On the hunt!

[MikeB18]

As the title suggests I am on the hunt for a family treasure, my great grandfather was a bike builder who owned a shop in Walthamstow, this is where he taught H R Morris how to build bikes and the shop that H R Morris took ownership of when my great grandfather became ill. My great grandfathers name is F J Sanders, here is a little bit of information about him and his bikes

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/builders/f-j-sanders-builders.html

Bit of a long shot I know but I would love to be able to find someone that owns one of his bikes as it is a big part of my family history. If anyone on here happens to own one or knows someone that does I would love to hear you. I am not looking to buy the bike if you don't want to part with it.

Here is a picture of my grandfather (Roy Sanders) racing one of his dad's bikes

 

[HertzvanRental]

As the title suggests I am on the hunt for a family treasure, my great grandfather was a bike builder who owned a shop in Walthamstow, this is where he taught H R Morris how to build bikes and the shop that H R Morris took ownership of when my great grandfather became ill. My great grandfathers name is F J Sanders, here is a little bit of information about him and his bikes

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/builders/f-j-sanders-builders.html

Bit of a long shot I know but I would love to be able to find someone that owns one of his bikes as it is a big part of my family history. If anyone on here happens to own one or knows someone that does I would love to hear you. I am not looking to buy the bike if you don't want to part with it.

Here is a picture of my grandfather (Roy Sanders) racing one of his dad's bikes

Great photo. Hope somebody can help.

 

[biggs682]

@MikeB18 i have been looking but to no avail , one will turn up one day

 

[classic33]

http://tricycleassociation.org.uk/2010-12-08/
"A TRIBUTE TO H R MORRIS BY OUR MEMBER GEORGE ARNOT of Upwood

I first met HRM at 28 Orford Road, Walthamstow. I had just returned from a fortnights summer holiday and had gone to the shop owned by F J Sanders, an old-established lightweight builder, to order a new frame. Roy Sanders was behind the counter, and on enquiring after Fred Sanders was told by his son that Fred had passed away the previous week. Fred’s wife Winnie came into the shop and explained that she had arranged for someone to come in the following week to finish the orders in hand.
On the following Saturday I re-visited the shop to find a new face behind the counter who turned out to be Henry Morris. I asked if he would be prepared to make me a new frame and gave him a rough specification. He prepared drawings and constructed the frame. Apart from one he had made for his own use some time previously, mine is the oldest frame made under his name (although he had made many under other manufacturers’ names e.g. FJ Sanders and EG Bates). I was fortunate enough to have bought a beautiful second-hand Bates tandem in the 50s and I took it to him to have it checked over. He was surprised to see it, saying that he had made it for the 1938 Show.
I always regret parting with it.

He and his wife always made us welcome in the shop, and invariably there would be tea and biscuits. I ordered another frame which was one of his ‘specials’ with his initials cut into all the lugs and handlebar extension. This was unfortunately stolen, and although retrieved, the thief had brazed new rear drop-outs. I asked HRM if the frame could be returned to its original condition but he insisted he did not want the frame taken onto the road again, as it had originally been silver-soldered and the brazing would have made the rest of the joints brittle. It hung in his workshop for years.

In 1962 he made me a tricycle and when we recently looked up the bill the cost was £65 something COMPLETE! I still have my original bike and the trike.

Often when we visited he would be building wheels on the counter. It was fascinating to watch him getting the wheel perfectly true, taking it out of the jig, putting it under his arm, bend it, and place it back in the jig and start all over again. I still have wheels he built over 50 years ago.

I often visited him at his bungalow in Bar Hill after he retired, where he was always prepared to carry out any repair that was asked for. He would regale me with many stories of club life prior to the Second World War, which I always found fascinating. His particular hero was his brother-in-law Jack Rossiter, a great record breaker in the 20s and 30s, but I knew only as a first class handicapper and timekeeper.

One of HRM’s other passions was classical music and opera. He kept a cabinet full of records from 78s to LPs and would discuss the merits of the classical repertoire with a great depth of knowledge. He was also a keen model-maker and painter.

I shall miss HRM because he was almost unique in the bike world. If his name was on a frame he would be the person to have made it. He was always very generous with his time and his talents, and the cycling world in particular will be a poorer place.

George Arnot

(George, who lives in The Fens near Ramsey was one of many cyclists at Dick Morris’s funeral. He rode there and back on Dick’s own yellow trike. Later he emailed me:
“I was surprised by the lack of tiredness when I got home after a round trip of some 60 miles – the furthest I have ridden on a trike since I broke my neck seven years ago. There’s life in the old dog yet!!”
I’m not sure HOW old George is, but I am pretty sure he’s over 80 – FRM)"

&
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/British_isles/HRMorris_VT.htm
http://www.ctc.org.uk/file/member/201103015.pdf second page, left hand corner!

 

[MikeB18]

Thanks for them articles they are great to read. I once met H R Morris at my great uncles funeral a few months before H R Morris passed away but sadly I knew nothing about him or my great grandfathers shop.

 

[uphillstruggler]

@MikeB18

I don't have a bike for you but if you contact the National Museums of Scotland, I know that they have a largish collection of rare and interesting bikes - you may or may not have any luck but it might be worth a call.

I wish you the best of luck with your endeavours.

pm me for a little more information that I don't want to put out over the internet.