We recently renovated a lovely 1968 HR Morris frame for our customer, Mr Dawson, the frame is his pride and joy and we were looking forward to seeing this frame restored too.

He told us “this extraordinary frame was built at the end of 1968 by H.R. (Dick) Morris, of Walthamstow, London. His was the shop I used to visit when I got my first serious racing bike when I was 17, in 1976. It is one of no more than ten frames where he incorporated his initials into the front lugs, exquisitely cut and filed.

When it came in it was blue with silver lug lining, silver transfers and those incredible lugs! it’s one of those frames that it’s very difficult to let go out of the door, I’ve become quite attached to it as I’ve watched it move through the workshop and thought it would be interesting to photograph the restoration process on this one, with before photos, some ‘during’ shots and of course the ‘after’. My photographs don’t really do it justice but hopefully it shows the detail.

Once Mr Dawson received the frame back we had a nice email with his kind comments/feedback for the guys here and a bit more information about the Walthamstow builder..

“This frame means a lot to me, since it is the sort of frame I could never afford when I was a teenager, regularly visiting Morris’s shop in Walthamstow, East London, and marvelling at his skills. He had hands like bunches of bananas, but did the most exquisite cutting and filing. He was also a very nice man who always had time to offer advice and help in any way he could. I know he would have been delighted to see the craftsmanship involved in this re-finish.”

Thank you for your custom and the opportunity to share this frame with our readers.