04x23 - Leather Boxing Belts

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to The Repair Shop, where
much-loved but broken treasures...

This is amazing.
It is absolutely brilliant.

..are brought back to life.

Welcome to my universe.

It's pretty marvellous.

Furniture restorer Jay Blades...

It's so nice that we can be part of
that kind of history

to just keep things going.

..and a dream team of
some of the country's most

skilled craftspeople...

I'm having a lot fun,
and I really liking the end result.

Sounds like teamwork.

..bring their talents to bear on
beloved pieces of family history...

Look at that.
I'm liking what I see. Yes.

It's working. You beauty!

..utilising expertise
passed down the generations.

I want to teach you how to do it
the old-fashioned way. All right.

Transforming priceless pieces
of family history...

Oh, my goodness me!

..the Repair Shop team
will resurrect the items...

Oh, gosh!

..the memories...

I'm going to have to hug you.

..and the stories behind them.

Look at that!

Thank you so much.

I can't see it
because there's tears in my eyes.

This is a very emotional job to do,
but incredibly worthwhile.

Yay!

In The Repair Shop today...

A monkey-shaped moneybox

stumps even the
finest mechanical minds...

So you haven't got a solution
to this?

I don't have a solution, I'm sorry.

Right. Nor have I.

..while ocular expert Richard
has a battle on his hands...

Oh, golly, here we go.

..restoring a pair of
World w*r II binoculars.

Turn. It's still fighting me.

Oh, come on!

This morning, The Repair Shop
is welcoming some very special items

into the barn.

Trish Watene-Pickering
from Huddersfield

has arrived with her mum, Patricia.

They've brought along
two very precious items

that were awarded
to their own personal hero

for the attention of leather
expert Suzie Fletcher.

Hello. Hello. Hello. You all right?
Yes, thank you.

So what we got in the box, then?

Well, we have family treasures.

These are my dad's boxing belts
from the South Pacific.

So these belonged to your father...

My husband, yes.

So, please tell us about the belts.

Well this one is the oldest one,

and my dad won it in 1953.

K Lave? Lave. Lave, OK.
Kitione Lave.

In 1959, he defended it twice,
so he got to keep it.

Oh, OK! OK.

And this one was made in 1959.
Right.

And he fought and won it. Yeah.

Then he defended it twice in '59,

and so he got to keep that one
as well.

So he was a good fighter, then.

Yes. He was, yes.

Kitione Lave was a highly successful
Tongan heavyweight.

Before he died in 2006,

his epic career
saw him win 51 bouts

across the world,

earning him the nickname
the Tongan Terror

and a place in the
Tonga National Sports Hall of Fame.

He was very proud of himself.

He was born on a little island
in Tonga. OK. In 1934.

It was a mile long
and a quarter of a mile wide.

Oh, my goodness. So it's tiny.
Very small!

60 people. 60 people, that's it?!

And a boxer came from Fiji and...

A bit like, you know, "Come in
the ring and fight me." Yeah.

And so my dad thought,
"Well, I will,"

but they wear what they call
a vala, or a lavalava,

which is material that you fastened

around yourself. You just tie it.
You just tie it.

And it kept falling off! OK, right.

So he had to box with one hand.
And holding it!

To keep his dignity, yeah.

He did win. Right.

His father and his brother,
older brother,

they saved up and they bought him
some boxing gloves

cos he'd got in
and he seemed to enjoy it -

and he started to train and fight,
and then he went on from there.

He boxed in Canada, Germany,
through Europe... Right.

Boxed here in the UK.

He's been an inspiration
to my children. Yeah.

Because it's taught them that,
no matter where you come from,

even the humblest beginnings,

if you strive,
you can achieve things.

You can achieve, yeah.

So I'd like them to represent that
for my grandchildren

and great-grandchildren.

Yeah, makes sense.

So what would you like us
to do with the belts?

Just so they stop disintegrating.
OK.

I mean, there's a foot...there's
a leg missing.

We can't really read them -
you know, it's all black.

Just save their life.
Yeah, save their life.

OK.

This is my dad's Tongan fixing,
with Sellotape.

Excellent! Oh, yeah.

He fixed everything with Sellotape.
LAUGHS: OK.

Well, this is going to be quite
a challenge,

but I'm really looking forward...
Thank you. ..to getting them

into some better condition for you.
Thank you.

We're so appreciative that
you'd even consider them.

Thank you. Oh, I love a challenge.

Course. We do love a challenge,
yeah.

Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you so much.

You take care. Bye-bye.

At the moment,
I'm just feeling so excited.

What I would like to happen
is that the belts last forever,

that my grandchildren,
or great-grandchildren,

great-great-grandchildren get
to hold them, see them,

and know what they are.

What is so important to me

is that my dad's memory
and his achievements live on.

These are nice, aren't they?
They are absolutely lovely.

Brenton, have a look at this, mate.

Got two lovely heavyweight belts,

and I believe there's a silver
or some metal.

What would that be?

It's difficult to tell
till I get hold of it...

OK. ..but that one does
look like it's silver.

I can see we've got a leg missing.
Yeah.

So he didn't fight
with one leg, did he? No.

One hand. One-handed, he did.

Yeah, but that's another story.

Tell me sometime. Right. OK.

So we need to get these off.

Got a bit of damage here. Yeah.
Little dents and stuff.

Well, both of them are needing
an awful lot of work.

This one's particularly fragile.
When you look at the back here,

see, there's no supporting leather
at all.

So this will all have to be
replaced.

So it sounds like
that's a lot of work.

So what we need to do is get them
to your benches

so we can get both belts
looking in champion form again.

Brilliant. Cool? OK.
I'll grab this one. Brilliant.

While Suzie and Brenton begin
their tag-team attack

on the boxing belts,

outside, two more hopeful visitors -

husband and wife Alan
and Maggie Spencer from Worthing.

They've brought with them a beloved
oddity from Alan's childhood.

Hello. Hiya.

I'm Steve. I'm Maggie. Hi, Maggie.

Hello, Steve, I'm Alan. Hi. Hiya.

Right, what have we got here?

This is
my Great Uncle Pat's moneybox.

I've not seen a moneybox
looking like that before.

It pops up -
and when I was ten or 11,

about 60 years ago,
I remember it working.

There used to be, like, a doorknob
through there... Yeah.

..but when you pulled out,

and it lifts the monkey up,

the cashier, I think it is... OK.

..and you put the money on the desk,

and it would drop in,
and you've lost your money.

LAUGHS: OK.

I've never seen anything
like this before.

Can you tell me when...

..it was working last? 60 years ago,
I can remember... Right. OK.

..and then, when my
Great Uncle Pat died... Yeah.

..this was passed on to me,

30 years ago. Right.
And it's never worked

all the time I've had it.

Did you know your uncle?
Oh, yes. Great Uncle Pat.

It was my mother's uncle. Right.

Had a very deep voice, and he would
come into my mother's house

and say, "Pat here."

They got on really close, and Pat
always looked after my mother.

He used to cycle everywhere
with his wife, my Great Aunt Maude.

Right. Cycled across France,
Germany...

He used to love the outdoor life
and had a fold-up canoe

that he used to carry on a trailer,
behind his fold-up bicycle. Right.

He sounds quite a character.

He was a real character,
and it just...

It's the only thing
that's left of his,

and I'd just like to get it working

to bring back the memories
of Pat. Right. OK.

This is a lovely piece.

Do you know where it was made?

American. Oh, it's American.
Right, OK.

I think they say it's the very first
mechanical money bank made.

It does have the patent date
on there. To begin with...

I thought it was "Pat".

Oh! He'd put his name on it!

It's "pat" for patent. Yeah.

So you'd like me to get
this working.

Yeah. I've taken it apart
to see if there's any workings,

and I can't see any.

So, sorry,
there are no workings in there?

No.

Right, OK.

So what else would you like me
to do?

I just love the look of it.

I think to paint it
would destroy it, really.

Yes. I would like it to be able
to take pound coins,

cos my theory is that all visitors
that come to the house...

Will put a pound coin in!

..and when it's full, I intend
to give it to a cancer charity.

Fantastic.

We've got family members
that are suffering with cancer,

and it's just a little bit of help.

That's marvellous.

Well, it's a fascinating piece,
a lovely piece.

I will try my absolute best.

That'd be great. OK.

Thank you very much for bringing
it in. Thank you, Steve. Yes.

See you again. Thank you. Right.
Bye-bye now. Bye-bye. Bye.

I think I've left the money box
in safe hands.

I've never had it
in my possession working.

It would be nice to see it
as it was 60 years ago.

This cast-iron mechanical money
bank was designed in 1869.

Items like this
are highly collectible,

and this one particularly so,
as the monkey still has its head,

which is often damaged or missing -

but Steve is stumped as to how it
worked,

so he's picking the brains
of fellow expert Dominic Chinea.

It's rare to be able to help you
for a change.

I know you understand this,
that's the thing.

You'll understand this problem.

OK. So this flips up. And here's
the monkey. And there's the monkey.

And you put the money on,
and it goes down.

What could be more simple?
Simple, yeah. Yeah.

But there's nothing, no linkage...

There's nothing inside.
Oh, no, don't! Oh, really?

I'm just going to open this up.

I'm hoping that it'll just pop
off with just undoing this screw.

Oops.

Ah, that was good.

BOTH: Oh!

Right, OK.
So it went that way round.

We've got the hole that's there
for the knob.

And then that should...

That was the back panel. Yeah.

So something needs

to join the doorknob, the doorbell.

So maybe there was a lever
or something on here.

So if some string was pulling
something like that

to pivot it like that.

Yeah.

But how on earth you'd get
that movement

from pulling the doorbell
in the front, I've got no idea.

Yeah.

So you haven't got a solution
to this?

I don't have a solution, I'm sorry.
Right.

Nor have I.
What are you going to do?

I'm going to have to sleep on it.

Make some bits from cardboard
and wood and sticky tape. Yeah.

And make some trials.
Absolutely, absolutely.

Well, rather you than me.

While Steve is bewildered by all
this mechanical monkey business,

the boxing belt renovation
has been split into two halves.

Brenton has removed the medals

and is beginning to carefully
tap out

the many dents in the surfaces,

while Suzie's primary concern

is to make the fragile leather
strong enough to work on.

Well, I'm at the point of

reinforcing the back of the belt,

and I use this pigskin lining
on items like this

because it's really thin,
but it's so strong.

The pigskin is going to be hidden
on the inside

because its job is literally to
create another layer

on the back of what is the front
of the belt,

and it will take
all the extra weight

of the metal pieces.

Yeah, very, very happy with that.

Suzie repeats the lining process
with the equally fragile brown belt,

while Brenton gets on with cleaning
decades of grime

from the silver medals.

That is absolutely fantastic.

I mean, you can see
all the engraving on there.

It's a globe with Tahiti, Hawaii,

and I'd bet you Tonga is going to
be in there somewhere.

It's lovely to see this come up.

If the whole belt comes
up like this, we'll be really lucky.

So it's a one-legged boxer
at the moment.

I wonder where his other leg went.
I know that's going to be difficult,

to make a leg
that doesn't look silly,

so I'm going to put a paper
behind there

and try drawing a leg on it,
and see what I can make.

I'm just going to have
a little draw here.

I'm not an artist, but I did do
a life drawing course,

and I pride myself on my legs.

I think I've done a pretty good job
there, and any Tottenham boxer

would be proud to be bouncing
around the ring with that.

So I'm happy to now attach that
to the silver and cut it out.

While Brenton performs
his silver surgery,

Suzie needs to clean up the leather
of the 70-year-old belts.

My approach is going to be
very gentle.

I've got a mild leather
detergent here.

This white stuff is what I
would assume to be silver polish

that's seeped under the shield.

And that should come off
quite easily, which indeed it is...

..but I don't want to make it
brand-new.

We want to enhance
what we're working with

and make it look
stunningly beautiful

whilst maintaining
all of those years of history.

I've made the leg.

I was going to solder it on...

..but upon reflection,
I think that heating this up

might cause problems.

So, on this occasion, I think
I'm going to glue the leg back on

with epoxy.

So I've just got to let that set,

and that'll be good to polish up.

Hey, Brenton. Hi.

Oh. Here we go. Oh, brilliant.

These look absolutely spot on.

So you want me to refit
the silver parts? Yes.

And then I'm going to give
it back to you,

and you're going to... Trim it up.

..do something with all the rest
of it. Put the back on.

All right, Brenton, thanks a lot.

I think that's absolutely knockout.

Next to arrive, all the way
from the Cairngorms in Scotland,

is Michael Rasmussen.

His sights set on getting a prized
piece of military kit shipshape

again, with help from optical
expert Richard Biggs.

How we doing? I'm Jay.
Fine. Hi, Jay.

Hiya, Richard, nice to meet you.

So what've we got?
We've got a Second World w*r

Kriegsmarine night vision
U-boat binoculars.

OK. So... Wow, these are quite
heavy, aren't they? They are.

So how come you've got these?
What's the history behind them?

Well, my late father was
in the Royal Navy during the w*r...

Right.
..on a submarine-chasing frigate,

and they captured a German submarine
in the last days of the w*r,

just off the coast of Ireland. Yeah.

And these were on board.

They belonged to the Kapitan
Commander Ottoheinrich Junker...

Right. ..and my father kept them
as a memento of the w*r.

It was quite commonplace in those
days to keep a memento. Right.

Also in the knowledge that the
submarine was going to be destroyed.

Then, in 1977,

U-boat commander Junker
had a reunion of his own crew

and invited HMS Grindall,
which was my dad's ship...

Yeah. ..to that in Germany.

Dad didn't go to that,
but he went to the corresponding

one in Blackpool. OK.

The following year. Yeah.

There was no animosity
between them?

No, they were very friendly.
And the German officer was OK

with him keeping these, then?
Because obviously they spoke.

Yes, I assume that he was -

and, you know, if Captain Junker
is like my dad,

has long since passed away.

If his family came to light
and want the binoculars back,

I'm sure we'd give them back. OK.

..to their original owners.

That's quite special, that,
isn't it? Mm-hm.

So what's actually wrong
with them, then?

They're a little bit out of focus.
OK.

They are a little bit foggy
on the inside.

I remember them being a lot clearer,
crisper than they are just now. OK.

It was obviously a very famous
German manufacturer -

but these, at the time, would
have been the absolute bee's knees.

These are normally one of five
shades of sand or light grey green.

Well, when I was using them
at about the age of 12,

at that age, you don't want to stand
out from your pals

who would have had black binoculars.

So I did the unforgivable thing.

I got a wee tin of black paint
and a brush

and painted them black.
JAY LAUGHS

But then, as you say,
looking through,

they are foggy.

They're like a dirty window
after years.

Yeah, it's going to be interesting.

We'll see if we can do a good job
on them.

So thank you for bringing it in.

OK. Thank you, Jay. Thank you.

Thank you, Richard. Cheers.
Thank you. Bye-bye.

Well, I hope the binoculars
can be restored back

to their original condition,

which would have been pretty
spectacular, apparently,

when they were made in 1942.

As time has gone on,

they mean more to me
as a memento of my father,

and it makes me very proud.

The plan of attack is to actually
undo the screws first,

because those screws have got
to come off,

to allow that bit to come off,
to allow the covers to come off,

to allow me access to the prisms -

and that's the easy bit, then,
cos it's just cleaning the prisms,

polishing them, putting them back.

It's just really a question of,
will it come apart?

If it won't come apart,

it's going to be a real nuisance.

Oh, golly, here we go!

It is not undoing.
Might have to put some oil on that.

They've been used
in a salty atmosphere.

What are they, 75-odd years old?

I think everybody gets a bit
creaky after 75 years,

and these have just seized up.

But Richard has a whole arsenal
of tools and methods

to help prise apart
a stubborn article.

And see what
happens by warming it up.

MACHINE BLOWS

Oh.

No. Needs a bit more heat.

Turn. Still fighting me.

Oh, come on!

Steve is also struggling.

He's turned to technology to try
and correct the very old mechanics

of the monkey box.

It's a bit modern for you, innit?
It is. On the internet?

It's got you on the ropes,
hasn't it? No, no, no, no.

I've found this...

..model. The bank is so similar,
almost identical,

apart from,
it's an earlier model... OK.

..and it was just a simple string,

and, the original, just string went
from there to there,

through a hole and to the knob
that you pull -

and that was it. That was it.

But that's not
how it's supposed to be.

There is a part of the case
that sits behind the piece there,

but I think there was a lever
on there,

and I just feel that I want to make
a lever for it that goes on there.

That's not there for nothing. Yeah.

I've done a drawing of it,

and I'm pretty sure
it's going to work.

So your design is completely
different to that one?

It is, yeah -

but there's no drawing
that incorporates this part.

Not that I've found so far.

To tell you the honest truth, Steve,
I trust you 100%.

You've researched it,
you've done some drawings. Yeah.

As long as it's going to do exactly
what Alan and Maggie want it to do,

which is work again... Yeah.

I'll make a prototype first,
make sure. Nice one.

So what I'm hoping is it's going
to work something like...

Good, this prototype
is working fine.

So I'm going to make up
something like this.

Good. Excellent.

So it's working really well.

I'm very, very happy with that.

But another problem
has reared its head.

This money bank accepted
very small one cent coins,

placed onto a tiny desk
that has long been missing.

I've just realised that, actually,
if I make a table up and put a pound

coin on, if I've got it here,

what happens when it goes down,

it's going to jam.

So I've got to think
of something else -

and I know that Alan and Maggie
wanted to be able to raise money

for cancer charity by people
putting pound coins in.

So I'm going to have to work out
a way of putting a pound coin in

so it doesn't get caught like that.

I've been scratching my head.

I thought I might make some
sort of device or something

that the monkey could be holding
a bit like this...

..and then you put the pound coin on

and it'll just fall in nicely.

I thought a scroll would be quite
good, because I think the monkey

is supposed to be some form
of banker or something

like that, so he could
have a scroll of...

..all of the figures
and what have you.

Steve has trawled his stash
of components, cogs and bits

and is setting about fashioning
a curved metal scroll.

It's quite nice doing jobs like this
where you're having to think

outside the box and work out
new processes to do certain things -

but it's really good fun,

and I learn a lot
by doing it, as well.

Good. So, the scroll
is going to go on like that.

So when anyone puts a pound coin in,
it sits like that,

and it drops in. Fantastic!

It's going to look really good.

On the opposite side of the barn,

Brenton and Suzie
have been working flat-out

to repair two decaying boxing belts.

Suzie is tackling
the herculean task

of hand-stitching over 4m of seams,

as she secures the new leather
backing onto each belt.

Decided to do it by hand because...

..the stitches are at various
different lengths,

and to be able to hit that using a
sewing machine would be impossible.

My concern is to create new holes
in this already fragile leather.

So this is going to take
quite a while,

and I'll have a lot of time
to contemplate the end result.

OK, so finally got
all the hand-sewing finished.

Just need to do a bit of
final tidying up.

That was a little bit of
a challenge -

and every time that I felt that
this was a little bit difficult,

I had to check myself, remind myself
that this is nothing

compared to the Tongan Terror,

what he went through to achieve
these belts.

Hoping to honour
those accomplishments,

Patricia has returned

to reclaim her father Kitione Lave's
hard-won trophies.

They really show
my dad's achievements.

If I could wave a magic wand,

the belts would not look like the
piece of tat that I brought in.

They would just look like
they were won by somebody.

Hello, Trish.
Nice to see you again.

You too. How are you?

Hi, I'm Brenton. Hi.
Hi, nice to meet you.

How are you feeling?
Nervous. Are you?

Apprehensive. Excited.
All of the above. OK.

Would you like to see
what we were able to do?

Yes, please.

OK. Let's do this, then.

Oh, my giddy aunt!

You're a genius.

You know, I didn't think
that I'd cry.

Oh, my Lord.

They're just...

They're beautiful. I-I...

Thank you.

You're very welcome.
Thank you so much.

Oh, look at...
They're alive, aren't they?

Yeah.

They're alive for the first time
in so long.

They're alive again.

I can't get over it.

They're just beautiful.

Oh, my God.

I can't wait to show them
off to my grandchildren

and say, "Look,
look what you can achieve."

And this represents that
Now that he's...he's gone.

He's... I almost feel
like he's here with me.

I've got shivers down my spine.

Oh, that's fabulous. I really have.

I feel like he's going, "Yes!"

What would he say, then?

Oh, what would he say? If he was
standing there, next to you.

I think he would have a party,

a huge party,
and he would have them both on,

and parade.

He would be so happy.

He would be so proud
and he would be so grateful,

so incredibly grateful.

I'm quite overwhelmed, actually.

I feel as if I've got something
of my dad's

that I can now share with my
grandchildren for years to come -

and the most important thing
is, when I'm gone,

my memories are gone,

they'll still be there.

They've been preserved.
So, I feel ecstatic.

I am so happy!

Expert in all things optical,

Richard Biggs has finally managed
to prise apart

the German World w*r II binoculars.

That took a lot of effort.
They should just turn -

but when they're bent like that,
the thread was jamming.

Which is very unusual.

And just making the job
more difficult.

So I'm just hoping
there's not more surprises

the further we get in.

When owner Michael was first given

the binoculars by his father,
they were battleship grey -

but Richard's convinced
there's more to the story.

Oh, look, that's what I was
expecting right from the start.

They're green.

That's the original
Zeiss factory paintwork.

It certainly looks likely
that Michael's father

painted them battleship grey.

If he was still a serving...

..sailor on a British warship,

he may well have actually carried
on using them as his binocular,

and not wanted them to appear
so bright green and German.

Richard's next task is to remove
the 70-year-old prisms

to clean them of dirt.

These two prisms together

make what would have otherwise been
a telescope into a binocular.

All they do is actually reduce
the length

of the optical instrument.

They are very delicate.

It's actually got a greyish film
on the prism surfaces.

That's cutting down the contrast,
cutting down the quality

of the image.

Even though it might be
the hundredth binocular you've done,

you've got to be just as careful
as when you did the first one.

And there we have the next one out.

This is standard methylated spirits.

It's fairly innocuous,
but it degreases...

..quite gently.

They should sparkle.

They should be like crystal.

That's already beginning to shine.

Now, that...

That is pretty good.

The binoculars' inner workings
may have scrubbed up a treat,

but the flaking paintwork
on the outside

needs some serious attention -

and with his expertise
in all things metal,

Dom is once again the go-to guy.

Sorry to stop you working.
Heck, no, not at all.

I need your help. OK.

Paintwork is not my expertise,
but I understand it might be yours.

My first question is, what colour?

There seems to about four or five
different colours on here.

Yeah. That was the original colour
from the German Zeiss factory,

but, at some stage,
they were painted battleship grey.

OK. I think his father was still an
active officer in the Navy.

I'd always usually want to lean
to the most original colour

that they should be -

but Michael would never have seen
them in this lovely green colour.

No, he would have always
seen them in grey.

That's his early memories,
up until 13,

when he painted them black.

I think than answers the question,
doesn't it? So, grey.

I think we're going to have
to paint them grey.

Yeah. I'll strip all of this off,

and then we'll get a nice
fresh coat of grey on.

They'll look really good.

Great. Thank you. Thank you.

Before I think about starting
to paint,

I need to get all the old paint off,

but this little bit
of sort of tanny green colour

is the original paint from when
they were absolutely brand-new.

I think it would be quite a nice
little touch,

just a nice little hint,
to just leave that part,

so I'll mask that up when I spray
them and just leave that.

Once they're actually put together,
you'll never see it -

but one day,
in the next however many years,

when someone takes them apart
in the future,

there will be a little hint as to
where they first came from.

HAMMERING

How you doing, Richard? Oh, hello.

Dom has done a brilliant job
spraying these. Oh, wow.

And there.

Oh, that looks good.

So is this all of it, then? All
that's got to go back into there?

Oh, that's right. You are going to
get it working again, aren't you?

You want me to promise?
I'll leave you to it.

Thank you. All right.

OK, so now we start reassembling.

Meanwhile, Steve's made the
mechanical monkey bank's tiny teller

fit for his updated role

as depositor of pound coins.

Making sure he looks his best

is a job for art conservator
Lucia Scalisi.

Wonder whether you can give me
a hand with this.

Oh, what have we got?

This is a money box.

You pull the handle,
and he comes up like that.

Oh, my!

But it's supposed to have
a table there.

There's no room for a table,
so I devised this.

So the banker is holding a scroll.

And, basically, I'd like you

to paint his arms and his body

and paint the scroll
a sort of scroll colour.

Pfft!
SHE LAUGHS

And then put a £1 sign on. Oh, OK.

But make it oldie, oldie £1.

So I'll paint that
in scroll colour...!

Yeah, scroll colour. The finest
scroll colour you've got -

and if you can use the paint
out of the distress pot,

that'd be good.
Oh, the distressed scroll colour.

That's the one. I have one
that's especially that, yeah!

Especially for distressed scrolls.

HE LAUGHS

Steve. Done it.

Oh, well done, you.

Is that OK? Yeah, really good.

That's absolutely spot on.

He's a cheeky monkey.

I'm going to leave you to it.
Right. Thank you so much.

OK. All right.

But before this bank can be
officially opened for business,

it needs to be returned
to its proud owner, Alan.

The money box,

I can remember over 60 years ago,
when it was working.

It was my Great Uncle Pat's.

It's...
I've never seen it working since -

and it will be quite exciting
to see if it works.

Hello. Hi, Steve.

How are you? All right, thank you.

How are you?
I'm all right, thanks. Good.

So are you looking forward
to this moment? I'm a bit nervous

and a bit apprehensive.

Right, let's...

Let's have a look at it, right?

So it's not a lot different,
looks-wise, but...

But I can see the main thing
that... May I?

You can. Absolutely.

Oh, wow.

Oh, wow, look at that!

Oh, that's brilliant, Steve.

That's absolutely wonderful.

You've done his arms.

Oh, I love that, that you can...
Can a pound coin go on that?

You may not get it back. No?

Pop a pound on there.

Oh! It's gone.
It nearly bit my finger.

Oh, that's wonderful.

That's brilliant.

I was going to make a table up,
a desk for...for him. Yeah?

So you could put the pound on,
but if I had done that,

the pound fouled on the side.

Oh, I see. The pound is too big.

So I ended up making a scroll.

That's a brilliant idea.

And Lucia painted it and put
the pound sign on as well.

Wonderful. Brilliant.

Now I'm going to put
another pound in. OK.

I shall be doing this all night,
you realise that.

Yes!

That's lovely.

It will bring back memories,
every time I use it,

of my Great Uncle Pat

and my mother
and her tea party gatherings

with him and his wife -

and this, when I'm gone,
will follow down through the family.

Yes, it means a great deal to me.

So, then, you said you're going
to have it by your front door?

Front door. Old friends and visitors
that come in... Yeah.

..I shall show it to them
and persuade them to part

with a little gift.

Yes. For the charity.

That's lovely.

Thank you so much
for bringing this in.

It was an enjoyable job to do,

and I hope you raise a lot
of money for charity.

Yes, thank you. I'm sure we will.

Thank you for all your work, Steve.

You're more than welcome.
Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye now.

It was a magical moment to pull that
cord and see the monkey come out

of the top of the money box.

Took me way back to a little
ten-year-old

that was fascinated as a child.

Just memories, family memories
which will always be there

now I've got the money box repaired.

Also tasked with preserving
childhood memories,

Richard is now at the most
important stage

of the World w*r II binoculars'
restoration.

I'm going to check the other side.

Aligning or collimating
each of the two lenses

with a common focal point

will give one identical image, seen
simultaneously through each eye.

Oh, it's a tiny bit up
and to one side.

So this front lens has got
to be tweaked a little bit.

That's good to go.

It's lovely to take something
that is so old

but with such good memories

and turn it into something
which is now usable again

and will last, hopefully,
for quite a number of years

as a really good quality binocular.

I can't wait to see Michael's face
when he sees it.

Since I brought them in, my dad
has been on my mind quite a bit,

making me realise what his sacrifice
was during the w*r

and how much he and his generation
did for us all.

How are we doing, Michael?
Hi, Jay. Nice to see you again.

Thanks for coming back.
Richard, nice to see you.

So what have we got?

Well, what do you want to be
underneath there, then?

Well, my dad's binoculars. OK.

Without my black paint, hopefully.
OK.

And crystal clear.
Doesn't want much, does he?

Yeah, one, two, three. OK.

OK. Let's give it a go. Ready? Go.

Oh, my goodness.
I didn't expect that.

That's fantastic.
Can I pick them up?

Yeah, they're yours.
And they've got the...

That, at the top,
is exactly how I remembered it.

Fantastic, you've done a great job.

Let's have a look. Go on.

Gosh.

That's really good.
Fantastic. Well done.

You're welcome.

Dad would have been absolutely
tickled pink with that. Yeah?

Amazing.

But when you first brought them in,

it looked like a challenge. Right.

It certainly proved to be. Really?

Probably the most difficult one
I've ever worked on.

Just to get them apart was a job -

but the colour's great. It is.

It's just the correct...
Dom helped with that.

Yeah. Yeah, it looks good.

Thank you so much, both of you.
No, thank you.

I can hear him saying, you know,

"I told you
not to paint them black."

I think he was right there,
wasn't he? Yeah.

So you've had a look
inside the barn,

but do you want to have a look
outside?

Cos you need to get
a bigger distance, really.

That sounds like a good idea.
Shall we go out and have a go?

Let's go. Come on, then.

Thank you.

Oh, wow. What are they like?

What a difference!

It was all foggy before,
but it's crystal clear now.

Again, gentlemen,
I can't thank you enough.

Thank you very much, Jay.
No, thank you for bringing it in.

And, Richard, thank you very much.
You're welcome.

You take care now. Bye-bye.
All right. Bye-ye.

Well done. Good one.
Yeah, nice one. In we go.

Well, Dad would be absolutely
tickled pink to see them restored

and being used again.

They're back as they were
when he knew them.

Join us next time...

High five.

..as our talented craftsmen
and women... A perfect fit.

..restore more cherished memories.

SHE GASPS
Oh, my goodness! Oh!

..in The Repair Shop.