ABOVE: The H.R Morris shop at 28 Orford Rd, Walthamstow, London, in the 1960s. [Photo Peter Marlow]
BELOW: The shop today, which is now Eat 17 Restaurant. After buying this bicycle, I did a photoshoot there to reunite it with its birthplace.
1962 H.R Morris Lightweight – his personal bike
23.5″ Frame
22.75″ Top tube
41.5″ Wheelbase
Campag Strada Chainset
Campag Record Derailleur group set
Campag 27.2 twin-bolt seat post & Utica nylon saddle
Weinmann 27 x 1 1/4″ alloy rims
Airlite large flange hubs with grease nipples at the end of each axle for bearing lubrication
Frame no H361
(Now sold)
I bought this bicycle from my friend Robert this week because I like its provenance. Robert has owned it since 2006, buying it from Alexander von Tutschek, who is the marque specialist for these bicycles. Below you can see Alexander buying it from Mr Morris in 2005.
When it was built in 1962 it was to a customer’s specific requirements. I believe Mr Morris bought it back from his customer in the 1980s, resprayed it, and used it as his personal machine for twenty years before selling it in 2005. Among aficionados ‘Dick’ Morris is considered the best of the lightweight frame builders, and all his machines were built with great attention to detail. For example Robert pointed out to me the light alloy nut on the headset which is a Morris signature item. I’ve ridden H361 and it rides superbly.
The photos are a mixture of two photoshoots, from Thursday outside the original H.R Morris shop, and yesterday at my local village pond, which has shrunk to a large puddle in the heatwave.
Photos with thanks to Peter Marlow. Link to his facebook page below
H.R MORRIS
FRAME No H361
Alexander von Tutschek, the marque specialist, had various conversations with Dick Morris. One time he asked why earlier frames had a prefix ‘H’ but later ones were ‘M’.
Dick answered that he had misplaced his ‘H’ stamp.
Below you can see that Dick Morris was still using up an old order form book from F.J Sanders, who had the previous cycle shop here and where Dick had worked in his teenage years.
H.R Morris shop photos with thanks to – https://www.facebook.com/walthamstowinpictures/posts/my-uncle-hrmorris-standing-outside-his-cycle-shop-in-orford-road-walthamstow-c19/3909332619110993/
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/British_isles/HRMorris_VT.htm
FURTHER READING – https://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/classic_builders/morris-h-r-dick-master-framebuilder/