He spent his working life on the railway initially at Hasland Loco Shed until it closed and then at Westhouses shed near Alfreton, retiring from there in 1989. As was the tradition on the steam operated railway Harold started work as a cleaner working his way up to driver and, at Westhouses, a driver of diesels serving the many collieries in the North East of Derbyshire and in North Nottinghamshire.

Harold died after a short illness in January 2007 and with his passing the Group lost a dear friend who is sadly missed.by all the members. To keep his memory alive it has been decided to present a trophy each year at the Peak Exhibition to the layout the Group members feel is the most interesting in the show and whose owners will appreciate the reason for the award.

Brenda, Harold's widow, kindly agreed to present the trophy to the first winner at the 2007 exhibition and it was given to Allan Cromarty from Stone in Staffordshire for his layout Oulton Traction Maintenance Depot.

At the 2008 exhibition the trophy was presented by Harold's son Robert who now lives in Lancashire but was a member of the Group before moving away from the area. The trophy was presented to David Tooley for his layout Loughborough Midland, based on that station on the Midland mainline between Derby and Leicester.

Brenda returned for the 2009 exhibition to present the trophy to St Jean sur Mer, a layout built by John and Peter Smith. This is set in France and is built to a scale of 1:22.5 more commonly known as G scale. It is a representation of a metre gauge line set in the Picardie region. Photographs and further details can be found on www.smithslayouts.com

At the 2010 exhibition the presentation was made by Nick Knyhynyckyj who was a personal friend of Harold. The layout chosen to receive the trophy was St Giles, based in the West Country during the late1970s/early 1980s and using locomotives fitted with digital sound chips to add a touch of 'authenticity'.