04x27 - Welsh Silver Crown

[bunniefuu]

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

This is amazing.
It's 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 of fun and
I'm 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.
It's working. You beauty.

Utilising expertise passed
down the generations...

I'm going to teach you how to do it
the old-fashioned way.

..transforming priceless pieces
of family history...

Oh, my goodness.

..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.

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

This is a very emotional job to do,

but incredibly worthwhile.

CHEERING

In The Repair Shop today...

Wish me luck.

..a right royal assignment
for Brenton...

Hail, Brenton!

I think we've done a pretty
good job of that.

My subjects seem to like it.

So...

HE CHUCKLES

..while Steve's putting his artistic
skills to the test

replicating a reptile.

There we go.
My first-ever tortoise tail.

First, a quintessential Scottish
instrument that piped

its last a long time ago.

Des and Angie Allan
from Dorset are here to consult

expert Blue MacMurchie.

How are we doing? Are you all right?
Not bad. Thank you.

Hello. Pleased to meet you.

So we've got in the box bagpipes
and over 100 years old.

But they're in quite a state.

We'll let you get them out.

Complete mess.

So who did these belong to?
My grandfather.

Right. He died a couple years
before I was born

and he was in the Royal Scots.

We think the 2nd Battalion. Right.

He was in the First World w*r.
Certainly served '14, '15.

We think he was invalided out in '16
but we're not too sure.

It's difficult to find the records.

Did the bagpipes go with him?

Whether they went across to France
or not, we don't know.

Right. We don't know.

But when you look at the box,
you can see it's well travelled.

During the First World w*r,
the heroic role of the bagpipers

was to rally the troops
as they went into battle.

But being unarmed on the front line
meant that of the 2,500 pipers

involved in the Great w*r

nearly half were either
k*lled or wounded.

Now this certainly is old.

It's also several sets.

Is it? It's several different makes.

Now why they would be different
parts is during the w*r

the pipes would get broken.
To keep the show on the road

they would grab anything
and cobble them together.

Yeah. Right.

So if parts were broken
and poor old Jimmy he's just copped

his whack, we'd get Jimmy's pipes
or whatever was remaining, plug

them together and go off and rally
the troops again.

Heck of a history, isn't it? Yeah.

It certainly is. ANGIE: You think
they were in the w*r?

Yeah, I would say they were played
the First w*r.

DES: Crikey.

How do you feel seeing these in
their kind of current state now?

Well, I mean,
it's heartbreaking, to be honest,

when you consider how old they are

and the journey they've had.

So these belonged
to your grandfather?

Yeah.
And then how have you got them?

My father inherited them.

He would not take them
out of the box.

He just kept them in the box
on top of his wardrobe. Right.

I've seen the pipes once.
I was about 13, 14

and I was just totally fascinated
with it.

When Des's father died,

the pipes were passed on to a cousin
but Des never forgot them.

So how did you end up getting
these back, then?

Angie actually contacted my cousin.

ANGIE: He kept on
and on about these pipes. Right.

It was his birthday coming up

and I thought, "I know a lovely
present," it was his 60th. No way.

So, I contacted his cousin and said,
"Would you ever part with those?"

And she messaged back and said,

"Of course, you can have them,
with our blessing."

So, when it was his birthday,
I gave them to him.

He undid the packaging.

He opened up a corner of them,
and burst into tears

because he knew exactly,
just looking at that box.

Just from the corner.
DES: It's incredible.

I just didn't expect it. Yeah.

I didn't expect it.
I can see it's emotional now.

These mean a lot to you, don't they?

All right, we're going to sort it.
OK?

Take your time.

So, what would you like us
to do with them?

If this part could be repaired,
I'd be over the moon.

The cloth, the bag. OK.

But the wood, to remain as it is...
That's history there. It is.

You don't want to rub that out. No.

If it was possible for them to play,

that would be incredible,
absolutely incredible.

You've come to The Repair Shop,
so we're going to do our best.

Thank you. Thank you very much
indeed. Thanks for bringing them in.

Thank you. Thank you.

Take care now. Bye. Bye-bye.

The pipes are
the only connection we have...

..with Grandad.

It's so sad to see the bagpipes in
the state they're in at the moment.

Just looking forward
to seeing the end result.

It would be the ultimate
if we can hear them be played -

that would be incredible.

Blue comes from
a long line of pipe makers

and his son John
is continuing the tradition.

How are you doing, John? You
all right? Good, nice to meet you.

Seeing as both of you
are working on it,

it'll get done in half the time,
won't it?

That's correct.
That's what I like to hear.

If there's anything you need,
just let me know, all right?

Great. Yeah, that's great.
Cool, all right, then.

We've got a fair bit to do on it.

So, first of all, we need
to get them all stripped down.

Take the cover and bag off.

The bag acts as the piper's lungs.
It's a bagpipe, it needs a bag.

So, that's what we're going to do
first.

We're going to have to take off
the bag, take the stocks out,

strip all the other parts off,
have a really good look at them,

to check see
if there's any cracks or splits.

Then, once we've determined
how good or bad they are,

we can then start working on them.

Obviously, the proof of the pudding
is in the tasting.

Well, the proof of the bagpipe
will be in the playing.

From the sound of Scotland
to a Welsh treasure.

Ross Hendry has brought
a family heirloom

for the attention of
a silversmith Brenton West.

Hi, Brenton.

Hi. What have you got in the box?

It's a Welsh crown.

So, how come you've got
a Welsh crown?

Well, this is an Eisteddfod crown

and the Eisteddfod is a big arts
festival in Wales for poetry.

OK. And my grandmother, aged 15,

entered the Blue Riband
recitation competition.

Recitation. Yes.

So, it's a dramatical
reciting of poetry

and my grandmother, who was
a very excellent reciter of poetry,

the committee decided
to give her the crown.

She must've been so proud.

There is a picture of her with it

perched precariously
on top of her head

and this has sort of gone down
in family history.

I mean, it was a great family honour

but also the local community
would have celebrated this as well.

So, tell me more
about your grandmother.

She grew up as a farm girl
in a farm in West Wales.

She was such a big personality,
exuberant character

and poured her energies then
into performing.

And then, later,
she passed those skills on

and that passion on to my mum

who would go around the country
competing similarly as well.

And now, I suppose it's yours,
is it? Yeah.

For as long as I've had it,
I've just had this dream

that it one day would go back
to looking in its original state

and we could display it again.

I can see that the velvet's
not part of it any more.

Tell me what
you want me to do with it.

Well, first of all, I don't think
that's my gran's shaped head.

Thank goodness!

So, I think it's completely
misshapen there.

You know, I was really worried about
whether to polish or not polish

and how to really restore
the gleam of this piece. OK.

And this cap, I don't know
if it's retrievable or not,

but it was obviously
an integral part.

I think I might have to get
some help with that bit.

But I think we can make this
lovely for you again.

That would be really exciting,
particularly for my mum

who hasn't probably seen it
in its glory either.

OK, well, leave it with me,
and I will get onto it. Great.

Thank you very much, Brenton.
Thank you. Thank you. Bye-bye.

The crown is just
really emotional for me

because it's the last thing I really
have left of my grandmother's.

It's the one family heirloom
that we have.

How Brenton will go about
restoring the crown, I have no idea.

It seems so out of shape,
so tarnished.

I just don't know
where he's going to start,

but it's really exciting to see what
the end product's going to be like.

Jay. Hello.
I've got a bit of an issue.

So, this is silver,
silver plate, my forte.

But it's got this velvet bit in it
which is not my forte. OK.

So, it needs to be cleaned up
and sort of stuck back.

It's broken away from its backing
and stuff.

If we can save it, it would be nice.

The actual velvet bit looks OK.
Well, it's quite stained

but I think the teddy bear ladies
might be able to clean this up.

Give it to them, see what they say.
And then it just sticks in there.

You're going to make
that round again.

I'm going to make it head-shaped,
don't know about round! Yes, please.

Make it head-shaped, then.
Yeah, OK. Cheers.

The first thing I want to do
to the crown is just to polish it

to see what I've got.

It just gives me a heads-up
to what I'm dealing with.

A few years of grime on there,
so I'm seeing some small marks

that I didn't see before.

Someone's spilt
some paint on there,

where the silver plate
has worn away.

But I think the dents
have been caused probably by

being packed in a box
with something a bit hard.

I don't want to start bending this
too much

until I know what shape
I want it to end up.

But it's certainly not
going to be oval like that.

Here's my two favourite ladies.
Are you all right?

What's that?
Well, this belongs to a crown.

So, imagine a crown
around like that. Yeah.

This is the bit in top. The flumfy
bit in the middle? That's right.

And basically, we're hoping
that you can clean it up

and we can reattach it.
Mm, we'll do our best on it. Yeah?

I don't think it's irreparable.
There's a couple of little places

that just need a tiny repair but
I think we can sort something out.

I think it sits quite proud,

so your head doesn't actually
go inside here. OK.

I've never had a crown myself.
Have you not?!

One day - I'm working towards it.
Amanda's got a tiara.

It's not quite the same.
No, it's not the same, is it?

But, yeah, if you can do
what you can,

that would be brilliant.
Happy days.

So, you're going to take it apart,
then? OK, I'll do that, shall I?

One of us can work on the band,

and the other one can clean
the actual velvet bit. Yeah.

Shall we do that? OK.

There we go, just for you.
Thank you very much, thank you.

Across the barn,
John is also wrestling with fabric

in an attempt to breathe new life
back into the World w*r I bagpipes.

So, as we can see here, the bag and
the cover have seen better days,

obviously being over 100 years old.

So, it seems to be coming off
pretty well.

We can see here that the bag
has been very dry,

that's just ripping
to pieces at the moment.

I think that this might be
the worst one I've ever seen.

It's obviously, no pun intended,
been through the wars.

So, yeah, we'll need to get that
obviously changed out for

a newer, modern bag
so it can be played.

But first, it's over to Blue
to restore the old wooden stocks.

These play a key role in producing
the bagpipes' unique sound.

Now, the stocks are tied or fitted
into the pipe bag, right?

And it's from the bag, the air will
pass through the stocks to the reed,

obviously, to make them vibrate
and start the sound of the pipes.

Now, if it splits, it means
the air's going out of the bagpipe

and not through into the reeds.

We've got to clean them first.

So, what we'll do is
we'll put them onto the lathe.

We need to clean all the...
let's call it the gunge...

..and the dead varnish off because
it has to have a perfect seal.

If it's leaking, no good to man
nor beast. The bagpipe won't work.

In some ways, I find it rather sad
when I see pipes from the w*r

all cobbled together,
different makes and so forth.

Because, in order for that
to happen, it means that somebody

has had to be either k*lled
or wounded,

so they weren't needing
their pipes any more.

Well, hopefully,
by restoring these,

it'll be a memorial to people,
pipers like George

who played the pipes
to rally the troops and so forth

during the Great w*r.

With the stocks now cleaned
and polished,

John can fit them on to the body
of the bagpipes.

Next stage is to fit them into
the new bag that we've got here.

This is a synthetic material,

unlike George's old bag which was
the...leather or sheepskin.

We can just push it up to the
location where it needs to sit.

It can be a bit tricky
putting this one in

because you don't have much room.

And there we go.
So, that's the four stocks fitted.

The Repair Shop is full
of unusual items today

and the next is no exception.

Melanie Ramsay from Hertfordshire
is bringing in a curious piece

which once had pride of place
in her family's business.

Clockwork expert Steve
is primed and ready for action.

Hello there. Hi. I'm Steve.
Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Melanie.

Hi, Melanie.
What have we got here?

My tortoise table bell.
Right, OK. What's a table bell?

This little man has sat on the
counter of the family butcher's shop

since my great grandparents
Frank and Ethel

set it up in the 1920s. Oh, really.
That's fantastic. Yeah, yeah.

They left it on the counter and then
the customers would just use it.

If there was no-one at the counter,
they would press him. Yeah.

I'm not sure, possibly his head,
and then a bell would ring.

I've never seen anything
like this before. No?

It's lovely, isn't it? Yeah.

Sadly, he hasn't got a tail.

You don't know what the tail
was supposed to do?

No, I'm not sure if the tail
was anything to do with

getting the bell to ring at all.

But I do recall my nan might have
used it as a doorstop at one point.

Right! So, that might have been
how it had got damaged.

So, has it been in hibernation
somewhere for a while? Yeah.

The shop shut in about the 1970s.

Ever since then, he was always
at my nan and grandad's,

so I used to play with him
as a little girl.

You've known this all your life?
All my life.

In all those years, I've never
actually seen him work. Really?

So, I wouldn't even know
what the bell sounded like.

Right, OK, so that would be a real
surprise if I can get it working.

Yeah, that would be great.

My mum would be as equally thrilled
to see it as well

because, in Grandad's later years,
he wasn't a very well man

but when he was in the butcher's
shop working there with his family,

he spoke so fondly of those times.

So, when we look at the tortoise,

it reminds us of
those really happy times he had.

Oh, lovely. Yeah.

I hope I can get it working for you

and sounding the way
that it would have sounded

when your grandfather had it in
the shop. That would be fantastic.

Thank you very much for bringing it
along. Lovely, thank you very much.

I'll do my best. Thank you.
All right. Bye. Bye-bye, now.

Oh, it'd just be so lovely
to get the tortoise repaired.

We've always had him in the family.

The shop was set up in the 1920s,

so he's been with us
for a 100-odd years now.

This will be his first trip away.

Popular in Victorian times,
these wind-up curiosities

were often used to summon servants
to the dining table.

But to get this tortoise
trilling again,

Steve needs to examine
its internal mechanism.

I'm not sure exactly how
it's supposed to trigger.

I'm just going to take
the head off to start with.

I think the head comes off
like this!

I can see there's something
broken off of here.

So, I'm assuming that
when the head is pressed,

it's supposed to lift up a lever
and trigger the bell.

That's one thing.

Um...

EXHALES DEEPLY

Got a piece loose in there.

And this, somehow, fits
into some of the mechanism.

So, I'm really quite stumped here.

I think what I'm going to do is
put it in

to the clock cleaning fluid
that I have.

And once I've cleaned it up,
I'm going to go on, then,

and try and find out exactly
where everything should go.

Steve is flummoxed.

And on the opposite workbench,
Brenton's also been puzzling -

how to get the Welsh crown
looking regal again?

Looking at the crown,
it's not head-shaped.

I mean, I have got a funny-shaped
head, but not that funny.

So, I'm going to make
a brass former,

and I'm going to reshape the brass
one to a more appropriate shape.

I don't want to keep bending
this one

and then, finding that doesn't work,
having to squish it again.

So, if I can get it first time
the size I want it,

I can make this crown's life easier
and my life easier.

As Brenton cuts the brass strips
that will make his template...

..back inside, it's bath time.

The crown is now separated
from the rim that goes round it,

which is the supporting fabric.

I'm just going to
really gently clean this.

I've got some really mild
liquid soap here.

I'm not going to squish it, I'm
just going to let it soak in there

because it is quite old
and quite frail

and we want to keep it in one place.

It's got to be done really, really
carefully, and with respect.

Fingers crossed.

I took the band of the crown lining
apart, and it was so frail

it's just disintegrating.

So, I'm just simply replicating
the band with a piece of felt

which I will then wrap
in the original piece of satin

but it will be a firmer base, then,

for Amanda to reattach
the cap bit of it,

once it's all clean and dry.

I'm not a 15-year-old poetry
expert, but it might fit me.

So, already it feels better.

It's the sort of shape
I'm going to go for.

I like that a lot, actually.

I might wear that all day
while I'm fixing the crown.

It's very comfortable.

With the guide band
the correct profile,

Brenton can now begin to gingerly
bend the 90-year-old silver crown

into the same shape.

OK, so I'm just going to give
this a bit of a bend by hand,

see if I'm strong enough
to straighten this.

This is incredibly strong,
this crown.

It's changing shape.

It is changing shape.

If I press too hard,
it would squish the other way.

So, I've got to be really,
really gentle with it.

I can feel it slowly going.

Right, I think
that's going to be it.

OK, so that's pretty good.
So, I'm going to try it on now.

Wish me luck.

OK, so, it sits right on top
of my enormous head.

Hail, Brenton!

So, I think we've done
a pretty good job of that

and my fans seem to like it, so...
My subject!

With the crown now back
in its rightful shape,

Brenton moves on to the dull
and scratched silver surface.

I'm using a thing called
a Water of Ayr Stone.

A Water of Ayr Stone
is from Ayr in Scotland

which is a very, very fine
slate-type stone

and that smooths all of
the top edges off the silver

and you have to keep it wet.

If you don't keep it wet,
then it will scratch the silver

and basically you just rub it
backwards and forwards

and you can feel a satisfying
resistance as it smooths the silver.

As you can notice here,
this is the nickel,

the base metal that the crown
is made out of,

that's the silver plate on top -

I'm going to have to replate that
to make the whole thing silver.

The fabric interior is also
receiving royal treatment.

Judy's done a really good job
of reinforcing the band

around the edge of
the crown inner here

and I'm really pleased
with the way it's cleaned up.

It's much softer now, it's lost
that crispy feeling that it had

so I'll just stitch this in.

I think this is the first crown
I've ever worked on.

So, this is going to go here.

When the crown goes on like that,
it'll be... This is so much softer.

Yeah. It's sitting nicer.

It was all scrunched.
Cleaned up really well, actually.

So, it's just up to Brenton to get
it back into the crown. Yep.

I've got the Welsh crown all ready
for silver plating

and you can see the join just here
where the nickel is,

and here is where the silver is.

I'm now going to use
the silver-plating solution

to hopefully silver plate
this nice crown.

It's connected to a power supply
and that makes the magic happen.

The electrical charge
transferred to the brush

makes the silver solution
stick to the base nickel.

Back inside the barn,
it's a family affair

as veteran bagpipe restorer Blue
and his son John

work on the instrument
that was once played in the trenches

of the First World w*r.

REED TOOTS

The old tartan cover
was beyond repair.

So, we've got the cover which is
a new cover for the bagpipe.

The cover is the same as
Des's grandfather,

the one that came off the pipes
originally.

Obviously, it's better quality
than what the other one was.

Feeding it all through, make
sure it's all going to fit nice.

There we go,
so that's the cover fitted.

REED TOOTS

Blue is making up new reeds
for the pipes.

When air passes through the reeds,
the vibrations make a sound.

HIGH-PITCHED SQUEAK

Hopefully,
when we plug it into here...

DEEPER TONE

..it gives that sound, that's the
tenor drone, and this is the bass.

DEEPER TONE

So, we're getting there.
We're actually getting a sound

out of the pipes
after all these years.

In fact, if you want to plug
those in, John, as you go,

on the blow stick. Right.

We're not sure how they're going
to sound at the moment.

Once we start to adjust the reeds,

we should be able to get a pretty
reasonable sound out of them -

that's what we're aiming for.

HIGH AND LOW TONES

Yeah, lovely.

How are we doing? All right? Yeah,
good. Not bad, getting on with it.

What I wanted to ask you about,
Des wants to hear these playing.

Can any of you play?
No, not me.

I do know a man that can.
Do you? Oh, yeah.

Are you going to sort me out
with a number?

No problem at all. Thank you.

Afternoon. Are you OK?

These pipes once inspired courage

in the trenches
of the First World w*r.

But the passing of time
had rendered them silent

with a dilapidated cover,
crumbling bag and leaking pipes.

Father-and-son team Blue and John
have used their specialist knowledge

to restore the pipes
to their original condition

as they would have been
when owner Des's grandfather

played them amongst the chaos
of the b*ttlefield.

Really looking forward
to seeing the finished article.

I'll be really pleased

if he's able just to replace
the tartan and the bag

just so they look a complete set.

I can't imagine that
he could ever get them to play

but I'd be really pleased
to have them on display.

There we go.

How are we doing?
Hello there. Hello.

Are you OK? I'm fine, thank you.

Welcome back. Nice to see you again.

Likewise. Hello.

So, how are you feeling?
Excited. Yeah.

THEY CHUCKLE

We're not going to keep you
in suspense.

Yeah. Ready? Yeah, ready, yeah.

Ooh.

That's incredible.

Well done. It's incredible.

HE EXHALES
A bit overwhelmed.

Yeah. Mm.

You see all the images
of what the fields were like.

To be out there playing the pipes...

..out in that field...

..takes courage.

Well, the other thing you mentioned
before was that you wanted

to hear them play,
you wanted to hear a sound.

If they could make a sound,
that would be brilliant. Yeah. Mm.

Blue's asked one of his friends
to come down and play. Ah, right.

There's the young gentleman
behind you now.

Oh. Very smart.

PIPES DRONE

PLAYS MELODY

PLAYING STOPS

Thank you.

That's incredible.

They sound good.

Don't they just? If you like
bagpipes, they sound good.

I didn't think they could ever
be played again.

Thank you for all that you've done.
It was our pleasure, our pleasure.

It's brilliant,
absolutely brilliant.

Thanks, John. It was a pleasure.

What Blue and John managed to do
with the pipes was more than I could

ever have hoped for.

I can't express
how happy I am. It's...

I'm just so, so happy.

Good. Good.

Are they the best bagpipes you've
ever heard? Oh, yeah, definitely.

Clockwork guru Steve is working on

the intriguing
Victorian tortoise bell.

With no idea of how to fix
a 100-year-old beast like this,

he has to tackle things
piece by piece.

I would imagine that...

..this got broken by people
bashing it to try and get it working

because it's actually
made of cast iron

and cast iron's
really quite brittle.

As well as the missing tail, the
tortoise also has a snapped neck,

so Steve's going to
solder it back together.

That's repaired really well.

Good. That's nice and strong.

So, that fits in...here.

Good.
So, that's working really well now.

The next step is
I've got to make that the tail

out of a bit of iron bar.

It doesn't look much like a tail
at the moment

but it will do when I've finished.

Never made a tortoise tail before.

This is quite an unusual bit
of turning on the lathe.

It's not an accurate bit of turning,

I'm just altering each control
to sculpt the shape of the tail.

I guess this is a much more
artistic use of the lathe.

I'm not sure if this is
a tortoise-looking tail or not!

I'm going to do some markings on it

to try and make it look
more reptilian.

There we go -
my first-ever tortoise tail!

Let's see how it looks.

I think, proportionately,
that's just about right.

Good. I'll let that cool down.

I'll go and get the other bits
and pieces out of the cleaning tank.

HE SCRUBS

Not coming up quite
as well as in a clock

because they're not made of brass.

But they're coming up all right.

So...it'll still satisfy
my need to make things clean.

Over on his bench, Brenton is
nearing the end of his restoration

of the silver Eisteddfod crown.

The crown is now repaired.

I'm really pleased with it.

I'm going to be reluctant to
give it back because it's so nice,

and the final thing
I've got to do to it

is to put the lining back in it.

So, that's the lining in.

I think Ross will be really pleased

to see his grandmother's trophy
for recital

back how it was when she won it

and I think he'll be able
to proudly display this in his home

and show all his friends and family
what a lovely item it really is.

Ross has returned
to The Repair Shop

to collect
the distinguished poetry prize

his grandmother won back in 1937.

Her daughter Meryl inherited
the love of poetry

and she has also come along today
accompanied by her husband Alan.

It's lovely to be able
to be here today

in order to see what's happened.

When I brought the crown in,

it hadn't seen the light of day
for quite some time,

so I'm really excited to see
what it would have looked like

when my gran first received
the crown.

Hi there.

Hello. Pleased to meet to you.
Likewise, and you are?

Meryl. Meryl. Yes. Right.
Alan. Alan.

And I'm Ross. How are you doing?
Hi.

Meryl, my mum, was Sally's daughter,

so, really special to share this
moment with both of them. Yep.

So, you thought you'd just add that
extra bit of pressure for us!

Do you remember what it was like,
Meryl, before it became quite...

I can only remember the crown
in the box in a terrible state.

I think we should do this,
don't you? Yeah, I think we should.

MERYL GIGGLES

Are you ready? Ready.

Ah! Oh, my goodness!

Ah, that's lovely. Yeah.
Yes, it is. It's beautiful.

And the wording. Gosh alive.

What would Sally think now, then,
if she saw that?

Well, I'm sure she's looking down.

She'll be proud of not only us
for bringing it to you

but especially to you for doing it

because it's really brought it back,
hasn't it?

Yes. Do you want to try this on?
Yeah, go on!

Just very gently.

It is fitting. Oh!

Very, very secure, yeah.

That suits you.
That looks the part.

You know, hats don't become me
but, you know, crowns do!

You're driving home with that on,
aren't you?

When I brought it in, I said
people could actually remember

my grandmother
and her amazing story,

as well as it being a part of
Welsh cultural history as well.

Yeah.

So, we've done a good job,
he's done a good job. You have.

So, we should say, diolch yn fawr
iawn. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Diolch yn fawr iawn.
That's hard to say, isn't it?

What does "diolch yn fawr iawn"
mean?

"Diolch yn fawr iawn" means
thank you very much. Oh.

And you did that well.
Beautiful pronunciations.

Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Oh. Da iawn, da iawn. Very good.

Well, we'll get it packed up so you
can take it back to South Wales.

Thank you. Good.
Ah, diolch yn fawr iawn.

And keep on the Welsh.
Yeah, I will do. OK, cheers.

OK. Goodbye.

Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

Delighted with it.

Over the moon with it, you know,
what they've done to the crown.

And the added bonus for me was
to see my mum and dad's reaction.

I'm... It's going to be
put on display

and that the memory of my mum
is attached to the crown.

I think we'll have a party!

We'll have a party -
the crown party!

It's been a slow and steady pace
for Steve

working out how to restore the ring
in a Victorian tortoise bell

which once summoned staff
in a London butcher's shop.

If I press that down...

..it's going to ring.

But if I press that down...

..it goes down...

Can't work out whether

the tail lever's supposed
to go under the head lever

or the head lever's
going under the tail lever.

Oh, that'll work.
Yeah, it goes under. That's fine.

All makes sense now.

Can we just pop the movement in
and see if that triggers correctly?

It's the moment of truth.

BELL RINGS

Fantastic!

I am so, so pleased.
BELL RINGS

That's probably the first time
it's rung

for goodness knows how many years.

Melanie is going to be
thrilled to bits.

BELL RINGS

I like that sound.

BELL RINGS

BELL RINGS

If you press the head, the tail
goes down, and vice versa as well.

BELL RINGS

Yeah.

HE CHUCKLES

Quality.

Owner Melanie has been summoned back
to The Repair Shop

to collect her family heirloom

and she's brought along
her mother Jill.

My dad used to have it
when he had this butcher's shop

and we're hoping that
the tortoise has come alive.

Never actually heard him ring

so I'm really excited
to hear him ring. Yes, yes. Yeah.

Hello. Hi there. Nice to meet you.
I'm Jay. Hello. Hello.

And you are? My name's Jill. All
right, Jill? And I'm Melanie's mum.

So, you remember him ringing.

I can remember him many years ago.
Yeah.

When Dad or Grandad
were out the back

making sausages or
whatever they were doing

and they'd left the shop empty,

a customer would come in
and bang the tortoise

and, obviously, they would know
that they'd got a customer

and rush back in the shop.

And, obviously, when they both
retired, it came home with us

and used as a doorstop.

I think that's how his tail
might have come off, actually,

when it was a doorstop.
It was probably you, yeah!

Probably you! We promise
to take better care of him

now he's repaired, don't we?

I want him back now.

OK. Are you ready?

Oh, wow, look at that!

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my goodness.

Isn't that lovely?

How does he ring?

Give it a try.

Go on, you have a go.
Press his tail?

BELL RINGS

Look at that! It is the tail after
all. The head moves as well. Wow.

Press his head.
BELL TRILLS

Oh! That is amazing. Look at that.

Thanks so much.
Goodness gracious me.

You have worked so hard, thank you.

You know, it brings back memories
of Dad and Grandad.

I mean, we've really taken it
for granted over the last few years

and he's part of family again now.
Yeah.

Yeah, he's been a fun, fun thing
to work on. Has he? Yeah. Yeah.

I've never made a tortoise tail
before!

There's a first time
for everything, isn't there?

I had said that I was going
to put him on the side

and leave him by
my gin and tonic tray, so...

BELL RINGS

I think he'll come in very handy!

I've got lots of old things at home.
Can I bring a few more in?

That's great. There we go. Thank you
very much indeed for your hard work.

You're very, very welcome.
Thank you.

Thank you very much. Goodbye.
Bye. Thank you.

When I heard it ring,
it took me back to the shop,

and my dad, my great grandad.

He always used to say what a happy
time in Grandad's life it was

when he worked with his brothers
in the shop. Yes.

I think my grandad would be
really chuffed that we have

thought so fondly of the tortoise to
bring him in and have him repaired.

It hasn't rung for years
and years and years,

so a member of the family come home.

Join us next time as
rare and wondrous antiquities...

Fantastic.
It's going to look really good.

..are restored
to their beautiful best...

How's about that?

SHE GASPS AND LAUGHS
It's amazing.

..in The Repair Shop.