The Repair Shop (2017–…): Season 7, Episode 36 - Episode #7.36 - full transcript
Jay and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life. First to arrive at the barn, seeking the help of conservator Kirsten, are Cyndy and Jack Lessing from Essex. They have brought a ce...
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 returned to their former
glory.
That is lovely.
Isn't it 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.
Yahoo!
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,
it's just the most wonderful thing,
and I'd like to do it forever.
..the team will restore the items...
Whoa!
..the memories...
I'm so happy to see you it!
..and unlock the stories
that they hold.
It's made it all worthwhile.
Aw!
In the Repair Shop today, Suzie
is tasked with preserving a slice
of long lost London...
How he used
this hat for 40 plus years,
I am very, very surprised
that it's still in one piece.
..and a masterclass in wood carving
craftsmanship,
as Will gets a little horse
looking champion again.
You can easily get carried away
and carve off too much wood.
Once it's gone, it's really hard
to put back.
But, first, Cindy and Jack Lessing
from Essex have brought a precious
heirloom rooted in their family
traditions.
Assigned to its restoration,
Kirsten Ramsey.
Hello, hi, welcome. Hello.
I'm Kirsten.
For you. Thank you very much.
Pleased to meet you, Jack
and Cindy Lessing.
Lovely to meet you.
What have you got here?
Well, a very sad-looking,
previously in one piece,
Venetian Glass Kiddish Cup.
Ah! But now not looking
at its best.
What is a Kiddish Cup?
Every Friday, when we welcome
in the Sabbath,
which is a day of rest,
we light candles,
make a blessing
over wine and over bread,
and those three things are called
Kiddish.
We have all our family and in-laws
on a Friday night,
and it's just family time.
That sounds lovely.
And because it's a special day,
we use a special goblet
and that's what this is.
Was! Was!
Well, I mean, it clearly still is.
I'll have a look, if I may?
Oh, please do. Please do. Goodness!
It's in a lot of pieces, isn't it?
Where does this come from?
Well, it's from Venice,
an artisan in the Jewish Quarter
was hand-decorating these beautiful
Venetian glass Kiddish Cups.
With our son's Bar Mitzvah
coming up in 18 months,
we thought, what a great gift
to commemorate that. Wonderful.
He was 13 when he got it.
Some years later, I was putting
the Kiddish Cup
back into a glass-fronted cabinet.
Unfortunately, it collided
with the glass shelf,
so it was now in pieces...
Oh, no!
..all over the carpet.
And I did the only thing I could do.
I cried!
Oh!
I rushed in and saw glass everywhere
and just hands and knees picked up
all of the pieces, put them in the
box and
they've stayed
in that box ever since.
Really? So, how long ago was that?
About 25 years.
Goodness gracious. Yeah.
Yeah.
So, how old is your son now?
He's 50! 50!
OK.
Do you know if all the pieces
are here?
Gosh, we hope so.
It's beautifully made,
I can see the craftsmanship there.
And the images are of?
That image is of a father blessing
his son,
which happens most Friday nights
for most Jewish parents.
And on the other side of the goblet,
there's Richard's Hebrew name
written in Hebrew,
Chaim, which means "life".
Beautiful. Underneath there, there's
a little inscription
from us to him
as a gift on his Bar Mitzvah.
It would just be so special,
firstly, it would be reparation
for my misdeeds,
but, more importantly, it
would be wonderful for Richard
to be able to have the Kiddish
Cup back for his sons,
who will be coming up to Bar
Mitzvah.
I think this is so beautiful
and I am
itching to get my fingers on it.
Unfortunately, glass is quite
tricky, I have to say.
Just to have
it whole would be marvellous.
I shall certainly try my best.
Thank you. Thank you.
We'll leave it with you.
Yes, all right.
I'll be in touch. Bye. Bye. Bye.
The Kiddish Cup is very important
to us,
because it's part
of our culture.
It would be really good
to have it back in the family
as good as possible,
so that we can
pass it back to our son
and then he can pass it
on to his son
and we can create
a modern heirloom for our family.
I love glass and I love colour,
so I'm absolutely in my element
here with this.
My first impressions looking
at this is
glass is always an incredible
challenge.
It's very difficult to...
..make it look invisible.
It's always difficult to make
up missing parts,
especially in something that's
blue glass.
So, I'm really hoping that Cindy
and Jack have managed
to pick up all the pieces.
First things first, I'm going
to just give this a clean.
Cleaning is a great opportunity
just to look at what
you're working with.
I do hope that I can get
it together and whole again
and that it can be
brought back into their family
ritual on a Friday.
We will see.
From one family tradition
to another.
Nicole Howe from Essex has brought
a fascinating item
that's a link to a bygone era for
leather expert Suzie Fletcher.
Hello. Hello. How you doing?
Very well, thank you.
I'm Jay, and you are?
I'm Nicky.
That looks well wrapped up in there.
Can we have a look what it is?
This is a bobbin hat.
These were worn by the porters
at the Old Billingsgate Fish Market
in London and they used to carry
boxes of fish on their heads.
Who did that belong to?
Not yours, is it?
No, it was my grandad's.
My dad's dad. OK.
Not everybody could afford them,
they were very expensive.
So, a lot of the porters would stuff
out their flat caps with paper
and then use that to carry
the boxes on their heads,
but this was my grandad's.
So, they would carry these boxes in,
I've been to the market
and those boxes are full of ice and
they've got fish in them as well.
Yeah. So, how many, they have one
box on top of their head?
They've been known to carry
up to three.
My grandad has carried three
and they weighed six stone each,
so he was carrying 18 stone
on his head. What?
He must have been a big,
strong man.
He was five foot two. God!
When he used to have his barrow all
full of boxes of fish,
they said that he
looked like a block of flats.
LAUGHTER
Wow!
There were a lot of characters
down there.
You know, the porters they were
like an elite band of men.
They were cheeky,
the language was often quite ripe.
But, yeah, he had a good
time down there.
He was there for 43 years,
had a good life from it.
Mm. So, he was carrying a boxes
for that long?
Yeah, real hard graft.
Apart from when he was in the War,
he went to war for the whole six
years and went straight back
to the market again.
He was a proper grafter?
Oh, I mean, the guy that used
to take over from my grandad
when he was on holiday used to say
he couldn't wait for him to come
back.
He just didn't understand
how he did it.
Amazing.
He sounds like a good man.
He was a real family man.
He was as soft as anything,
as long as nobody upset him.
LAUGHTER
What's your grandad's name?
His name was Alexander,
but everybody knew him as Harry.
Did your dad ever go down to the
markets to see his dad working?
My dad actually worked down there
himself in the old market.
It's almost the whole family,
my grandad, my dad, my
uncle, my brother-in-law,
my husband and my cousin have all
worked there.
Wow. Really?
It's amazing.
I'm just looking
at this construction from here
and just going, "My word!"
That must be so solid.
It's really heavy as well. Is it?
It weighs over three pounds.
Oh, wow!
That is really heavy!
I can't imagine
having this on your head all day.
Goodness me.
How come you've got this?
Oh, well, after my grandad passed
away, it came to my dad
and my dad's had it ever since.
He just absolutely idolised his dad
and to be able to see this thing
that was his brought back,
it would just mean the world to him.
Nicky, thank you for bringing us in
and take me back down memory lane.
Yeah, and I am really, really
looking forward to getting my hands
on it and getting started.
OK, thank you.
You take care now. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
To get the hat repaired, it means
such a lot, because it's part
of the tapestry of London.
You know, there are none
of the old porters,
the London market that used to be
there is no longer there any more.
It's so fragile, it's almost gone.
Old Billingsgate Wharf
had been a fish market for centuries
and was at one time the biggest
in the world.
But, in 1982, the old market
was closed, meaning its unique
traditions were consigned
to the history books.
This is quite remarkable.
As a hat, I'm thinking
how uncomfortable this looks.
It is so hard, the leather, and
we've got really sharp edges here.
I'm also seeing this on whopping
great big nails sticking out here.
However, Harry wore it for 40
plus years
and I'm sure it became
as familiar as a pair of shoes.
It's in pretty poor condition.
The crown is coming away
and I've got to figure out
how to reattach this crown.
The cracks around here are just
where the leather has shrunk
away from where it's butted
up and it is incredibly dirty.
So, the very first thing
I need to do is start to give
it a really good clean.
With something of this age,
the reality is it's not
going to look brand-new,
nor should it.
My vision is that it will be
in a refreshed, preserved state,
where this can be kept
for the family to tell the story
of Harry's incredible life
in Billingsgate Market.
With the dozen or so fragile
fragments of the sacred Kiddish Cup,
now squeaky clean,
Kirsten now faces the
nerve-racking task
of piecing them back together.
I've been skirting around the next
stage, which is
by far the most difficult - trying
to assemble this.
It's just really tricky,
because it slips and it slides.
The one good thing is that I've got
decoration on this, so I have got
bits that I can use to aid me
to find where these sections go.
All right, deep breath.
I'm going to use tape to hold
things in place.
What I don't want is for them
to suddenly fall down,
because, obviously,
seen more damage could happen.
I'm just going by feel, really.
Incredibly fiddly.
That's the first piece on.
It's really lovely to have the
opportunity
to work on something like this,
and it's a real privilege to hear
about
different people's cultures
and religions through objects
like this.
Right, next piece.
See if that looks like it goes
there.
It does.
There is a very small little chip
missing in here and I'm wondering
if it could be this little shard
I've got.
Oh, it is.
Now, I've got to keep it there.
I'm going to use
a little bit of wax,
so I've got this,
which melts the wax,
and it means that you can just pick
up a really tiny bit,
and you can just drop it onto
the glass and drag it across,
join, and that just tacks it
in place.
Feels a bit like surgery.
So this is the final piece
now going in.
It's not that easy.
I don't want to knock
any of the other bits out.
So nerve-racking.
I'm just preparing the adhesive
for bonding.
I'm using a specialist
glass adhesive.
You have to measure it out
quite precisely,
so that's why I'm using
these scales,
and I don't want to mix up
the wrong quantities,
because that stops the adhesive
from curing.
So I'm just going to be
working my way round the cup,
really making sure I don't miss
any tiny little cracks,
and then waiting for it to harden.
Arriving next to the barn
is Marjorie from Essex,
with a very special friend in need
of Will Kirk's woodwork expertise.
Hello. Hello. Hi there.
So what have we got
under the blanket?
Well, this is Toby Horse.
He's very old.
Very interesting.
LAUGHTER
Oh!
Oh!
As you can see,
he's been played with a lot
when we were little.
He had a handle that went up here.
Oh, I see, so you...
So we toddled along behind him.
Oh!
So how did you get Toby Horse?
Well, my grandad made him for me
when I was little.
Made him?!
Yes, he was a carpenter.
That's nice grandfather.
Yeah. So it was because...
It was just after the war,
because both my mum and dad
were in the WAAF and the RAF.
They got married on June 1st
1944.
When mum was demobbed because she
was six months pregnant with me,
she went to live with Nan and
Grandad, and in July '45,
I was born. Excellent.
Living with Nan and Grandad,
I suppose that made it sort of,
I was the first granddaughter.
Yeah. And, yeah, he was a carpenter,
so he made Toby for me.
Because I'm always known
Grandad made him for me,
I suppose that's
why he's been so special.
Bless him.
Could you tell us a little bit
about your grandad?
Oh, he had a lovely little twinkle
in his eye.
You didn't have to take him
seriously? No.
Just looking at your smile
when you talk about your grandad,
and it just sounds like, you know,
there was a lot of love
and a lot of joy there.
Very special.
Yeah, he was a lovely man.
Sadly, he was only...
He'd only been retired a couple of
years when he died.
Oh. I was only in my early '20s,
and it was just so sad.
What has inspired you
to come down today?
Well, I left home when I was
20, and he sort of came with me,
and he's been in the loft, over
the years, each time I've moved.
If he was looking smart again,
he could live downstairs
instead of going back in the loft.
Yes, yeah. And then then perhaps,
you know, somebody in the family
might like him when I can bear
to part with him,
but I'm not parting with him yet.
Don't blame you. Good. I wouldn't.
I would hang on to him.
What would you like us to do?
It's just that he'd look a bit
smarter,
and all these sort of cracks,
and a bit of hair.
I don't know what you could do.
So did Toby have a mane,
or a longer tail?
Did he always have this?
I think he had just a little hair
in there, sort of that went down.
OK. The only photo we could find
was one of my brothers,
and he was about a year old,
and of course he looked a bit
better then.
You can see that it's slightly
chipped around the back
of the neck there.
Yes. Anything you think.
I can see the potential.
He's such a handsome chap,
and I'm sure that we can get him
looking smart once again.
Oh, that would be lovely.
Thank you ever so much.
Thank you for coming down,
and we'll see you soon.
Right, behave, Toby.
We'll look after him. Don't worry.
OK, bye. Bye. Bye.
Because Grandad made him,
he's so special,
and I've always had Toby
in my life, I suppose,
but I know he's in safe hands.
I love Toby.
He has very sweet eyes.
They're quite sad, but maybe he's
sad because he's in a bad state.
He's missing a push along handle.
He's missing a bit of mane
on the front,
very small tail on the back,
and there are lots of splits,
and I think that's because
he has been made
from five different separate pieces
of wood.
The top half would be one solid
piece of wood,
and then the legs would be
four separate pieces.
I think that, as time has gone on,
the wood has slightly shrunk,
and then that gap where the leg
meets the torso, it's pulled apart.
So the first thing I need to do
is clean up those grooves there,
and glue in some new veneer.
I often use veneer
for these hairline cracks.
There we are,
really nice tight fit.
And once it's dry,
I can sand it down and repaint it.
And in the meantime, I've got
the splits in the face
and the rest of the legs
to work with.
After 40 plus years of being
battered by boxes of fish,
Suzie is making a start
on saving the parched bobbin hat
from further decay.
The thing with older leather is,
if you allow it to get too dry,
it simply turns to dust.
What I want to do is go over it
with some leather-preserving cream.
The leather is absorbing this cream
very readily.
I can already see a glimmer
of what it's going to look like
when I've finished,
and hopefully Nicki will be
very pleased with that.
I've got the bobbin hat hydrated,
and while I was working on it,
I was able to see how loose
this crown is to the brim,
so it would be helpful if I could
take the whole of this crown off
and then put it all back together.
But to do that, I am going to
have to undo these tacks
here at the back, and in, you know,
experience of working with old dry
leather, as soon as you try to undo
anything, it can just snap off,
so I'm really quite concerned
as to how this is going to go.
There's only one way to find out.
It's moving.
Nice.
Oh, look at that.
Now I can just get in there.
Give it a twist
and pull that one out.
Perfect.
A couple more to do.
There you go.
See if it'll come apart now.
Ha-ha!
Ah!
Brilliant!
Now I've got the brim detached
from the crown,
I can see a little bit more
as to how this was originally
constructed, and it was very well
attached together
with a combination
of stitching and nails.
When you think about all the weight
that went on Nicki's grandfather's
head, he would need something
that was really solid.
The issue I have is I'm unable
to sew it all back together
because I've got this band
in the way and I daren't remove it
because I could cause extra damage.
But what I'm going to do is reattach
this brim using tacks because I feel
that that's the best way
to make a secure connection
without overly stressing
the old leather.
I've got to slide it under
this old repair,
which the leather is really,
really hard.
If I can line those old tack holes
up...
That looks about right,
I'm just going to put these roundels
into the large nail holes.
It's just so that I know
that I'm really lining everything up
how it originally was.
The tack,
and then I'm just going to tap it.
Just tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
Can't actually see what I'm doing.
It's really awkward.
Oh, already, look at that,
beginning to resemble a hat again.
Very happy with how it's going
so far.
Well, that's really secure.
It's worked a lot better
than I was expecting it to.
Just leaves me to fill in the area
round here that's cracked away.
So this leather paste, I make
from fibres of scrap pieces
of leather, and I mix them
with this glue that I use.
You couldn't use this on anything
that would have to move and flex,
but because this is solid leather,
this is the perfect application
for it.
Once it's dried, I can stain over
to match the leather around it.
Also striving for a flawless finish,
Kirsten.
Against all odds, she's managed to
rebuild the shattered Kiddish Cup.
Now she must attempt
to make her repairs invisible.
I've got this tiny little chip here
to the rim, which is a great shame,
but I'm going to fill that with
a small amount of adhesive,
and I'm going to add a tiny
little bit of blue colourant to it.
Just going to tip this
and pop that in.
Just have to be quite careful
not to get any air bubbles in this,
because they would stand out
like a sore thumb.
I'm just going to let that cure now,
and I'm just going to try and
lose some of these lines
that go through the gold decoration.
And I'm using a gold powder
with a small amount of adhesive
just to go over these joins.
And I'm hoping that I will lose
that thin line into the gold.
That's almost ready to go back to
Jack and Cindy to once again
be part of their
Friday night traditions.
This symbolic glass goblet
was gifted to a young boy
by his loving parents,
and played a pivotal role
in their Friday night ritual.
Cindy and Jack are now eager
to see if Kirsten's managed to
make their cherished cup
whole once again.
I am so excited.
I can't tell you.
I am SO excited.
To have the Kiddish Cup back
will be amazing.
Kirsten will have to
work miracles with this one,
that's for sure.
Hello.
Lovely to see you, Jack and Cindy.
And you.
How are you guys doing?
Oh, we're doing fine.
What are you hoping
is underneath that box?
Oh, I'm hoping it's looking
a bit more as it used to.
That would be so special.
Are you ready to see it?
Oh, yes.
Yes, please.
Do the honours.
Ooh!
Oh, my word.
Oh, my gosh.
Oh, that is astonishing.
That is amazing.
Words fail me.
That's just amazing.
You can touch it.
You can hold it.
Look. Look, the gold, the pictures,
everything.
You can't even see a join.
It's just fabulous.
I'm putting it back. I'm shivering.
I'm actually shaking.
How does it feel to hold it again?
It just reminds me of how excited
I was
when we first saw it in Venice.
When we bought this for Richard,
it was going to be his Kiddish Cup.
When it got broken,
shattered dreams, truly.
And to see it now,
it's like rebirth.
And this is going to be
part of that history
that will get passed down
through the generations.
So it's history, tradition, culture,
everything. Absolutely. Absolutely.
So every Friday night,
it's going to come out?
Oh, absolutely.
Well, it was clearly precious,
and your reaction is just beautiful.
Well, we're going to get this
packed up for you. Lovely.
Thank you very much indeed.
Thank you so much.
Oh, it's just marvellous.
Look at that. Look at that.
There's your cup.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
Take care. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
I'd truly forgotten
how beautiful it was.
It took my breath away.
It was a very emotional moment
for me.
I think all of our history,
our personal history,
the history of the Kiddish Cup
itself, our son, our grandchildren
and to have it back in one piece
is just phenomenal.
Wood whizz Will is galloping ahead
with his repair on Toby,
the little wooden horse.
I'm having a look at Toby's ears,
and I've just realised
what I thought was a wobbly
piece of wood is actually
a piece of filler.
Oh! There we are.
The filler's out. That was quick.
Gosh, that crack is really deep.
Right, so I'm going to clean out the
rest of that filler inside the ear,
and patch in a new piece of wood.
All the wooden blocks
have now dried,
and I can start carving back in
that missing detail.
One of the handy things is
that there's still a lot
of the original ears there,
so that gives me a really good
indication as to the rest of
the shape of the ears.
So I'm going to just follow
that contour
around the backs of the ears,
then I can work on the finer detail.
Now, one of the tricky things
about carving is
you can easily get carried away and
carve off too much wood,
so you really need to stop
when you can, take a look,
make sure that you're on track,
because once it's gone,
it's really hard to put back.
I'm just touching in
the newly-carved piece of wood.
I've also given him
a bit of a clean to really show me
the true colours of the paintwork
underneath.
I don't want to repaint Toby
entirely.
I quite like the sort of worn areas,
because he's been used
and he's been loved.
But there are a few bits
where the paint is chipped off,
and they are the areas
I'm touching back in.
I'm using some Shellac polish
mixed with some pigments
to start to build up that colour.
The more time that I spend with
Toby, the more that I love him.
I think he deserves a bit of TLC,
because I know that he's going to
be truly loved again.
This base coat has gone on
really well.
Really nice colour match here.
I'm going to do the same
with the rest of the damage on Toby,
and once that's dried, I can
finish off with the finer detail.
Well, Toby has been cleaned,
and I've touched up all the
scratched and damaged paint work.
Now it's time to replace his handle.
The great thing is Marjorie
has given me this picture here,
which is a great reference of what
the handle used to look like.
If I didn't have that,
I'd have absolutely no idea.
I've got some really nice wood
cut up here.
I've now put these sides
of the handle on,
I just need to make
the actual handle.
Looking at the picture,
you can see that it was almost
dowelled on either side.
So rather than putting a screw in,
I'm going to make another dowel,
because it's in keeping
with the original
and it's going to add
extra strength.
Now that I've created
the middle part of the handle,
I just need to drill two holes
on the side pieces,
bit of glue, slot that together,
we've got a handle.
Across the barn, Suzie is winning
her battle to preserve the
leather bobbin hat, and is ready
to apply some finishing touches.
Now the filler has sat,
it's really come together nicely,
and it's nice and solidly reattached
to the crown,
and I'm using a spirit stain.
I just want it to blend in
to the surroundings.
So that's... It's looking good.
And the final thing I need to do
before I give it back to Nicki
is go over it with a black
reconditioning cream,
and that should just help
freshen it up,
and also preserve it for the future,
and give it a little bit of a shine
as well.
Years of hard graft at the bygone
Billingsgate fish market
had left Nicole's grandfathers
bobbin hat weathered and worn.
Suze, you ready?
I am, yes. OK.
Now she's hoping that this
little bit of London history
has been brought back to life.
I talked to my dad quite a lot
about the work that my grandad did
and how very hard he'd worked.
This is a part of London's history
that isn't there any more,
it doesn't exist any more,
so it's very important.
Hello, Nicki.
Hiya.
Lovely to see you again.
Lovely to see you.
How are you feeling?
Excited.
Yeah?
I don't know what you've been able
to do, because it was so cracked.
I just hope that perhaps it's got
a little bit of its integrity back.
Yeah.
Well...
Well...
Do you want to show her, Suze?
Yes. Ready?
I am.
OK.
Oh, goodness me.
You've worked marvellously on this.
I'd forgotten how heavy it was.
It is, isn't it?
It was crusty and dusty,
and just...it looked so old,
whereas now, it still looks old,
but clean, and, you know,
it just...looks fantastic.
Thank you.
The most important thing that I felt
I needed to do was
to get it into a really clean
condition and make it stable again
so that you and your family
can continue
to keep your grandfather's
memory alive.
The old market is gone completely.
It's just financial buildings now.
Oh, OK.
So this being repaired is part of
the fabric of London's history.
Yeah. So your dad's going to be
made up when he sees this.
I think he's going to be
very emotional.
So it's yours now to take home,
show your dad.
Yeah, I can't wait to see his face.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Nicki.
Take care. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
That's a good one.
It's nice, really nice.
My dad is going to be absolutely
over the moon with this.
It's just incredible.
I can't believe what Suzie's done
to it,
from a crusty old relic
to what it is now.
It's just marvellous
what she's done.
In the final furlong
of his assignment,
Will is using genuine horsehair
to bring Toby's thinning locks
up to the same standard
as his well-groomed paintwork.
Well, that's the tail in,
just the forelock to go on,
the handle to go back on,
the wheels,
a little bit of a haircut,
then I can get him back to Marjorie.
You off anywhere on your holidays?
Toby was a memento
of a beloved grandfather,
but only fit to be
put out to pasture.
Now Marjorie is looking forward
to being reunited.
It's just going to be wonderful
to see him looking a lot better
than he was, because he had got
a little dilapidated over the years.
I am definitely feeling excited!
Hello.
Hello, Marjorie.
What are you hoping to see
underneath the blankets?
I don't really know, but I'm sure
he'll look better than he did!
Right, would you like to see?
I would like to, yes. OK.
He's got hair!
That is amazing.
The cracks...
Oh, they're all gone!
Oh, isn't he lovely?
That is amazing.
Oh, thank you ever so much.
He's not actually cuddly,
but he is really to me.
Aw!
I have really loved working on him,
because I can see so much work
that your grandad had taken
to make him in the beginning.
And I know that he's very special
to you.
Gosh, yes.
I can see him sort of smiling now,
Grandad.
That's really lovely.
It's how I remember him
from a child, yes.
Let's hope there's some more little
ones that he can teach to walk.
Is that horse's hair as well?
That is real horsehair, yeah.
Gosh.
I can't remember him with a tail
for a long while.
That's brilliant.
That's really lovely.
You're very grateful, aren't you?
Can I take him home now?
You can indeed.
I'll get the door for you.
Thank you.
Cor, I think he's heavier. He's put
on weight since he's been here.
Haven't you?
Thank you ever so much.
He's absolutely amazing.
It's reminding me of, you know,
when we were children
and staying with Nan and Grandad,
and they were such lovely
grandparents, they really were
just such lovely times to remember.
Join us next time...
Ta-da!
..for more splendid restorations.
Thank you.
You've given me back
those precious memories.
..in the Repair Shop.
precious but faded treasures...
This is bad.
I don't think I've ever seen a chair
quite so broken as this.
..are returned to their former
glory.
That is lovely.
Isn't it 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.
Yahoo!
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,
it's just the most wonderful thing,
and I'd like to do it forever.
..the team will restore the items...
Whoa!
..the memories...
I'm so happy to see you it!
..and unlock the stories
that they hold.
It's made it all worthwhile.
Aw!
In the Repair Shop today, Suzie
is tasked with preserving a slice
of long lost London...
How he used
this hat for 40 plus years,
I am very, very surprised
that it's still in one piece.
..and a masterclass in wood carving
craftsmanship,
as Will gets a little horse
looking champion again.
You can easily get carried away
and carve off too much wood.
Once it's gone, it's really hard
to put back.
But, first, Cindy and Jack Lessing
from Essex have brought a precious
heirloom rooted in their family
traditions.
Assigned to its restoration,
Kirsten Ramsey.
Hello, hi, welcome. Hello.
I'm Kirsten.
For you. Thank you very much.
Pleased to meet you, Jack
and Cindy Lessing.
Lovely to meet you.
What have you got here?
Well, a very sad-looking,
previously in one piece,
Venetian Glass Kiddish Cup.
Ah! But now not looking
at its best.
What is a Kiddish Cup?
Every Friday, when we welcome
in the Sabbath,
which is a day of rest,
we light candles,
make a blessing
over wine and over bread,
and those three things are called
Kiddish.
We have all our family and in-laws
on a Friday night,
and it's just family time.
That sounds lovely.
And because it's a special day,
we use a special goblet
and that's what this is.
Was! Was!
Well, I mean, it clearly still is.
I'll have a look, if I may?
Oh, please do. Please do. Goodness!
It's in a lot of pieces, isn't it?
Where does this come from?
Well, it's from Venice,
an artisan in the Jewish Quarter
was hand-decorating these beautiful
Venetian glass Kiddish Cups.
With our son's Bar Mitzvah
coming up in 18 months,
we thought, what a great gift
to commemorate that. Wonderful.
He was 13 when he got it.
Some years later, I was putting
the Kiddish Cup
back into a glass-fronted cabinet.
Unfortunately, it collided
with the glass shelf,
so it was now in pieces...
Oh, no!
..all over the carpet.
And I did the only thing I could do.
I cried!
Oh!
I rushed in and saw glass everywhere
and just hands and knees picked up
all of the pieces, put them in the
box and
they've stayed
in that box ever since.
Really? So, how long ago was that?
About 25 years.
Goodness gracious. Yeah.
Yeah.
So, how old is your son now?
He's 50! 50!
OK.
Do you know if all the pieces
are here?
Gosh, we hope so.
It's beautifully made,
I can see the craftsmanship there.
And the images are of?
That image is of a father blessing
his son,
which happens most Friday nights
for most Jewish parents.
And on the other side of the goblet,
there's Richard's Hebrew name
written in Hebrew,
Chaim, which means "life".
Beautiful. Underneath there, there's
a little inscription
from us to him
as a gift on his Bar Mitzvah.
It would just be so special,
firstly, it would be reparation
for my misdeeds,
but, more importantly, it
would be wonderful for Richard
to be able to have the Kiddish
Cup back for his sons,
who will be coming up to Bar
Mitzvah.
I think this is so beautiful
and I am
itching to get my fingers on it.
Unfortunately, glass is quite
tricky, I have to say.
Just to have
it whole would be marvellous.
I shall certainly try my best.
Thank you. Thank you.
We'll leave it with you.
Yes, all right.
I'll be in touch. Bye. Bye. Bye.
The Kiddish Cup is very important
to us,
because it's part
of our culture.
It would be really good
to have it back in the family
as good as possible,
so that we can
pass it back to our son
and then he can pass it
on to his son
and we can create
a modern heirloom for our family.
I love glass and I love colour,
so I'm absolutely in my element
here with this.
My first impressions looking
at this is
glass is always an incredible
challenge.
It's very difficult to...
..make it look invisible.
It's always difficult to make
up missing parts,
especially in something that's
blue glass.
So, I'm really hoping that Cindy
and Jack have managed
to pick up all the pieces.
First things first, I'm going
to just give this a clean.
Cleaning is a great opportunity
just to look at what
you're working with.
I do hope that I can get
it together and whole again
and that it can be
brought back into their family
ritual on a Friday.
We will see.
From one family tradition
to another.
Nicole Howe from Essex has brought
a fascinating item
that's a link to a bygone era for
leather expert Suzie Fletcher.
Hello. Hello. How you doing?
Very well, thank you.
I'm Jay, and you are?
I'm Nicky.
That looks well wrapped up in there.
Can we have a look what it is?
This is a bobbin hat.
These were worn by the porters
at the Old Billingsgate Fish Market
in London and they used to carry
boxes of fish on their heads.
Who did that belong to?
Not yours, is it?
No, it was my grandad's.
My dad's dad. OK.
Not everybody could afford them,
they were very expensive.
So, a lot of the porters would stuff
out their flat caps with paper
and then use that to carry
the boxes on their heads,
but this was my grandad's.
So, they would carry these boxes in,
I've been to the market
and those boxes are full of ice and
they've got fish in them as well.
Yeah. So, how many, they have one
box on top of their head?
They've been known to carry
up to three.
My grandad has carried three
and they weighed six stone each,
so he was carrying 18 stone
on his head. What?
He must have been a big,
strong man.
He was five foot two. God!
When he used to have his barrow all
full of boxes of fish,
they said that he
looked like a block of flats.
LAUGHTER
Wow!
There were a lot of characters
down there.
You know, the porters they were
like an elite band of men.
They were cheeky,
the language was often quite ripe.
But, yeah, he had a good
time down there.
He was there for 43 years,
had a good life from it.
Mm. So, he was carrying a boxes
for that long?
Yeah, real hard graft.
Apart from when he was in the War,
he went to war for the whole six
years and went straight back
to the market again.
He was a proper grafter?
Oh, I mean, the guy that used
to take over from my grandad
when he was on holiday used to say
he couldn't wait for him to come
back.
He just didn't understand
how he did it.
Amazing.
He sounds like a good man.
He was a real family man.
He was as soft as anything,
as long as nobody upset him.
LAUGHTER
What's your grandad's name?
His name was Alexander,
but everybody knew him as Harry.
Did your dad ever go down to the
markets to see his dad working?
My dad actually worked down there
himself in the old market.
It's almost the whole family,
my grandad, my dad, my
uncle, my brother-in-law,
my husband and my cousin have all
worked there.
Wow. Really?
It's amazing.
I'm just looking
at this construction from here
and just going, "My word!"
That must be so solid.
It's really heavy as well. Is it?
It weighs over three pounds.
Oh, wow!
That is really heavy!
I can't imagine
having this on your head all day.
Goodness me.
How come you've got this?
Oh, well, after my grandad passed
away, it came to my dad
and my dad's had it ever since.
He just absolutely idolised his dad
and to be able to see this thing
that was his brought back,
it would just mean the world to him.
Nicky, thank you for bringing us in
and take me back down memory lane.
Yeah, and I am really, really
looking forward to getting my hands
on it and getting started.
OK, thank you.
You take care now. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
To get the hat repaired, it means
such a lot, because it's part
of the tapestry of London.
You know, there are none
of the old porters,
the London market that used to be
there is no longer there any more.
It's so fragile, it's almost gone.
Old Billingsgate Wharf
had been a fish market for centuries
and was at one time the biggest
in the world.
But, in 1982, the old market
was closed, meaning its unique
traditions were consigned
to the history books.
This is quite remarkable.
As a hat, I'm thinking
how uncomfortable this looks.
It is so hard, the leather, and
we've got really sharp edges here.
I'm also seeing this on whopping
great big nails sticking out here.
However, Harry wore it for 40
plus years
and I'm sure it became
as familiar as a pair of shoes.
It's in pretty poor condition.
The crown is coming away
and I've got to figure out
how to reattach this crown.
The cracks around here are just
where the leather has shrunk
away from where it's butted
up and it is incredibly dirty.
So, the very first thing
I need to do is start to give
it a really good clean.
With something of this age,
the reality is it's not
going to look brand-new,
nor should it.
My vision is that it will be
in a refreshed, preserved state,
where this can be kept
for the family to tell the story
of Harry's incredible life
in Billingsgate Market.
With the dozen or so fragile
fragments of the sacred Kiddish Cup,
now squeaky clean,
Kirsten now faces the
nerve-racking task
of piecing them back together.
I've been skirting around the next
stage, which is
by far the most difficult - trying
to assemble this.
It's just really tricky,
because it slips and it slides.
The one good thing is that I've got
decoration on this, so I have got
bits that I can use to aid me
to find where these sections go.
All right, deep breath.
I'm going to use tape to hold
things in place.
What I don't want is for them
to suddenly fall down,
because, obviously,
seen more damage could happen.
I'm just going by feel, really.
Incredibly fiddly.
That's the first piece on.
It's really lovely to have the
opportunity
to work on something like this,
and it's a real privilege to hear
about
different people's cultures
and religions through objects
like this.
Right, next piece.
See if that looks like it goes
there.
It does.
There is a very small little chip
missing in here and I'm wondering
if it could be this little shard
I've got.
Oh, it is.
Now, I've got to keep it there.
I'm going to use
a little bit of wax,
so I've got this,
which melts the wax,
and it means that you can just pick
up a really tiny bit,
and you can just drop it onto
the glass and drag it across,
join, and that just tacks it
in place.
Feels a bit like surgery.
So this is the final piece
now going in.
It's not that easy.
I don't want to knock
any of the other bits out.
So nerve-racking.
I'm just preparing the adhesive
for bonding.
I'm using a specialist
glass adhesive.
You have to measure it out
quite precisely,
so that's why I'm using
these scales,
and I don't want to mix up
the wrong quantities,
because that stops the adhesive
from curing.
So I'm just going to be
working my way round the cup,
really making sure I don't miss
any tiny little cracks,
and then waiting for it to harden.
Arriving next to the barn
is Marjorie from Essex,
with a very special friend in need
of Will Kirk's woodwork expertise.
Hello. Hello. Hi there.
So what have we got
under the blanket?
Well, this is Toby Horse.
He's very old.
Very interesting.
LAUGHTER
Oh!
Oh!
As you can see,
he's been played with a lot
when we were little.
He had a handle that went up here.
Oh, I see, so you...
So we toddled along behind him.
Oh!
So how did you get Toby Horse?
Well, my grandad made him for me
when I was little.
Made him?!
Yes, he was a carpenter.
That's nice grandfather.
Yeah. So it was because...
It was just after the war,
because both my mum and dad
were in the WAAF and the RAF.
They got married on June 1st
1944.
When mum was demobbed because she
was six months pregnant with me,
she went to live with Nan and
Grandad, and in July '45,
I was born. Excellent.
Living with Nan and Grandad,
I suppose that made it sort of,
I was the first granddaughter.
Yeah. And, yeah, he was a carpenter,
so he made Toby for me.
Because I'm always known
Grandad made him for me,
I suppose that's
why he's been so special.
Bless him.
Could you tell us a little bit
about your grandad?
Oh, he had a lovely little twinkle
in his eye.
You didn't have to take him
seriously? No.
Just looking at your smile
when you talk about your grandad,
and it just sounds like, you know,
there was a lot of love
and a lot of joy there.
Very special.
Yeah, he was a lovely man.
Sadly, he was only...
He'd only been retired a couple of
years when he died.
Oh. I was only in my early '20s,
and it was just so sad.
What has inspired you
to come down today?
Well, I left home when I was
20, and he sort of came with me,
and he's been in the loft, over
the years, each time I've moved.
If he was looking smart again,
he could live downstairs
instead of going back in the loft.
Yes, yeah. And then then perhaps,
you know, somebody in the family
might like him when I can bear
to part with him,
but I'm not parting with him yet.
Don't blame you. Good. I wouldn't.
I would hang on to him.
What would you like us to do?
It's just that he'd look a bit
smarter,
and all these sort of cracks,
and a bit of hair.
I don't know what you could do.
So did Toby have a mane,
or a longer tail?
Did he always have this?
I think he had just a little hair
in there, sort of that went down.
OK. The only photo we could find
was one of my brothers,
and he was about a year old,
and of course he looked a bit
better then.
You can see that it's slightly
chipped around the back
of the neck there.
Yes. Anything you think.
I can see the potential.
He's such a handsome chap,
and I'm sure that we can get him
looking smart once again.
Oh, that would be lovely.
Thank you ever so much.
Thank you for coming down,
and we'll see you soon.
Right, behave, Toby.
We'll look after him. Don't worry.
OK, bye. Bye. Bye.
Because Grandad made him,
he's so special,
and I've always had Toby
in my life, I suppose,
but I know he's in safe hands.
I love Toby.
He has very sweet eyes.
They're quite sad, but maybe he's
sad because he's in a bad state.
He's missing a push along handle.
He's missing a bit of mane
on the front,
very small tail on the back,
and there are lots of splits,
and I think that's because
he has been made
from five different separate pieces
of wood.
The top half would be one solid
piece of wood,
and then the legs would be
four separate pieces.
I think that, as time has gone on,
the wood has slightly shrunk,
and then that gap where the leg
meets the torso, it's pulled apart.
So the first thing I need to do
is clean up those grooves there,
and glue in some new veneer.
I often use veneer
for these hairline cracks.
There we are,
really nice tight fit.
And once it's dry,
I can sand it down and repaint it.
And in the meantime, I've got
the splits in the face
and the rest of the legs
to work with.
After 40 plus years of being
battered by boxes of fish,
Suzie is making a start
on saving the parched bobbin hat
from further decay.
The thing with older leather is,
if you allow it to get too dry,
it simply turns to dust.
What I want to do is go over it
with some leather-preserving cream.
The leather is absorbing this cream
very readily.
I can already see a glimmer
of what it's going to look like
when I've finished,
and hopefully Nicki will be
very pleased with that.
I've got the bobbin hat hydrated,
and while I was working on it,
I was able to see how loose
this crown is to the brim,
so it would be helpful if I could
take the whole of this crown off
and then put it all back together.
But to do that, I am going to
have to undo these tacks
here at the back, and in, you know,
experience of working with old dry
leather, as soon as you try to undo
anything, it can just snap off,
so I'm really quite concerned
as to how this is going to go.
There's only one way to find out.
It's moving.
Nice.
Oh, look at that.
Now I can just get in there.
Give it a twist
and pull that one out.
Perfect.
A couple more to do.
There you go.
See if it'll come apart now.
Ha-ha!
Ah!
Brilliant!
Now I've got the brim detached
from the crown,
I can see a little bit more
as to how this was originally
constructed, and it was very well
attached together
with a combination
of stitching and nails.
When you think about all the weight
that went on Nicki's grandfather's
head, he would need something
that was really solid.
The issue I have is I'm unable
to sew it all back together
because I've got this band
in the way and I daren't remove it
because I could cause extra damage.
But what I'm going to do is reattach
this brim using tacks because I feel
that that's the best way
to make a secure connection
without overly stressing
the old leather.
I've got to slide it under
this old repair,
which the leather is really,
really hard.
If I can line those old tack holes
up...
That looks about right,
I'm just going to put these roundels
into the large nail holes.
It's just so that I know
that I'm really lining everything up
how it originally was.
The tack,
and then I'm just going to tap it.
Just tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
Can't actually see what I'm doing.
It's really awkward.
Oh, already, look at that,
beginning to resemble a hat again.
Very happy with how it's going
so far.
Well, that's really secure.
It's worked a lot better
than I was expecting it to.
Just leaves me to fill in the area
round here that's cracked away.
So this leather paste, I make
from fibres of scrap pieces
of leather, and I mix them
with this glue that I use.
You couldn't use this on anything
that would have to move and flex,
but because this is solid leather,
this is the perfect application
for it.
Once it's dried, I can stain over
to match the leather around it.
Also striving for a flawless finish,
Kirsten.
Against all odds, she's managed to
rebuild the shattered Kiddish Cup.
Now she must attempt
to make her repairs invisible.
I've got this tiny little chip here
to the rim, which is a great shame,
but I'm going to fill that with
a small amount of adhesive,
and I'm going to add a tiny
little bit of blue colourant to it.
Just going to tip this
and pop that in.
Just have to be quite careful
not to get any air bubbles in this,
because they would stand out
like a sore thumb.
I'm just going to let that cure now,
and I'm just going to try and
lose some of these lines
that go through the gold decoration.
And I'm using a gold powder
with a small amount of adhesive
just to go over these joins.
And I'm hoping that I will lose
that thin line into the gold.
That's almost ready to go back to
Jack and Cindy to once again
be part of their
Friday night traditions.
This symbolic glass goblet
was gifted to a young boy
by his loving parents,
and played a pivotal role
in their Friday night ritual.
Cindy and Jack are now eager
to see if Kirsten's managed to
make their cherished cup
whole once again.
I am so excited.
I can't tell you.
I am SO excited.
To have the Kiddish Cup back
will be amazing.
Kirsten will have to
work miracles with this one,
that's for sure.
Hello.
Lovely to see you, Jack and Cindy.
And you.
How are you guys doing?
Oh, we're doing fine.
What are you hoping
is underneath that box?
Oh, I'm hoping it's looking
a bit more as it used to.
That would be so special.
Are you ready to see it?
Oh, yes.
Yes, please.
Do the honours.
Ooh!
Oh, my word.
Oh, my gosh.
Oh, that is astonishing.
That is amazing.
Words fail me.
That's just amazing.
You can touch it.
You can hold it.
Look. Look, the gold, the pictures,
everything.
You can't even see a join.
It's just fabulous.
I'm putting it back. I'm shivering.
I'm actually shaking.
How does it feel to hold it again?
It just reminds me of how excited
I was
when we first saw it in Venice.
When we bought this for Richard,
it was going to be his Kiddish Cup.
When it got broken,
shattered dreams, truly.
And to see it now,
it's like rebirth.
And this is going to be
part of that history
that will get passed down
through the generations.
So it's history, tradition, culture,
everything. Absolutely. Absolutely.
So every Friday night,
it's going to come out?
Oh, absolutely.
Well, it was clearly precious,
and your reaction is just beautiful.
Well, we're going to get this
packed up for you. Lovely.
Thank you very much indeed.
Thank you so much.
Oh, it's just marvellous.
Look at that. Look at that.
There's your cup.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
Take care. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
I'd truly forgotten
how beautiful it was.
It took my breath away.
It was a very emotional moment
for me.
I think all of our history,
our personal history,
the history of the Kiddish Cup
itself, our son, our grandchildren
and to have it back in one piece
is just phenomenal.
Wood whizz Will is galloping ahead
with his repair on Toby,
the little wooden horse.
I'm having a look at Toby's ears,
and I've just realised
what I thought was a wobbly
piece of wood is actually
a piece of filler.
Oh! There we are.
The filler's out. That was quick.
Gosh, that crack is really deep.
Right, so I'm going to clean out the
rest of that filler inside the ear,
and patch in a new piece of wood.
All the wooden blocks
have now dried,
and I can start carving back in
that missing detail.
One of the handy things is
that there's still a lot
of the original ears there,
so that gives me a really good
indication as to the rest of
the shape of the ears.
So I'm going to just follow
that contour
around the backs of the ears,
then I can work on the finer detail.
Now, one of the tricky things
about carving is
you can easily get carried away and
carve off too much wood,
so you really need to stop
when you can, take a look,
make sure that you're on track,
because once it's gone,
it's really hard to put back.
I'm just touching in
the newly-carved piece of wood.
I've also given him
a bit of a clean to really show me
the true colours of the paintwork
underneath.
I don't want to repaint Toby
entirely.
I quite like the sort of worn areas,
because he's been used
and he's been loved.
But there are a few bits
where the paint is chipped off,
and they are the areas
I'm touching back in.
I'm using some Shellac polish
mixed with some pigments
to start to build up that colour.
The more time that I spend with
Toby, the more that I love him.
I think he deserves a bit of TLC,
because I know that he's going to
be truly loved again.
This base coat has gone on
really well.
Really nice colour match here.
I'm going to do the same
with the rest of the damage on Toby,
and once that's dried, I can
finish off with the finer detail.
Well, Toby has been cleaned,
and I've touched up all the
scratched and damaged paint work.
Now it's time to replace his handle.
The great thing is Marjorie
has given me this picture here,
which is a great reference of what
the handle used to look like.
If I didn't have that,
I'd have absolutely no idea.
I've got some really nice wood
cut up here.
I've now put these sides
of the handle on,
I just need to make
the actual handle.
Looking at the picture,
you can see that it was almost
dowelled on either side.
So rather than putting a screw in,
I'm going to make another dowel,
because it's in keeping
with the original
and it's going to add
extra strength.
Now that I've created
the middle part of the handle,
I just need to drill two holes
on the side pieces,
bit of glue, slot that together,
we've got a handle.
Across the barn, Suzie is winning
her battle to preserve the
leather bobbin hat, and is ready
to apply some finishing touches.
Now the filler has sat,
it's really come together nicely,
and it's nice and solidly reattached
to the crown,
and I'm using a spirit stain.
I just want it to blend in
to the surroundings.
So that's... It's looking good.
And the final thing I need to do
before I give it back to Nicki
is go over it with a black
reconditioning cream,
and that should just help
freshen it up,
and also preserve it for the future,
and give it a little bit of a shine
as well.
Years of hard graft at the bygone
Billingsgate fish market
had left Nicole's grandfathers
bobbin hat weathered and worn.
Suze, you ready?
I am, yes. OK.
Now she's hoping that this
little bit of London history
has been brought back to life.
I talked to my dad quite a lot
about the work that my grandad did
and how very hard he'd worked.
This is a part of London's history
that isn't there any more,
it doesn't exist any more,
so it's very important.
Hello, Nicki.
Hiya.
Lovely to see you again.
Lovely to see you.
How are you feeling?
Excited.
Yeah?
I don't know what you've been able
to do, because it was so cracked.
I just hope that perhaps it's got
a little bit of its integrity back.
Yeah.
Well...
Well...
Do you want to show her, Suze?
Yes. Ready?
I am.
OK.
Oh, goodness me.
You've worked marvellously on this.
I'd forgotten how heavy it was.
It is, isn't it?
It was crusty and dusty,
and just...it looked so old,
whereas now, it still looks old,
but clean, and, you know,
it just...looks fantastic.
Thank you.
The most important thing that I felt
I needed to do was
to get it into a really clean
condition and make it stable again
so that you and your family
can continue
to keep your grandfather's
memory alive.
The old market is gone completely.
It's just financial buildings now.
Oh, OK.
So this being repaired is part of
the fabric of London's history.
Yeah. So your dad's going to be
made up when he sees this.
I think he's going to be
very emotional.
So it's yours now to take home,
show your dad.
Yeah, I can't wait to see his face.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Nicki.
Take care. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
That's a good one.
It's nice, really nice.
My dad is going to be absolutely
over the moon with this.
It's just incredible.
I can't believe what Suzie's done
to it,
from a crusty old relic
to what it is now.
It's just marvellous
what she's done.
In the final furlong
of his assignment,
Will is using genuine horsehair
to bring Toby's thinning locks
up to the same standard
as his well-groomed paintwork.
Well, that's the tail in,
just the forelock to go on,
the handle to go back on,
the wheels,
a little bit of a haircut,
then I can get him back to Marjorie.
You off anywhere on your holidays?
Toby was a memento
of a beloved grandfather,
but only fit to be
put out to pasture.
Now Marjorie is looking forward
to being reunited.
It's just going to be wonderful
to see him looking a lot better
than he was, because he had got
a little dilapidated over the years.
I am definitely feeling excited!
Hello.
Hello, Marjorie.
What are you hoping to see
underneath the blankets?
I don't really know, but I'm sure
he'll look better than he did!
Right, would you like to see?
I would like to, yes. OK.
He's got hair!
That is amazing.
The cracks...
Oh, they're all gone!
Oh, isn't he lovely?
That is amazing.
Oh, thank you ever so much.
He's not actually cuddly,
but he is really to me.
Aw!
I have really loved working on him,
because I can see so much work
that your grandad had taken
to make him in the beginning.
And I know that he's very special
to you.
Gosh, yes.
I can see him sort of smiling now,
Grandad.
That's really lovely.
It's how I remember him
from a child, yes.
Let's hope there's some more little
ones that he can teach to walk.
Is that horse's hair as well?
That is real horsehair, yeah.
Gosh.
I can't remember him with a tail
for a long while.
That's brilliant.
That's really lovely.
You're very grateful, aren't you?
Can I take him home now?
You can indeed.
I'll get the door for you.
Thank you.
Cor, I think he's heavier. He's put
on weight since he's been here.
Haven't you?
Thank you ever so much.
He's absolutely amazing.
It's reminding me of, you know,
when we were children
and staying with Nan and Grandad,
and they were such lovely
grandparents, they really were
just such lovely times to remember.
Join us next time...
Ta-da!
..for more splendid restorations.
Thank you.
You've given me back
those precious memories.
..in the Repair Shop.