The Repair Shop (2017–…): Season 8, Episode 2 - Episode #8.2 - full transcript
Jay Blades and the team bring four treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life. Metal expert Dominic Chinea faces the heavy-duty task of repairing a seized-up old roundabout that reminds its owner Stella of her three daughters' childhoods. Sadly, Stella's middle daughter Emma died in 2016, leaving two young children behind. Dom has the tough task of getting the old roundabout revived and revolving once again, in time for Stella and her grandchildren's return to the barn. Master saddler Suzie Fletcher is excited to tackle a mid-19th century ladies' side saddle bought in Texas by owner Sara. Having lived a cowboy lifestyle in her youth, Sara is surprised to learn that Suzie also spent time on ranches. The bond formed between the two ladies makes this a very special repair for both Suzie and Sara. Wood expert Will is amazed when a First World War dominoes set, thought to have been played during the Christmas truce of 1914, arrives at the barn. Owner Ben believes the dominoes played a part in this symbolic moment of peace in an otherwise pitiless war. And toy restorers Julie and Amanda join forces with mechanical maestro Steve Fletcher to fix a broken teddy bear that was gifted to an abandoned girl from Hong Kong when she arrived in the UK to meet her adoptive family for the first time.
Welcome to the Repair Shop,
where precious but faded
treasures...
There's an awful lot of work
to do here.
Things are definitely going
to have to get worse
before they get better.
..are restored to their
former glory.
Look at that!
Furniture restorer Jay Blades...
Bringing history back to life
is what makes the Repair Shop
so special.
..and a dream team
of expert craftspeople...
It's solid as a rock.
It's actually quite miraculous,
to be honest.
..come together to work
their magic...
Look at that! It's tailor-made.
Just got to keep calm
and carry on.
OK, here we go.
It's going to look great.
..employing heritage craft skills
passed down the generations...
This is how it was,
so this is how it will be again.
..preserving irreplaceable
heirlooms.
Some object can have so much
emotional attachment to the family.
That's what pushes me
to want to get it right.
The team will restore the items...
Oh!
..the memories...
So, that's the link between you,
your grandad... And now, my son.
..and unlock the stories
that they hold.
I'm just blown away!
I'm flying!
In the Repair Shop today...
I love these moments.
..Sonnaz and Suzie take a ride
back in time
to the old Wild West...
This leather underneath has not seen
the light of day
for over 100 years.
..while Will and Steve
restore a game
that tells a remarkable war story.
I'm going to love making this for
the box because the thought
that it was used in
the trenches
is phenomenal.
Take a little snip.
..and the bear ladies receive
a sheepskin guest
requiring some special treatment.
You going to add water in there
as well?
That'd be like lying him
in porridge.
I don't think that would be
very good! Yeah.
But first, a retro ride that's given
a family a dizzyingly good time.
Why do you always do
this to me, Jay?
This looks like it's going to be
another...another easy job.
Looks like it's another dangerous
toy to me!
Imagine how fast that'd be
spinning around.
Ooh-oh!
Stella Moore, from Birmingham,
is hoping metalwork expert
Dominic Chinea can get it going
again for the next generation.
Hello. Hi. How are you doing?
Hi, there. Hi. All right?
Good to see you.
Thank you.
So, I know this is a roundabout.
Tell us about it, please.
My uncle made it. Wow!
That's quite cool, isn't it?
Isn't it?! You have an uncle that
can just make you a toy? Yeah!
Make you a roundabout. Indeed, he's
no longer with us, but, yes.
When did your uncle make this?
This would be about 1980.
He thought there might be a business
in it, but, unfortunately,
the cost involved for reproduction
was going to be too much.
So the run he made... Yeah.
..the few of those, they were sold
and we had this one.
It means a lot to us because this is
the one my daughters played on.
And then now, it will be used,
if you can get it to work... Yeah.
..with my grandchildren.
So, your daughters used to play
on this. Yes.
How many daughters have you got?
I had three.
And I lost my...my little
daughter to cancer.
Oh, God.
What was her name?
Her name was Emma.
She was 39.
She was diagnosed with bowel cancer
and it had spread to the liver
and she was given six months,
possibly,
and she...she was amazing.
She planned her wedding
from the hospital
and she fought against
everybody,
came out, she had her wedding.
Yeah. Good. And she was
an incredible person.
Always sort of everybody else first.
Did she have children?
Yes, she'd got the two.
Olivia, and she'd just had her
youngest, Flo.
Oh, God. Goodness.
So, it was a big shock.
And Flo had her first birthday
in the hospice.
So, she was one when she died, yes.
They would love to be able to tread
in the footsteps
of my daughter.
Oh, bless.
It's all those memories
that they can have and,
"Did Mummy actually do this?"
It's nice to hold on to things
that have memories.
Absolutely.
So, the little ones are really
excited about it.
They sat on it the other day and
went, "How does it work?"
And I said, "Well, it doesn't
at the moment." Yeah.
But, hopefully, you'll be able
to have it work again.
How did it look in its, like,
in its heyday?
This is bright red and then
it was just yellow seats.
Yellow seats.
You can't go on it, I'm afraid.
I would love to!
Yeah, he's keen. He's eyeing it up.
I'd love to!
But I couldn't figure out
how it works.
Because it's so seized up.
It's a crank. So you, you, you pull
the crank... Yeah.
..and it goes round and the other
one cranks the opposite way.
So, you just... Oh, so this is
supposed to move? Rotates, yes.
That... Oh, I see, because that...
But it doesn't.
It doesn't! OK.
THEY LAUGH
Would it have no seat belts or
anything like that, this is...?
No, no, no. This is as it was.
Wow. So, so long as you
don't go too fast!
OK. Right.
THEY LAUGH
Health and safety and all
those sort of rules
are different for nowadays, but...
Yeah, this wouldn't stand
a chance now.
Yeah, this wouldn't stand a chance
at all, no.
Well, we'll keep it in the family,
then! Yeah.
THEY LAUGH
I'll leave it with you
to ponder over.
Thank you. Yes, certainly an
interesting one
but I'm determined - we'll do it.
Thank you for bringing it in.
Bye-bye.
Thank you very much.
Lovely to see you. OK, bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Take care. Thank you.
Bye! Bye-bye.
We certainly need to do some
pondering, don't we? Yeah, yeah.
I'm so excited to be able to leave
the roundabout here.
I just hope that they'll be able
to manage to do something,
so Olivia and Flo are able to follow
in the footsteps of their mum.
It would just take me back
to the past and be able
to continue forward for the future.
Oh!
Well...! Got your work cut out here,
haven't you?
I think so, yeah. Fingers crossed
it all comes apart OK.
Oh, well. Well, I'll leave you
to it. Thank you. No problem.
It's just...it's completely seized.
The poor roundabout has obviously
been in the garden for many years,
good old British weather has not
done it any favours.
I think these handles are supposed
to spin and there's supposed to be
a whole ratchet mechanism in there.
The actual mechanism won't turn
any past there.
I need to just break it down
to see what's inside,
see how bad it is,
and see if I can fix it.
I've got a few other jobs to do.
I mean, I'm obviously missing
three legs and the one
that I've got is rotten.
So it's probably going to be making
four new legs.
I mean, this crossbar, you can see
that is bent like a banana.
Obviously from two kids sitting on
each end of it,
that's pushed it down.
To fix those pieces, I think I'm
actually going to end up
having to cut this into
quite a few bits.
I have no real moral issues
with being so invasive
with the restoration because my main
goal is to get
those grandkids spinning around
on this
and whatever I need to do
to get there, I will.
SAW BUZZES
OK, here we go, it's giving up.
Oh, wow. Brilliant!
The next item to arrive has seen
adventures of a very different kind,
those of the Wild West.
A Texan souvenir, it belongs to
Sara Llewellyn from Glamorgan.
Hello!
Suzie, we have a saddle.
Restoring it will be the perfect job
for master saddler Suzie Fletcher.
It's beautiful!
So, what's the story about
the saddle?
It's all the way from Texas.
In my late '30s, I went on a
dude ranch holiday.
What's a dude ranch, then?
Where you go off for two weeks and
ride the range as a tourist.
OK. But on a real ranch.
Ah. Real horses and real cowboys.
Right. And, of course,
went and fell in love with
the head wrangler on the ranch.
OK, right.
And, you know, I came back after two
weeks and cried all the way home
on the plane and thought,
I don't want to live in Wales.
So I got a one way ticket
back to Texas.
As soon as I set foot there,
I knew I belonged there.
Right. The wonderful romance was
great because that gave me
confidence and we spent a wonderful
time together for two years,
riding through the Hill country with
just a horse trailer,
our two horses in the back.
Wow. You know, and sleeping
under the stars.
But it didn't pan out in the end.
Ah. Oh!
But the great thing was,
is that I was in love with the
landscape, if I'm honest. OK.
This absolutely exquisite landscape,
with pink caliche roads
as far as the eye could see.
So, so, so... Sounds romantic, no?
Yeah, it is. So, it's very romantic.
And you tie that in with a gorgeous
cowboy and a horse.
I mean, you know! Away you go!
You're lost.
I followed a similar path...
Really?
..and you get to learn what...what
you're made of.
You do and you come back changed.
You learn a lot about yourself.
Yeah, you do. It was wonderful
for me, to have loved and lost.
I absolutely wouldn't have changed
a thing. Yeah.
And I think for me now, age 60, you
think, "Christ, what happened?"
You know?! So this, for me, is like,
you know, I can stand and do that,
and I shut my eyes and this
is like a magic carpet.
Ah! And it really does have the
effect of making me feel
more able to have another adventure,
because I think I do have
another adventure in me.
So, where did you find this then?
In a little barn sale and I saw it
straight away
and I just went to it
and grabbed it.
So, this is... Is it an adult
saddle?
It's a ladies side saddle.
The thing that's fantastic about
it is look how used it is.
Yeah. And the spurs were hooked
on the bag hook under here.
OK, yeah. So I didn't even know
they were there.
Oh, how lovely. So that was like,
Oh, my God, you know,
whose are they and who was she?
Yeah. Yeah! Is it a good saddle?
Oh, I think it's beautiful!
Yeah? I really... I mean,
it would catch my eye.
I'd have to buy it as well. Oh, I'm
so pleased to hear you say that.
Yeah, yeah, no. I hoped you'd fall
in love with it. Oh, definitely!
The Wild West, you think it's always
cowboys and big old quarter horses,
you know, but there were these
other cow-women
who were on smaller horses... Right.
..in beautiful saddles,
doing the same job.
So, what would you like Suzie
to do to the saddle?
Oh, Suzie, wouldn't it be lovely if
it could just sing?!
You know, like it must have done,
with the bright carpet seat.
Yeah. Yeah. And all this hand
tooling in the leather,
which are floral garlands.
So, yeah, if you could just
make it look like it did
when the girl had it in
the first place!
THEY LAUGH
OK. I'm really itching to get
my hands on this. Are you really?!
I'm so pleased! Oh, of course, yes,
it's a saddle. Of course.
Yes. I'm all about saddles.
I'll do my very best for you.
Thank you. Thank you for bringing
it in. All right. Thank you.
Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye!
The saddle symbolises an enormous
part of my life
where I was a risk-taker and,
you know, if that saddle
was glistening and shining and ready
for a new adventure,
I think I'm going to be ready
for a new adventure.
And that's what I really hope.
We've been working together
for years now.
Yes. And it's the first time you've
ever got a saddle.
I know, thank you so much!
How happy are you?
I am so happy! I'm so...!
THEY LAUGH
I've actually never worked on a
side-saddle of this style before,
so this is a first for me.
What's all this white stuff that's
all over the hide?
Because of the heat in Texas,
what'll happen in leather is that
the oils and greases
will come to the surface... OK.
..and then it will just
solidify on the top,
mixed in with a good dose of dust
and grime.
Ooh, OK! All right.
There's a lot needing to be done.
I've got to remove a lot of the
leather and deal with
whatever happens when
I take it apart.
The carpet, can I get that over
to Sonnaz,
to see if she can do something
with that?
Yes, that would be perfect.
OK. But the main thing is getting
that apart.
Yeah, that's going to be fun.
SHE LAUGHS
Let's get it over to your bench,
then. All right, brilliant.
Thank you!
We're taking this apart.
I'll be able to expose the rug,
but I also need to get
down inside the base here,
the pommel.
So, all of this needs
to be peeled away.
What I want to do is get the saddle
back into a really good condition
that shows it at its best, having
been around...
It's over 100 years.
When I was living in Colorado, if
there was a barn sale going on,
I was there, and you'd go there with
an idea that you were looking
for something and you'd come back
with something completely different,
which I think sounds like Sara
did the same.
Did she need a saddle? Probably not,
but it was so beautiful,
she wasn't going to pass
this one up.
I love these moments!
I can see this leather underneath
that has not seen
the light of day for over 100 years.
This is great!
Outside, Dom's finally broken down
the rusting 1980s roundabout
and is scratching his head
over the workings
of the crucial part -
the ratchet.
Luckily, today he's sharing the
workshop with bicycle restorer
Tim Gunn, who's seen a few
of these in his time.
There's a maker's mark on here, Tim.
You haven't heard of...
..D Cross and Sons?
Yeah, they made bicycle
freewheels.
TD Cross and Sons. TD Cross?
Yeah. Right, OK.
A bicycle freewheel basically goes
on the back hub of a bike
and allows you to freewheel when
you're pedalling down the road.
So, it's a one way cog almost.
That makes sense. Yeah. Cos this is
like a ratchet mechanism
that allows the kids to spin around.
It's a shame it's all completely
rusted up and seized solid, but...!
Yeah, yeah. Now be careful because
when you undo it,
all the ball bearings will fall out.
Right. OK, thank you.
Good luck!
But before Dom can restore
the ratchet,
he must craft sturdy replacement
parts for the frame
it's designed to rotate.
SAW BUZZES
Right, that's four brand-new legs
cut.
I've got this main T-piece to cut
and then the two other bits
that slide in there,
that go on the chairs.
Basically, lots more cutting to do!
SAW BUZZES
The barn's next arrival is
Ben Sharpe from Milton Keynes,
with a family heirloom that's truly
been through the wars.
He's hoping Will Kirk's wood
restoration skills
can do justice to the memories
it holds.
Hiya. Hello. Hi, there.
How are we doing? I'm well.
How are you doing?
I'm very good. I can see you can't
wait to get out that bag!
THEY LAUGH
Something's in there.
Let's have a butcher's.
What you got for us?
An old box, an old wooden box.
Ooh. OK.
This box contains a set of dominoes.
They're lovely!
They are, yeah.
They're over 100 years old.
Hold on - over 100 years old?
Are you using some cream or
something?!
It's my regime, yeah! All right.
Who did the box belong to?
This box belonged to my great,
great uncle, John Henry Gibbons.
He had it during World War I.
We were told these dominoes were
actually in the trenches
during the First World War.
Wow!
And not just that, but they were
present during the
Christmas truce of 1914.
Really?! Yeah.
Now, that is special.
Yeah. I'd better stand up straight
for that, hadn't I?! Eh?!
That's really important dominoes.
So he was part of the
13th Kensingtons,
of the London regiment,
and it's documented by members
of that battalion that they were
witness to the cease fire
that took place on that Christmas.
Yeah. Where the German and the
British forces,
they lay down their arms and
they met in the middle
and they said,
"We're not fighting tonight."
Carols were sung, gifts were
exchanging and games were played.
These dominoes could well
have been part of that.
They could have been played by...
Yeah. ..guys from both sides.
Mind-blowing, isn't it?
Yeah. Absolutely mind-blowing.
And then, to go back to...
And then went back to it.
Hard to get your head around that.
Yeah, very much so.
It'd be nice to have it
looking proud,
like Uncle John did in the photos
during World War I.
Because he was killed in action.
How old was he?
He was 24. Really? Oh, my gosh.
24.
After...after the First World War,
when it lived with
my great nan and my Aunt Flo,
it was in their house in Wandsworth
during World War II,
when their house suffered a direct
hit in the Blitz.
So, this was with them in the
air raid shelter.
She kept that because it had
literally...
..literally been through the wars.
So, do you feel almost like it's
your duty to keep this going
because it's been through so much?
Yeah.
I'm the current custodian of it and
it tells the story of real lives,
real people and...
And real events, as well.
Yeah.
In terms of restoration and
repairing,
what exactly would you
like us to do?
I think for the box to actually
just have a bit of pride
restored to it would be great.
The lock doesn't work, there's...
There's bits here that are
hanging off.
The dominoes, then? I think the
dominoes, as they are,
that's...that's probably their
story... Mm.
Because that bit there,
that could've snapped off
during a rather tense game,
you know? We don't know.
So... Yeah. ..to keep that there
would be good.
I'm glad you said that because
I think those are history.
Hands have touched those... Yeah.
..and played in the trenches.
Ben, I feel totally honoured and I
think I can speak for both of us.
Definitely. To have such an item in
here that has so much history
and it's connected to your family.
Can't thank you enough for bringing
these in. Thank you, guys.
Really appreciate it.
Thanks for coming down.
You take care. Good luck, guys.
Thanks, bye-bye. Bye.
I always had a sense of duty,
as soon as I inherited that box,
to find out that it had been in the
trenches during the First World War
and that it survived a direct hit
during the blitz,
that kind of brought the sense of
responsibility up ten notches.
Bringing a sense of pride back to it
will ensure that the legacy
will carry on for generations to
come and many years to come.
I absolutely love this dominoes box.
I completely understand why Ben
doesn't want to change the dominoes.
The fact that they're
chipped and worn
is all part of the history
behind them.
I think that this could be a
collection box of some sort,
with the two slots in the top.
I don't think we'll ever really know
the true story behind it,
but it's kept the dominoes safe,
so it's definitely done a good job.
I really don't want to
strip this all back
because it'll look like
a brand-new box
and I think a lot of the charm
with this is
the sort of scratches and dents.
There's a bit of metal here.
Take that off and see if Steve
can replicate that
for the other side for me.
Whilst Steve's doing that,
I can give this box a clean,
give it a polish and a wax and just
give it a bit of TLC, really.
Back outside, Dom has completed
the structural stage
of his somewhat more hefty project.
He can now turn to restoring
its playground colours.
I've got all the pieces for
the roundabout hung up
on my little washing line out here.
Everything's been primer-ed,
sanded down, keyed up,
ready to paint red.
I've come inside because there's so
many tiny little ball bearings
and springs and clips in this
ratchet mechanism,
and I've got nuts and bolts
everywhere.
This whole rim around the edge, and
I've cleaned up that as best I can,
we need to fill that with
ball bearings
and I've got brand-new ones.
This is all going to make it spin
nice and freely
because I want Stella's grandkids
to be getting up as much speed
as they can on this thing.
This tiny little thing here
is integral to the whole ride.
There we go.
And that should...
COG CLICKS SMOOTHLY
Oh, that's a nice sound. Oh-oh!
God, it does sound just like a
freewheel on my BMX.
So that spins that way, so when
you're spinning around
the roundabout, you'll be going
around in that direction.
And then when you pull the handle
in the middle and it locks,
so it won't let it go back that way.
So then you pull yourself round,
and then you keep spinning that way.
Brilliant!
Master saddler Suzie is facing a
long ride with her project,
a battered side-saddle from
the Wild West.
We now need to start
the cleaning process
and going to use glycerine
saddle soap.
And this will start
the cleaning process.
As the pores of the leather
start to open,
the leather will start to absorb
some moisture.
It's going to come up so nice,
this embossing.
Upholsterer Sonnaz Nooranvary
has taken up the reins
on the side-saddle's carpeted seat.
Clogged with many decades
worth of Texan dust,
it needs an equally thorough clean.
So, I've got warm water with
a really gentle alkaline soap.
Giving it a gentle brush,
I can already see some dirt
seeping out the edge
of the rug itself.
I can start to see some colour
coming back into the wool already.
Apart from this leather trim being
rather decorative,
it does serve a purpose
and that is what holds
the carpet seat in place.
The problem I'm faced with here
is the leather
is incredibly old and
incredibly fragile.
Once I've got this lining
leather on,
that will give it enough strength
when it comes for me to stitch it
back onto the carpet.
It'll be strong enough to take
the pull of the thread
and it'll hold everything together.
The wear on the rug from the saddle
has been caused by the rider.
My natural inclination is to make
things look new,
but, actually, that wear conjures
an image for Sara
of a woman riding in, you know,
the Texas plains.
Really, it's key to keep
that lovely history.
To give the carpet remains
a seamless appearance
by carefully filling in
the missing patches,
Sonnaz is performing the ancient art
of knotting.
So, I'm tying a knot in all of the
warps where there...
There isn't any wool.
What I'm trying to do here is just
touch it up ever so slightly.
When I was a child and
we lived in Iran,
that's where I actually learned how
to make rugs with a family member
and it was like magical, the
mountains were in the background.
and I could hear sheep and...
It's probably one of those sort of
defining moments
when I realised making stuff
is definitely for me.
This is a real labour of love,
so I am going to take it
one knot at a time until I'm ready
to hand it back to Suze.
I think it's always important
to copy as much as possible
the original designs of anything.
I was thinking,
when I lived in the States,
how much I saw this decorative
leather work
and pretty much anything that could
be decorated, they would.
So, there we go.
So, the key here is to create the
sort of swirling patterns.
So, the next thing I need to do
is to prick mark it,
that's where my stitching's
going to go.
So, it is crucial that I get
these prick marks
nice and even and following
that flow.
OK, so I've got that prick marked.
I can now get on and start sewing.
Suze.
Oh, my word!
It's amazing cos the colour
has really popped.
That's amazing. Thanks so much.
No worries.
I can now put this
amazing carpet
roughly in the position
that it sits.
Just going to lay this over the top.
And, actually, that's really nice
to see the two pieces
joined back together.
What I need to do now is start
sewing it all back together.
Almost ready for its first twirl is
the children's roundabout,
onto which Dom is putting the final
touches.
The paints that I'm using are
designed to be used
on like fairgrounds and things like
that.
So, they're oil based,
they're a very hard paint.
By doing it by hand, I find the
edge of the paint,
you just get a much nicer
hand-painted edge,
instead of a harsh masked line.
You know, it's not going to be
perfectly straight,
but it'll just bring a nice little
charm to the piece.
Once we put it all back together,
it's going to look brilliant.
It's so lovely to see this
working again.
I know Stella is going to love it
and, most importantly,
enjoy seeing her grandkids spinning
around like Emma did.
When it arrived at the barn,
Stella's roundabout
was in a sad and sorry state.
Now she's returned with
granddaughters Olivia and Flo,
who are keen to take a spin on it,
just as their mother, Emma,
used to do.
I'm very excited and very nervous
to see whether
they've managed to make it work.
I'm hoping to ride the roundabout
with my sister.
Hello. Hi! How're you doing?
All right, thank you.
We've got visitors as well.
We have, yes.
Welcome! So, how have you been?
Well, we've been thinking about
the roundabout. Right.
We've been thinking a lot because
there was a lot of work.
Yeah. Oh, you want it to be working.
Yes, that'd be nice.
So, it's been a while since it's
actually gone around, hadn't it?
A long time, yes. Yeah.
So, what are you hoping for it
to look like?
I want it to look all bright.
OK.
And not rusty.
THEY CHUCKLE
Oh, bless!
Are you ready? Well...
Yes! Yeah?
Good, OK. Go on, Dom.
Oh, I'm nervous!
Oh, my... Look at it!
Isn't that beautiful?
Yeah.
Wow, that's... It looks brand-new.
It's amazing.
Oh, it's beautiful!
Oh, gosh, I'm just taken away.
And I can just see and hear,
you know,
all the times it was used,
it's lovely...
Yeah. ..the memories.
Good.
So, the big test now is, really,
see if it works.
Me and Dom are too big,
we're not allowed to sit on it.
You two are going to have to try
it out for the first time.
Are you going to get on?
Flo's like, "Yes, please!"
THEY LAUGH
Now, pull it. That's it.
That's it. That's cool!
That's it.
That's what... That's what it's
supposed to do. Wow.
Wow! Well done. Aww!
Aww.
Brilliant. I feel quite relieved
to actually see it
spinning so nicely now.
I can only imagine how you feel.
Yes, I'm just...I'm just so elated.
It's just so nice to be able to put
it back into the family
and be able to use it again -
it's wonderful.
And especially as Mummy
not here to see.
FloBo's very like her at the moment.
Mm.
And just taken aback but I think it
helps you progress,
helps you go forward.
Yes, yes. So, it's very nice.
I felt really, really emotional.
It just brought back all the
memories of my girls
when they were all young and all
the fun they had,
and as we don't have Emma
with us any more,
it's so nice that Olivia
and Flo can enjoy it.
It's amazing!
And for all the future generations
to have and enjoy
and make their own memories.
And I have mine and they
can make theirs.
Well done. Well done!
Well done.
Brilliant. Wow.
Now, thank you for bringing it in.
It's been a real pleasure.
It's been very kind of you.
Thank you very much.
I'm really chuffed, thank you.
Lovely to meet you all.
See you later, ladies.
You take care now. Bye-bye.
See you later. Bye.
Bye! Bye!
Next, another very precious
childhood memento
telling an extraordinary story.
It belongs to Kwai White,
from East Yorkshire,
who's accompanied by her sister,
Sue.
Kwai's hoping soft toy restorers
Julie Tatchell
and Amanda Middleditch can give
it back its unique character.
Hello. Hello. Hi.
Welcome to the barn!
And who do we have here?
We have here a little battered
bear for you.
Oh, look at him!
He's known as Singing Teddy.
Singing Teddy.
This little bear was given to me
by Sue, my sister,
and my brother, John.
I was adopted from Hong Kong
and this bear
was a welcome to the family,
it was a present.
I suppose it represents the start
of my life in the UK.
So, it's a special bear.
He's just always been with me.
But, as you can see, he's in a bit
of a sorry state now.
Oh! Can we just ask you, you say
adopted from Hong Kong.
Yes. Lots of babies were abandoned
in the early '60s
and an awful lot ended up in
orphanages and homes.
You know, the social conditions at
the time, people had escaped
from mainland China... Right.
..and had arrived in Hong Kong
and girls particularly
were just left.
Wow. So, babies were literally
dumped in streets, in hallways...
No! ..in hospitals, in doorways.
So you were left somewhere?
Yes, yes, as a newborn.
Yeah. Wow.
So, how was it that Kwai
was adopted into your family?
My mum always tells the story that
she read an article
in the Woman magazine and
decided that,
"Gosh, I could I could give a child
a home."
And she discussed it with my dad
and, you know, they were both
very committed to that idea,
that they could make
a big difference to a child.
Sounds like you have lovely parents.
Yes. Yes. Yes, no, we have.
And how old were you when
you arrived here?
I was ten months when I landed
at the airport in July 1961.
So, do you remember Kwai
arriving?
Oh, yes. We were really anticipating
and getting quite excited,
especially me, getting a sister.
Yes. And we went to the toy shop
to buy a special bear
and he sung Brahms' Lullaby.
And he's just lovely, isn't he?
And, you know... Well, he was.
We borrowed Grandpa's car and
we drove to the airport.
That was when we gave Kwai the bear.
And she just took him and
she just put him to here
and just sort of fondled his fur
like this. Oh!
I mean, even at four,
it moved me to see that.
Yeah, that's amazing.
I can remember thinking, oh,
you know, she likes it.
It sounds like you had a lovely
family that embraced you
and you had a lovely childhood.
Yes, no, it was, it was a good,
happy childhood.
Yes, very, and lots of childhood
memories, I suppose, of... Yeah.
..playing, you know, and that was
the fun part,
to have a sister to play
with in the garden.
Can you show me what he used to do?
Yes, well he's a clockwork bear.
OK.
So, obviously, it would be wound.
Yeah.
And he would sing a little
tinkling tune
and his little head would move
like this, you see.
I see. And then, I'd wind it up
again and again.
And would keep going.
And he would carry on doing this.
Um, he sort of...
..play a tiny bit, the head won't
move any more. No. Right.
And it would be lovely to see him,
you know, working. Yes.
And looking in a better state.
He'll be cherished, you know?
I'll put him somewhere special.
Thank you so much for bringing
Singing Teddy to us
and trusting us with him.
We'll look after him.
Thank you. Yes, please do. We will.
Thank you. OK, bye-bye.
Bye, then, take care.
Bye-bye.
This teddy is special to me because
he represents the start
of my life in the UK.
I think if Singing Teddy could be
repaired to the point
where he will play his lullaby
and move his head,
I think it'd probably just transport
me back to being a child.
SHE CHUCKLES
I'm bonding with you, buddy.
You're quite cute.
He's definitely of the era,
isn't he? Yes.
Those little sort of short...
Yeah.
..sort of pan bear arms almost.
Yeah.
I can completely understand why
Sue picked him out.
Yeah. I bet when he was new,
he was really squishy and cuddly.
Yeah.
What are you seeing by way of
damage? Definitely the back here.
Mm-hm. That's the main area of
concern, I would say.
There's some little areas on the
ends of the paws
and I'm hoping the mechanism
is still in there.
That would be nice, so his little
head can do this again
as it plays the music.
So, if I start taking him apart.
Perfect. And we can start working.
Yeah, great.
This is the music box.
It's not what I was expecting
to see.
I was expecting to see a
music box with a hole here
that had an attachment
for a head wobble.
No sign of a head wobble.
But what I do see here is that
somebody has done a previous repair.
I'm beginning to wonder whether
somebody's taken
that mechanism out before,
and at that point,
he lost his head wobble.
I think we are going to have to
get us a nice new head wobble
music box that plays
Brahms' Lullaby,
and then he'll be much more like the
teddy that she remembers.
While wood restorer Will sees to
the dominoes box that accompanied
a soldier fighting in the
First World War,
clock restorer Steve Fletcher has
been enlisted to make
replacements for its metal
decorative escutcheon.
I'm going to love making this for
the box because the box has such
historical...importance.
The thought that it was used
in the trenches
is phenomenal.
What I'm going to do is make it out
of an old clock mainspring.
For the moment, this spring
is too hard.
So, I'm just going to heat it up to
a red hot colour
and that'll soften it up enough so
that I can cut it
without damaging any of the cutting
blades that I use.
Just leave it for a while
to cool down.
Throughout my career, I've gathered
lots and lots of parts
of old clocks.
I just use them for inventing
things, making things.
I made a wind-powered clock once.
That was quite interesting
and it did work,
but I don't think there was
much market for that.
So, I didn't pursue that one.
Right, that's cooled down
enough now.
I'm just going to scribe around
the old escutcheon.
Then I will just cut it out.
SAW BUZZES
Good. I'll finish it up with
the file once I've cut
the main shape out,
which I'll do now.
SAW BUZZES
This cleaner that I'm using here is
made of methylated spirits,
white spirit, a bit of turps,
a tiny bit of linseed oil.
It won't actually affect the sort of
polished finish that's on there.
So, you can actually see,
just with a light rub here,
I've removed a lot of dirt.
It's coming up a real treat.
That's the top nearly done, then I
can move on to the metalwork.
Now that all the cleaning is
finished,
I'm ready to look at the woodwork.
I want to try to retain as much of
the original character as I can,
so I won't be touching any
of the outside work,
apart from this really thin hairline
crack in the top.
I've got a piece of veneer here that
I'm going to glue into
that hairline crack,
then I can shave it down
to match the rest of the surface.
SAW BUZZES
I just need to put the raised
decorations on
by using punches.
Hopefully it's not going to distort
them too much once I've done it.
I've got this block of oak.
I'm going to punch it into the end
grain, so it's quite hard.
Let's see if that's worked.
That's too smooth an edge.
I'm going to just try putting
it on a former
and punching it on that.
That looks more like the original.
What I'm trying to do is get a more
defined edge around here,
which I'm getting now.
Great, that's worked out really,
really well.
Just need to get all the
others done now.
As Steve presses on with his
embossing,
Suzie is almost on the home stretch
with her Texan passion project.
Well, this is always the exciting
part of any repair.
It has been just a joy to work on.
I've really, really enjoyed it.
One final buff and it's ready
to give back to Sara.
After a long and hard working life
out on the plains of Texas,
the stunningly crafted ladies'
side-saddle was truly worn out.
Sara hopes the precious souvenir
of her past American adventure
will inspire her to broaden
her horizons again.
I'm feeling terribly emotional,
very nervous.
My stomach has got butterflies.
I can't wait to be reunited with
what's become my bit of magic!
Oh, Suzie! Hello, Sara.
Jay!
Hello! Good to see you again.
My talisman!
THEY LAUGH
When you left it here, it
wasn't...that great, was it?
Oh, it was absolutely on the edge of
being ruined, really, wasn't it?
It was not a happy saddle. No.
You ready to see it?
Yes. Suzie...
Here we go.
Oh, my God.
Holy smoke.
Oh, Suzie...
Oh, my goodness me -
it's absolutely mint.
Oh, my giddy aunt,
look at the stitching.
SHE GASPS
Oh, Susie, that is exquisite!
And doesn't the carpet saddle
look absolutely perfect?
Sonnaz filled in some of the holes
in the carpet seat.
It looks beautiful and colourful.
Yeah.
It's just absolutely exquisite.
I can't believe it's
the same saddle.
I have to say thank you to you for
bringing it in because, erm...
..I, too, lived in America,
and I lived sort of around
the cowboys as well in Colorado...
I hadn't realised
how I hadn't, actually,
been thinking about these memories.
So, thank you for helping me to
start to think about those memories.
So, you now have the inspiration
that you need in your life.
Yeah, I think it's going to be...
..fantastic, actually.
That's what I want to hear.
Yeah, yeah.
Yee-haw!
THEY LAUGH
Sarah, I hope this saddle takes you
on some new journeys, OK?
It will. Good.
Oh, brilliant. Thank you.
You take care.
Absolutely blown away by Suzie.
My goodness me, you know,
phenomenal job she's done.
Going to take my saddle
and I'm going to have another
big adventure.
I absolutely can't wait.
I feel very, very excited about it.
Toy restorers Julie and Amanda
are busy rejuvenating
the welcome gift
for an adopted baby -
Singing Teddy.
Julie's task was seeing
to his grubby sheepskin fur,
and to help with that,
Jay's received an unusual delivery.
Julie, have you not had
breakfast yet?
Why do you want so much bran?
I'm cleaning with it.
OK.
I knew you'd be confused!
What are you cleaning?
How can you clean with cereal?
It won't be instant.
It's not going to miraculously
happen. It will take time.
You going to add water, as well?
No, that'd be like lying them
in porridge -
I don't think that would be
very good! Yeah!
We don't want to get him wet
because this is aged sheepskin,
but bran has the ability
to absorb dirt and oils.
So, we need quite a lot because
it's got to be completely buried
and then we leave it. And then
it'll come out a lot cleaner.
Hopefully it will have done
and you will notice the difference.
Oh, this one I've got to see.
Once it's done, let me have a look.
OK. All right?
The biggest problem now
is making sure
we remove every last
little piece of bran.
The bran has drawn out some
of those oils and greases
from years of handling,
and it feels so much fluffier.
Next on Julie's list
is restoring Ted's eyesight.
I have to do this carefully
because this eye is quite buckled.
We want to retain as much
of the wire as we can
to fasten them back in.
Meanwhile, Amanda can get
down to fixing the tear on his body.
Over the years, the stuffing
had broken down so there was no
protection between the music box
and the sheepskin and it stretched.
So, I'm going to remove that area
because it's slightly
distorting him,
and then I'm going to back it
with another piece of sheepskin.
So that I can make this repair
as invisible as possible,
it'll give me a nice,
strong area to work on.
First eye in. I've just got to
do the same with the second,
and then I can put his nose on.
So, the next thing I'm going to do
is to start flocking.
Flocking is a process
where we replace some of the fur
that's now missing.
We've managed to develop
this way with sheepskin.
It's taken us a long time
to perfect the technique.
We're going to add a tiny little bit
of glue to the area that has no fur.
So, I choose the little bit I like.
The sheepskin we've chosen
because of the curl
and the texture,
it's not the right colour,
but we'll tone that down once
we've got it all in place.
Take a little snip.
Just going to add tiny
little pieces at a time.
Quite obviously loved him so much...
..and that's what these
little patches are caused by.
But nothing we can't deal with.
When it's finished
it's going to look really lovely.
On Will's bench,
the restoration of the dominoes box
is almost complete.
Steve's done a fantastic
job with the metal work.
I just now need to attach them
onto the rocks.
The wood is so thin.
If I hammer these bits
on now, there's a high chance
that it could crack,
so I'm going to use a tiny bit
of super glue
and glue these plates onto the box.
I think, as a finishing touch,
it would be really nice to make
a key for the box as well.
I found a pretty good match.
Slightly long here.
Going to pop that into my vice,
cut a little slither away
and hopefully that should fit
like a glove.
That fits really nice and smoothly.
I really hope that Ben's
going to be happy with that.
Over 100 years old,
the dominoes box arrived at the barn
bearing many battle scars,
having survived not just one
but two world wars.
Ben, whose great, great uncle fought
and died in the First World War,
has returned to collect
his precious heirloom,
hoping it's regained some dignity.
How are we doing, Ben?
I'm well, how are you?
Very good.
Nice to see you again.
Feel so much better
you've got a smile like that, eh?
Very exciting times.
Well, it was an absolute honour
to work on the box,
knowing that it's been through
so much.
Yeah.
I can't wait for you to see this.
I'm buzzing, yeah.
You're ready?
I'm ready.
Take a deep breath, yeah?
It'll be all right.
Oh, my word.
The colour of that wood...
No way. The metal...
Now I don't know which one
was the original!
THEY LAUGH
It's got a key and everything.
Does the key work?
Of course the key works!
Please let the key work!
Oh, wow. That pops.
Wow.
That's still that box,
that's still got the scars,
that's still got the history,
that's still got the echoes of
everything that happened to it.
Yeah.
It's got its shoulders up
and that's how it would have looked.
It's just superb.
We're all honoured to have something
like this in here, as well.
This is really, really beautiful.
I feel like I've got to know
a man I never met
who died 100 years before I was
born, but, yeah... Yeah, yeah.
So, thank you for bringing it in.
Thank you.
Now, you can take it home
and show it off to the family
and show them that smile,
as well! I will do!
THEY LAUGH
Cheers. Thanks, guys.
Bye-bye.
Well done, man. Steve, well done.
Good one.
Thank you.
The box symbolises so much
resilience in the family,
which I'm exceptionally proud of.
Everything the family went through,
this dominoes box went
through with them.
Although it's still
bearing its scars,
it's got this sense of pride.
They've done a fantastic job
and I'm delighted -
I'm absolutely delighted.
On the bear ladies workbench,
Singing Teddy is almost ready to be
reunited with his owner.
Look what arrived. Brilliant.
The new mechanism for...
Singing Teddy.
So, we're actually going to get his
head doing...again? Yes, yes!
I'll leave all that with you, then.
Thank you.
Once Julia has sewn
the replacement music box safely
into Ted's now-cuddly body,
he should rock his head
to Brahms' Lullaby -
as he did in 1961.
MUSIC: Brahms' Lullaby
When Singing Teddy arrived
at the barn,
years of being loved had seen
his fur turn threadbare,
and his sorry-looking head
no longer moved to his musical tune.
Back with sister Sue,
Kwai hopes the present from
her adoptive family to mark
their arrival from Hong Kong
will be back
to his charming old self.
He, er, was a special gift
from my brother and sister
when I arrived here.
It will be so lovely to see him
repaired and, hopefully, working.
And, if Singing Teddy
can sing again,
that's the icing on the cake.
Hi. Hello. Welcome back.
How are you?
Great, thank you. Yes, excited.
I'm guessing this is the longest
you've ever been apart?
It is, actually, you're right. Yes.
I think he's missed me.
Oh, absolutely, he has.
Are you ready?
Go on, let's show Kwai
what we've done.
Oh. Oh...
Oh, he's lovely, isn't he?
Oh...
SHE SNIFFLES
MUSIC: Brahms' Lullaby
Oh, my goodness.
It's just lovely.
Yeah, no, it's just, like, taking
me back to being six years old.
Aww! Oh, he's beautiful.
When Kwai was little,
if she was crying,
we used to go and find him
and give him to her,
and let him sing to her.
But she did like to hold him
and cuddle him the best.
And that's what I remember.
It's like having him back again new.
And, you know, to see Kwai
with him, as well -
look at this, look at her face.
He's lovely.
And, look at this.
This is what I used to do.
Oh-ho-ho! As his head was
moving like that? Yeah.
That's why he's bald.
THEY LAUGH
That's fabulous.
So lovely. Can't thank you enough.
Not at all, it's been
an absolute pleasure.
It's all yours now.
Lovely. Thank you so much.
Enjoy him. Thank you so much
for bringing him.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Bye. Bye.
He looks so beautiful,
sitting there.
It does take you back, a little bit,
to being a small child.
He looks so fresh and alive again.
He didn't look so sorry for himself.
He deserves a special spot
in my house,
because he's a special gift.
And it's exactly how he was.
And he's perfect.
Join us next time, as our barn
full of gifted craftspeople...
It's just so exciting,
cos it's so unusual, so rare.
..restore the nation's
beloved heirlooms...
Oh! Would you look at that?
..in The Repair Shop.
where precious but faded
treasures...
There's an awful lot of work
to do here.
Things are definitely going
to have to get worse
before they get better.
..are restored to their
former glory.
Look at that!
Furniture restorer Jay Blades...
Bringing history back to life
is what makes the Repair Shop
so special.
..and a dream team
of expert craftspeople...
It's solid as a rock.
It's actually quite miraculous,
to be honest.
..come together to work
their magic...
Look at that! It's tailor-made.
Just got to keep calm
and carry on.
OK, here we go.
It's going to look great.
..employing heritage craft skills
passed down the generations...
This is how it was,
so this is how it will be again.
..preserving irreplaceable
heirlooms.
Some object can have so much
emotional attachment to the family.
That's what pushes me
to want to get it right.
The team will restore the items...
Oh!
..the memories...
So, that's the link between you,
your grandad... And now, my son.
..and unlock the stories
that they hold.
I'm just blown away!
I'm flying!
In the Repair Shop today...
I love these moments.
..Sonnaz and Suzie take a ride
back in time
to the old Wild West...
This leather underneath has not seen
the light of day
for over 100 years.
..while Will and Steve
restore a game
that tells a remarkable war story.
I'm going to love making this for
the box because the thought
that it was used in
the trenches
is phenomenal.
Take a little snip.
..and the bear ladies receive
a sheepskin guest
requiring some special treatment.
You going to add water in there
as well?
That'd be like lying him
in porridge.
I don't think that would be
very good! Yeah.
But first, a retro ride that's given
a family a dizzyingly good time.
Why do you always do
this to me, Jay?
This looks like it's going to be
another...another easy job.
Looks like it's another dangerous
toy to me!
Imagine how fast that'd be
spinning around.
Ooh-oh!
Stella Moore, from Birmingham,
is hoping metalwork expert
Dominic Chinea can get it going
again for the next generation.
Hello. Hi. How are you doing?
Hi, there. Hi. All right?
Good to see you.
Thank you.
So, I know this is a roundabout.
Tell us about it, please.
My uncle made it. Wow!
That's quite cool, isn't it?
Isn't it?! You have an uncle that
can just make you a toy? Yeah!
Make you a roundabout. Indeed, he's
no longer with us, but, yes.
When did your uncle make this?
This would be about 1980.
He thought there might be a business
in it, but, unfortunately,
the cost involved for reproduction
was going to be too much.
So the run he made... Yeah.
..the few of those, they were sold
and we had this one.
It means a lot to us because this is
the one my daughters played on.
And then now, it will be used,
if you can get it to work... Yeah.
..with my grandchildren.
So, your daughters used to play
on this. Yes.
How many daughters have you got?
I had three.
And I lost my...my little
daughter to cancer.
Oh, God.
What was her name?
Her name was Emma.
She was 39.
She was diagnosed with bowel cancer
and it had spread to the liver
and she was given six months,
possibly,
and she...she was amazing.
She planned her wedding
from the hospital
and she fought against
everybody,
came out, she had her wedding.
Yeah. Good. And she was
an incredible person.
Always sort of everybody else first.
Did she have children?
Yes, she'd got the two.
Olivia, and she'd just had her
youngest, Flo.
Oh, God. Goodness.
So, it was a big shock.
And Flo had her first birthday
in the hospice.
So, she was one when she died, yes.
They would love to be able to tread
in the footsteps
of my daughter.
Oh, bless.
It's all those memories
that they can have and,
"Did Mummy actually do this?"
It's nice to hold on to things
that have memories.
Absolutely.
So, the little ones are really
excited about it.
They sat on it the other day and
went, "How does it work?"
And I said, "Well, it doesn't
at the moment." Yeah.
But, hopefully, you'll be able
to have it work again.
How did it look in its, like,
in its heyday?
This is bright red and then
it was just yellow seats.
Yellow seats.
You can't go on it, I'm afraid.
I would love to!
Yeah, he's keen. He's eyeing it up.
I'd love to!
But I couldn't figure out
how it works.
Because it's so seized up.
It's a crank. So you, you, you pull
the crank... Yeah.
..and it goes round and the other
one cranks the opposite way.
So, you just... Oh, so this is
supposed to move? Rotates, yes.
That... Oh, I see, because that...
But it doesn't.
It doesn't! OK.
THEY LAUGH
Would it have no seat belts or
anything like that, this is...?
No, no, no. This is as it was.
Wow. So, so long as you
don't go too fast!
OK. Right.
THEY LAUGH
Health and safety and all
those sort of rules
are different for nowadays, but...
Yeah, this wouldn't stand
a chance now.
Yeah, this wouldn't stand a chance
at all, no.
Well, we'll keep it in the family,
then! Yeah.
THEY LAUGH
I'll leave it with you
to ponder over.
Thank you. Yes, certainly an
interesting one
but I'm determined - we'll do it.
Thank you for bringing it in.
Bye-bye.
Thank you very much.
Lovely to see you. OK, bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Take care. Thank you.
Bye! Bye-bye.
We certainly need to do some
pondering, don't we? Yeah, yeah.
I'm so excited to be able to leave
the roundabout here.
I just hope that they'll be able
to manage to do something,
so Olivia and Flo are able to follow
in the footsteps of their mum.
It would just take me back
to the past and be able
to continue forward for the future.
Oh!
Well...! Got your work cut out here,
haven't you?
I think so, yeah. Fingers crossed
it all comes apart OK.
Oh, well. Well, I'll leave you
to it. Thank you. No problem.
It's just...it's completely seized.
The poor roundabout has obviously
been in the garden for many years,
good old British weather has not
done it any favours.
I think these handles are supposed
to spin and there's supposed to be
a whole ratchet mechanism in there.
The actual mechanism won't turn
any past there.
I need to just break it down
to see what's inside,
see how bad it is,
and see if I can fix it.
I've got a few other jobs to do.
I mean, I'm obviously missing
three legs and the one
that I've got is rotten.
So it's probably going to be making
four new legs.
I mean, this crossbar, you can see
that is bent like a banana.
Obviously from two kids sitting on
each end of it,
that's pushed it down.
To fix those pieces, I think I'm
actually going to end up
having to cut this into
quite a few bits.
I have no real moral issues
with being so invasive
with the restoration because my main
goal is to get
those grandkids spinning around
on this
and whatever I need to do
to get there, I will.
SAW BUZZES
OK, here we go, it's giving up.
Oh, wow. Brilliant!
The next item to arrive has seen
adventures of a very different kind,
those of the Wild West.
A Texan souvenir, it belongs to
Sara Llewellyn from Glamorgan.
Hello!
Suzie, we have a saddle.
Restoring it will be the perfect job
for master saddler Suzie Fletcher.
It's beautiful!
So, what's the story about
the saddle?
It's all the way from Texas.
In my late '30s, I went on a
dude ranch holiday.
What's a dude ranch, then?
Where you go off for two weeks and
ride the range as a tourist.
OK. But on a real ranch.
Ah. Real horses and real cowboys.
Right. And, of course,
went and fell in love with
the head wrangler on the ranch.
OK, right.
And, you know, I came back after two
weeks and cried all the way home
on the plane and thought,
I don't want to live in Wales.
So I got a one way ticket
back to Texas.
As soon as I set foot there,
I knew I belonged there.
Right. The wonderful romance was
great because that gave me
confidence and we spent a wonderful
time together for two years,
riding through the Hill country with
just a horse trailer,
our two horses in the back.
Wow. You know, and sleeping
under the stars.
But it didn't pan out in the end.
Ah. Oh!
But the great thing was,
is that I was in love with the
landscape, if I'm honest. OK.
This absolutely exquisite landscape,
with pink caliche roads
as far as the eye could see.
So, so, so... Sounds romantic, no?
Yeah, it is. So, it's very romantic.
And you tie that in with a gorgeous
cowboy and a horse.
I mean, you know! Away you go!
You're lost.
I followed a similar path...
Really?
..and you get to learn what...what
you're made of.
You do and you come back changed.
You learn a lot about yourself.
Yeah, you do. It was wonderful
for me, to have loved and lost.
I absolutely wouldn't have changed
a thing. Yeah.
And I think for me now, age 60, you
think, "Christ, what happened?"
You know?! So this, for me, is like,
you know, I can stand and do that,
and I shut my eyes and this
is like a magic carpet.
Ah! And it really does have the
effect of making me feel
more able to have another adventure,
because I think I do have
another adventure in me.
So, where did you find this then?
In a little barn sale and I saw it
straight away
and I just went to it
and grabbed it.
So, this is... Is it an adult
saddle?
It's a ladies side saddle.
The thing that's fantastic about
it is look how used it is.
Yeah. And the spurs were hooked
on the bag hook under here.
OK, yeah. So I didn't even know
they were there.
Oh, how lovely. So that was like,
Oh, my God, you know,
whose are they and who was she?
Yeah. Yeah! Is it a good saddle?
Oh, I think it's beautiful!
Yeah? I really... I mean,
it would catch my eye.
I'd have to buy it as well. Oh, I'm
so pleased to hear you say that.
Yeah, yeah, no. I hoped you'd fall
in love with it. Oh, definitely!
The Wild West, you think it's always
cowboys and big old quarter horses,
you know, but there were these
other cow-women
who were on smaller horses... Right.
..in beautiful saddles,
doing the same job.
So, what would you like Suzie
to do to the saddle?
Oh, Suzie, wouldn't it be lovely if
it could just sing?!
You know, like it must have done,
with the bright carpet seat.
Yeah. Yeah. And all this hand
tooling in the leather,
which are floral garlands.
So, yeah, if you could just
make it look like it did
when the girl had it in
the first place!
THEY LAUGH
OK. I'm really itching to get
my hands on this. Are you really?!
I'm so pleased! Oh, of course, yes,
it's a saddle. Of course.
Yes. I'm all about saddles.
I'll do my very best for you.
Thank you. Thank you for bringing
it in. All right. Thank you.
Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye!
The saddle symbolises an enormous
part of my life
where I was a risk-taker and,
you know, if that saddle
was glistening and shining and ready
for a new adventure,
I think I'm going to be ready
for a new adventure.
And that's what I really hope.
We've been working together
for years now.
Yes. And it's the first time you've
ever got a saddle.
I know, thank you so much!
How happy are you?
I am so happy! I'm so...!
THEY LAUGH
I've actually never worked on a
side-saddle of this style before,
so this is a first for me.
What's all this white stuff that's
all over the hide?
Because of the heat in Texas,
what'll happen in leather is that
the oils and greases
will come to the surface... OK.
..and then it will just
solidify on the top,
mixed in with a good dose of dust
and grime.
Ooh, OK! All right.
There's a lot needing to be done.
I've got to remove a lot of the
leather and deal with
whatever happens when
I take it apart.
The carpet, can I get that over
to Sonnaz,
to see if she can do something
with that?
Yes, that would be perfect.
OK. But the main thing is getting
that apart.
Yeah, that's going to be fun.
SHE LAUGHS
Let's get it over to your bench,
then. All right, brilliant.
Thank you!
We're taking this apart.
I'll be able to expose the rug,
but I also need to get
down inside the base here,
the pommel.
So, all of this needs
to be peeled away.
What I want to do is get the saddle
back into a really good condition
that shows it at its best, having
been around...
It's over 100 years.
When I was living in Colorado, if
there was a barn sale going on,
I was there, and you'd go there with
an idea that you were looking
for something and you'd come back
with something completely different,
which I think sounds like Sara
did the same.
Did she need a saddle? Probably not,
but it was so beautiful,
she wasn't going to pass
this one up.
I love these moments!
I can see this leather underneath
that has not seen
the light of day for over 100 years.
This is great!
Outside, Dom's finally broken down
the rusting 1980s roundabout
and is scratching his head
over the workings
of the crucial part -
the ratchet.
Luckily, today he's sharing the
workshop with bicycle restorer
Tim Gunn, who's seen a few
of these in his time.
There's a maker's mark on here, Tim.
You haven't heard of...
..D Cross and Sons?
Yeah, they made bicycle
freewheels.
TD Cross and Sons. TD Cross?
Yeah. Right, OK.
A bicycle freewheel basically goes
on the back hub of a bike
and allows you to freewheel when
you're pedalling down the road.
So, it's a one way cog almost.
That makes sense. Yeah. Cos this is
like a ratchet mechanism
that allows the kids to spin around.
It's a shame it's all completely
rusted up and seized solid, but...!
Yeah, yeah. Now be careful because
when you undo it,
all the ball bearings will fall out.
Right. OK, thank you.
Good luck!
But before Dom can restore
the ratchet,
he must craft sturdy replacement
parts for the frame
it's designed to rotate.
SAW BUZZES
Right, that's four brand-new legs
cut.
I've got this main T-piece to cut
and then the two other bits
that slide in there,
that go on the chairs.
Basically, lots more cutting to do!
SAW BUZZES
The barn's next arrival is
Ben Sharpe from Milton Keynes,
with a family heirloom that's truly
been through the wars.
He's hoping Will Kirk's wood
restoration skills
can do justice to the memories
it holds.
Hiya. Hello. Hi, there.
How are we doing? I'm well.
How are you doing?
I'm very good. I can see you can't
wait to get out that bag!
THEY LAUGH
Something's in there.
Let's have a butcher's.
What you got for us?
An old box, an old wooden box.
Ooh. OK.
This box contains a set of dominoes.
They're lovely!
They are, yeah.
They're over 100 years old.
Hold on - over 100 years old?
Are you using some cream or
something?!
It's my regime, yeah! All right.
Who did the box belong to?
This box belonged to my great,
great uncle, John Henry Gibbons.
He had it during World War I.
We were told these dominoes were
actually in the trenches
during the First World War.
Wow!
And not just that, but they were
present during the
Christmas truce of 1914.
Really?! Yeah.
Now, that is special.
Yeah. I'd better stand up straight
for that, hadn't I?! Eh?!
That's really important dominoes.
So he was part of the
13th Kensingtons,
of the London regiment,
and it's documented by members
of that battalion that they were
witness to the cease fire
that took place on that Christmas.
Yeah. Where the German and the
British forces,
they lay down their arms and
they met in the middle
and they said,
"We're not fighting tonight."
Carols were sung, gifts were
exchanging and games were played.
These dominoes could well
have been part of that.
They could have been played by...
Yeah. ..guys from both sides.
Mind-blowing, isn't it?
Yeah. Absolutely mind-blowing.
And then, to go back to...
And then went back to it.
Hard to get your head around that.
Yeah, very much so.
It'd be nice to have it
looking proud,
like Uncle John did in the photos
during World War I.
Because he was killed in action.
How old was he?
He was 24. Really? Oh, my gosh.
24.
After...after the First World War,
when it lived with
my great nan and my Aunt Flo,
it was in their house in Wandsworth
during World War II,
when their house suffered a direct
hit in the Blitz.
So, this was with them in the
air raid shelter.
She kept that because it had
literally...
..literally been through the wars.
So, do you feel almost like it's
your duty to keep this going
because it's been through so much?
Yeah.
I'm the current custodian of it and
it tells the story of real lives,
real people and...
And real events, as well.
Yeah.
In terms of restoration and
repairing,
what exactly would you
like us to do?
I think for the box to actually
just have a bit of pride
restored to it would be great.
The lock doesn't work, there's...
There's bits here that are
hanging off.
The dominoes, then? I think the
dominoes, as they are,
that's...that's probably their
story... Mm.
Because that bit there,
that could've snapped off
during a rather tense game,
you know? We don't know.
So... Yeah. ..to keep that there
would be good.
I'm glad you said that because
I think those are history.
Hands have touched those... Yeah.
..and played in the trenches.
Ben, I feel totally honoured and I
think I can speak for both of us.
Definitely. To have such an item in
here that has so much history
and it's connected to your family.
Can't thank you enough for bringing
these in. Thank you, guys.
Really appreciate it.
Thanks for coming down.
You take care. Good luck, guys.
Thanks, bye-bye. Bye.
I always had a sense of duty,
as soon as I inherited that box,
to find out that it had been in the
trenches during the First World War
and that it survived a direct hit
during the blitz,
that kind of brought the sense of
responsibility up ten notches.
Bringing a sense of pride back to it
will ensure that the legacy
will carry on for generations to
come and many years to come.
I absolutely love this dominoes box.
I completely understand why Ben
doesn't want to change the dominoes.
The fact that they're
chipped and worn
is all part of the history
behind them.
I think that this could be a
collection box of some sort,
with the two slots in the top.
I don't think we'll ever really know
the true story behind it,
but it's kept the dominoes safe,
so it's definitely done a good job.
I really don't want to
strip this all back
because it'll look like
a brand-new box
and I think a lot of the charm
with this is
the sort of scratches and dents.
There's a bit of metal here.
Take that off and see if Steve
can replicate that
for the other side for me.
Whilst Steve's doing that,
I can give this box a clean,
give it a polish and a wax and just
give it a bit of TLC, really.
Back outside, Dom has completed
the structural stage
of his somewhat more hefty project.
He can now turn to restoring
its playground colours.
I've got all the pieces for
the roundabout hung up
on my little washing line out here.
Everything's been primer-ed,
sanded down, keyed up,
ready to paint red.
I've come inside because there's so
many tiny little ball bearings
and springs and clips in this
ratchet mechanism,
and I've got nuts and bolts
everywhere.
This whole rim around the edge, and
I've cleaned up that as best I can,
we need to fill that with
ball bearings
and I've got brand-new ones.
This is all going to make it spin
nice and freely
because I want Stella's grandkids
to be getting up as much speed
as they can on this thing.
This tiny little thing here
is integral to the whole ride.
There we go.
And that should...
COG CLICKS SMOOTHLY
Oh, that's a nice sound. Oh-oh!
God, it does sound just like a
freewheel on my BMX.
So that spins that way, so when
you're spinning around
the roundabout, you'll be going
around in that direction.
And then when you pull the handle
in the middle and it locks,
so it won't let it go back that way.
So then you pull yourself round,
and then you keep spinning that way.
Brilliant!
Master saddler Suzie is facing a
long ride with her project,
a battered side-saddle from
the Wild West.
We now need to start
the cleaning process
and going to use glycerine
saddle soap.
And this will start
the cleaning process.
As the pores of the leather
start to open,
the leather will start to absorb
some moisture.
It's going to come up so nice,
this embossing.
Upholsterer Sonnaz Nooranvary
has taken up the reins
on the side-saddle's carpeted seat.
Clogged with many decades
worth of Texan dust,
it needs an equally thorough clean.
So, I've got warm water with
a really gentle alkaline soap.
Giving it a gentle brush,
I can already see some dirt
seeping out the edge
of the rug itself.
I can start to see some colour
coming back into the wool already.
Apart from this leather trim being
rather decorative,
it does serve a purpose
and that is what holds
the carpet seat in place.
The problem I'm faced with here
is the leather
is incredibly old and
incredibly fragile.
Once I've got this lining
leather on,
that will give it enough strength
when it comes for me to stitch it
back onto the carpet.
It'll be strong enough to take
the pull of the thread
and it'll hold everything together.
The wear on the rug from the saddle
has been caused by the rider.
My natural inclination is to make
things look new,
but, actually, that wear conjures
an image for Sara
of a woman riding in, you know,
the Texas plains.
Really, it's key to keep
that lovely history.
To give the carpet remains
a seamless appearance
by carefully filling in
the missing patches,
Sonnaz is performing the ancient art
of knotting.
So, I'm tying a knot in all of the
warps where there...
There isn't any wool.
What I'm trying to do here is just
touch it up ever so slightly.
When I was a child and
we lived in Iran,
that's where I actually learned how
to make rugs with a family member
and it was like magical, the
mountains were in the background.
and I could hear sheep and...
It's probably one of those sort of
defining moments
when I realised making stuff
is definitely for me.
This is a real labour of love,
so I am going to take it
one knot at a time until I'm ready
to hand it back to Suze.
I think it's always important
to copy as much as possible
the original designs of anything.
I was thinking,
when I lived in the States,
how much I saw this decorative
leather work
and pretty much anything that could
be decorated, they would.
So, there we go.
So, the key here is to create the
sort of swirling patterns.
So, the next thing I need to do
is to prick mark it,
that's where my stitching's
going to go.
So, it is crucial that I get
these prick marks
nice and even and following
that flow.
OK, so I've got that prick marked.
I can now get on and start sewing.
Suze.
Oh, my word!
It's amazing cos the colour
has really popped.
That's amazing. Thanks so much.
No worries.
I can now put this
amazing carpet
roughly in the position
that it sits.
Just going to lay this over the top.
And, actually, that's really nice
to see the two pieces
joined back together.
What I need to do now is start
sewing it all back together.
Almost ready for its first twirl is
the children's roundabout,
onto which Dom is putting the final
touches.
The paints that I'm using are
designed to be used
on like fairgrounds and things like
that.
So, they're oil based,
they're a very hard paint.
By doing it by hand, I find the
edge of the paint,
you just get a much nicer
hand-painted edge,
instead of a harsh masked line.
You know, it's not going to be
perfectly straight,
but it'll just bring a nice little
charm to the piece.
Once we put it all back together,
it's going to look brilliant.
It's so lovely to see this
working again.
I know Stella is going to love it
and, most importantly,
enjoy seeing her grandkids spinning
around like Emma did.
When it arrived at the barn,
Stella's roundabout
was in a sad and sorry state.
Now she's returned with
granddaughters Olivia and Flo,
who are keen to take a spin on it,
just as their mother, Emma,
used to do.
I'm very excited and very nervous
to see whether
they've managed to make it work.
I'm hoping to ride the roundabout
with my sister.
Hello. Hi! How're you doing?
All right, thank you.
We've got visitors as well.
We have, yes.
Welcome! So, how have you been?
Well, we've been thinking about
the roundabout. Right.
We've been thinking a lot because
there was a lot of work.
Yeah. Oh, you want it to be working.
Yes, that'd be nice.
So, it's been a while since it's
actually gone around, hadn't it?
A long time, yes. Yeah.
So, what are you hoping for it
to look like?
I want it to look all bright.
OK.
And not rusty.
THEY CHUCKLE
Oh, bless!
Are you ready? Well...
Yes! Yeah?
Good, OK. Go on, Dom.
Oh, I'm nervous!
Oh, my... Look at it!
Isn't that beautiful?
Yeah.
Wow, that's... It looks brand-new.
It's amazing.
Oh, it's beautiful!
Oh, gosh, I'm just taken away.
And I can just see and hear,
you know,
all the times it was used,
it's lovely...
Yeah. ..the memories.
Good.
So, the big test now is, really,
see if it works.
Me and Dom are too big,
we're not allowed to sit on it.
You two are going to have to try
it out for the first time.
Are you going to get on?
Flo's like, "Yes, please!"
THEY LAUGH
Now, pull it. That's it.
That's it. That's cool!
That's it.
That's what... That's what it's
supposed to do. Wow.
Wow! Well done. Aww!
Aww.
Brilliant. I feel quite relieved
to actually see it
spinning so nicely now.
I can only imagine how you feel.
Yes, I'm just...I'm just so elated.
It's just so nice to be able to put
it back into the family
and be able to use it again -
it's wonderful.
And especially as Mummy
not here to see.
FloBo's very like her at the moment.
Mm.
And just taken aback but I think it
helps you progress,
helps you go forward.
Yes, yes. So, it's very nice.
I felt really, really emotional.
It just brought back all the
memories of my girls
when they were all young and all
the fun they had,
and as we don't have Emma
with us any more,
it's so nice that Olivia
and Flo can enjoy it.
It's amazing!
And for all the future generations
to have and enjoy
and make their own memories.
And I have mine and they
can make theirs.
Well done. Well done!
Well done.
Brilliant. Wow.
Now, thank you for bringing it in.
It's been a real pleasure.
It's been very kind of you.
Thank you very much.
I'm really chuffed, thank you.
Lovely to meet you all.
See you later, ladies.
You take care now. Bye-bye.
See you later. Bye.
Bye! Bye!
Next, another very precious
childhood memento
telling an extraordinary story.
It belongs to Kwai White,
from East Yorkshire,
who's accompanied by her sister,
Sue.
Kwai's hoping soft toy restorers
Julie Tatchell
and Amanda Middleditch can give
it back its unique character.
Hello. Hello. Hi.
Welcome to the barn!
And who do we have here?
We have here a little battered
bear for you.
Oh, look at him!
He's known as Singing Teddy.
Singing Teddy.
This little bear was given to me
by Sue, my sister,
and my brother, John.
I was adopted from Hong Kong
and this bear
was a welcome to the family,
it was a present.
I suppose it represents the start
of my life in the UK.
So, it's a special bear.
He's just always been with me.
But, as you can see, he's in a bit
of a sorry state now.
Oh! Can we just ask you, you say
adopted from Hong Kong.
Yes. Lots of babies were abandoned
in the early '60s
and an awful lot ended up in
orphanages and homes.
You know, the social conditions at
the time, people had escaped
from mainland China... Right.
..and had arrived in Hong Kong
and girls particularly
were just left.
Wow. So, babies were literally
dumped in streets, in hallways...
No! ..in hospitals, in doorways.
So you were left somewhere?
Yes, yes, as a newborn.
Yeah. Wow.
So, how was it that Kwai
was adopted into your family?
My mum always tells the story that
she read an article
in the Woman magazine and
decided that,
"Gosh, I could I could give a child
a home."
And she discussed it with my dad
and, you know, they were both
very committed to that idea,
that they could make
a big difference to a child.
Sounds like you have lovely parents.
Yes. Yes. Yes, no, we have.
And how old were you when
you arrived here?
I was ten months when I landed
at the airport in July 1961.
So, do you remember Kwai
arriving?
Oh, yes. We were really anticipating
and getting quite excited,
especially me, getting a sister.
Yes. And we went to the toy shop
to buy a special bear
and he sung Brahms' Lullaby.
And he's just lovely, isn't he?
And, you know... Well, he was.
We borrowed Grandpa's car and
we drove to the airport.
That was when we gave Kwai the bear.
And she just took him and
she just put him to here
and just sort of fondled his fur
like this. Oh!
I mean, even at four,
it moved me to see that.
Yeah, that's amazing.
I can remember thinking, oh,
you know, she likes it.
It sounds like you had a lovely
family that embraced you
and you had a lovely childhood.
Yes, no, it was, it was a good,
happy childhood.
Yes, very, and lots of childhood
memories, I suppose, of... Yeah.
..playing, you know, and that was
the fun part,
to have a sister to play
with in the garden.
Can you show me what he used to do?
Yes, well he's a clockwork bear.
OK.
So, obviously, it would be wound.
Yeah.
And he would sing a little
tinkling tune
and his little head would move
like this, you see.
I see. And then, I'd wind it up
again and again.
And would keep going.
And he would carry on doing this.
Um, he sort of...
..play a tiny bit, the head won't
move any more. No. Right.
And it would be lovely to see him,
you know, working. Yes.
And looking in a better state.
He'll be cherished, you know?
I'll put him somewhere special.
Thank you so much for bringing
Singing Teddy to us
and trusting us with him.
We'll look after him.
Thank you. Yes, please do. We will.
Thank you. OK, bye-bye.
Bye, then, take care.
Bye-bye.
This teddy is special to me because
he represents the start
of my life in the UK.
I think if Singing Teddy could be
repaired to the point
where he will play his lullaby
and move his head,
I think it'd probably just transport
me back to being a child.
SHE CHUCKLES
I'm bonding with you, buddy.
You're quite cute.
He's definitely of the era,
isn't he? Yes.
Those little sort of short...
Yeah.
..sort of pan bear arms almost.
Yeah.
I can completely understand why
Sue picked him out.
Yeah. I bet when he was new,
he was really squishy and cuddly.
Yeah.
What are you seeing by way of
damage? Definitely the back here.
Mm-hm. That's the main area of
concern, I would say.
There's some little areas on the
ends of the paws
and I'm hoping the mechanism
is still in there.
That would be nice, so his little
head can do this again
as it plays the music.
So, if I start taking him apart.
Perfect. And we can start working.
Yeah, great.
This is the music box.
It's not what I was expecting
to see.
I was expecting to see a
music box with a hole here
that had an attachment
for a head wobble.
No sign of a head wobble.
But what I do see here is that
somebody has done a previous repair.
I'm beginning to wonder whether
somebody's taken
that mechanism out before,
and at that point,
he lost his head wobble.
I think we are going to have to
get us a nice new head wobble
music box that plays
Brahms' Lullaby,
and then he'll be much more like the
teddy that she remembers.
While wood restorer Will sees to
the dominoes box that accompanied
a soldier fighting in the
First World War,
clock restorer Steve Fletcher has
been enlisted to make
replacements for its metal
decorative escutcheon.
I'm going to love making this for
the box because the box has such
historical...importance.
The thought that it was used
in the trenches
is phenomenal.
What I'm going to do is make it out
of an old clock mainspring.
For the moment, this spring
is too hard.
So, I'm just going to heat it up to
a red hot colour
and that'll soften it up enough so
that I can cut it
without damaging any of the cutting
blades that I use.
Just leave it for a while
to cool down.
Throughout my career, I've gathered
lots and lots of parts
of old clocks.
I just use them for inventing
things, making things.
I made a wind-powered clock once.
That was quite interesting
and it did work,
but I don't think there was
much market for that.
So, I didn't pursue that one.
Right, that's cooled down
enough now.
I'm just going to scribe around
the old escutcheon.
Then I will just cut it out.
SAW BUZZES
Good. I'll finish it up with
the file once I've cut
the main shape out,
which I'll do now.
SAW BUZZES
This cleaner that I'm using here is
made of methylated spirits,
white spirit, a bit of turps,
a tiny bit of linseed oil.
It won't actually affect the sort of
polished finish that's on there.
So, you can actually see,
just with a light rub here,
I've removed a lot of dirt.
It's coming up a real treat.
That's the top nearly done, then I
can move on to the metalwork.
Now that all the cleaning is
finished,
I'm ready to look at the woodwork.
I want to try to retain as much of
the original character as I can,
so I won't be touching any
of the outside work,
apart from this really thin hairline
crack in the top.
I've got a piece of veneer here that
I'm going to glue into
that hairline crack,
then I can shave it down
to match the rest of the surface.
SAW BUZZES
I just need to put the raised
decorations on
by using punches.
Hopefully it's not going to distort
them too much once I've done it.
I've got this block of oak.
I'm going to punch it into the end
grain, so it's quite hard.
Let's see if that's worked.
That's too smooth an edge.
I'm going to just try putting
it on a former
and punching it on that.
That looks more like the original.
What I'm trying to do is get a more
defined edge around here,
which I'm getting now.
Great, that's worked out really,
really well.
Just need to get all the
others done now.
As Steve presses on with his
embossing,
Suzie is almost on the home stretch
with her Texan passion project.
Well, this is always the exciting
part of any repair.
It has been just a joy to work on.
I've really, really enjoyed it.
One final buff and it's ready
to give back to Sara.
After a long and hard working life
out on the plains of Texas,
the stunningly crafted ladies'
side-saddle was truly worn out.
Sara hopes the precious souvenir
of her past American adventure
will inspire her to broaden
her horizons again.
I'm feeling terribly emotional,
very nervous.
My stomach has got butterflies.
I can't wait to be reunited with
what's become my bit of magic!
Oh, Suzie! Hello, Sara.
Jay!
Hello! Good to see you again.
My talisman!
THEY LAUGH
When you left it here, it
wasn't...that great, was it?
Oh, it was absolutely on the edge of
being ruined, really, wasn't it?
It was not a happy saddle. No.
You ready to see it?
Yes. Suzie...
Here we go.
Oh, my God.
Holy smoke.
Oh, Suzie...
Oh, my goodness me -
it's absolutely mint.
Oh, my giddy aunt,
look at the stitching.
SHE GASPS
Oh, Susie, that is exquisite!
And doesn't the carpet saddle
look absolutely perfect?
Sonnaz filled in some of the holes
in the carpet seat.
It looks beautiful and colourful.
Yeah.
It's just absolutely exquisite.
I can't believe it's
the same saddle.
I have to say thank you to you for
bringing it in because, erm...
..I, too, lived in America,
and I lived sort of around
the cowboys as well in Colorado...
I hadn't realised
how I hadn't, actually,
been thinking about these memories.
So, thank you for helping me to
start to think about those memories.
So, you now have the inspiration
that you need in your life.
Yeah, I think it's going to be...
..fantastic, actually.
That's what I want to hear.
Yeah, yeah.
Yee-haw!
THEY LAUGH
Sarah, I hope this saddle takes you
on some new journeys, OK?
It will. Good.
Oh, brilliant. Thank you.
You take care.
Absolutely blown away by Suzie.
My goodness me, you know,
phenomenal job she's done.
Going to take my saddle
and I'm going to have another
big adventure.
I absolutely can't wait.
I feel very, very excited about it.
Toy restorers Julie and Amanda
are busy rejuvenating
the welcome gift
for an adopted baby -
Singing Teddy.
Julie's task was seeing
to his grubby sheepskin fur,
and to help with that,
Jay's received an unusual delivery.
Julie, have you not had
breakfast yet?
Why do you want so much bran?
I'm cleaning with it.
OK.
I knew you'd be confused!
What are you cleaning?
How can you clean with cereal?
It won't be instant.
It's not going to miraculously
happen. It will take time.
You going to add water, as well?
No, that'd be like lying them
in porridge -
I don't think that would be
very good! Yeah!
We don't want to get him wet
because this is aged sheepskin,
but bran has the ability
to absorb dirt and oils.
So, we need quite a lot because
it's got to be completely buried
and then we leave it. And then
it'll come out a lot cleaner.
Hopefully it will have done
and you will notice the difference.
Oh, this one I've got to see.
Once it's done, let me have a look.
OK. All right?
The biggest problem now
is making sure
we remove every last
little piece of bran.
The bran has drawn out some
of those oils and greases
from years of handling,
and it feels so much fluffier.
Next on Julie's list
is restoring Ted's eyesight.
I have to do this carefully
because this eye is quite buckled.
We want to retain as much
of the wire as we can
to fasten them back in.
Meanwhile, Amanda can get
down to fixing the tear on his body.
Over the years, the stuffing
had broken down so there was no
protection between the music box
and the sheepskin and it stretched.
So, I'm going to remove that area
because it's slightly
distorting him,
and then I'm going to back it
with another piece of sheepskin.
So that I can make this repair
as invisible as possible,
it'll give me a nice,
strong area to work on.
First eye in. I've just got to
do the same with the second,
and then I can put his nose on.
So, the next thing I'm going to do
is to start flocking.
Flocking is a process
where we replace some of the fur
that's now missing.
We've managed to develop
this way with sheepskin.
It's taken us a long time
to perfect the technique.
We're going to add a tiny little bit
of glue to the area that has no fur.
So, I choose the little bit I like.
The sheepskin we've chosen
because of the curl
and the texture,
it's not the right colour,
but we'll tone that down once
we've got it all in place.
Take a little snip.
Just going to add tiny
little pieces at a time.
Quite obviously loved him so much...
..and that's what these
little patches are caused by.
But nothing we can't deal with.
When it's finished
it's going to look really lovely.
On Will's bench,
the restoration of the dominoes box
is almost complete.
Steve's done a fantastic
job with the metal work.
I just now need to attach them
onto the rocks.
The wood is so thin.
If I hammer these bits
on now, there's a high chance
that it could crack,
so I'm going to use a tiny bit
of super glue
and glue these plates onto the box.
I think, as a finishing touch,
it would be really nice to make
a key for the box as well.
I found a pretty good match.
Slightly long here.
Going to pop that into my vice,
cut a little slither away
and hopefully that should fit
like a glove.
That fits really nice and smoothly.
I really hope that Ben's
going to be happy with that.
Over 100 years old,
the dominoes box arrived at the barn
bearing many battle scars,
having survived not just one
but two world wars.
Ben, whose great, great uncle fought
and died in the First World War,
has returned to collect
his precious heirloom,
hoping it's regained some dignity.
How are we doing, Ben?
I'm well, how are you?
Very good.
Nice to see you again.
Feel so much better
you've got a smile like that, eh?
Very exciting times.
Well, it was an absolute honour
to work on the box,
knowing that it's been through
so much.
Yeah.
I can't wait for you to see this.
I'm buzzing, yeah.
You're ready?
I'm ready.
Take a deep breath, yeah?
It'll be all right.
Oh, my word.
The colour of that wood...
No way. The metal...
Now I don't know which one
was the original!
THEY LAUGH
It's got a key and everything.
Does the key work?
Of course the key works!
Please let the key work!
Oh, wow. That pops.
Wow.
That's still that box,
that's still got the scars,
that's still got the history,
that's still got the echoes of
everything that happened to it.
Yeah.
It's got its shoulders up
and that's how it would have looked.
It's just superb.
We're all honoured to have something
like this in here, as well.
This is really, really beautiful.
I feel like I've got to know
a man I never met
who died 100 years before I was
born, but, yeah... Yeah, yeah.
So, thank you for bringing it in.
Thank you.
Now, you can take it home
and show it off to the family
and show them that smile,
as well! I will do!
THEY LAUGH
Cheers. Thanks, guys.
Bye-bye.
Well done, man. Steve, well done.
Good one.
Thank you.
The box symbolises so much
resilience in the family,
which I'm exceptionally proud of.
Everything the family went through,
this dominoes box went
through with them.
Although it's still
bearing its scars,
it's got this sense of pride.
They've done a fantastic job
and I'm delighted -
I'm absolutely delighted.
On the bear ladies workbench,
Singing Teddy is almost ready to be
reunited with his owner.
Look what arrived. Brilliant.
The new mechanism for...
Singing Teddy.
So, we're actually going to get his
head doing...again? Yes, yes!
I'll leave all that with you, then.
Thank you.
Once Julia has sewn
the replacement music box safely
into Ted's now-cuddly body,
he should rock his head
to Brahms' Lullaby -
as he did in 1961.
MUSIC: Brahms' Lullaby
When Singing Teddy arrived
at the barn,
years of being loved had seen
his fur turn threadbare,
and his sorry-looking head
no longer moved to his musical tune.
Back with sister Sue,
Kwai hopes the present from
her adoptive family to mark
their arrival from Hong Kong
will be back
to his charming old self.
He, er, was a special gift
from my brother and sister
when I arrived here.
It will be so lovely to see him
repaired and, hopefully, working.
And, if Singing Teddy
can sing again,
that's the icing on the cake.
Hi. Hello. Welcome back.
How are you?
Great, thank you. Yes, excited.
I'm guessing this is the longest
you've ever been apart?
It is, actually, you're right. Yes.
I think he's missed me.
Oh, absolutely, he has.
Are you ready?
Go on, let's show Kwai
what we've done.
Oh. Oh...
Oh, he's lovely, isn't he?
Oh...
SHE SNIFFLES
MUSIC: Brahms' Lullaby
Oh, my goodness.
It's just lovely.
Yeah, no, it's just, like, taking
me back to being six years old.
Aww! Oh, he's beautiful.
When Kwai was little,
if she was crying,
we used to go and find him
and give him to her,
and let him sing to her.
But she did like to hold him
and cuddle him the best.
And that's what I remember.
It's like having him back again new.
And, you know, to see Kwai
with him, as well -
look at this, look at her face.
He's lovely.
And, look at this.
This is what I used to do.
Oh-ho-ho! As his head was
moving like that? Yeah.
That's why he's bald.
THEY LAUGH
That's fabulous.
So lovely. Can't thank you enough.
Not at all, it's been
an absolute pleasure.
It's all yours now.
Lovely. Thank you so much.
Enjoy him. Thank you so much
for bringing him.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Bye. Bye.
He looks so beautiful,
sitting there.
It does take you back, a little bit,
to being a small child.
He looks so fresh and alive again.
He didn't look so sorry for himself.
He deserves a special spot
in my house,
because he's a special gift.
And it's exactly how he was.
And he's perfect.
Join us next time, as our barn
full of gifted craftspeople...
It's just so exciting,
cos it's so unusual, so rare.
..restore the nation's
beloved heirlooms...
Oh! Would you look at that?
..in The Repair Shop.