Born in Robinson Road, Rushden, Cyril attended Newton Road and then Hayway Schools.

He worked at Harris Bros. Tannery, then for over 25 years at Keunan’s Tannery, Irthlingborough.

In 1939 he was Champion Cyclist of Rushden Cycling Club. During those years he could be seen most weekends taking part in cycle races across the country. His other great interests were gardening and keeping poultry.

Sam’s greatest passion was engineering and he designed and completed many projects for friends and colleagues in his extensively equipped workshop.

The models were lovingly built over many years using recycled materials obtained mainly from Bailey’s scrapyard in Washbrook Road.