The Repair Shop (2017–…): Season 7, Episode 33 - Episode #7.33 - full transcript

Welcome to The Repair Shop where
precious but faded treasures...

This is bad.

I don't think I've ever seen a chair
quite so broken as this.

..are restored to their
former glory.

That is lovely.

That is lovely, isn't it?

Furniture restorer Jay Blades...

Bringing history back to life

is what makes The Repair Shop
so special.

..and a dream team of
expert craftspeople...

Amazing.



It's a bit like brain surgery.

Go on!

..come together to work
their magic...

When you look at something
that looks so hopeless like this,

it makes me even more determined
to get it back.

That's teamwork.

..employing heritage
craft skills

passed down the generations...

It is a privilege to be able to do
something for somebody that means

so much to them.

..preserving
irreplaceable heirlooms.

To bring those pieces back to life

is just the most wonderful thing,
and I'd like to do it forever.

The team will restore the items...



Wow!

..the memories...

I'm so happy to see it.

..and unlock the stories
that they hold.

It's made it all worthwhile.

In The Repair Shop today...

I thought I'd cut most of
the rotten pieces out,

but look at the state of it.

..Dom is on a mission to sort
an old postbox.

This paint job is going to be
first class.

And Susie's strategy of a stitch
in time saves a fragile folder.

I'm so pleased when a plan
comes together.

But the first arrival at the barn
is Sue Kent from Manchester

with an heirloom
and a guilty secret.

Hello.
Hello.

She's hoping silversmith
Brenton West can help

wipe the slate clean.

That's nice, isn't it?
I can see a dent!

There's more than one dent,
unfortunately.

It's a tea set, isn't it?
It is.

It's a silver tea set that was given
to me by my uncle, John Burke.

He was my dad's eldest brother
and my godfather.

He gave it to me when he was
in his sixties, and we lost him

four years ago when he was 91.
Wow!

He was a D-Day veteran and he was
just an incredible man.

Soon after the war, my dad's parents
both died, unfortunately, so John,

at the early 20s, became the
head of the family and he brought

the rest of them up.

There were four brothers
and a sister.

Four kids that he had to look after?
Yeah. Wow.

So your dad and the rest
of the family must think

quite highly of him.

Yeah, he was just a fabulous,
fabulous man.

Whenever myself and my cousins went
to see them, he always had a jar

filled with pennies and two pennies
and he'd say,

"Put your hand in,
you can have whatever you want."

But of course, we weren't bright
enough to realise it doesn't matter

how much you pick up.

You can only get your hand
through the neck of the jar.

So you put your hand in the jar,
try to grab the money

and then you can't get it out?

I like that, and
that's a good thing.

All these sorts
of little things.

He was the sort of guy
that would just entertain you.

He was just a lovely gentleman.

Why did Uncle John give this to you?

He was my godfather.
We were very close.

I just remember as a child, it
was something that I was drawn to.

It was polished, not looking
as neglected as it does now.

And he had it on a mahogany dresser,
so it looked like a mirror.

It was really spectacular.

So this, when you originally got it,
it was shinier than this?

You can see... That's the colour
it's supposed to be. OK.

But unfortunately...

It was on a shelf in my kitchen,
and I came home from work one day

and the top shelf had collapsed
and knocked all the pieces

onto the kitchen surface.

It's not all damaged,
but there is quite a bit.

What did you do with it
after it fell off?

I just put it back in the cupboard.

I couldn't look at it.
I felt really guilty.

Did you tell him?

No, I've just, I felt so guilty.

I just...

No, no, I couldn't.

How would you tell somebody
that they'd given you something

that meant so much to them
and you'd let that happen?

No, he never knew.

I feel like I've let him down.

It's not your fault.

Well, no, but it doesn't stop
you, does it? Yeah.

So it's lived in a cupboard,
for how long has it stayed?

At least ten years.

It's been in a cupboard
for ten years? At least.

What would you like Brenton
to do to it?

I'd love to get rid of these dents,
obviously. OK.

And just make it look like
I can be proud of it again

and get rid of the guilt.

We'll get rid of that guilt.
OK? Thank you.

You take care now.
All right. Thank you.

Bye.

I'm ashamed to see the tea set
in the state that it is.

I feel really, really upset
about it.

To know it's in expert hands
is absolutely fantastic.

It's a sense of relief.

I can't wait to see what Brenton
does with it.

Now I've got a closer look at
Sue's tea set,

I can see this is silver plated,
so it's got EP written

on the bottom, which
is electro plated.

Electro plated means that a very
thin, very thin coat of silver

has been put over a base metal
of copper, brass, nickel,

whatever it is.

The main structural damage
is the pot,

the jug, and I think this is
the hot water pot,

and this has got a dent in it,

so I've got to get
inside these and knock

these dents out.

But the first thing I'm going to do
is to clean them up so I can see

if there's any dents that
I've missed and how much work

I've got to do,
replacing and polishing.

As Brenton tackles the delicate
silverware, outside,

a sturdier piece of metal work
is being brought in

by Sarah Lindsay
from Fife.

Hi, I'm Dom.
Hi, I'm Sarah.

What's in the boot?
Go on!

Have a look!

Oh, nice.

Oh, yes.
Let me grab it for you.

Yeah, on you go.

She's hoping Dominic Chinea's
expertise in metal

can salvage this hefty bit
of family heritage.

Oh.

Oh, it's heavier than it looks.

Yes.

How did you come to own
something like this then?

So this is my papa's postbox.

So Papa was my grandfather.

Brilliant.
What was his name?

His name was Angus, but he got
called Gus. Gus, OK.

Yeah, he got it as a retirement gift
from the Royal Mail.

A few of his
friends acquired it,

and gave it to him.

He was a postman then, I guess,
was he? Yes.

So my papa was in the
Royal Mail for over 40 years.

My great grandad was in the Royal
Mail for over 40 years as well.

Really? And my dad was in the
Royal Mail for over 30 years.

All postmen all up in Scotland?
Yes.

Edinburgh.
That's amazing.

Please tell me that you joined
them as well?

No, but we do still
have a connection.

Me and my younger brother
are in the post office pipe band.

When I've taken on the roles
playing the bagpipes,

I'm very well known as Angus'
granddaughter.

Did you ever get to meet him?
Yeah.

Oh, he was just a really kind man...

Sorry. You're OK.

And yeah, the postbox, the memories
I have from it are posting

our letters to Santa
into the postbox. Oh, bless.

And that Papa was a great friend
to Santa, so he would make sure

that the letters got there!
Course he would.

So it looks like it's been in this
way for quite a while then.

Yeah, it was in my granny
and Papa's garden.

When he got it, he got it about 86
and it was there until both

of them passed away.

And then we had it in my dad's
garden and the good old Scottish

weather, I think,
has taken its toll.

And when I picked it up, my hand
went straight through the bottom.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So it is in need of some
TLC, definitely.

So it's nice to see it's still got
the collection times and everything

on the front. Yeah.

Well, actually, the collection plate
is personalised to my papa.

Is it really?

If you read the times, it says,
you know, delivered sometime,

maybe, never, sometimes, whenever,

so quite like my papa's
sense of humour.

Brilliant!

When I read that, that makes me
emotional as well,

because that makes me
kind of think of my papa.

Yeah, please tell me
you've got the key.

No, no, no.

How's Santa's supposed
to get the letters out?

I know, you know, the key
has been lost for years and years.

So if I managed to get that door
open, am I going to find

letters from you?

You may, I have no idea.

And so that could be a fun surprise.

But just to see it restored
would mean the world to me.

So will they end up in your garden?
Yes, eventually.

And it's going to go back to my dad
to begin with as a wee

nice surprise for him
so that his grandchildren can post

the letters for Santa?

Well, thank you so much
for bringing this in.

It's lovely to meet you.
Thank you.

See you later.
Bye.

Papa's postbox is very important
to me.

It's got such links to our
family, our family's history

with the Royal Mail.

I'm glad it's in the safe
hands of Dom.

Sarah's poor postbox has definitely
had quite a life.

The fact that Sarah wants to put
this back in the garden,

it kind of makes my mind up really
on how I tackle the restoration.

I need to get it sandblasted,
which is just going to strip it

right back to the bare metal.

Then after that, it'll be a nice
coat of red paint.

The obvious first job I'm going
to have to do is try and get

inside because I'm dying to see
if there's any of Sarah's old

letters to Santa in there.

Unfortunately, the key is long gone.

Luckily, I've got a huge
hole in the bottom.

Over time, water's got in
and it's just gone really rusty.

So if I cut that out, I'll be able
to get inside,

gain access to the lock.

I can then make my new panel
and weld it back in place.

This is going to be my way in.

I think we're in.

Oh, yes.
Go on.

Look how rusty that is.

I really want to see
what is inside here.

Oh.

Oh, my goodness.

So that is the original basket
that would hold the letters.

There's no letters to Santa.

I've got nothing else in here.
I'm going to roll my sleeves up

before I put my arm too deep
in there.

It's like not one of those game
shows where you put your hand in a

box and you don't know what's
in there!

I can see that lock now.

That's the lock removed, brilliant.

My plan worked perfectly.

In theory, the door should open now.

Brilliant, that is the door
freed up and moving OK.

Now there's a couple more
components that I need to get at

inside to pick apart.

Then it's ready
to go off to be blasted.

The silver plated tea set
has benefited from a liberal

application of elbow grease,
allowing Brenton to assess the full

extent of the damage.

This is the worst of the dents
in all of these items.

I've got to knock it out as best
I can and then from the outside,

smooth the dents off with
a flat faced hammer.

I don't want to stretch
the metal too much.

I'm going very, very slowly
at it and checking quite

regularly to see

how far I'm going to come out.

Sometimes you can push the edge
of the dent out by pushing it hard.

This is a very smooth hammer and
I'm actually pushing the dent out

rather than hitting it.

I can definitely go too far
with this and make a bulge in it,

and that would be very difficult
to get rid of.

So I'm being careful
not to stretch the metal.

So that's the dent out,
and I need to smooth this off,

and I'm going to put a stake
in the vice

and very gently planish it.

I've knocked all the dents out
with my planishing hammer.

Very, very gently, so I'm just
removing my hammer marks

with a water of air stone
and this is a very fine stone

from Scotland, which silversmiths
traditionally used years ago.

This actually changes shape
and forms with the curve

of the silver, which rubs
over the top of the, of the high

points and smooths the metal
and gets rid of all the dents.

I need to keep dipping the stone
into the water to lubricate it.

Otherwise it just sort of scratches
and gets blocked up.

I'm going to keep on rubbing
this stone until I can see

that this is all level.

I'm going to take this over
to the polishing motor and give it

a good polish, and it
should look fantastic.

Next at the barn is Philip
Birkenstein from Buckinghamshire.

He has a keepsake that symbolises
his family's experience of the 1930s

and '40s, and it needs Susie
Fletcher's leather work expertise.

Hello, how you doing?
You all right?

I'm fine, thank you.

I'm Jay.
I'm Philip. Philip.

I'm Susie.
Nice to meet you.

So we have something rather
interesting here.

It's well wrapped up.

Oh! Now that is beautiful.

Thank you.
So what is that?

It's actually a folder for keeping
things in, and it has quite

an interesting history to it.
OK.

This belonged to my parents.

My father was called Eric,
my mother, Margaret.

And they actually grew up
in Germany, and everything

was fine till the 1930s.

Yes. And everything
was confiscated.

Everything went.

And obviously the Jews were shipped
off by train

to the concentration camp.

And my father and his father
were in the same

concentration camp together.

But interestingly, my mother
was part of the underground,

you might say, in that she would
fake papers for people

to get out of concentration camp.

She faked papers?

She faked papers.

What could have happened
to her if...

If they'd realised
what she was doing,

she'd have been shot on the
spot. Brave lady.

Yeah.

She didn't want people to die.
She wanted them to be out.

Absolutely.

So she apparently faked about 50
different people to get out

of a concentration camp,
of which she only knew three.

Incredible. And one of those people
was my father.

They both went to the same sports
club, so they knew each other,

but there was nothing
more than that.

And through the paperwork,
my father, he got out.

My grandfather didn't.

Wow.

And unfortunately, virtually
all our relatives were wiped out.

So my father arrived in England
with 50p, because that's all

they were allowed to bring.
Right. And my mother suddenly

realised that she wasn't going
to get out and she obviously

did her own paperwork and was one
of the very last to leave,

to get out and came to England.

And then when did they meet up,
then, how did they...

Well, my father was in London
and my mother then followed.

She knew where he was.

They got married and had
three children.

So where did they get this then?

I remember when I was about three
or four, my parents went back

to Germany for about four months,
and they tried to find out

what happened to the house,
to the businesses

and everything else.

Interestingly, my mother's side,
my grandfather

was in the leather business. Right.

And somebody had saved it,
and they were able to bring it

back to England. Yeah.

It really does make me
think back to them

what they may have gone through.

And on my grandfather's side,
on my father's side,

you know, him passing
in concentration camp.

Yeah. But it also has...

It's a beautiful thing.

So it also has a pleasure
to it, too.

So it's not just sad,
it's the future.

It's the past.

It has everything to it, really,
which is what I think life

is all about, isn't it?
Most definitely.

Memories.
Yeah, that is.

Yeah, I mean, it just speaks volumes
of what they went through.

And what would you like Susie
to do to it?

It would be lovely if it can be
opened without having to go

so terribly careful.

I mean, as you see here, it
really is in terrible condition here

and I think it needs some life
put back into it.

It's disappointing that the colours
here are so faded

compared with the inside,
and it would be nice to see it

as it should have been.

It is going to be very difficult,
but that's never going to put me off

and particularly as it carries
such a weighty story with it.

Oh, that's lovely to hear that.

Yeah. Philip, this is brilliant.
Thank you for bringing it in.

Well, thank you very much.
OK, thank you.

Take care now. Bye-bye.
Thank you. Bye-bye.

It really is exciting for me to see
what can be done with the folder.

After my parents losing everything,

here's something that can be
restored and it is something

very special to the family too.

It's clear to me that Philip
really values this leather folder,

but there is so much needing
to be done.

The spine here has completely
torn and it's just hanging on,

and then these edges that
have been bashed

about over the years, all
of that needs to be tidied up.

And then the final part
will be to try and bring this front

panel back to the vibrancy of
the inner panels and I can see

that it's actually been glued back
together, which is a little bit

scary to me because it could be
a glue that's not going to release.

So I'm just going to see if I
can release this fragile leather

without causing any more issues.

It is slowly giving way, but I think
it's going to take me quite a while.

While Suzie's making slow progress,
outside, the rusty postbox

has arrived back from the sand
blaster, allowing Dom to crack on,

but with a longer to do list.

I thought I'd cut most of the rotten
pieces out, but look at the state

of it, literally the whole bottom,

it's completely rotten.

So I think what I'm going to do
is cut out back

along that original seam.

I can just cut right back to that,

make a new piece, as they did
in the factory, and weld

that in the same place
that they did.

My new panel is almost identical
to the original.

All I need to do is weld that back
on following the original seam.

Well, this is it.

All the pieces of the postbox
are primed and ready to paint.

And it's not just any old red
paint, with these postboxes

there are rules.

There's an agreement now with
the Post Office and English

Heritage to protect the postboxes
that are all around,

and they're all painted in a very,
very specific red paint

that's in the gun already.

This paint job is going
to be first class.

Even if I do say so myself,

Sarah's postbox is looking
a million times better.

All of the components now are
stripped down, repaired,

cleaned, painted and it's all ready
to put back together.

I'm pleased to say that 90% of
the nuts and bolts and washers

that came off are going back on,

even Angus's custom
little collections

timetable that his colleagues
made for him and the actual window

that that's going to sit
in front of.

I've put another piece there in
front to protect it so I can make

sure that that can last
for as long as possible.

And there's an awful lot
of parts here.

I'm going to be breaking
it down into chunks,

I'm going to start with the door.

There's a lot of components
that I can actually get bolted

in place whilst the door
is off and I can actually handle it.

I'll do the same with the front face
and then it will all start to come

together and we'll have a postbox
again.

BIRDSONG

The postbox components are looking
as good as new.

But the same can't be said for
the tea set that's been keeping

Brenton very busy.

So the work that I've done
to this silver tea set involved

abrading the surface after
I'd hammered it. That took

the silver plate off.

I've repolished it.
It looks absolutely amazing,

but unfortunately the base metal
is showing through.

So I need to re-silver plate it
with an electroplating system.

I've got a power supply here,
and it sends a very low voltage

current through these
two wires. On this end,

which is called the wand,

there's some silver salt.

And when I connect the wires
to the item and make a circuit,

the silver ions leave the salt
and attach themselves to the teapot.

So you can see the area that's
becoming silver plated now,

and it's slightly dull looking,

but it will polish up later.

Every time I rub up and down,
a little bit more silver attaches

itself and they're slowly, slowly
building it up.

I want to put a good layer

of silver on here.

I want it to last for a good
few years.

I've got the other pots and
the sugar bowl to do.

And when that's all looking
fabulous, I can give Sue a shout

and she can come and pick it up.

The tea service arrived at the barn,

dented from falling off a shelf.

The damage was a secret Sue kept
from the beloved uncle who'd

given her the set.

Now she's back.

I think about Uncle John a lot.

I'm sure... Well, I know
he would forgive me

for having damaged it, and I'm sure
he'd be delighted

that it's been repaired.

I can't wait to see it.

There she is.

Hello, Sue.
Hello, nice to see you.

Hello, Sue.
Hi. You're both smiling.

That's good news.
You're smiling.

Absolutely. I hadn't realised

how guilty I felt until I started
talking

to you guys about it.
So I'm hoping for closure.

So no pressure.

SHE LAUGHS

You ready, yeah?

Yeah.

Bless ya. Go on, let's let her
see it.

Oh!

My word, that looks incredible.

Wow.

Brenton, that's amazing.

I just... It looks like it belongs
in Buckingham Palace.

It's that silver, it's that...

Oh...

Wow.

Can I?
Of course you can. Yeah.

And all the dents have gone.

Oh, that's fantastic.

I can feel the guilt going.
Good. That's good.

That's very good. It's, it's...

Wow, thank you.

That's all right.

I feel like I can...

I can look at it
with a smile instead of regret.

Yeah. Which makes a big difference,
and, my word, it is making me smile.

So now you can take this home,
put it on display and all of those

lovely memories of Uncle John come
flooding back.

Absolutely. I've got a fantastic
photograph of him and me.

Put this next to it.

That's just where it needs to go.

And it's not on a shelf.

Well, Sue, if you go get your
car, we'll get this wrapped

up and bring it out to you. Yeah.
Fantastic. Thank you very much.

No problem. See you in a bit.
Take care now. Bye.

Seeing the tea set, I didn't imagine
for one minute

it would be so shiny, so perfect.

Uncle John was such a major part
of my life when I was growing up.

Now the guilt is gone.

It just brings back so many
memories.

It's definitely not going back
in the cupboard. It will

just sparkle in the sunlight.
I can't wait.

BIRDSONG

Suzie's work on the leather desk
folder is proving every bit

as tricky as she feared.

After the challenge of detaching the
most damaged part, strengthening

the spine with a new strip
of hide is just as fiddly.

Everything is in the way,

and I'm having to move it to
position the leather...

..working a little bit blind.

But that has gone a lot better
than I was anticipating.

I've reinforced the spine of
the folder,

so now I've got
to figure out

how to position this
while I do the hand sewing.

I have a really lovely sewing
machine that actually could sew

this quite easily.

The problem with that is because
I'm going along a stitch line

that's already been sewn before,
guarantee

what would happen is you'd get
so many extra perforations,

it would just split the leather.

And we can't afford
for that to happen.

I feel like I need to stand it up.

I'm very happy with how it's going.

It's a little awkward to work
at this angle, but I think the end

result is going to be really lovely.

Just going to take a little
while to get there.

Now I've got that front panel on,

I can now start to stitch a binding

along the edge.

This binding, the way it's going
to fold over is going to cover

that raw, damaged edge and make it
look really attractive, as well

as giving it all the strength back.

Well, we'll just bring
this leather over...

..nice and tight.

We'll flip this over.

And now we can see we've got
this lovely turned edge,

which has hidden all of those
ruffed, cracked-off edges.

I'm so pleased when a plan
comes together.

This is the part
I've been so excited to get to.

You've got these fabulous
decorative panels

and they're really, really vibrant.

But then you look at the front panel
here,

and it's lost a lot of the colour.

What I need to do is to clean
this and just see whether some

of this is dirt or whether it
actually has just leached out

all of the colour.

So I'm using a really fine detergent

and just gently go over this first

area here and make sure that
it doesn't actually lift

off the surface at all.

Wow. Already, I can see that there's

a lot of dirt coming off,

and this is really encouraging.

Now I've got this panel clean,

it's given me a clue of what colours

are underneath, they were buried
in there.

The biggest colour that's missing

is like this coppery red colour,

and thankfully I have a rose

on this panel that I'm going to use

to build up this rose.

And I think that's going
to be quite a dramatic change.

So I've got some different colour
acrylic paints specifically

for this type of work.

Just going to see how the copper
looks on this, and I may have to do

some blending, but just
have to start somewhere.

The right colour for the postbox
was never in doubt. As Dom begins

reassembling the main part,
his priority is ensuring it lasts

as long as possible.

What I'm doing here is I'm trying
to keep the weather out,

so I'm putting a bit of seam sealer
in. The water had clearly got

inside of the postbox and sat
in there and just rotted

out the bottom. So I'm taking as
many steps as I can to try and stop

that from happening again.

It's really important that I get
this face fixed on nice and square,

nice and tight. Perfect.

I can feel the studs sticking
through. So all I need to do now

is try and get a washer, a spring
washer and a tiny

little nut around and in there,

on the end of the stud,
work my way round, there's ten

of those to do.

So I've got a feeling I'm going
to be here for some time.

The door is ready.

I've got one screw to get
this door attached.

Oh, perfect. That's such a nice,
smooth action, brilliant. Right,

that's it, then. I've got the last
few nuts and bolts to tighten up,

and then this postbox will be ready
for Sarah to collect.

The old Royal Mail box had spent
so long exposed to the elements

that there was nothing royal
about it.

Now Sarah's back for her treasured
reminder of her grandfather, Papa.

I'm hoping that Dom's been able
to put it back to its former glory.

I would just want it to look
like it is a postbox.

And, yeah, just kind of thinking
about the history we've got

with it and how sentimental it
all really is and how important

it is as well.

Hello. How are you? Good, thank
you. How are you?

Very good, actually.
How are you feeling?

Excited. A little bit nervous but.

I think I might be more
nervous than you.

I'm not sure.

So what's the dream for today?

Just, just to see it back
as a postbox.

You know what it authentically
kind of was. Yeah.

And it's got a lot attached to it.

Ready to see it?

Yes. Dom, do the honours.

Oh, my God.

That's amazing.

Oh, my God.

SHE SNIFFS

It's just beyond what I expected.

Thank you so much.

This postbox really represents
three generations

of your family's dedication
to the Postal Service.

So I think it's only right
that it looks nice and smart.

Absolutely. Yeah. I've done
everything I can to get it

looking back like it would have,
you know, when Papa first got it.

It looks exactly like it was in
the garden when he first had it.

So, yeah, I mean...

I can't believe this. I was thinking
of the state it was in.

Yeah, the top was all bent in and
split. And the bottom.

Yeah. It had no bottom. No.

I can't, I can't believe it.

I mean...

..it's incredible.

Just done an amazing job.
Thank you so much.

What do you think Dad's
going to think of it?

Oh, my dad is going to be absolutely
over the moon.

He doesn't know that I'm picking
it up today.

He knows that it's getting restored,
but I want to give it back

to him in person.

I cannot wait to see his face
and his reaction to it.

It will be, it'll be amazing.

Oh, I've got one more surprise
that I hope will make you smile.

The key.
Oh!

An actual key. Go on.

Oh, my!

LAUGHTER

That's literally the best,
the best thing ever.

So Santa can get your letters out.
Absolutely important thing -

Santa can get the letters out.

Oh, my word.
That is incredible.

My dad is going to lose his mind,
the fact that it opens.

I just have to keep the key

very safe. There's two, don't worry.
That's good!

That's incredible. Sarah, we're
going to get this shipped up to you.

Is that all right? You don't have to
take it with you now.

Brilliant. Thank you. All right?
Yeah. Good. Well, it's
been a pleasure meeting you.

Thank you.
I'm glad you like it.

Thank you so much for it, it's
amazing. You're welcome.

You take care. See you later.
Thank you. Bye. Bye-bye.

Oh, look after the key! I will.
LAUGHTER

It was very emotional seeing
the postbox, just brought back

that kind of little girl playing
with my papa and just kind

of remembering him.

Yeah.
So it's just blown me away.

Having restored the faded colours
on the leather folder, Suzie's

on the home straight.

Now I've got that front panel
painted, it now

matches the rest of the folder,

and I think it, it really does look
like it always did,

and it feels so much more solid.

Final thing I need to do is just
hydrate some of the leather.

Give it a good buff up.

And hopefully Philip really enjoys
the end result.

The leather folder is a precious
reminder of Philip's parents,

who escaped Nazi Germany,
and of his grandfather who perished

in the Holocaust. I think it's
part of my history.

I think it's very important,
and it would be very nice

to have it back again and to be
able to share how it looks

with the family.

Hello, Philip. Hello there.

Lovely to see you again.
And you.

So, Philip, when you brought
the folder in to me,

it was in a little bit of disrepair.

That's an understatement, I think.

What are you hoping that
I've been able to do with it?

Well, I'm hoping, first
of all, very importantly to me

that it's usable.

There is a mark on the desk
where this sat,

and it'd be nice
to have it back there.

And of course, the front
cover was so faded,

but the inside was beautiful
colours. Yeah.

So I'm kind of hoping that the front
does justice to the inside.

Well, let's see if I've been able
to do justice to it.

You ready? I really am ready.

OK, here we go then.

Oh, wow!

Well, the colour's certainly
there, isn't it?

Yes.

Wow!

That's not falling to pieces
any more.

That's not falling to pieces.

Can I open it? Please do.

Yes.

Oh, yes, this is much firmer here.

It looks beautiful, doesn't it, now?

You've done a brilliant job.

Well, thank you, thank you.

It looks lovely.

Now it's all back together,
what are the plans for the folder?

Well, first of all, it definitely
is going back on the desk.

That will be the very first thing.
OK.

I'm sure the family will want to
come and see it, and perhaps

I should put the story of
the piece inside.

That's a great idea.

Yeah, lovely idea.

One doesn't think how important a
folder might be...

..which it is to me anyhow,

and for my children and the
rest of the family too.

Definitely. And it is yours to take
home with you.

Well, thank you very much.
I certainly will.

Take care, bye-bye. Bye-bye.

It does feel special to have
a treasure which belonged

to my parents. It's your family
history and I can't wait

to take it home, put
it back on its desk,

and then let the family
come and see it too,

because it's now really special
and looks so gorgeous.

Join us next time as our craft
experts...

Quite critical that I get
that absolutely right.

..restore broken but beloved
mementoes...

Oh, my God. This is how it actually
did look.

..in The Repair Shop.