13x12 - Episode #13.12

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to The Repair Shop...
- I'm ready to see some magic.

- ..where precious but faded
keepsakes...

- It's in a bit of a sorry state.
- Deep breath.

- ..are restored to their former
glory.

- I don't think I'm even breathing at
this point!

- Lovely.
- So exciting.

- A dream team of expert
craftspeople...

- Baby!
- Got you a present!
- Come to me!

- It's going to look absolutely
stunning.

- ..using traditional techniques
passed down the generations...

- If someone's made it, then I can fix
it.

- So much fun!

- ..restore irreplaceable treasures...

SHE SCREAMS

- Ah!

- Take it away, Mark!

- ..and unlock the stories that they
hold.

- Oh, my God!

- It's like it's brand-new.

- You're a wizard.

- Thank you so much.

- Another one.

- Very much at home among the green
fields surrounding the barn

are farmers Betty and Amy Wilkinson.

They've brought a fascinating souvenir
from the halcyon days

of farming for Dominic Chinea.

- Hi.
- Hello.
- Welcome to the barn.
- Thank you.

- What have you brought in? It's a
beautiful-looking thing.

- Well, it's better to ask Grandma, I
think.
- Oh, OK.

- It's a glass butter churn.

It's the advancement of the big wooden
churn.

- So have you used this, then?
- I did use it, yes,

in years gone by.

- THEY CHUCKLE

- I go back to my great-grandad's days
of farming.

They was always farmers.

We started in 1960 on a tenant farm.

- OK.
- It was beef cattle, potatoes,
carrots, grain.

- What was it like day-to-day, then?
What were your roles

working on the farm?
- Working on the farm, well,

I'd get up and we always went out and
fed the animals first,

and then you go in and you have what
we call in Lancashire your baggin.

- And what's that?

- THEY LAUGH

- You still have baggin now!
- That was your breakfast.

- OK.
- It's a Lancashire term.

You'd have your baggin, you see.

And then you'd go out and start
working the ground

and doing agricultural stuff.

And it just depended on the season
whether you was harvesting

corn or harvesting potatoes.

- And you'd get involved with all of
that as well?
- Oh, yes. Yes.

So, my main job was drying the corn,

putting it through the drier as it
came in.
- Did you enjoy it?

- I've enjoyed it. I wouldn't change
anything, no.

- Yeah.
- Yeah. The only downside was that I
lost my husband in 1997.

So David, the youngest son, took the
tenancy of the farm over,

which Erin, Amy are now farming.
- The same farm?

- The same farm.
- So, Amy, are you now,

I know you're working with your dad,
but are you actively working

on the farm now?
- Oh, yeah, yeah.

So I do my fair amount of stuff on
tractors,

tractor driving, machinery stuff.

And then I do also the beef side,
which is probably the bit

I'm a little bit more passionate about
because I just like my cows.

- Proper family business.
- Yeah.

- But Grandma was definitely the
hardest-working person

on the farm, because not only did she
do all the outside,

she can make Swiss rolls in her sleep,
I think.

Can't you, Grandma?
- How do you have time for baking

if you're running the farm...
- You have to do.

You know, you've been in farming all
your life.

You're used to working outside and
going in and get cracking inside.

It was just a routine.

- So did you used to use this butter
churn to make the butter

for the Swiss roll?
- The butter to bake with.

Either bake with or use on for bread.
- Toast, bread.
- Yeah, yeah.

You'd probably get a pound, a pound
and a half of butter

out of a churn that size.

But you spend a lot of time...

- Does it take a long time?
- Oh, it takes quite a while.

- Does it?
- It was hard work, but, yeah.

Well, you get nowhere without hard
work, do you?
- Yeah.

- Being a family farm is an integral
part of the history.

It's about what life was like in the
house and just how far things

have kind of moved on.

- What does this symbolise to you,
seeing it now?

- A great time in my life.

When the children was little, I always
think that was the greatest

time of our married life, you know,
and being one of a big family,

you always enjoy one another's company
and you had a great time.

- Simpler times.
- Simpler time in life, yeah.

Not as fast and as furious as it is
these days, yes.

- So what's the dream? What are you
hoping I can do to the butter churn?

- It would be amazing if you could get
it so that it's usable.
- Yeah.

- One of the wooden panels inside is
broken, and the panels

around it was also a little bit mouldy
when I found it.

The handle turns and everything still,
but I don't know

what you can do with the metalwork on
top.
- The rust has set in.

- Yeah, that's the issue.

- Fix the wooden paddle. Remove all
the rust. Get it food safe.

- If you can.
- Thank you.

- Well, thank you so much for trusting
me with it.

- Right, thank you.
- See you soon.
- See you soon.
- Bye.

- My first impressions of Betty's
beautiful butter churn are,

well, it's exactly that. It's a
beautiful thing.

I think my biggest concern is the lid.

The rust has gradually eaten away at
that surface so badly

that it's actually made holes.

How I'm going to fix that, at the
moment,

honestly, I really don't know.

The next component that needs a little
bit of love, a bit of care

and attention, is this wooden whisk
kind of blade part at the bottom.

One of them has snapped off.

I need to make a new one of these,
little wooden rectangle propellers,

fix the other two.

The first thing I need to do is get
the whole mechanism

taken completely apart.

- HE HAMMERS GENTLY

- Perfect.

That's the first piece removed.

Bear or doll?

- Oh, bear or doll, bear or doll...

Doll.
- OK, I'll go bear.

- OK.
- Let's see what we get.

- Connoisseurs of all things cuddly,
Amanda Middleditch

and Julie Tatchell are welcoming
Camilla Greenwood,

who's brought along a VIB.

- Hello.
- Hello.
- Hi.

- How are you?
- I'm all right, thank you.

- Who've you brought with you?

- I have brought a very
sorry-looking...

- My goodness.

- ..bear of my mum's.

- Look at him!

- He's seen better days, hasn't he?
- He certainly has.

So, tell us about your bear.

- He was given to my mum when she was
little.

He was with her throughout her
childhood.

And then when I came along, um,

he was always kept in my room, and,

um, he's just sort of been a continuum
throughout my mum's life

and my life.

It's always just been the two of us
since I was six months old.

- OK.
- And, um, she was a very special
woman.

- You say "was".
- Yeah.

My mum died last year.

- So sorry.

- Um, there was a fire at my mum's
house,

um, that...

..destroyed the house and, um,

my mum didn't get out.

- Oh, Camilla, I'm so sorry.

- So it is remarkable that the bear
survived.

- Yeah.
- He was just on the lawn outside the
house

and I have no idea how he survived,
really.
- Wow.

- What was your mum's name?
- Linda.
- Linda.

- She was a single mum and her and I,
um,

were an invincible team.

- Oh...

- She was a solicitor

and she opened her own law firm

when I was six months old.

She was remarkable.

A force to be reckoned with.
- Really?

- And kind and fierce in equal
measures, you know?

Just a very gentle person but
determined.

- Do you know, when you talk about
your mum, your eyes light up.

There's a really deep affection there.

She was obviously very, very close.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- She's my counterpart.

- Yeah.
- Oh, bless you.

- Sorry...

It's important, um, for me to...

..try and rescue at least something.

All of our memories that we built
together.

And any toys that my mum had saved to
give to

her grandchildren have gone.

I'm expecting my first child.
- Oh, congratulations.
- Thank you.

So it's particularly important for me
to be able to give something

to my children that mean something
from my childhood

and my mum's childhood.
- Yes.

So he's got another generation to look
after and to play with him.

- Yes.
- OK. What would you like us to do to
your bear?

- I think, if possible, remove any
evidence of fire.

I'd quite like to eradicate that as
much as possible.

But actually, I don't remember him
having a great deal of fur.

Um, because he was loved.
- Exactly.
- Yes.

- So I'd like him to still look loved,

but just not as, um, shabby.

- So you want him to look as good as
he can for a bear of this age.

- That's exactly it. Yeah.

- THEY LAUGH

- I'd like him to be inviting to
cuddle.
- Yeah.

- He used to make a noise.

I don't know if he still has his voice
or not.

He might've lost his voice.
- OK.

- It's a really huge thing for me.

If we can give him a second life, it
would mean the world.

- We definitely will do everything we
can.

- Thank you. I trust you to take good
care of him.

- We will, we will.
- Don't worry about him.

- Thank you. Goodbye.
- Thank you.
- Bye.

I'm feeling really quite moved,
actually.

- I'm speechless. Completely
speechless.

That is, I think, one of the toughest
things.

- What a brave young lady.
- Yeah, yeah.

- Come on, then.
- Let's go.

- I think he is probably the dirtiest
bear that we've ever had to...

- He is. And probably the worst
condition.

- One of the worst.

- I think, actually, his head is
actually pretty good.

This side of his body and this arm has
definitely taken

the brunt of the heat.

- This will have no strength in it any
more.

- So potentially that panel.
- Yeah.

I'm a little concerned about what's
going on here.

So I think we'll make a decision once
he's clean.
- OK.

And the other thing is we've got to
get rid of that smoky smell.
- Yeah.

- Even if he looks beautiful, if we
can't get him to smell

beautiful as well...
- Yeah.

- ..every time she picks him up, she's
going to be reminded.
- OK.

Could we start by gently brushing the
surface...
- Yeah.

- ..before we take him apart

and get the worst of what is loose off
him

before we start to take him apart?

- Good idea.
- Good idea?
- Very good idea.

So I'll start with the leg nearest
you.

- Yeah.
- OK?
- Yeah.

- Dom is doing some rather more
aggressive cleaning,

preparing to blast the rust from the
antique butter jar.

- Being perfectly honest, I am nervous
to blast this lid.

It's so thin.

This hole where the corrosion is,
around the side is,

without a doubt, going to get worse.

So I'll keep everything crossed

that there is still some lid left
after this process.

All right, here goes nothing.

- WHIRRING

- I'm going quite slowly and being
careful as I can.

But you know what?

Whatever's left of this lid...

..I reckon there's going to be enough
that I can save it.

Hopefully.

As expected, the blasting process has
left me

with a kind of slightly holey lid.

And this needs to be watertight.

So I'm going to use a solder to try
and fill those holes.

I need to gently warm the steel up.

And then I'm introducing this liquid,
which is a flux,

which is going to help to clean the
surface.

All right, let's see what happens.

That...I think, once that's cooled,
has gone remarkably well!

The main thing is that these three or
four holes that are in this area

are no longer holes. That is
brilliant.

I can now just carry on that process
and fill in all of these holes

all the way around the actual lid.

I'm on a bit of a roll now.

That being said, I've still got the
troublesome area where the worst

bit of the damage was.

I can't bridge that big of a gap with
just the solder alone.

So I'm going to try this stuff, which
is woven copper wire.

So then, when I try and flow the
solder in, it gives it something

to stick to, to bridge the gap.

I have no idea if it's going to work,
but in theory it should.

Here it goes.

Nice. Nice, nice, nice.

You can see the holes in the mesh of
the copper wire just...

..as it's absorbing the solder, it's
just becoming solid.

It's perfect. That it's doing

exactly what I was hoping it would do.

But that is it. Yes!

Oh, I'm so chuffed.

That has gone so well.

Obviously it's dirty, it needs a
tidy-up and then I can send

all of the components of the butter
churn off to be tin plated.

That's brilliant.

The sun's shining out there. It's
nice, isn't it?

- It's really lovely. Yeah,
absolutely.

- It's about time.
- Yeah.

- The next hopeful visitor is Manisha
Shah from Surrey,

with a right royal assignment for
Queen of ceramics Kirsten Ramsay.

- Hello.
- Hello.
- Welcome to the barn.

You OK?
- I'm fine, thank you.

- Wow! This is beautiful!

- This is a coronation bowl.

It was given by my grandfather to my
mum, around 1953,

to celebrate the coronation.

- So this bowl has been passed down
through the family, then?

- Yes. So Mum passed away last year.

And I have it now.
- Right.

- My mum's name was Suryakala.

Suryakala means the rays of the sun.

- Aw.

- My grandfather travelled from
Gujarat in India

in around the 1912s,

arrived at the coast of Kenya, in
Mombasa,

and initially set up a business there.

He then moved to Nairobi and decided
to import furniture from Kashmir,

and for the coronation, it was decided
to also import items

that would celebrate the coronation,
because in Kenya at the time

there was a large British population.

- So it's become quite a significant
piece.

- It has, because this bowl, Mum
brought with her

when we moved to England in 1968, and
it would sit on the table.

We used it as a fruit bowl.

It was always there in times of joy.

So this bowl has many, many memories
for us.

- This is the one constant thing
that's always been there.

- Absolutely. It just signifies a lot.

We are from a very small community
called the Oshwal community,

where girls got married quite early

and played quite traditional roles in
the family.

But my grandfather was very, very
adamant that his six daughters

would have an education.

And Mum, at the age of 16, was the
first woman in our community

to have a driving licence in Nairobi.

- Amazing.
- How fantastic is that?

- And she would take my grandfather to
the shop, run any errands

that needed running.

Their relationship was very, very
strong, and I'd like to think

he gave it to her because he saw in
her a strong, very courageous

and determined woman.

Because, on this bowl, there are just
women

and they have come to celebrate the
achievements of another great woman.

- But what's wrong with it?

- There are cracks,

bits that have chipped away,

and some of the women have been just
completely erased.

- Yeah. Look at this poor lady here.
She's almost gone.
- She has.

- And, I guess, the women on the bowl
is what makes it so special.

That's why it was so special to your
grandfather, for a start.

- That's right. If the women could be
brought back to life, maybe

it could then be passed down for a few
more generations.

That would be wonderful.

- It's going to be a lovely project
for me to work on, and I'm looking

forward to getting to really examine
some of these characters

and see what they're doing. So thank
you very much.

- Thank YOU very much.
- Lovely to meet you.

- And you. Bye-bye.
- Bye.
- Bye.

What an absolutely beautiful bowl

Manisha has brought in.

I've not really seen anything like
this before.

My initial starting point is going to
be to clean it,

and by cleaning it, it's going to give
me a much better

understanding of what it is I'm
dealing with.

I think it's a composite material,
possibly a paper pulp or wood pulp,

and onto that I think there's a
skimmed layer of this plaster.

But these missing areas on the figures

need to be filled and remade.

They're not just raised and flat.

They're raised with detail on them.

So I think it's going to be quite
difficult to recreate those shapes.

Once I've done that, it's going to be
retouching

in these beautiful colours.

The painting is exquisite.

It's really, really fine.

So I've got to try and match that.

So there's quite a lot to be done, but
for now I'm just going to carry

on cleaning and see if I can bring
these colours back to life.

- Having carefully dismantled the
fire-damaged bear,

the toy team must now assess each
piece

to determine whether to save or to
scrap.

- Right, it's decision time.
- It is. It is.

I'm quite happy with this arm and that
side of the body

and that leg.
- And that leg.

Yeah. But this is the piece of the
chest

that had the singeing through.

And if I can't get that much, much
better, that might have to go.

- And are we both...
- Yeah...
- ..in agreement about this one?

- Yeah. I'm afraid...
- There's nothing we can do with that.

- No.
- Definitely.
- OK.
- Let's go.

Having washed all the parts of
Camilla's bear, we managed

to make him smell fresher and feel
nicer,

but we've had to make decisions

about pieces we can keep, pieces we
can't.

And this leg, no matter how hard I
try,

I can't make it back into a leg.

So the plan is to make the arm out of
this leg

because less material is needed for an
arm.

This is his good arm,

and if we're clever with this piece of
material,

we can transfer an arm onto there,

and that cuts off that horrible corner
that Camilla

doesn't want to see.

That way, this arm is going to match
absolutely perfectly

because it's made of his original
material.

It's so important that we keep as much
of the original as possible,

because that is Linda's bear,

and Camilla will want to know that as
much of her mum's bear is there

as possible.

Very carefully...

There really isn't any room for error
because this is literally

all the material that is original that
I've got left.

- These are the two pieces that make
up the chest and tummy panels.

I'm fairly certain that these blobs,
which are slightly sticky,

are something that dripped

on him in the fire.

So I have made the decision

to remove this panel and create a new
one.

- I'm turning my attention to the
wooden part

of the butter churn.

One of these sort of paddles was
actually missing.

And in taking it apart, I've noticed
that another one was actually

cracked and about to break.

So the best thing to do is to actually
replace two.

I've sourced a lovely piece of cherry,
planed it down to size

to press nicely into the original
grooves.

Good as new.

Once this glue is dried and I'm happy,
I will coat

all of these pieces in a food-safe oil
to seal the wood.

I'm happy there so I can clamp that up

and leave it to dry.

- Drawing on more than a quarter of a
century of restoration know-how,

Kirsten is meticulously filling in the
missing areas

on the majestic bowl.

- That's most of the foundation
filling done.

So I'm now going to see if I can
create my own bespoke filler

to try and recreate these lovely
three-dimensional undulations

in the fabrics and the face.

I need a material that is softer, that
I can shape,

so I've got an acrylic paste.

This is quite a thick paste

that you can use for painting texture,

and I'm going to add to it some...
They're called glass bubbles.

It's like an inert filling material.

And what I'm hoping is

that this will give me a filling
material

that I can shape whilst I'm putting it
on.

I think I am going to try and start
building up this section here.

I am going to have to refine the
shaping

once this has gone completely hard.

So I'm going to have to go back and
work my way over each of these

just to get it absolutely spot-on.

The next stage really is to refine the
shaping.

I'm quite happy with the way that this
lower arm is feeling,

so I'm just going to sand and shape
the arm here and see

if I can make that smooth.

I think I'm going to have to put my
super-specs on,

just to see that level of detail
there.

I can suddenly start to see these
figures coming back to life.

This is the arm that I've made out of
Camilla's bear's leg.

So now I'm sewing it inside out.

When I get to the end of this seam
here, we'll be able to turn

it through and see how it's doing.

So this is where we find out if it's
worked.

So this is Camilla's bear's original
arm, and this is the one

I've just made. And I am absolutely
thrilled to bits.

The next thing I need to do is to get
some stuffing in here,

add the new joint and close the top.

- I've almost finished Camilla's
bear's new body panel.

I've got his tummy all together, but
this new piece of material

is still looking a bit too new.

I've removed some of the hairs to
represent balding, and I've shaved

away bits of it too, to represent the
rubbing.

And now I've just got to try and
improve the colour.

And for this I'm just using
scrunched-up newspaper,

using, hopefully, the ink, if it'll
come off,

and make it look more like the
original panels.

- The next part is my favourite part
of any restoration.

It's putting the face back on.

It's when they start to come alive and
you start to see that character.

We really couldn't put his original
eyes back in because they had melted

in the fire. So we've given him a pair
of eyes

that match as well as we possibly can,

and they will give him that warmth
back into his face.

Very satisfying.

All the steel pieces for the butter
churn are back

from being tin-plated, and now much
safer to be in contact with food

and this butter churn.

All of these components are the
originals.

I think that's going to mean a lot to
Betty and Amy.

Now I just need to get it all back
together again.

- Betty's family may have been farmers
for hundreds of years, but the role

of women changed, meaning the butter
churn fell into disrepair,

as granddaughter Amy rolled up her
sleeves and took on the farm.

- Hello.
- Hello!
- Welcome back.

- Thank you very much.
- Come on in. It's lovely to see you
both again.

- You too.
- Thank you very much. You too.
- How has it been on the farm?

All OK?
- Very busy.
- It's nice and sunny at the minute,

so, yeah, it's nice.
- Yeah.

- Make hay while the sun shines.

- Definitely.
- Exactly. Getting stuff done.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- Are you excited?
- Yes!
- Yeah.

- Can't imagine what you've done to
it, really! Can't imagine.

- Do you want to have a look?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.

Oh, wow!
- Oh, my!

I never expected it looking like that.

- No!
- Eh? It looks nearly new, doesn't it?

- Yeah.
- Oh, there we are.

- Oh, wow.

I just can't believe how, like, how
you've managed to fix it,

to be honest.
- It was coming in holes around here,
wasn't it?

- But that is, I'm quite sort of proud
to say that that is actually

the original lid.
- Oh, wow!

It's so shiny as well.

I can't believe how shiny it is.

- It's marvellous now, in't it?

- Yeah.
- A little surprise. I've got some
cream.

- Ah!
- Are we going to give it a go?
- You show me. Do you mind?

- Yeah. Go on. Yeah.
- We'll give it a go.

- You'll have to show us. Show us how
to do it.

Perfect. Perfect.

- I hope you're feeling strong.
- Yeah!

Look at that. Full of confidence.

Straight in there. I'm so nervous, me!

Do you remember doing this?

- Yeah.

- It was amazing to make butter for
the first time in the churn,

and amazing to make butter with
Grandma.

I think she did most of the work, to
be honest.

- Amy, it must be nice doing this with
Betty.
- Oh, yeah.

Look at that smile!
- Yeah!

- It felt lovely to see it back in
such good condition,

and to be able to use it again.

Yes.

- Oh!
- There's your butter.

Yeah, there's your butter.

- Oh, wow.

- Do you want a taste?
- Go on.

Thank you.

- I'll probably make some more butter
in it and then pass it over to Amy,

and Amy can make butter.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- Next, the power of music in times of
trouble.

From Londonderry in Northern Ireland,
Gerry McCauley is here

to see antique audio expert Mark
Stuckey.

- Hi.
- Hello, there!
- How are yous doing?

- Welcome. You OK?
- Great. Oh.

- GERRY GROANS

- Wow.
- Suitcase in with us?

- Yes!

- What have we got here?

- Physically, we've got a Watkins
Westminster amp,



- What, like a guitar amp?
- Yeah, a guitar amp. Yes.
- OK.

- I bought it in 1972 or '73 for the
princely sum of £2.50.

- £2.50?
- And I walked away happy.

But, uh, historically, this amp is
actually the sound of punk in Derry.

- What do you mean by that? That's
quite a statement.

- Myself and my friend Domhnall
McDermott, who's firstly deceased,

we were in a band. We called the band

d*ck Tracy & The Green Disaster.
- d*ck Tracy & The Green Disaster!

- Yeah. Named after two Andy Warhol
paintings.

- Oh, OK.

- We were sort of two outcasts.

Punk was our thing because we weren't
into the music

of the time.
- At least one thing -

you didn't smash it up at the end of
the concert.

- No! We couldn't afford to!

- He just spent £2.50 on it!

- Yeah.
- Exactly! Punk, where we came from,

it wasn't really a fashion statement.
- Right.

- It was more an attitude of mind.

- Oh, OK.
- How you looked at things and how you
said,

"No, that doesn't work - I'm doing it
this way."

We were raw.

We only played round Derry. We were...

We knew we were absolutely atrocious.

- Aww!
- You know, we were so bad, they
actually threw chairs

at us, you know?
- You're kidding!
- Really?!

- We just wanted to enjoy it.

And we always had a love of music.

We always, me and my friends were
always into music.

And in many ways, music saved us
because we could've quite easily

have gone down other paths.

The Troubles in Northern Ireland in
the mid-'70s

were at their height and, uh, it would
have been very easy

to be...distracted, I'll say.

Derry is a divided city.

It is physically divided by the River
Foyle.

The West Bank, uh, is predominantly
nationalist Catholic,

and the East Bank is predominantly
Protestant unionist.

The two sides never came together,
unless in conflict.

You know, you went down the town, you
didn't know... You went out

at night and your parents didn't know
if you were coming back.

- That's what your teenage years...
- That was our teenage years.

You were often in bars, and you had to
have lock-ins

because there was rioting going on
outside.

- It must have been tough being in a
band and wanting to play

in pubs and bars and things,

with so much conflict and sort of
divide going on.
- Yeah.

Well, you went to the punk venues.

People didn't ask, "Well, what side
are you from? What side am I from?

"No, you can't get in. You can't get
in."

And it did bring people together,

sort of from both sides of the
community.

- Yeah.
- It's that punk attitude.
- It's just...
- You're welcome...

- "I want to go and listen to music
and I want to hear this.

"That's my style of music and my
attitude."

- Were there any other bands doing
something similar to you?

- Not really at all. We were probably
the first.

The Undertones were contemporaries of
ours.

- The Undertones, as in Teenage Kicks?

- Yes, yes, yes.
- What, you knew them?

- We were all friends, like, yeah.
Yeah.

- Really?
- They only lived down the street.
Everybody knew everybody.

Derry's not that big. But us poor
little boys who knew nothing

were the ones who started that.

- Good on you.
- On this amp.

- What's wrong with the amp?

- Two channels with the tremolo, one
of the channels isn't working.

I don't know whether the channel
doesn't work

because it's a broken wire, a valve
gone.

- Perhaps it was a music lover.

- Maybe it was a music lover!

Maybe it rejected the music being
played!
- Gave them a shock!

Right.

Assuming that I get it working, then
you're going to come in

with a guitar and let us hear what you
used to do.

- Are yous prepared for that?

- I'd rather you didn't!
- Yeah!

- You may regret that, but I would.

- Brilliant.
- OK, so fully repaired, what will you
do with it?

- Unfortunately, it's Domhnall's 30th
anniversary of his death next year,

and I think it would be fitting to do
a reunion gig.

- All right. How nice.
- That's fantastic.

- I've got a lot of work to do, and I
can't wait to get started.

- Good.
- So, nice to have met you.

- Thank you.
- Take care.
- Lovely to meet you.
- All the best.

- All right.
- Safe journey home.
- Bye.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye-bye.

- I can't work out if he's being
modest or if he genuinely

is really bad at playing the guitar.
- We'll find out.

- I guess so!

- So I've taken Gerry's amplifier
apart.

First job I'm going to do is test the
valves,

cos the valves do most of the hard
work.

A valve is a voltage amplifier.

Without these little devils, you're
not going to hear anything.

It takes a very small signal from the
guitar and then amplifies

it sufficiently to drive a loud
speaker

so you can then hear it in your ears.

Checking the emissions of the valve to
see how good it is,

and this one is only half as good as
it should be.

After 60-odd years of life, it's now
time to be retired.

So out with that one.

We've found one little problem.

I'm sure there's going to be a few
more

before we get to the end of our
journey.

- I've done a lot of work filling and
creating these raised areas

on the bowl, but it's the detail and
the depth of colour

that's going to start to bring this
all together.

I think I just need a little bit of
orange.

I need a little bit of warmth in that
skin tone.

You look at it and you think, "Oh,
it's beige,"

but actually there's so much more to
it than that.

That looks better.

It was really lovely hearing Manisha
talking about how this was given

to her mother, originally,

as a celebration of women

and the women in her family, and I
think my favourite

is this group up here. And it's just
friends gathered around,

as you could imagine, for a marriage
or, in this case, the coronation.

So, yeah, I can absolutely see why
this was so important

and has such meaning.

But it does seem, with every little
bit of colour that I add back

into this bowl, I can see it coming
back to how it was originally.

There's still quite a lot more to be
done.

- Having transformed the burnt fur
pieces, Julie and Amanda must now

fluff, fold and fasten Teddy back into
shape.

- Look.

He's finished.
- Oh, wow. Look at him.

- I hope that we've been able to
eradicate as much

of the fire as possible. And that's
what I want Camilla to go,

"Wow, that's the bear I remember."
- Yeah, and not see the fire.

- Yeah.
- And then she can have new beginnings
and new memories

with her little baby.
- Yeah.
- That's it, then.

I've got his arms and his legs on.

I just need to put his head on.

Then it's his stuffing.
- Yes.
- Along with his new...
- Growler.

- HIGH-PITCHED GROWL

- Fantastic.

Then you can go home to your mum.

- Once a tragic reminder of a
devastating house fire,

this bear will now serve as a lasting
memento

of Camilla's much-loved mum.

- Hello.
- Welcome back.
- Hi. Thank you.

- So, have you missed him?
- Yeah, I have.

I've been thinking about it a lot.

It's been a real comfort to know

that there will be something
salvageable.

- So, are you ready to see him?
- I'm not sure!

I am. I am.

Hello!

He's beautiful!

- Do you need a hug?

That's one thing I can do.
- Thank you so much.

- You're so welcome. So, so welcome.

- Is that happy tears?
- Very happy tears. Thank you.

- BEAR GROWLS
- Did you hear him?
- That's amazing!

Oh, how wonderful! Thank you so much.

How have you done it?!

Look at his hands and feet and nose.

Oh, he's just amazing.

I'm speechless.

I just think it's the most incredible,

incredible transformation.

He's beautiful.

- What's the future for him?

- I want my children to have something
of my mum's

and something from my childhood.

Because I don't have anything now
apart from him.

So that's your future. That's his
future.

- There'll always be that little bit
of your mum...
- Yeah.

- ..with the family, which is lovely.

- That's a way of keeping her alive, I
think.
- Absolutely.

So there you go. Take him home. Love
him.

And thank you again.
- Enjoy him.
- Thank you so much.

Thank you. Bye.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye.

- I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Erm...happy.

Sad.

Erm...

But to have something so special to
Mum and special to me

to take home and be able to give on to
my children

is unbelievably special.

- Bright spark Mark is patiently
working his way

through the components of the 1950s
guitar amp,

trying to diagnose the issues.

- I've tested Gerry's valves out of
his amplifier.

Now, Gerry sort of mentioned around
about 1959

is when I believe he thought this had
been made.

This is date stamped August 1957.

Why is that useful?

Well, it tells me roughly when this
was done.

Then I can use that to see if I can
find the circuit diagram.

The circuit diagram allows me to find
my way through the circuit.

And there's another thing which
generally can cause problems

and that is the capacitors.

So what I've got to do is remove the
old ones.

These are actually on the part of the
tremolo circuit,

which is particularly what was not
working.

And how it works is that you take in
part of that signal,

you're then putting it through this
capacitor resistor network,

which alters its phasing.

And therefore, rather than getting a
clean sound,

like, strum, "Wooooo," you'll get,
"Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo,"

through the fact it's been fed back on
itself

and the capacitors are part of that
circuit to do that.

It's a little added effect at the
period,

which I guess was quite unique at the
time.

I remember when punk first came out.

I understood the idea of the movement

and the fact it was the dress code as
well.

It was all of that.

It wasn't just somebody attempting to
make a lot of noise

and strum a guitar.

But, no, it wasn't quite my type.

And I think even then,

I'm afraid I didn't have enough hair
to do anything about it!

OK, that's all the components now
replaced.

What I've got to do now, is the
important thing, is give it a try.

When I plug this in and I touch it, I
should get "Bwooh-bwooh."

So we'll plug this in here.

And do...

- LOW-PITCHED BUZZING

- Yeah, so that side works fine.

Check now the second channel.

Plug that in there.

And if I do this, what do we get?

Nothing there.

So there's obviously still some
problem.

So the interesting thing here, this
jack goes in there and, look,

there's actually no wire connecting

to the first stage of the valve to
amplify it.

And that's why channel number two is
not functional.

So what I propose to do is put a wire
and link

from the fitting of the jack plug

to the input of the secondary part of
the valve.

So that's what I've got to do.

Let's try it.

OK. That's connected.

- BUZZING

- So that's all working. So channel
two is now operational.

Now that that's done, I'll move on to
the case.

What I've now got to do is spend some
time on finding the best way

of how I can sort of improve the
overall look of the case

because it's pretty patchy, to say the
least.

What I needed to do was find some
Rexine.

It's a very sort of thin paper-based
type of material,

like an early form of a type of
plastic.

You can't get it any more, really.

Fortunately, I've managed to take a
piece of the original Rexine,

which is from inside the amplifier.

Hopefully, that will just cover that.

This is like where a lot of the other
guys here work

and you see what they're doing, and it
has to be spot-on.

I'm never going to be in that league,
but I'll do the best I can.

Hopefully, if I do it right,

I'll have enough Rexine to complete
the task.

- Kirsten's wielding her tiniest of
brushes

in the crucial crowning touch on the
coronation bowl.

- Having let the paint dry on this
main figure here,

I'm now ready to try and retouch the
face.

But the thing that's really scary

is if you get one of those lines in
the wrong place,

instead of looking like one of these
beautiful women,

you end up with someone that looks a
bit wrong.

But I think that's looking OK.

This dish has such significance for
Manisha.

A direct link back to her Indian
heritage.

It's a really beautiful thing.

So I feel the importance of getting
this absolutely right quite keenly.

So she looks like someone I'd be happy
to meet.

She's smiling, she looks friendly.

I've got a few bits of retouching.

And then it's going to be ready to
return to Manisha and her family.

- This bowl, made in India,

celebrated the coronation of Queen
Elizabeth II.

- Careful.
- Yeah!

- But for Manisha,

it's come to symbolise her brave and
ground-breaking female ancestors

and the fortitude of women.

- Hi.
- Hello. Lovely to see you again.
- Lovely to see you too.

- Have you missed your beautiful bowl?
- Yeah. Yeah.

- What are you hoping Kirsten's been
able to do then?

- I hope the women on there have come
back to life.

That is what is so magical about this,

that there are so many women on there.

- Are you looking forward to seeing
it?

- Yeah. I am so looking forward to
seeing it.

Yeah.

- Go on, Kirsten.
- Are you ready?

- Yes.

Oh, wow.

May I?
- Yes, absolutely.

- It's quite overwhelming.

I can see it on the dining table when
we were younger,

at my parents' home, when we were
growing up.

This is something that we used every
day, that we touched.

You know, Mum touched and Dad touched,
and we all...

we all touched it.

- There's something about a bowl as
well, isn't there?

That collects those memories.
- Yes.

- It's something rather beautiful.
- Yes, exactly.

And there are many strong women that I
associate with this -

Mum, my sister, my grandmother.

But you have brought this bowl back to
life for us.

Thank you. Thank you.

- A very great pleasure.

And it's yours to take away.

- Get it back home where it belongs.
- Thank you.

- See you later.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye.

- I feel quite overwhelmed.

Erm...

The way that Kirsten has given it
life...

..is just amazing.

The women have come to life and it's
got a shine.

And...

And with that, you know, the memories
that came back,

I hadn't expected that.

Yeah.

- From regal bowl to the sound of rock
and roll.

Mark's building up to his finale.

- I've completed Gerry's case and I'm
really happy the way it's turned out.

I've fitted the foot pedal because
originally it was hard wired,

which means the tremolo effect was on
all the time.

Now you can switch it on and off.

What I've got to do now is physically
get it from here into there.

That's the fun part.

They never put enough lengths on the
cables to do this job.

It's incredibly fiddly to say the
least,

but I think this is OK.

So the wires are now back on the
loudspeaker,

and it's now ready for Gerry and to do
punk and roll.

Boing!

- Against a backdrop of violence and
unrest in 1970s Northern Ireland,

this guitar amp provided a welcome
distraction

for a teenager and his friends.

- Mark, how's it going?
- It's going well.
- Is it? Is it working?

- You'll have to wait and hear!
- Oh!

I tell you what, it certainly looks
the part.

- It looks a lot better, I must admit.
- Beautiful.

- Yes.
- Well, we'd better get it covered up.
- OK.

- Former punk guitarist Gerry is
hoping to use the amp

at a band reunion to celebrate their
friend and band member,

who died 30 years ago.

- Hello, Gerry.
- Hello!
- Welcome back, Gerry.

- Nice to see yous again.
- Good to see you.

- Well, I've been waiting on
tenterhooks,

just to see what you've done with the
amp.

It's been there for 50 years in that
condition

and it would be brilliant just to see
it brought back to life again.

- It certainly is a beautiful thing.

But it's a lot more than just a guitar
amp to you, isn't it?

- Oh, it is, surely. It's a life of
memories, you know.

It's from my teenage years right
through to now.

- Do you want to have a look?
- Please.

- Are you ready for this?
- Yes.

- Ready? Here we go.

- Oh.

Oh, absolutely fantastic!

Ah! My God, you can see your face in
them!

- CLICKS

- What a sound!
- Isn't it?
- Yeah.
- CLICKS

- New plugs.

And a foot control!
- You spotted it!

- Oh, hey!

Kiss, kiss!

- LAUGHTER

- Well, I know it looks the part.

- Yeah.
- But you must be excited to hear it.

- Well, the thing is, the proof of the
pudding, as they say, is in the sound.

- Exactly.
- There is a guitar for you.
- My, God.

I don't know if yous want to or not.

- Shall I turn it on for you?

- STRUMS GUITAR

- Oh, that sounds great.

- Brilliant!
- Yay!
- Brilliant!

- THEY LAUGH

- Mark, that is just absolutely...

- Thank you.
- ..brilliant.
- It looks like you were having fun.

- Oh, hey. The change is just
incredible, Mark.

I'm so grateful.

It's...
- That's good.

- Well, Gerry, it's yours to take home
and annoy the neighbours!

- LAUGHTER

- Just what they've always wanted!
- Exactly!

- Thank you very much, boys.
- Lovely to meet you.

- It's been great. All the best.
- See you later.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye.

You could write a book about what that
amp has seen,

what it has actually created.

It looks a very insignificant little
red box,

but the noise that comes out of it
entertained people

and gave them a little hope in their
lives

that there is more than what goes on
outside wherever you were playing.

That, you know, you went outside and
you had to duck the bombs and b*ll*ts.

Inside, you forgot about that.

And it lifted people into what life
should be about.

- If you have a treasured possession
that's seen better days

and you think the team can help,
please get in touch at...

..and join us in The Repair Shop.