Ah, Chapmans of Duke Street in Norwich. A regular haunt on a Saturday morning. If you needed a spare for your Beeza it was the place to go. Its was opposite the Golden Star pub, another place to be on a Saturday night. Long gone, the shop is now part of a Bentley dealership. A few years ago I spoke at length with Sam Harman, a mechanic working there when this pic was taken. Here's a couple more of his pics-
The chap second from the left in the second pic is a Mr Warren, an inspector from the war dept, who was there to inspect the finished product before releasing them back to the forces. Fourth from the left is Harold Chapman, son of the founder, Herbert Chapman, extreme right.
Not too clear in the pic is the tank numbers, showing these are rebuilt bikes. The small workshop overhauled nearly 3000 bikes.
Sam was kept out of the services due to a motorcycle accident, so he became a fire service messenger boy before starting at Chapmans. He worked in the Motorcycle trade in Norwich, including R O Clarks (another famous Norwich dealer, and TT rider) for 23 years until the death of a family member in another motorcycle accident put him off bikes.
I was glad to have met him.
Cheers, Mick.
email (option): mick@motorbikemike.org.uk