowed him down in his travel and tourism work so he put his language skills to good use by obtaining a PGCE from Oxford and became a teacher in German, French and maths.

Mr Riley was very open about suffering with bipolar disease and he felt it was very important that it was discussed. He diverted his hobbies and interests to painting which he believed helped him cope with his condition.

His funeral was at Christ Church, Shaw on Monday.

Donations to the Forever Friends Appeal, British Heart Foundation, Wiltshire Mind and Action on Addiction.