The Repair Shop (2017–…): Season 12, Episode 5 - Simon Armitage's harmonium - full transcript
Poet Laureate Simon Armitage brings his treasured harmonium, holding memories of his late father, to be revived. And an early sculpture by an eminent Czech artist is restored..
Welcome to The Repair Shop...
Oh, my goodness.
..where precious
but faded keepsakes...
That is proper crushed.
..are restored
to their former glory.
Zhuzhing. Zhuzhing.
Could I get finished now, please?
Yes!
A dream team of expert
craftspeople...
I'm absolutely chuffed to bits.
Fantastic! Brilliant!
Yes, look at that!
..using traditional techniques
passed down the generations...
Perfecto.
It's almost magic.
Nothing better
than a plan that works.
..restore irreplaceable treasures...
Oh, my God! Look at that!
It's perfect.
..and unlock the stories they hold.
BELL RINGS
Happy tears!
It feels more magical.
I just want to hug everybody!
Morning!
Swear I've got the heavy end!
Do you reckon?
David Burwell is one of
just a handful of British
mechanical organ experts.
And his next assignment
hits some very special notes.
You are never going to guess
who this belongs to. Go on.
Simon Armitage,
the current Poet Laureate. Oh, wow!
I know!
Just think,
the history of amazing poets.
Tennyson, Wordsworth, and now Simon.
And he's coming here.
Quite an honour, isn't it?
I know. I can't wait to meet him.
Yeah.
Simon, hi. Hi, there.
Welcome to the barn.
It's lovely to meet you.
Thank you very much.
Lovely to be here.
I recognise this!
Yeah, I'd hope so!
This must be your harmonium.
Well, it was in the church
in Marsden, where I was born
and grew up in West Yorkshire.
And when my mum told me
that the church were
getting rid of it, I couldn't
really bear to think of it
just sort of being lost.
So I said it could come
and live at our house,
and that's where it's been
for about ten years now.
Do you have memories of it
ever working in the church?
I was in the church choir,
so I've sung to the sounds
of this harmonium, and my dad
was in the church choir,
and his dad was in the church
choir, as well.
In the same church?
Yeah, in the same church.
Three generations of family have all
sung in front of this organ.
That's right, yeah.
That's amazing.
Yeah, we've all...
We've all harmonised with it.
Yeah. Yeah.
What's your father's name?
Yeah, my dad was called Peter,
and he was a very big character,
larger-than-life character.
He used to write shows
and pantomimes that they
put on in the village.
So he gave me a kind of permission,
really, to be a creative,
artistic person, though it's
come out in a different way.
You know, with him it was
performance, it was song,
it was acting
With me, it's poetry.
Did he encourage that with you,
though? Yeah, he did.
He was incredibly proud
of everything that
I've achieved as a writer.
I think my proudest moment
was when I rang him up to tell him
that I was going to be
the next Poet Laureate.
I was in America at the time, and so
we were having this very crackly
transatlantic conversation,
and I could hear him crying
on the other end of the phone.
He's proud of... Proud of his son.
Yeah, yeah.
And, yeah, my dad
died in February 2021.
Oh, so sorry. So I think at that
point I got even more concerned
to try and do something with this,
you know, as something
that connected me to him.
Yeah. You're almost the one link
that this harmonium has got
to the next generation.
If it wasn't for yourself, nobody
would know the family significance
of it, would they?
Well, I've got a poem called
Harmonium about this very harmonium.
Oh, wow! Would you mind?
Can we hear it?
I'd love to read it.
It requires these.
Absolutely!
The Farrand Chapelette
was gathering dust
in the shadowy porch
of Marsden Church.
And was due to be
bundled off to the tip.
Or was mine, for a song,
if I wanted it.
Sunlight, through stained glass,
which on bright days
might beatify saints
or raise the dead,
had aged the harmonium'd
softwood case
and yellowed the fingernails
of its keys.
And one of its notes
had lost its tongue,
and holes were worn
in both the treadles
where the organist's feet,
in grey, woollen socks
and leather-soled shoes,
had pedalled and pedalled.
But its hummed harmonics
still struck a chord:
It had stood facing
the choristers' stalls,
where father, then son,
had opened their throats
and gilded finches -
like high notes -
had streamed out.
Through his own blue cloud
of tobacco smog,
with smoker's fingers
and dottled thumbs,
he comes to help me cart it away.
We lay it flat, then carry
it out on its back.
And him, being him,
he has to say
that the next box I'll shoulder
through this nave
will bear the load
of his own dead weight.
Is that your father
you're talking about?
Yeah, it was my dad, and he had a
sort of quite dark sense of humour.
What are you hoping David's
able to do to the harmonium?
What's the dream?
I work with a band called
LYR, and I write for them.
We perform together.
And one of the noises that is
very big in the band is a keyboard.
The dream is that all
the notes will...will play.
So it's not just an ornament,
but it's functional, as well.
I think there's one of the notes
that's down here somewhere -
it's completely mute.
LOW BUZZING
Oh! Oh!
STRAINED NOTE
Oh, it's trying, the poor thing.
Sounds a bit poorly.
Pretty sure it's not supposed
to sound like that!
No.
So, good luck!
THEY LAUGH
Oh, it's fantastic.
I mean, it's a lovely-looking
little, little thing, you know?
And when you think,
probably this got more use
than the big church organ.
Yeah. I think objects somehow retain
echoes of things that have happened.
And it's interesting to think
that there's a bit of my...
My dad's voice has harmonised
with that harmonium
and is still in there
at some level. Yeah.
Simon, it's been an absolute
pleasure meeting you.
Thank you so much for sharing
this amazing history with us.
I can't wait to get it singing
again. OK, great.
Thanks very much.
Bye. All the best.
What a nice guy. Are you going to
get it working again, though?
I hope so!
Got to get it singin', haven't we?
Better get it to your bench.
Come on. Definitely!
Cor, it's heavy.
Oh, it is. Dear me!
It was really lovely to hear
Simon reading the poem
about the harmonium,
and it really gave a picture of
those years of history
that this had seen.
But it's very, very tired.
Wow.
Well, there's quite a lot
of dust inside that,
and, I hope,
a very dead spider.
That's the problem with this
kind of instrument.
You don't tend to need
a lot of maintenance,
so nobody gets inside them.
I think it says here
that it was serviced in 1902.
I've just got to get the sides
off and then I can actually get
into the mechanism,
get the reeds out
and the keys,
get those nice and clean,
and then get to the bellows
and get its lungs working again.
And then we'll see generally
what condition it's in.
So, hopefully,
it's not going to be too bad.
The next hopeful visitor,
Valerie Heselgrove from Pontefract,
is here to test the craftsmanship
of fellow Yorkshireman
and cobbler Dean Westmoreland.
Hello. Hello. How you doing?
I'm fine. How are you?
I'm very good.
What have you brought in
for us today?
I've brought you a pair of
children's leather clogs
that belonged to my sister Iris.
Those are small, aren't they?
Wow.
My mum had four girls in six years,
and Iris was the second daughter,
and she was born in 1946. Right.
But she was six weeks -
at least - premature.
And the midwife that delivered her
didn't think that she'd survive,
but she did survive.
And they fed her
with a little dropper
and they reared her,
but she had a lot of problems.
She had problems with her health.
She had problems with her mobility.
And the shoes were
to help her get her balance.
But she hated them because,
as we all know,
differences in children
create divisions.
So, one day, Iris threw
that one onto the fire.
And then, when my mum
realised and got them off,
she couldn't wear them,
Iris was quite pleased.
How old was she when she did that?
She was probably about four or five.
Wow. While Mum's back was turned!
Brave thing to do as well.
A very brave thing to do!
So my mum then put them
on the mantelpiece
and there they were for 40 years
and, as she got sort of ten and 11,
she did start to catch up, like.
Good.
Premature babies do, don't they,
at some point? Yeah.
And then, as she got into her teens,
she always wanted to be a nurse.
She initially applied
at three local hospitals
and they all turned her down,
but she didn't give in.
She went further afield
and got in at Bradford,
and then realised the dream.
Qualified as a midwife
and then went out onto
the community in Bradford,
where she stayed
until she retired in 1977.
So, for me, she were
a wonderful role model.
She were just so determined
and so stoic.
Sadly, Iris passed away
in September last year.
And why have you kept these, then?
Oh, they're part of my family
history, aren't they?
After my mum died,
Iris kept them. Yeah, yeah.
You know, obviously, even though
she hated wearing them.
Wow. What is it you want
me to do with them?
Just a bit of tender, loving care.
They deserve it, don't they?
Course they do, yeah.
It's just a nice thing
that I could do for Iris.
And me mum, as well.
That's lovely.
Thank you for bringing these in.
You take care now.
OK, thank you very much. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Bye.
I don't know how
you're going to do those.
Neither do I, mate. Yet!
OK, that's good.
Well...
Good luck. Thanks, mate.
So, it's quite the challenge
that Val has given me here
with Iris' clogs.
All the leather has gone
really, really hard.
It's like a resin
or a plastic, almost.
The biggest part
of the damage, really,
is the upper leather
and the hole there.
The fire has also damaged
the bottom of the clogs.
It's burnt the rubber seg
that would have protected the wood.
That's all gone.
I would like to make a new piece
of rubber for here to match this.
The issue is, so much wood
has been burned away
that it's very difficult.
I think I need to try and build
this wooden base up...
..to a point where
they both sit equally.
Before I tackle any of that,
I'd like to try to get some moisture
back into these uppers -
a bit of flexibility,
a bit of life.
So I'm going to try a cleaner
on it.
Fingers crossed it goes OK.
Going to do the good one first.
See how that goes.
Almost instantly I'm feeling
some flexibility there,
which kind of makes me
relax a little bit.
Also enjoying a satisfying
cleaning job,
David is ready to revive
the symphonic song
of the Poet Laureate's harmonium.
I've now have managed to get
all the dust off the outside
of the machine.
It's going to be interesting to see
what state the reeds are in.
There's approximately
120 reeds in this, in two sets.
Yeah. They're actually pretty caked.
The reeds are the most important
part of the harmonium.
These are really the individual
little voice boxes
that create the sound
and the "singing".
Unfortunately, with the amount of
dirt that's caked onto the actual
reeds, that's really
weighing them down,
so that's causing them to not
beat as fast as they should be.
And so I need to get these
into my ultrasonic bath,
and then that will remove
all of that
and get them back
to their original sound.
Whilst the reeds are cooking nicely
in the ultrasonic tank,
I'm just turning my attention
to the bellows.
The bellows really are
the lungs of the instrument.
They provide the suction,
which actually operates the reeds.
There's quite a lot of little holes
and they all add up to a large
amount of air being lost.
I've actually made
some little leather patches,
so that sticks really quite quickly.
And you can see that that's...
that's actually folding nicely.
Once I've got the
rest of these patches on,
then I'm going to give the whole
thing a coat of rubberised paint
and that's going to
seal it up really nicely.
And then hopefully, they go
on for many, many years.
Back in my days
of church organ building,
one of my least favourite
jobs was keyboards.
You're doing so many
of the same thing
over and over and over again,
but, without the monotony,
you don't get the music,
and it is the music
that keeps me going,
wanting to hear that first
sound out of the instrument.
So these keys are made of wood,
but they are covered in
a celluloid material,
which is actually a very early
form of plastic.
Unfortunately, it does have
a slightly porous surface.
By using this mildly
abrasive powder,
it actually cleans
the surface layer.
So you can see there already,
that that's made quite a difference.
That's much, much cleaner.
So I've just got 60 more to go!
From sacred song to fine art,
Martin Yorkman is hoping
the sculptural skills
of Kirstin Ramsey can rebuild
a precious memento
that chronicles
an extraordinary life.
Hello. Hi!
Hello! Nice to see you.
Lovely to meet you.
And you, too.
What have you brought in?
Well, I've got a sculpture
of my mother, Vera,
when she was 27 years old.
Goodness. Wow.
What an amazing thing.
Unfortunately,
it's in a rather bad state.
It fell off a wardrobe when it was
stored for quite a long time.
A sculpture of your mother.
That's quite a rare thing to have.
Well, my mother was
at an art college
in a place called
Zlin in Czechoslovakia,
and she befriended
a young student sculptor,
Milos Axman,
who eventually became quite famous.
He gave it to her as
a sort of memory of himself.
Can you tell us about your mother?
Yes.
She had a very, very colourful
and interesting life,
but also quite tragic.
At the beginning of
the Second World War,
when the Germans
took over Czechoslovakia,
young people were sent to work
in ammunition factories,
and she was sent to work in Berlin.
And she planned
with two male friends
to actually escape to Switzerland.
But they were caught
crossing the border.
Her two friends were shot -
shot dead -
and she was sentenced
to life in prison.
And then they were freed
from the prison in 1945,
and she walked all the way
from Waldheim to Prague.
They walked...
That must have been
a terrifying time for her.
It was, and I'm sure it
affected her quite a lot.
But she was very brave
and very gifted, as well.
She worked in arts all her life.
As a child,
we never had anything - we didn't
have a TV, we didn't have a fridge,
didn't have a washing machine -
but we had a full apartment
of paintings and books.
Amazing. That was more
important to my parents.
So, when did you arrive in the UK?
In 1968 I went to do a big trip
around Europe, starting with London.
But whilst I was in London,
the Russians invaded Czechoslovakia.
I wasn't able to go back
for 22 years.
Goodness. In 1990,
the Iron Curtain came down
and that was the first time
I actually revisited Prague
after all that time. Gosh.
My mother was able to come
out of Czechoslovakia
and to see me in London because
she was not of any interest
to the communist authorities then.
When I last saw her,
she was saying,
you must take all these precious
possessions back to Bristol.
And I think she was hoping
I would be able to one day
get it back to the original state.
How was this originally displayed?
Before it was broken,
it was sitting on a wooden pedestal.
Oh, it would stand up like that?
Like that. Gosh, it's beautiful.
Isn't it lovely?
Do you have any photographs
of it complete? Yes.
And also one of the back of it,
which shows exactly how the hair
and how the pedestal worked.
That would be helpful. Helpful!
Yeah, that would be really helpful.
The fascinating thing
is that it looks
just like my daughter looked
at the age of about 18, 20,
which is very special for me.
Yeah. It's going to be
an absolute pleasure
to try and get this back for you.
Oh, thank you so much.
You're so welcome.
Bye-bye. Goodbye.
I think this is a really beautiful
piece of sculpture.
You can really see
the way it's been made.
You can see the texture,
the tooling,
the hands that have actually
created this.
Now...
..it's going to be
quite tricky to...
..make up this really quite
large missing section.
It's really helpful
that Martin had some images
of how this piece would have looked.
And I think one of the first jobs
that I've got to do
is to try and work out the shape
of this missing section.
I can see by
looking at the interior
that this plaster
is really quite thin.
It's almost like a shell
on an Easter egg.
I'm going to have to try
and support it in some way
so that I've got a stable surface
to fill onto.
I've had a chat with Will
and he's kindly offered
to make the base.
I'm going to finish off
a surface cleaning,
and that gives me an opportunity
to think what I'm going to do next.
While Kirsten gets
ahead on the head,
Dean's tackling tools,
beginning the difficult task
of building back up
the burned-away soul
of the little clog.
I need roughly the same
thickness on the sole here
as I have on this undamaged one.
If I can build up the thickness,
let that set.
It's nice and hard and it will take
some new pins around the front
and the new rubber seg.
So at this point, I'm just creating
a two-part epoxy putty.
This is the best way
that I think I can build up
the thickness of the sole.
As I've never used this before,
I'm intrigued to find out
if that's the case.
I like learning new things -
keeps things fresh -
but there's always that slight worry
of, is it going to look good enough?
Is it going to be refined enough?
And I think, like any craftsperson,
it's always at the forefront
of your mind,
to do the best job possible.
So there's still a little bit
more tinkering here.
And then I'm going to let it set
and then it will be ready
to sand down and profile.
So now this putty has actually
dried really hard,
and I think the most
surprising thing to me
is that it's bonded
so well to this wood.
So now I'm going
to put it on the sander,
and just try and match the original
profile of the shoe - steadily.
I did feel,
when I was going round,
a bit of movement,
and I can actually see
if I pull that front,
it's really not bonded to the front,
which is really frustrating.
Ah...
So, unfortunately, I have to
kind of admit defeat, really.
I just felt that
with the complex profile...
..and the fact I didn't want to be
shaving so much wood away,
I wanted to keep as much
of the original wood as possible,
and on discovering this putty,
it was quite exciting
to use a new material.
Unfortunately, it's not
really sufficient for this job.
But you live and learn.
There is no finesse in this.
I'm just going to pull that off
and clean up the wood.
That is such a shame,
it really is.
There is always a plan B, though.
My plan B is to use leather.
And once I build this up in leather,
I will be able to
wet it and hand-carve it
into pretty much any shape I want.
So I'm just going to trim
the excess leather now...
..to a rough shape.
So that's the first layer on, and
it's bonded really, really nicely.
To bring it level,
I'm going to have to do perhaps
five layers in total,
and it will give a good,
solid base to put the pins in
and to attach the rubber seg.
So I'm just creating a template
here for a new rubber seg.
Luckily, I have this right shoe
with an intact rubber seg,
that I can copy the template.
So that's all pressed on now.
And now it's a case
of cutting it out.
Working on organs and harmoniums
since his teens,
David's travelled the world
with his craft,
but every newly restored instrument
still thrills.
That's the harmonium assembled,
and I've replaced
the carpet on the pedals.
I've managed to match the type
of carpet as near as possible.
But I've got to now connect
the pedals to the bellows.
So that's the petals connected.
So, moment of truth.
NOTES PLAY
Well, it actually makes noises!
That's, er... That's lovely.
I have to admit,
it's been a real honour
to do this harmonium for Simon.
Really, really looking forward
to getting it back to him.
As Poet Laureate,
Simon is tasked with writing verses
to mark the nation's events.
This harmonium
inspired its own ballad,
marking its significance
in the life of Simon
and the father who sparked
his life of creativity.
Hello. Hello, Simon.
How are you doing?
Very good, thanks.
So, how are you feeling?
I'm really looking forward
to being reacquainted with it.
I don't have a memory, obviously,
of my dad as a choirboy,
or my grandad,
but what I do know
is that their voices
sang in harmony with this thing
in the same way that I did, in the
same place in that church.
So there's a kind of lineage
connected with this,
and that's why it's special for me.
Yeah, yeah.
Ready to see it?
Ready. Yeah.
Come on, then.
It's beautiful.
I'm just... I'm looking straight
away at the pedals
because...it'd been played so much,
there were big holes
in the...in the fabric there. Yes.
It's really beautiful.
Oh, yeah.
It looks like it's, er,
been to the dentist.
Yes! Yes!
NOTES PLAY
LAUGHTER
It's definitely got its voice back.
I think it was this one here that...
..was a bit croaky. Yes, yes.
LOW NOTE PLAYS
So what do you think your dad
would make of it now?
I think he'd be really chuffed
that it was up and running again.
No, he would have loved it.
So, what's the future hold for it?
Well, I definitely want
it to be played.
I work with a band, so I'm hoping
that this is going to be involved
in some of the records that we make,
and maybe accompany us
onstage, as well.
Pat and Richard are here.
Hiya. How we doing?
Hey, guys.
Come to see if you've done
a proper job on this.
Yeah, that's right! I'm nervous now!
Act professional!
# That's the thing about desire
# It won't always
be on your side... #
It's cold in the small hours
Bolting the door
against dark nights
Scanning for miracles
Panning for glimmers and signs
Knowing, at best,
I'm the 10th or 11th in line
I know I'm not really
your favourite person
But you're mine
Desire is a sylph-figured creature
Who changes her mind
# That's the thing about it #
I know I'm not really
your favourite person
But you're mine
# You just want more over time
# Over time. #
Wow!
Amazing!
How does it feel?
It felt really moving
and very satisfying to hear sweet
noise coming out of that again
and to hear it playing
contemporary music,
but still with that
sort of spiritual heart.
It was a very pleasurable moment.
When I look at the harmonium,
it's very moving to think of Dad
singing along to it, and my
grandad singing along to it.
But I also think about it as...as
something that's not just got
a past and a memory and a history,
but as an instrument that's...
..that's been restored
so it can have a future.
As the harmonium makes its way home,
the barn is freed for more fixes.
Kirsty from Hartford
has brought some precious metal
for the attention of
jeweller Richard Talman.
Hello, there. Hello.
Welcome to the barn. Thank you.
So, what's inside the box?
We have a charm bracelet.
A silver charm bracelet.
Lovely.
Now, that...is a charm bracelet!
There's so many charms there.
It really is, yes.
Where's it from?
So this was gifted to my mum
by her dad
in the early '60s.
He was a greyhound trainer
in East London
in the '40s and '50s,
and that was quite a colourful
part of London back then.
And this was gifted to her from him.
And that was very special.
Such incredible detail, isn't it?
Yes.
It's such an eclectic mix of charms.
I mean, do you know
what any of them mean?
I think some of these bracelets were
"wishing for you" charms.
Rather than having
been significant to a...
..than things that have
already happened. I see.
Er, the engagement ring -
that is a link to a marriage. Erm...
The horse would be because
my mum, her brothers,
they were all very much into horses.
My mum would break horses in.
What's your mum's name?
Linda. And your grandfather's name?
Johnny. Johnny.
You know, he was very young
when he passed.
So it's always been a very,
very special piece for her.
And I've known about it
ever since I can remember.
My mum would always allow me
to dress up in this piece.
I would wear her shoes
and her lipstick
and I'd always be allowed
to put this on.
So, very special memories
I've got as a kid wearing this.
I've been enchanted by it
my whole life.
It's sentimental, but I know
that my mum would want
this played with just as I did,
so it would be great to have it
fixed so that I could do that.
You say that your mum WOULD want -
is your mum not still alive?
No. We lost her back in...
Boxing Day, 2020.
I'm sorry.
So, she was a lovely mum
to me growing up.
Try not to get too upset here.
She was very much
my best friend, as well.
I can see how much it means to you.
Yes.
It meant a lot to her.
And, you know,
ultimately a lot for me.
And now my daughter, who wants to...
She knows it was her nana's.
It's the only thing
she will have tangible of hers.
This is the one constant thing
that kind of really links
all the generations. Yeah.
But the main thing is that
this needs to be still intact
to be able to pass it down.
Yes. Yes, exactly.
So, what exactly is wrong with it?
There's always been
some stones missing.
So the fish had red eyes.
I don't remember the stone
for the engagement ring.
Some of the charms
do need some repair.
I look forward to...
I look forward to starting this.
Most repairs only focus
around one solid piece,
but I think we've probably
got about ten to do here!
Can you do that? I'm going to try
my hardest, that's for sure.
Thanks so much for coming. See you,
Kirsty. Thank you. Bye-bye.
There's nothing more unique
than a charm bracelet because
every single charm that's on this
bracelet tells some kind of story.
But, unfortunately,
they're not all in good shape.
So it's going to be
quite a job ahead of me.
The elephant has certainly
seen better days -
he's very, very badly tarnished.
He's going to need
certainly a lot of cleaning.
This lovely little crown
solitaire ring.
I think it's going to be a really
nice touch to make sure
we put a stone in that,
to make it look like a proper
engagement ring.
But to do any sort of work on this,
because it's got so many pieces
hanging from it,
I think my best chance is
to simply remove and dismantle
the entire piece,
and remove each and every one
of them.
So, now I've got these charms
off of the bracelet,
I can now get these into
the ultrasonic cleaner
to give them a really good,
thorough clean.
The magic hands of Kirsten are
trying to achieve the impossible -
conjuring the missing side of the
sculpted head out of thin air.
I'm going to build up a support
to build the plaster onto.
I'm putting the sand
into the head here...
..and this is so that I can
create the right shape
to build my support onto.
And once my support has set hard,
I can then just tip the sand out.
Now I've got this hessian,
and this is called scrim.
And I'm going to dip it
into plaster, so
I can work it into the missing
areas of the head.
I'm not really expecting
this to have any dramatic effect
on the appearance of the piece.
This is all about structure.
And once it's set hard,
I can then start to recreate
this beautiful, textured surface.
This is really fun.
It's a little bit more
like playing than working.
Kirsten has asked me if I'd be able
to make a new base
for Vera's sculpture.
I've got a lovely block of oak here.
I've got some great photos
here for reference.
Where the head sits
onto the wooden base,
there's almost like a scooped piece
of wood that's been removed.
I'm going to start off
by carving that out.
This is where hopefully
all the sand comes out, like so.
I'm now left with a shelf.
It's hard and it feels
really well secured,
so I'm now ready to move onto
filling in some of these areas.
Judging on the shape of the scoops,
I need to look for a carving gouge
with a bit of a curve to it.
And also, this being oak,
it has a tendency to splinter.
So one wrong tap
and it could be chaos.
Right. There's no going back now.
This is the first strike.
I'm now ready
to apply the final coat.
You've got these lovely marks
all over the surface
and it gives it a real
dynamic quality
and it just gives
the whole piece life.
So I need to try and recreate that.
Need my glasses.
Hello. Wow! Gosh.
All done.
That's looking amazing.
Thank you very much.
We might need another pair of eyes.
Jay? Yeah.
This is a big moment.
Oh, something to put the head on?
Yes.
Finally, I've added this sort
of wooden pole here, so it should...
It should sit just right.
We're going to put some
adhesive in there,
and we've got one go at this,
really.
Oh! Whoa! OK.
Well, the suspense is killing me.
Come on, let's give it a go!
It looks like lemon curd.
It does! Yeah, it does.
Getting kind of peckish.
OK. That's enough? Yeah.
Shall we go for it? Yeah? Yeah.
Let's get it in. Right...
Good.
Ooh...
Feels a lot less scary,
having you guys here.
OK?
What do you reckon?
Absolutely perfect.
From this angle, she looks exactly
how she's looking there.
Lovely. Probably just slightly...
I mean, really slightly
to this side.
A real minuscule amount. Yeah.
What do you reckon?
Absolutely perfect.
Yeah? Yeah. That's perfect.
Good. Nice one.
Right... Right, there's
a lot still to be done
before Martin gets this back.
Thank you. Thanks. See you in a bit.
It's been a rocky road to repair,
but Dean's now got a firm footing
with the tiny clogs.
Iris' clogs are looking
surprisingly well now.
The sole edge is nice and firm,
and I'm pretty confident that
it's going to be able to take
these decorative brass pins.
These are an exact match
for what were originally used.
Now, finding these
has been extremely difficult.
I had to get in touch
with a clog-maker -
of which there aren't many left in
the world, let alone the UK.
So to find them
has been so satisfying
and really fulfilling for me.
I know it meant a great deal
to Valerie
to get these repaired, and I just
hope I've done her proud.
And even more so, I hope
I've done Iris' memory proud.
Hi. Hiya! Welcome back.
Thank you. How are you doing?
I'm Dom. Pleased to meet you, Dom.
I'm Val.
And I know you, Dean. Hello, Val.
And I am so excited.
I'm bubbling. Are you looking
forward to seeing them?
I am. Go on, Dean.
I'll do the honours.
Oh, Dean, how on earth
have you done that?!
Look at this!
Oh, Dean, they're amazing.
Oh.
Oh, my goodness.
You've put the little segs back on.
Oh.
I wish my mum and sister
could have seen these.
My mum would have probably put
them in the China cabinet
where the good stuff goes.
Oh, they're just amazing.
I can't thank you enough.
They're brilliant.
I'm glad you're happy.
We didn't have much.
We were dirt poor.
Even had they not being damaged,
I don't think me mother
would have ever let them go.
She would have treasured them,
and she'd be pleased with me, that,
you know, I've done this.
They've been in that sorry
state for over 70 years
and you come along
and make them fabulous.
Can't thank you enough.
Happy? Oh, very, very happy!
Good. Yeah. More than I ever thought
I would be, yeah. Good.
Well, Val, they're yours
to take home and enjoy.
Thank you very much. That's lovely.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
I look at the clogs now
and I feel so proud of Iris
and what she achieved.
Those little shoes sort of
encompass all her struggles.
I think they were probably
the first time my mum experienced
Iris' determination,
and she stuck to it
throughout her life
and did so well,
and had such a rewarding career.
Also determined to succeed,
Richard is trying
to put the charming
back into the silver bracelet.
Now these charms have had a bit
of a bath in the ultrasonic,
that's removed all of the 60 years'
worth of dirt and grime
and just allowed me to know
what's tarnish and what's damage.
The worst affected
is this little elephant,
and he looks like
he's got a tarnish line
travelling all the way around him
because this has actually
been assembled
by two separate halves.
And it's actually the solder
line that's ended up tarnishing.
I'm going to see
if I can get rid of all that.
I'm going to use a polish
called Tripoli,
which is a grease abrasive.
You can see there, that's done
exactly the trick I'd hoped.
That solder line is now the same
colour as the rest of its body.
I've just now got
to repeat that process
times ten with the other charms!
The fish is now all polished,
and now I need to turn my attention
to replacing the stones in the eyes.
I'm going to take
a little bit of glue
and I'm taking the paste stone
onto a piece of beeswax.
It just allows me to pick the stone
up, holds it on the end
enough for me to just hold the stone
exactly where I want it,
but not sticky enough
to pull it off the fish.
So, there you go.
Just going to let that glue
set for a bit longer
and then I'll turn him over
and do the other side.
So, moving on to the next charm,
I think this
one is definitely my favourite.
I've actually never worked
with a ring as small as this.
I'm really keen to put a new
stone in, in exactly the same way
I would if it was
a real-life engagement ring.
So the stone I'm using
is cubic zirconia,
which is a man-made gemstone.
I need to take a very small burr.
It's going to grind away a perfect
semicircle on each of the claws.
And it's that semicircle
that the stone will sit into
to allow me to bend the claws over.
The next challenge is to bend
the claws over to secure it.
Whoo!
That stone is going nowhere.
I'm really happy with that.
Now it's on to the next one.
I really wanted to just give
an extra special touch to Kirsty's
mother by making a letter
shape "L" for her name, Linda.
I'm going to take a piece
of sterling silver,
and I'm going to start by filing
into it a little mitre edge.
So, I've now got a little
V shape cut out of it.
And the reason for that
is that I can bend the metal
around perfectly to make the "L".
So I'm going to solder it up.
I'm now just going to file
some curvature into it,
make it look a little bit nicer.
And I really hope that,
when Kirsty's eyes catch this,
it'll just bring a really
lovely memory of her mother.
More maternal memories have been
restored over on Kirsten's bench.
The sculpture is now
structurally sound,
just leaving her
colour-matching expertise
to get it picture perfect.
For me, this is the exciting point
that I start to put
the colour on,
and it's really satisfying,
just seeing that white disappearing
and you can really start to see
the sculpture coming back to life.
You can really feel
the soul in this.
You feel quite connected
to the maker
when you work this closely
on something that's been created.
It's come together really nicely,
and a little bit of shaping,
a little bit of retouching,
and then it's ready
to go back to Martin.
Caught up in the chaos
and tragedy of Europe
during the Second World War,
this sculpture captures
Martin's late mother, Vera,
just as she was finding her feet
in a life devoted to the arts.
All right, Martin? Hello!
Hi. How are you?
Yeah, good. Great to see you.
I'm so excited!
Ohh!
Honestly, to have it back
in one piece,
it'll be really, really great.
Fantastic.
Would you like to see it?
I'd love to see it, yeah.
OK. All right.
Ohhh.
Oh, my...
It's fantastic.
Oh.
I mean, I last saw
my mother in 1999,
just before she died.
And this is such
a wonderful memory. Mm.
It's my mother
when she was 27 years old.
What an amazing thing to have.
She was so beautiful.
Yeah.
It's...
It really brings back memories.
It really does.
I feel...
..taken back to my childhood.
Do you?
Oh...
Oh, amazing.
This is exactly how I remember it.
Including the pedestal, which
was exactly...exactly like that.
And the way you've actually made up
the part which was missing,
the colour,
and the way it's matched up,
the result is...is, you know,
exactly how it should be.
That's lovely to hear.
I thank you so much
for...for all this effort.
It's wonderful.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
I will treasure it forever.
Fantastic. Thank you.
Thank you. OK. Bye.
I was...totally overwhelmed.
The emotion was not necessarily
just the sculpture.
It's a sort of reminder
of where I came from
and symbolises this unity.
My mother, myself, my daughter,
which...is important in...
in my life.
With every tiny charm now
back to its lucky best,
Richard can reunite them
with their silver bracelet.
I'm going to start off
with the engagement ring
in the little heart locket.
I really hope that
when Kirsty sees this,
that she's going to be
confident enough
to let her daughter try it on
and hopefully recreate the same
memories that it held for her
when she tried it on
from her mother.
Every charm holds a memory
for Kirsty about her childhood
and the beloved mum she lost
three years ago.
Along with daughter Heidi,
she's hoping to recreate happy times
playing dress-up with the bracelet.
Hello, there.
Hello. Hello. Hello!
Who do we have here?
Heidi. Hi, Heidi.
Nice to meet you. Nice to have you
back as well. Thank you very much.
Heidi, have you heard
all about the bracelet?
Yeah.
What would you like to do
with it when you get home?
Play with it. Play with it.
Well, we won't keep you
in any more suspense.
You've waited long enough.
Shall we have a look?
Yes, please! Right, go on, Rich.
Oh, my goodness!
That looks...
That looks completely different!
Look at that.
It's just incredible.
I just can't believe...
It looks brand-new, doesn't it?
And what's that? Look! A "L".
For Linda. Nana's name.
It's just...
It's just perfect.
I just can't thank you enough.
It's been a pleasure.
It's just phenomenal.
I can see Heidi getting even closer
to the bracelet. Eyeing it up!
Would you like to try it on?
Yeah?
Go on, then.
Which hand do you want it on?
This one.
OK?
How does that feel?
We have to look after it, don't we?
What do we say? Thank you.
It's been a pleasure, Heidi.
It's been lovely to meet you.
Thank you very much.
Thanks a lot, bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Bye.
It looks absolutely incredible.
The additional charm,
it's like her stamp on it
that I know that she would love.
It's just her piece.
It will always be her piece.
It's something that
we will treasure forever.
It looks lovely.
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that's seen better days
and you think the team can help,
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..and join us in The Repair Shop.
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BELL RINGS
Happy tears!
It feels more magical.
I just want to hug everybody!
Morning!
Swear I've got the heavy end!
Do you reckon?
David Burwell is one of
just a handful of British
mechanical organ experts.
And his next assignment
hits some very special notes.
You are never going to guess
who this belongs to. Go on.
Simon Armitage,
the current Poet Laureate. Oh, wow!
I know!
Just think,
the history of amazing poets.
Tennyson, Wordsworth, and now Simon.
And he's coming here.
Quite an honour, isn't it?
I know. I can't wait to meet him.
Yeah.
Simon, hi. Hi, there.
Welcome to the barn.
It's lovely to meet you.
Thank you very much.
Lovely to be here.
I recognise this!
Yeah, I'd hope so!
This must be your harmonium.
Well, it was in the church
in Marsden, where I was born
and grew up in West Yorkshire.
And when my mum told me
that the church were
getting rid of it, I couldn't
really bear to think of it
just sort of being lost.
So I said it could come
and live at our house,
and that's where it's been
for about ten years now.
Do you have memories of it
ever working in the church?
I was in the church choir,
so I've sung to the sounds
of this harmonium, and my dad
was in the church choir,
and his dad was in the church
choir, as well.
In the same church?
Yeah, in the same church.
Three generations of family have all
sung in front of this organ.
That's right, yeah.
That's amazing.
Yeah, we've all...
We've all harmonised with it.
Yeah. Yeah.
What's your father's name?
Yeah, my dad was called Peter,
and he was a very big character,
larger-than-life character.
He used to write shows
and pantomimes that they
put on in the village.
So he gave me a kind of permission,
really, to be a creative,
artistic person, though it's
come out in a different way.
You know, with him it was
performance, it was song,
it was acting
With me, it's poetry.
Did he encourage that with you,
though? Yeah, he did.
He was incredibly proud
of everything that
I've achieved as a writer.
I think my proudest moment
was when I rang him up to tell him
that I was going to be
the next Poet Laureate.
I was in America at the time, and so
we were having this very crackly
transatlantic conversation,
and I could hear him crying
on the other end of the phone.
He's proud of... Proud of his son.
Yeah, yeah.
And, yeah, my dad
died in February 2021.
Oh, so sorry. So I think at that
point I got even more concerned
to try and do something with this,
you know, as something
that connected me to him.
Yeah. You're almost the one link
that this harmonium has got
to the next generation.
If it wasn't for yourself, nobody
would know the family significance
of it, would they?
Well, I've got a poem called
Harmonium about this very harmonium.
Oh, wow! Would you mind?
Can we hear it?
I'd love to read it.
It requires these.
Absolutely!
The Farrand Chapelette
was gathering dust
in the shadowy porch
of Marsden Church.
And was due to be
bundled off to the tip.
Or was mine, for a song,
if I wanted it.
Sunlight, through stained glass,
which on bright days
might beatify saints
or raise the dead,
had aged the harmonium'd
softwood case
and yellowed the fingernails
of its keys.
And one of its notes
had lost its tongue,
and holes were worn
in both the treadles
where the organist's feet,
in grey, woollen socks
and leather-soled shoes,
had pedalled and pedalled.
But its hummed harmonics
still struck a chord:
It had stood facing
the choristers' stalls,
where father, then son,
had opened their throats
and gilded finches -
like high notes -
had streamed out.
Through his own blue cloud
of tobacco smog,
with smoker's fingers
and dottled thumbs,
he comes to help me cart it away.
We lay it flat, then carry
it out on its back.
And him, being him,
he has to say
that the next box I'll shoulder
through this nave
will bear the load
of his own dead weight.
Is that your father
you're talking about?
Yeah, it was my dad, and he had a
sort of quite dark sense of humour.
What are you hoping David's
able to do to the harmonium?
What's the dream?
I work with a band called
LYR, and I write for them.
We perform together.
And one of the noises that is
very big in the band is a keyboard.
The dream is that all
the notes will...will play.
So it's not just an ornament,
but it's functional, as well.
I think there's one of the notes
that's down here somewhere -
it's completely mute.
LOW BUZZING
Oh! Oh!
STRAINED NOTE
Oh, it's trying, the poor thing.
Sounds a bit poorly.
Pretty sure it's not supposed
to sound like that!
No.
So, good luck!
THEY LAUGH
Oh, it's fantastic.
I mean, it's a lovely-looking
little, little thing, you know?
And when you think,
probably this got more use
than the big church organ.
Yeah. I think objects somehow retain
echoes of things that have happened.
And it's interesting to think
that there's a bit of my...
My dad's voice has harmonised
with that harmonium
and is still in there
at some level. Yeah.
Simon, it's been an absolute
pleasure meeting you.
Thank you so much for sharing
this amazing history with us.
I can't wait to get it singing
again. OK, great.
Thanks very much.
Bye. All the best.
What a nice guy. Are you going to
get it working again, though?
I hope so!
Got to get it singin', haven't we?
Better get it to your bench.
Come on. Definitely!
Cor, it's heavy.
Oh, it is. Dear me!
It was really lovely to hear
Simon reading the poem
about the harmonium,
and it really gave a picture of
those years of history
that this had seen.
But it's very, very tired.
Wow.
Well, there's quite a lot
of dust inside that,
and, I hope,
a very dead spider.
That's the problem with this
kind of instrument.
You don't tend to need
a lot of maintenance,
so nobody gets inside them.
I think it says here
that it was serviced in 1902.
I've just got to get the sides
off and then I can actually get
into the mechanism,
get the reeds out
and the keys,
get those nice and clean,
and then get to the bellows
and get its lungs working again.
And then we'll see generally
what condition it's in.
So, hopefully,
it's not going to be too bad.
The next hopeful visitor,
Valerie Heselgrove from Pontefract,
is here to test the craftsmanship
of fellow Yorkshireman
and cobbler Dean Westmoreland.
Hello. Hello. How you doing?
I'm fine. How are you?
I'm very good.
What have you brought in
for us today?
I've brought you a pair of
children's leather clogs
that belonged to my sister Iris.
Those are small, aren't they?
Wow.
My mum had four girls in six years,
and Iris was the second daughter,
and she was born in 1946. Right.
But she was six weeks -
at least - premature.
And the midwife that delivered her
didn't think that she'd survive,
but she did survive.
And they fed her
with a little dropper
and they reared her,
but she had a lot of problems.
She had problems with her health.
She had problems with her mobility.
And the shoes were
to help her get her balance.
But she hated them because,
as we all know,
differences in children
create divisions.
So, one day, Iris threw
that one onto the fire.
And then, when my mum
realised and got them off,
she couldn't wear them,
Iris was quite pleased.
How old was she when she did that?
She was probably about four or five.
Wow. While Mum's back was turned!
Brave thing to do as well.
A very brave thing to do!
So my mum then put them
on the mantelpiece
and there they were for 40 years
and, as she got sort of ten and 11,
she did start to catch up, like.
Good.
Premature babies do, don't they,
at some point? Yeah.
And then, as she got into her teens,
she always wanted to be a nurse.
She initially applied
at three local hospitals
and they all turned her down,
but she didn't give in.
She went further afield
and got in at Bradford,
and then realised the dream.
Qualified as a midwife
and then went out onto
the community in Bradford,
where she stayed
until she retired in 1977.
So, for me, she were
a wonderful role model.
She were just so determined
and so stoic.
Sadly, Iris passed away
in September last year.
And why have you kept these, then?
Oh, they're part of my family
history, aren't they?
After my mum died,
Iris kept them. Yeah, yeah.
You know, obviously, even though
she hated wearing them.
Wow. What is it you want
me to do with them?
Just a bit of tender, loving care.
They deserve it, don't they?
Course they do, yeah.
It's just a nice thing
that I could do for Iris.
And me mum, as well.
That's lovely.
Thank you for bringing these in.
You take care now.
OK, thank you very much. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Bye.
I don't know how
you're going to do those.
Neither do I, mate. Yet!
OK, that's good.
Well...
Good luck. Thanks, mate.
So, it's quite the challenge
that Val has given me here
with Iris' clogs.
All the leather has gone
really, really hard.
It's like a resin
or a plastic, almost.
The biggest part
of the damage, really,
is the upper leather
and the hole there.
The fire has also damaged
the bottom of the clogs.
It's burnt the rubber seg
that would have protected the wood.
That's all gone.
I would like to make a new piece
of rubber for here to match this.
The issue is, so much wood
has been burned away
that it's very difficult.
I think I need to try and build
this wooden base up...
..to a point where
they both sit equally.
Before I tackle any of that,
I'd like to try to get some moisture
back into these uppers -
a bit of flexibility,
a bit of life.
So I'm going to try a cleaner
on it.
Fingers crossed it goes OK.
Going to do the good one first.
See how that goes.
Almost instantly I'm feeling
some flexibility there,
which kind of makes me
relax a little bit.
Also enjoying a satisfying
cleaning job,
David is ready to revive
the symphonic song
of the Poet Laureate's harmonium.
I've now have managed to get
all the dust off the outside
of the machine.
It's going to be interesting to see
what state the reeds are in.
There's approximately
120 reeds in this, in two sets.
Yeah. They're actually pretty caked.
The reeds are the most important
part of the harmonium.
These are really the individual
little voice boxes
that create the sound
and the "singing".
Unfortunately, with the amount of
dirt that's caked onto the actual
reeds, that's really
weighing them down,
so that's causing them to not
beat as fast as they should be.
And so I need to get these
into my ultrasonic bath,
and then that will remove
all of that
and get them back
to their original sound.
Whilst the reeds are cooking nicely
in the ultrasonic tank,
I'm just turning my attention
to the bellows.
The bellows really are
the lungs of the instrument.
They provide the suction,
which actually operates the reeds.
There's quite a lot of little holes
and they all add up to a large
amount of air being lost.
I've actually made
some little leather patches,
so that sticks really quite quickly.
And you can see that that's...
that's actually folding nicely.
Once I've got the
rest of these patches on,
then I'm going to give the whole
thing a coat of rubberised paint
and that's going to
seal it up really nicely.
And then hopefully, they go
on for many, many years.
Back in my days
of church organ building,
one of my least favourite
jobs was keyboards.
You're doing so many
of the same thing
over and over and over again,
but, without the monotony,
you don't get the music,
and it is the music
that keeps me going,
wanting to hear that first
sound out of the instrument.
So these keys are made of wood,
but they are covered in
a celluloid material,
which is actually a very early
form of plastic.
Unfortunately, it does have
a slightly porous surface.
By using this mildly
abrasive powder,
it actually cleans
the surface layer.
So you can see there already,
that that's made quite a difference.
That's much, much cleaner.
So I've just got 60 more to go!
From sacred song to fine art,
Martin Yorkman is hoping
the sculptural skills
of Kirstin Ramsey can rebuild
a precious memento
that chronicles
an extraordinary life.
Hello. Hi!
Hello! Nice to see you.
Lovely to meet you.
And you, too.
What have you brought in?
Well, I've got a sculpture
of my mother, Vera,
when she was 27 years old.
Goodness. Wow.
What an amazing thing.
Unfortunately,
it's in a rather bad state.
It fell off a wardrobe when it was
stored for quite a long time.
A sculpture of your mother.
That's quite a rare thing to have.
Well, my mother was
at an art college
in a place called
Zlin in Czechoslovakia,
and she befriended
a young student sculptor,
Milos Axman,
who eventually became quite famous.
He gave it to her as
a sort of memory of himself.
Can you tell us about your mother?
Yes.
She had a very, very colourful
and interesting life,
but also quite tragic.
At the beginning of
the Second World War,
when the Germans
took over Czechoslovakia,
young people were sent to work
in ammunition factories,
and she was sent to work in Berlin.
And she planned
with two male friends
to actually escape to Switzerland.
But they were caught
crossing the border.
Her two friends were shot -
shot dead -
and she was sentenced
to life in prison.
And then they were freed
from the prison in 1945,
and she walked all the way
from Waldheim to Prague.
They walked...
That must have been
a terrifying time for her.
It was, and I'm sure it
affected her quite a lot.
But she was very brave
and very gifted, as well.
She worked in arts all her life.
As a child,
we never had anything - we didn't
have a TV, we didn't have a fridge,
didn't have a washing machine -
but we had a full apartment
of paintings and books.
Amazing. That was more
important to my parents.
So, when did you arrive in the UK?
In 1968 I went to do a big trip
around Europe, starting with London.
But whilst I was in London,
the Russians invaded Czechoslovakia.
I wasn't able to go back
for 22 years.
Goodness. In 1990,
the Iron Curtain came down
and that was the first time
I actually revisited Prague
after all that time. Gosh.
My mother was able to come
out of Czechoslovakia
and to see me in London because
she was not of any interest
to the communist authorities then.
When I last saw her,
she was saying,
you must take all these precious
possessions back to Bristol.
And I think she was hoping
I would be able to one day
get it back to the original state.
How was this originally displayed?
Before it was broken,
it was sitting on a wooden pedestal.
Oh, it would stand up like that?
Like that. Gosh, it's beautiful.
Isn't it lovely?
Do you have any photographs
of it complete? Yes.
And also one of the back of it,
which shows exactly how the hair
and how the pedestal worked.
That would be helpful. Helpful!
Yeah, that would be really helpful.
The fascinating thing
is that it looks
just like my daughter looked
at the age of about 18, 20,
which is very special for me.
Yeah. It's going to be
an absolute pleasure
to try and get this back for you.
Oh, thank you so much.
You're so welcome.
Bye-bye. Goodbye.
I think this is a really beautiful
piece of sculpture.
You can really see
the way it's been made.
You can see the texture,
the tooling,
the hands that have actually
created this.
Now...
..it's going to be
quite tricky to...
..make up this really quite
large missing section.
It's really helpful
that Martin had some images
of how this piece would have looked.
And I think one of the first jobs
that I've got to do
is to try and work out the shape
of this missing section.
I can see by
looking at the interior
that this plaster
is really quite thin.
It's almost like a shell
on an Easter egg.
I'm going to have to try
and support it in some way
so that I've got a stable surface
to fill onto.
I've had a chat with Will
and he's kindly offered
to make the base.
I'm going to finish off
a surface cleaning,
and that gives me an opportunity
to think what I'm going to do next.
While Kirsten gets
ahead on the head,
Dean's tackling tools,
beginning the difficult task
of building back up
the burned-away soul
of the little clog.
I need roughly the same
thickness on the sole here
as I have on this undamaged one.
If I can build up the thickness,
let that set.
It's nice and hard and it will take
some new pins around the front
and the new rubber seg.
So at this point, I'm just creating
a two-part epoxy putty.
This is the best way
that I think I can build up
the thickness of the sole.
As I've never used this before,
I'm intrigued to find out
if that's the case.
I like learning new things -
keeps things fresh -
but there's always that slight worry
of, is it going to look good enough?
Is it going to be refined enough?
And I think, like any craftsperson,
it's always at the forefront
of your mind,
to do the best job possible.
So there's still a little bit
more tinkering here.
And then I'm going to let it set
and then it will be ready
to sand down and profile.
So now this putty has actually
dried really hard,
and I think the most
surprising thing to me
is that it's bonded
so well to this wood.
So now I'm going
to put it on the sander,
and just try and match the original
profile of the shoe - steadily.
I did feel,
when I was going round,
a bit of movement,
and I can actually see
if I pull that front,
it's really not bonded to the front,
which is really frustrating.
Ah...
So, unfortunately, I have to
kind of admit defeat, really.
I just felt that
with the complex profile...
..and the fact I didn't want to be
shaving so much wood away,
I wanted to keep as much
of the original wood as possible,
and on discovering this putty,
it was quite exciting
to use a new material.
Unfortunately, it's not
really sufficient for this job.
But you live and learn.
There is no finesse in this.
I'm just going to pull that off
and clean up the wood.
That is such a shame,
it really is.
There is always a plan B, though.
My plan B is to use leather.
And once I build this up in leather,
I will be able to
wet it and hand-carve it
into pretty much any shape I want.
So I'm just going to trim
the excess leather now...
..to a rough shape.
So that's the first layer on, and
it's bonded really, really nicely.
To bring it level,
I'm going to have to do perhaps
five layers in total,
and it will give a good,
solid base to put the pins in
and to attach the rubber seg.
So I'm just creating a template
here for a new rubber seg.
Luckily, I have this right shoe
with an intact rubber seg,
that I can copy the template.
So that's all pressed on now.
And now it's a case
of cutting it out.
Working on organs and harmoniums
since his teens,
David's travelled the world
with his craft,
but every newly restored instrument
still thrills.
That's the harmonium assembled,
and I've replaced
the carpet on the pedals.
I've managed to match the type
of carpet as near as possible.
But I've got to now connect
the pedals to the bellows.
So that's the petals connected.
So, moment of truth.
NOTES PLAY
Well, it actually makes noises!
That's, er... That's lovely.
I have to admit,
it's been a real honour
to do this harmonium for Simon.
Really, really looking forward
to getting it back to him.
As Poet Laureate,
Simon is tasked with writing verses
to mark the nation's events.
This harmonium
inspired its own ballad,
marking its significance
in the life of Simon
and the father who sparked
his life of creativity.
Hello. Hello, Simon.
How are you doing?
Very good, thanks.
So, how are you feeling?
I'm really looking forward
to being reacquainted with it.
I don't have a memory, obviously,
of my dad as a choirboy,
or my grandad,
but what I do know
is that their voices
sang in harmony with this thing
in the same way that I did, in the
same place in that church.
So there's a kind of lineage
connected with this,
and that's why it's special for me.
Yeah, yeah.
Ready to see it?
Ready. Yeah.
Come on, then.
It's beautiful.
I'm just... I'm looking straight
away at the pedals
because...it'd been played so much,
there were big holes
in the...in the fabric there. Yes.
It's really beautiful.
Oh, yeah.
It looks like it's, er,
been to the dentist.
Yes! Yes!
NOTES PLAY
LAUGHTER
It's definitely got its voice back.
I think it was this one here that...
..was a bit croaky. Yes, yes.
LOW NOTE PLAYS
So what do you think your dad
would make of it now?
I think he'd be really chuffed
that it was up and running again.
No, he would have loved it.
So, what's the future hold for it?
Well, I definitely want
it to be played.
I work with a band, so I'm hoping
that this is going to be involved
in some of the records that we make,
and maybe accompany us
onstage, as well.
Pat and Richard are here.
Hiya. How we doing?
Hey, guys.
Come to see if you've done
a proper job on this.
Yeah, that's right! I'm nervous now!
Act professional!
# That's the thing about desire
# It won't always
be on your side... #
It's cold in the small hours
Bolting the door
against dark nights
Scanning for miracles
Panning for glimmers and signs
Knowing, at best,
I'm the 10th or 11th in line
I know I'm not really
your favourite person
But you're mine
Desire is a sylph-figured creature
Who changes her mind
# That's the thing about it #
I know I'm not really
your favourite person
But you're mine
# You just want more over time
# Over time. #
Wow!
Amazing!
How does it feel?
It felt really moving
and very satisfying to hear sweet
noise coming out of that again
and to hear it playing
contemporary music,
but still with that
sort of spiritual heart.
It was a very pleasurable moment.
When I look at the harmonium,
it's very moving to think of Dad
singing along to it, and my
grandad singing along to it.
But I also think about it as...as
something that's not just got
a past and a memory and a history,
but as an instrument that's...
..that's been restored
so it can have a future.
As the harmonium makes its way home,
the barn is freed for more fixes.
Kirsty from Hartford
has brought some precious metal
for the attention of
jeweller Richard Talman.
Hello, there. Hello.
Welcome to the barn. Thank you.
So, what's inside the box?
We have a charm bracelet.
A silver charm bracelet.
Lovely.
Now, that...is a charm bracelet!
There's so many charms there.
It really is, yes.
Where's it from?
So this was gifted to my mum
by her dad
in the early '60s.
He was a greyhound trainer
in East London
in the '40s and '50s,
and that was quite a colourful
part of London back then.
And this was gifted to her from him.
And that was very special.
Such incredible detail, isn't it?
Yes.
It's such an eclectic mix of charms.
I mean, do you know
what any of them mean?
I think some of these bracelets were
"wishing for you" charms.
Rather than having
been significant to a...
..than things that have
already happened. I see.
Er, the engagement ring -
that is a link to a marriage. Erm...
The horse would be because
my mum, her brothers,
they were all very much into horses.
My mum would break horses in.
What's your mum's name?
Linda. And your grandfather's name?
Johnny. Johnny.
You know, he was very young
when he passed.
So it's always been a very,
very special piece for her.
And I've known about it
ever since I can remember.
My mum would always allow me
to dress up in this piece.
I would wear her shoes
and her lipstick
and I'd always be allowed
to put this on.
So, very special memories
I've got as a kid wearing this.
I've been enchanted by it
my whole life.
It's sentimental, but I know
that my mum would want
this played with just as I did,
so it would be great to have it
fixed so that I could do that.
You say that your mum WOULD want -
is your mum not still alive?
No. We lost her back in...
Boxing Day, 2020.
I'm sorry.
So, she was a lovely mum
to me growing up.
Try not to get too upset here.
She was very much
my best friend, as well.
I can see how much it means to you.
Yes.
It meant a lot to her.
And, you know,
ultimately a lot for me.
And now my daughter, who wants to...
She knows it was her nana's.
It's the only thing
she will have tangible of hers.
This is the one constant thing
that kind of really links
all the generations. Yeah.
But the main thing is that
this needs to be still intact
to be able to pass it down.
Yes. Yes, exactly.
So, what exactly is wrong with it?
There's always been
some stones missing.
So the fish had red eyes.
I don't remember the stone
for the engagement ring.
Some of the charms
do need some repair.
I look forward to...
I look forward to starting this.
Most repairs only focus
around one solid piece,
but I think we've probably
got about ten to do here!
Can you do that? I'm going to try
my hardest, that's for sure.
Thanks so much for coming. See you,
Kirsty. Thank you. Bye-bye.
There's nothing more unique
than a charm bracelet because
every single charm that's on this
bracelet tells some kind of story.
But, unfortunately,
they're not all in good shape.
So it's going to be
quite a job ahead of me.
The elephant has certainly
seen better days -
he's very, very badly tarnished.
He's going to need
certainly a lot of cleaning.
This lovely little crown
solitaire ring.
I think it's going to be a really
nice touch to make sure
we put a stone in that,
to make it look like a proper
engagement ring.
But to do any sort of work on this,
because it's got so many pieces
hanging from it,
I think my best chance is
to simply remove and dismantle
the entire piece,
and remove each and every one
of them.
So, now I've got these charms
off of the bracelet,
I can now get these into
the ultrasonic cleaner
to give them a really good,
thorough clean.
The magic hands of Kirsten are
trying to achieve the impossible -
conjuring the missing side of the
sculpted head out of thin air.
I'm going to build up a support
to build the plaster onto.
I'm putting the sand
into the head here...
..and this is so that I can
create the right shape
to build my support onto.
And once my support has set hard,
I can then just tip the sand out.
Now I've got this hessian,
and this is called scrim.
And I'm going to dip it
into plaster, so
I can work it into the missing
areas of the head.
I'm not really expecting
this to have any dramatic effect
on the appearance of the piece.
This is all about structure.
And once it's set hard,
I can then start to recreate
this beautiful, textured surface.
This is really fun.
It's a little bit more
like playing than working.
Kirsten has asked me if I'd be able
to make a new base
for Vera's sculpture.
I've got a lovely block of oak here.
I've got some great photos
here for reference.
Where the head sits
onto the wooden base,
there's almost like a scooped piece
of wood that's been removed.
I'm going to start off
by carving that out.
This is where hopefully
all the sand comes out, like so.
I'm now left with a shelf.
It's hard and it feels
really well secured,
so I'm now ready to move onto
filling in some of these areas.
Judging on the shape of the scoops,
I need to look for a carving gouge
with a bit of a curve to it.
And also, this being oak,
it has a tendency to splinter.
So one wrong tap
and it could be chaos.
Right. There's no going back now.
This is the first strike.
I'm now ready
to apply the final coat.
You've got these lovely marks
all over the surface
and it gives it a real
dynamic quality
and it just gives
the whole piece life.
So I need to try and recreate that.
Need my glasses.
Hello. Wow! Gosh.
All done.
That's looking amazing.
Thank you very much.
We might need another pair of eyes.
Jay? Yeah.
This is a big moment.
Oh, something to put the head on?
Yes.
Finally, I've added this sort
of wooden pole here, so it should...
It should sit just right.
We're going to put some
adhesive in there,
and we've got one go at this,
really.
Oh! Whoa! OK.
Well, the suspense is killing me.
Come on, let's give it a go!
It looks like lemon curd.
It does! Yeah, it does.
Getting kind of peckish.
OK. That's enough? Yeah.
Shall we go for it? Yeah? Yeah.
Let's get it in. Right...
Good.
Ooh...
Feels a lot less scary,
having you guys here.
OK?
What do you reckon?
Absolutely perfect.
From this angle, she looks exactly
how she's looking there.
Lovely. Probably just slightly...
I mean, really slightly
to this side.
A real minuscule amount. Yeah.
What do you reckon?
Absolutely perfect.
Yeah? Yeah. That's perfect.
Good. Nice one.
Right... Right, there's
a lot still to be done
before Martin gets this back.
Thank you. Thanks. See you in a bit.
It's been a rocky road to repair,
but Dean's now got a firm footing
with the tiny clogs.
Iris' clogs are looking
surprisingly well now.
The sole edge is nice and firm,
and I'm pretty confident that
it's going to be able to take
these decorative brass pins.
These are an exact match
for what were originally used.
Now, finding these
has been extremely difficult.
I had to get in touch
with a clog-maker -
of which there aren't many left in
the world, let alone the UK.
So to find them
has been so satisfying
and really fulfilling for me.
I know it meant a great deal
to Valerie
to get these repaired, and I just
hope I've done her proud.
And even more so, I hope
I've done Iris' memory proud.
Hi. Hiya! Welcome back.
Thank you. How are you doing?
I'm Dom. Pleased to meet you, Dom.
I'm Val.
And I know you, Dean. Hello, Val.
And I am so excited.
I'm bubbling. Are you looking
forward to seeing them?
I am. Go on, Dean.
I'll do the honours.
Oh, Dean, how on earth
have you done that?!
Look at this!
Oh, Dean, they're amazing.
Oh.
Oh, my goodness.
You've put the little segs back on.
Oh.
I wish my mum and sister
could have seen these.
My mum would have probably put
them in the China cabinet
where the good stuff goes.
Oh, they're just amazing.
I can't thank you enough.
They're brilliant.
I'm glad you're happy.
We didn't have much.
We were dirt poor.
Even had they not being damaged,
I don't think me mother
would have ever let them go.
She would have treasured them,
and she'd be pleased with me, that,
you know, I've done this.
They've been in that sorry
state for over 70 years
and you come along
and make them fabulous.
Can't thank you enough.
Happy? Oh, very, very happy!
Good. Yeah. More than I ever thought
I would be, yeah. Good.
Well, Val, they're yours
to take home and enjoy.
Thank you very much. That's lovely.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
I look at the clogs now
and I feel so proud of Iris
and what she achieved.
Those little shoes sort of
encompass all her struggles.
I think they were probably
the first time my mum experienced
Iris' determination,
and she stuck to it
throughout her life
and did so well,
and had such a rewarding career.
Also determined to succeed,
Richard is trying
to put the charming
back into the silver bracelet.
Now these charms have had a bit
of a bath in the ultrasonic,
that's removed all of the 60 years'
worth of dirt and grime
and just allowed me to know
what's tarnish and what's damage.
The worst affected
is this little elephant,
and he looks like
he's got a tarnish line
travelling all the way around him
because this has actually
been assembled
by two separate halves.
And it's actually the solder
line that's ended up tarnishing.
I'm going to see
if I can get rid of all that.
I'm going to use a polish
called Tripoli,
which is a grease abrasive.
You can see there, that's done
exactly the trick I'd hoped.
That solder line is now the same
colour as the rest of its body.
I've just now got
to repeat that process
times ten with the other charms!
The fish is now all polished,
and now I need to turn my attention
to replacing the stones in the eyes.
I'm going to take
a little bit of glue
and I'm taking the paste stone
onto a piece of beeswax.
It just allows me to pick the stone
up, holds it on the end
enough for me to just hold the stone
exactly where I want it,
but not sticky enough
to pull it off the fish.
So, there you go.
Just going to let that glue
set for a bit longer
and then I'll turn him over
and do the other side.
So, moving on to the next charm,
I think this
one is definitely my favourite.
I've actually never worked
with a ring as small as this.
I'm really keen to put a new
stone in, in exactly the same way
I would if it was
a real-life engagement ring.
So the stone I'm using
is cubic zirconia,
which is a man-made gemstone.
I need to take a very small burr.
It's going to grind away a perfect
semicircle on each of the claws.
And it's that semicircle
that the stone will sit into
to allow me to bend the claws over.
The next challenge is to bend
the claws over to secure it.
Whoo!
That stone is going nowhere.
I'm really happy with that.
Now it's on to the next one.
I really wanted to just give
an extra special touch to Kirsty's
mother by making a letter
shape "L" for her name, Linda.
I'm going to take a piece
of sterling silver,
and I'm going to start by filing
into it a little mitre edge.
So, I've now got a little
V shape cut out of it.
And the reason for that
is that I can bend the metal
around perfectly to make the "L".
So I'm going to solder it up.
I'm now just going to file
some curvature into it,
make it look a little bit nicer.
And I really hope that,
when Kirsty's eyes catch this,
it'll just bring a really
lovely memory of her mother.
More maternal memories have been
restored over on Kirsten's bench.
The sculpture is now
structurally sound,
just leaving her
colour-matching expertise
to get it picture perfect.
For me, this is the exciting point
that I start to put
the colour on,
and it's really satisfying,
just seeing that white disappearing
and you can really start to see
the sculpture coming back to life.
You can really feel
the soul in this.
You feel quite connected
to the maker
when you work this closely
on something that's been created.
It's come together really nicely,
and a little bit of shaping,
a little bit of retouching,
and then it's ready
to go back to Martin.
Caught up in the chaos
and tragedy of Europe
during the Second World War,
this sculpture captures
Martin's late mother, Vera,
just as she was finding her feet
in a life devoted to the arts.
All right, Martin? Hello!
Hi. How are you?
Yeah, good. Great to see you.
I'm so excited!
Ohh!
Honestly, to have it back
in one piece,
it'll be really, really great.
Fantastic.
Would you like to see it?
I'd love to see it, yeah.
OK. All right.
Ohhh.
Oh, my...
It's fantastic.
Oh.
I mean, I last saw
my mother in 1999,
just before she died.
And this is such
a wonderful memory. Mm.
It's my mother
when she was 27 years old.
What an amazing thing to have.
She was so beautiful.
Yeah.
It's...
It really brings back memories.
It really does.
I feel...
..taken back to my childhood.
Do you?
Oh...
Oh, amazing.
This is exactly how I remember it.
Including the pedestal, which
was exactly...exactly like that.
And the way you've actually made up
the part which was missing,
the colour,
and the way it's matched up,
the result is...is, you know,
exactly how it should be.
That's lovely to hear.
I thank you so much
for...for all this effort.
It's wonderful.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
I will treasure it forever.
Fantastic. Thank you.
Thank you. OK. Bye.
I was...totally overwhelmed.
The emotion was not necessarily
just the sculpture.
It's a sort of reminder
of where I came from
and symbolises this unity.
My mother, myself, my daughter,
which...is important in...
in my life.
With every tiny charm now
back to its lucky best,
Richard can reunite them
with their silver bracelet.
I'm going to start off
with the engagement ring
in the little heart locket.
I really hope that
when Kirsty sees this,
that she's going to be
confident enough
to let her daughter try it on
and hopefully recreate the same
memories that it held for her
when she tried it on
from her mother.
Every charm holds a memory
for Kirsty about her childhood
and the beloved mum she lost
three years ago.
Along with daughter Heidi,
she's hoping to recreate happy times
playing dress-up with the bracelet.
Hello, there.
Hello. Hello. Hello!
Who do we have here?
Heidi. Hi, Heidi.
Nice to meet you. Nice to have you
back as well. Thank you very much.
Heidi, have you heard
all about the bracelet?
Yeah.
What would you like to do
with it when you get home?
Play with it. Play with it.
Well, we won't keep you
in any more suspense.
You've waited long enough.
Shall we have a look?
Yes, please! Right, go on, Rich.
Oh, my goodness!
That looks...
That looks completely different!
Look at that.
It's just incredible.
I just can't believe...
It looks brand-new, doesn't it?
And what's that? Look! A "L".
For Linda. Nana's name.
It's just...
It's just perfect.
I just can't thank you enough.
It's been a pleasure.
It's just phenomenal.
I can see Heidi getting even closer
to the bracelet. Eyeing it up!
Would you like to try it on?
Yeah?
Go on, then.
Which hand do you want it on?
This one.
OK?
How does that feel?
We have to look after it, don't we?
What do we say? Thank you.
It's been a pleasure, Heidi.
It's been lovely to meet you.
Thank you very much.
Thanks a lot, bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Bye.
It looks absolutely incredible.
The additional charm,
it's like her stamp on it
that I know that she would love.
It's just her piece.
It will always be her piece.
It's something that
we will treasure forever.
It looks lovely.
If you have a treasured possession
that's seen better days
and you think the team can help,
please get in touch at...
..and join us in The Repair Shop.