Did you once work in Warwick’s ‘Tin Tabernacle’?

The corrugated metal building, which once stood 50 yards from the Cape of Good Hope pub in the Lower Cape, earned the “tabernacle” nickname because it was owned by St Mary’s Church in Warwick and had first been a mission room, then later a foundry.

But it was empty in 1941 when bombed-out workers from the Triumph Engineering factory in Coventry moved in to continue production of the single-cylinder TRW motorbikes so urgently needed by wartime despatch riders.

John, who was born in Kenilworth and now lives in Austwick Close, Woodloes Park, Warwick, has a lifelong interest in Triumph and has already written a book about the world famous Triumph Bonneville motorcycles - developed in Meriden after the war. His book also tells the inside story of the workers’ co-operative which he successfully led during the 1970s when the factory in Meriden was threatened with closure.

To save their jobs and skill-base the 780 workers locked their managers out and staged an 18-months sit-in with support from MPs like Tony Benn and Geoffrey Robinson.

The company was eventually sold on as a going concern and today operates in Hinckley.

John, a retired welder, spent 20 years of his working life in Meriden but he has become increasingly curious about the fortunes of the factory during its war years in Warwick.

And for that he is appealing for people who are perhaps now in their nineties to help with reseach which might result in another book.

John, aged 66, says: “When the Priory Street factory in Coventry was bombed in 1940 its tooling was rescued and taken to Warwick where most young male workers were prime targets to be called up. That resulted in older workers and a lot of women, who were physically able, taking on the jobs of their husbands and brothers.

“During the war there was a tremendous demand for motorbikes for despatch riders and so it wasn’t long before the tabernacle was in full production right up until 1943 when the shadow factory was built at Meriden.

“I’d love to speak to any workers who have memories, or even photographs of the factory or any other Triumph memorabilia between 1939 and right up to 1945.”

Anyone who has any information about Triumph Engineering in Warwick can contact John on: 776212.