Welcome to The Repair Shop, where
precious but faded treasures...
It's in a bit of a sorry state.
..are restored
to their former glory.
I'm going to teach you how to do it
the old-fashioned way. All right.
Furniture restorer Jay Blades...
Now the fun begins! I know.
It's so nice that we can be part
of that history,
to just keep things going.
..and a dream team
of expert craftspeople...
Looks absolutely amazing. Wicked!
You really start to see the thought
that went into making it.
..come together
to work their magic.
Team work!
BOTH: Absolutely!
Yes!
Beautiful.
Employing heritage craft skills
passed down the generations...
Whoo!
It's my duty to make sure that this
all goes back in working order.
..preserving
irreplaceable heirlooms...
It's absolutely amazing.
It really is!
It's like keeping a bit
of our family history alive.
..the team will restore the items,
the memories...
Yes! Yes!
..and unlock the stories
that they hold.
It's touched my heart.
It's amazing!
In The Repair Shop today,
Suzie gets a miniature millinery
back on top form...
I'm not really into bling,
but I feel that this deserves
something a little special.
Yes, that's what I want.
..while Kirsten prays for divine
intervention,
trying to rebuild a saintly statue
that suffered an unholy breakage.
I've got a nasty feeling
that, actually,
there's going to be
quite a lot missing.
That's going to make it
more problematic
when I actually stick it together.
First into The Repair Shop today
is Andrew Denly and wife Sheila
from Sussex.
They're hoping master of all things
mechanical Steve Fletcher...
Hello.
..can fix a little childhood novelty
with big memories attached.
Hi, Andrew. Nice to meet you, Steve.
Hello, Sheila. Hi, Jay.
You all right?
So what have we got in the box?
What we have here is a 1917
vintage toy howitzer cannon
and it belonged to my grandfather.
He bought it with
his pocket money in 1917.
OK. 1917? 1917. Whoa.
He was 11 then. Yeah.
Through the First World w*r,
so what else would a boy want
but something that fires a shell?
Right!
This is the original box lid
and the hole here was caused
by my grandfather
firing the shells at the box.
Oh, my word!
So there's quite a lot of force.
A lot of force in those shells. Yes.
It goes 12 feet.
That's quite far, isn't it?
For a little thing like that.
It is, yeah.
And these are quite heavy as well.
This seems quite a serious toy.
I say serious,
but borderline dangerous.
Health and safety
hadn't been invented yet. Yeah!
The cartridges go onto
this loading bay, like so.
And the shell will be pushed on top,
and you clip it round.
This is the dangerous part
because it's on the spring.
OK. Dangerous.
That would then go
into the barrel and locate...
There's a pinhole here.
And this is the breach door,
and that would've been
on with a pin. OK, yes.
When you turn the handle...
It triggers it. It would trigger.
Fires the shell. Shoots that out.
Shoots it out.
Yep. That's what should happen
but I could never get the door to
engage with the firing spring. OK.
So what sort of man
was your grandfather?
He was a very strong man
and a very kind man.
He spent 50 years
in the Merchant Navy.
He went to Dunkirk, D-Day landings.
He'd sailed the seven seas
before the w*r even started. Right.
He was full of stories
which were just super to listen to.
I mean, he was a real storyteller.
At nine years old, his stories
just fired my imagination.
We spent a lot of time together.
He was just absolutely my hero.
Sadly, he didn't live very long
after he retired,
so I never got to know him
as I grew older. Right.
His stories inspired me
to then spend most of my life
travelling and also train to be
an officer in the Merchant Navy,
so he had a remarkable effect
on my life.
So this is the only link you have?
That's the only link, really,
from my grandfather, yeah. OK.
How are you going to feel about
having a live cannon in your house?
Well, as long as the cat's not
target practice, we should be OK!
THEY LAUGH
No, I think it'll be lovely.
Be great, yeah.
He's got a very strong
family history
and I think it's a wonderful thing
to preserve.
I think it's a great piece
and I think, if I can get it
working, I'm going to have some fun.
So thank you for bringing it in.
Thank you. Thank you.
Bye now. Take care now. Bye-bye.
I'm going to miss the cannon
because it hasn't been out
the family in all these years.
But to see it working again would be
really quite something special,
having never seen it work properly.
It's quite lethal, isn't it?
It really is.
I mean, I'm thinking, actually,
if that shoots that out,
if it goes 12 foot,
if it hits you from about here,
it's going to hurt.
Yeah, that is going to hurt.
So, no instructions,
you've never done it before,
but I know you can do it.
I don't know.
I honestly don't know because there
are bits missing... Right.
..and it's made of
a soft, lead-based alloy. OK.
So I can't put any heat on it
because it will just melt.
Yeah.
I honestly don't know.
I don't know what I'm going to do.
I want to fire it! I know you do!
In no time you'll be having it fixed
and firing again. OK. All right.
I've had a good look
at this cannon now.
The door that should go
on the back of the cannon -
I think it's the breech? -
I've got to make a lever
that actually closes that
and keeps it closed.
And I've also got to repair
this part of the hinge
to hold the breech in place.
I've also had a look
at the triggering device,
and I think I can repair that.
But I'm going to have to design
pieces that I'm not sure
how they work until I've got it on
and it's working.
So, yeah, there's a lot
to this...this whole job.
But it's going to be fun to do.
It's going to be fun to repair.
The first thing I need to do is
start taking part as far as I can.
While Steve sets to work
on the vintage boy's toy,
outside are sisters Pam and Frances.
They've brought
a treasured curiosity
for the attention
of leather expert Suzie Fletcher.
Hello. Hello.
Good morning. Nice to see you.
How are you doing? I'm Jay.
Lovely to meet you. I'm Suzie.
I'm Frances.
What have you got for us?
It's an inkwell. OK.
And I used to play with it as
a child, cos that bit fascinated me.
Oh, yeah! It's absolutely beautiful.
I love this.
I can see as a child
why you'd be drawn
to keep wanting to play with it.
It was covered in leather,
and it had a brim on
like a trilby. OK.
An inkwell in the shape of a hat.
OK. Right.
So why is this important
to you guys?
Well, it belonged to my, er...
our grandmother. Right.
And she obviously passed it on
to my mother when she died.
She was k*lled in 1940
by a cyclist... Really?
..of all things. Good lord.
Yeah, it was very sad. Yeah.
That's why I think
my mother held on to it. Oh, OK.
Because it was something
her mother used.
And so Mother gave it to me cos
I used to play with it as a child,
which is probably why
it's like this!
It really is the only thing
that I would call an heirloom
that has come through the family.
And what would you like Suzie to do?
Well, I'd love for it
to have a brim back.
Yes!
THEY LAUGH
And turn it into a hat!
That would be marvellous.
OK. So I see
there's a button missing here.
That's right. That used to open
the top of the hat.
Oh, I see. So you press that
and that releases...?
Yes, and that used to... OK.
Do you know where the button is?
No.
I don't know what I've done
with the button.
Oh, you've done something
with the button?
There you go.
I think some years ago!
It's confession time, isn't it?
The reason why this is broken
is cos of you!
You can tell who was
the naughty one, can't you? You can!
THEY LAUGH
I thought I might like
to keep the little pot
with the remnants of the ink.
Oh, yeah,
so we don't touch any of that.
And then what about the metalwork
on the inside here?
I don't know if you can polish it,
make it look a bit nice. OK.
So, if Suzie is able to repair it
and turn it back into a hat -
with a button... With button. OK!
..what are you going to do with it?
I'm going to pass it down
to my daughter. OK.
Down to the generations. Yes.
So thank you, ladies,
for bringing it in.
Thank you. That's lovely.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. Thank you.
That's great. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
I've never actually
seen it as a hat.
It's always had its brim missing.
So I think it'll be wonderful
to have it looking as it should.
I'm looking forward to it. Yeah.
Be really nice. Really nice.
That's a sweet story, isn't it?
This little thing.
I really... I really love it.
I love the fact that, even though
it's missing lots of pieces,
it's still pretty much all together.
All the metalwork's there,
we've got something to work with.
Yeah. I sort of know
the shape it needs to be,
so that's going to be fun. OK.
HE LAUGHS
But, um, yeah, it's needing
a little bit of help.
So the button - you can't make
the hat until the button's done?
No, I can't. I can't, so I think
I'd better go and speak to Steve
very nicely and see
if he can maybe bump it up
on his list of jobs to do today.
All right.
Go and have a word with him, then.
Thank you. All right.
Steve may already have his hands
full with a miniature cannon,
but he can't say no to sister Suzie.
Hiya. Hiya.
I've got a huge favour
to ask of you.
I've got this lovely little inkwell.
There should be a button here.
OK. It'll have a band of leather
around it.
Yeah. Oh, so you push the leather?
Yes.
You'll be pushing...
And the button's underneath? Yes.
Yes. I've got it.
So if you could, by any chance,
do that now?
Now? Because...
SHE LAUGHS
..I can't do my part
until your part is done. OK.
OK. OK, all right. Thanks.
The little button
goes into this hole here.
If I can find a little nut...
Got a feeling
that it's just a button
that just protrudes a little bit
so that, once you press that,
it will release this top.
I'll make up a nice button
to go in there.
Now I'll just tidy the button up.
Let's have a look.
Good.
Hiya. Right.
I'm very excited about this.
OK. Look at this.
Wow!
That's amazing.
I love it!
Oh, nice. Well done.
Now I've got to do a really
beautiful job with all the leather.
Yeah. All right.
Get on with it, then!
All right. Thanks a lot.
With his brotherly duty
on the inkwell complete,
Steve can return to the toy cannon,
re-attaching the door on the back.
The lead that holds the hinge pin
has actually disintegrated.
I did think that
I wouldn't put any heat on this
because there is a risk
that it's just going to melt
and that would be catastrophic.
But I've got some low-temperature
solder that I'm going to attempt
to put on here,
and hopefully I can build it up
until I can create
a big lump of solder there
that I can actually drill through,
ready for the pin.
This first bit of solder
is really, really scary.
I've got to be really, really
careful that I don't overheat it,
otherwise it will just melt.
Ooh!
I am so relieved
that's actually worked!
Steve repeats the process,
building up layer upon
painstaking layer of solder
until it's thick enough
to create a new hinge.
I'm really pleased
at the way this has worked out.
I was able to shape it up really
well, and drill through as well,
and now I have a perfect...
..hinge.
Now all I need to do is make up
the lever or bracket,
or whatever it's called,
that actually holds this in place.
Good. This is looking good.
I've just finished it off
with some very, very fine emery.
I'm going to try it now
and make sure it's all fitting well
and does the job it's supposed to.
Absolutely perfect.
Very, very, very pleased with that.
The breech closes onto the barrel,
and then this lever
comes round to hold the breech
really nice
and tightly in place.
I absolutely love
making components like this...
CHUCKLING: ..especially when
it works!
That's great. And it looks great,
and I'm sure that's more or less
how it's supposed to have been.
That's excellent. Lovely.
With the door opening
and closing properly,
Steve can turn his attention to
the all-important firing mechanism.
So you've got
these firing cartridges.
This is the breech,
which is the back of the g*n,
and you've got these
two little pieces of metal here
that are supposed to turn this bent
piece of wire to release the b*llet.
At the moment, this firing device
gets to about there,
so it misses
this piece of wire completely.
So I think I'm going to
actually make another piece
that comes out like that,
and actually bends round at the top,
so that it will actually...
..meet those two
little pieces of metal there.
Good, that's going to work
really well, actually.
Steve's rebuilt the mechanism,
but will it work?
This is the first time
the cannon's been fired properly
in over 50 years.
Yes!
That's working really well.
Next job is just to put
some permanent hinge pins in
and colour everything up
and get it polished,
and then it'll all be done.
The toy cannon may be
up and firing again
but, outside, two more visitors have
arrived with a fresh challenge -
Caroline Morson...
Hello. How are we?
I'm Jay. Nice to meet you. Likewise.
..and president of the
Friends of St Mark's Hospital,
Professor John Northover.
They're hoping ceramics expert
Kirsten Ramsay
can help resurrect an important icon
that's been a symbol of hope
to many.
So tell us about this.
What have we got?
OK. This is a statuette
of St Fiacre,
who was an Irish hermit monk
in the seventh century. OK.
St Fiacre had
this big flat stone... Right.
..and he sat on it one day
and the stone softened
so there was a depression in it
the shape of his bottom.
Really? Miracle.
OK, a miracle, yeah.
And so patients with haemorrhoids
and one or two other conditions
of the nether region would come
and sit in this depression.
Yeah. And get cured.
Wow.
And he actually became
a patron saint
of the victims of haemorrhoids.
Yeah, yeah.
Now, I'm a colorectal surgeon
from St Mark's Hospital
for bowel disorders.
It's the bowels equivalent
of Great Ormond Street. OK.
And our pathologist back in
the last part of the 20th century
was a chap called Basil Morson,
who's internationally
one of the greatest pathologists
that ever lived. Right.
He had a big interest in St Fiacre,
and he donated this
to the hospital in 2003.
So, Caroline,
what's your link to the statue?
Well, I'm Caroline Morson
and my father, Basil Morson,
was the person that commissioned
this statue when I was about 13.
We were dragged off on a pilgrimage
to the village of St Fiacre,
to the place where he lived.
And is the stone still there
as well?
The stone is still there, yeah?
We all sat on it.
OK! Preventive!
Preventive measures! OK, all right.
That's just delightful.
So, do you know what sort of fired
his interest initially?
He had a deep Catholic faith...
Right.
..and he gave a lot of his life
to his research in pathology.
As a direct result of his work,
we've now got bowel cancer screening
in this country,
can actually prevent bowel cancer
on the basis of his work.
What a legacy.
That's extraordinary.
And, although it's not exactly
Michelangelo's David,
it's quite important to us because
of that link to Basil Morson. Mm.
It was fractured some years ago -
broken in half, vandalised -
and somebody at the hospital
stuck it back together
in a rather inept way. Right.
And then we heard that some kids
were throwing stones at it
and it'd been broken in half again.
It is really sad.
It's hard to understand why somebody
would want to do that. Yes.
Where are you going to put it
once it's actually been restored?
We want him to be back
in the middle of the hospital,
in the centre of our community,
where he can be protected. OK.
You can't throw something
like that away.
No. Absolutely not. No, you can't.
Not with the history
that's it linked to.
It's linked to your father.
Well, thank you for bringing him in.
It's a great pleasure.
I look forward to working on it,
actually.
OK. Thank you, Kirsten.
OK, bye. Bye-bye.
We've all got great memories
of Basil Morson,
and seeing the statue as it is
is very sad.
Seeing it cracked in half was
like living my father's death again.
Well, I'm keen to get
the statue fixed
because it's a way
of bringing back the memories.
There's a wholeness that is
more than just the physical statue.
Having it back in the hospital,
we'll remember him every day
as we walk past it.
So there's patron saint
for almost everything, isn't there?
Absolutely. But I didn't know
that there was one for haemorrhoids,
I have to say. Yes.
It's like... OK. Yeah.
And, obviously, it's in two pieces.
I'm going to have to try
and get that back together again.
Yeah. And then there's
all these sort of additional chips.
That's where the vandals have been
throwing stones, isn't it? Yeah.
Absolutely awful.
So we'll get it to your bench.
Are you all right
to take that for me?
Of course I am. Thank you.
It's heavy, this one, isn't it?
Before Kirsten can get to work
on mending St Fiacre,
she must first prep the surface
by carefully cleaning away
years of dirt and grime.
I started off
with just some dry brushing,
which was quite effective
for sort of removing the loose dirt
that's built up over the years.
I don't want to actually
take it back
to the actual just concrete surface
because I think
it's actually developed
quite a nice sort of patina.
The back of the statue, it's got
this sort of mould growing on it,
so I'm quite keen to remove that.
So I'm just giving the surface
a little scrub
and then blotting it.
And you can see...
..that the green is coming off.
There's absolutely loads
coming off there. It's great.
Over on her workbench,
leather expert Suzie
is determined to faithfully restore
the little hat inkwell
back to its best.
I have been fortunate enough
to research this
and I found a copy of the original,
what they should look like,
and that's given me a great guide
as I move through this process.
So the first thing I need to do
is to cover the cap.
The leather that I'm going
to cover it with is incredibly thin
and it drapes over.
So it's so thin,
it should be easily stretched
into the three-dimensional shape
that I need it to cover.
It's really interesting
that the Victorians
took an everyday item
and went to all this effort...
..to make it so decorative.
I think it's really nice.
So what I'm going to do now is...
..just position it here.
And it's just a case of pulling it
gently down and around.
Now I can move on to making the rim.
So I've got this really wonderful
material I can cut and shape...
..by heating it up.
DRYER WHIRS
There. So it's just a little quirky.
It's not a dramatic effect,
but it's just enough to give it
a little bit of extra something.
Once the glue is dry, Suzie can
trim off the excess leather.
OK, good.
Now, I'm going to attach it
to the rim.
This glue, once it's set...
..you're not really
going to get it undone.
This piece of leather
is going to go over the top.
And I'm going to start glueing these
little petals on the side here,
get them secure, and then I can
start securing the rest of it.
And now I'm just
going to trim around.
I'm just going to wrap the edge
of the leather
over this rim here.
Stretch it over.
Ironing it down.
OK, so that...
..that's the top done.
I'm getting really excited,
and, fingers crossed
it's going to continue going well.
It's been all g*ns blazing
over on Steve's workbench
as, restoration complete, he is
applying some finishing touches
to the 1917 toy cannon.
This is looking really great.
It's all working beautifully.
I'm sure Andrew's going to be
really, really pleased with this.
Eager to be reunited with the emblem
of youthful escapades,
as well as the memories
of his grandfather,
Andrew is back to collect
the toy cannon,
accompanied by his wife, Sheila.
Hello. Hello, Steve.
Nice to see you again. You too.
Hi, good to see you.
Good to see you. Hi.
This has been quite nice project.
Has it? Good.
Um, interesting. Well,
it was in a pretty sorry state.
It had been in a sorry state
for as long as I can remember.
I can't wait for you to see it.
Nor can I, actually!
THEY CHUCKLE
I'm going to show...
Wow.
Good Lord.
It's in one piece.
Wow. Can I, um...?
Yes, yeah, absolutely.
Oh, look at that. Look at that.
The door's on.
And you've made
a new piece for this.
That is absolutely superb.
That's what it would've looked like
when my grandfather had it
way back in 1917, 100 years ago.
It's beautiful. Absolutely superb.
I'm speechless.
Thank you very, very much indeed.
Thank you very much. You're welcome.
Now, dare I ask...does it fire?
Well, first of all,
I need to give you some...
Oh, OK. Oh. ..safety glasses.
Didn't wear these when I was ten.
THEY LAUGH
Bit of a target there.
Would you like to have a go
at firing it?
Yes, if I may. OK.
Julie, Amanda, could you, er...move?
So glad you said that!
THEY LAUGH
You're right in the line of fire.
OK.
THUNK!
Oh! Wahey!
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant.
That's fantastic.
Fantastic. I've never...
That's the first time ever
in my life I've seen it do that.
I think if my grandfather
were around,
he'd be absolutely tickled pink.
Absolutely remarkable.
A 100-year-old toy firing shells
again after all this time.
He'd be... Tears would be rolling
down his face. Brilliant. I'm sure.
There we are. Super.
Thanks very much again.
You're very, very welcome.
Thank you. Thanks.
Thank you. You're welcome.
Bye-bye now. Bye-bye now. Bye.
It's like Christmas Day
all over again, really.
Steve has done
the most fantastic job.
To think I'm now seeing
this model howitzer
as it would have looked when my
grandfather first had it in 1917.
I'm so over the moon.
Very moving.
With the surface
of the St Fiacre statue
now clean enough to be worked upon,
Kirsten can turn her attention
to reuniting the two broken halves,
starting with undoing
the previous repairs.
Seems to be like two types
of adhesive on here,
and the first layer that's actually
up against the statue
is almost like chewing gum.
It's really, really rubbery.
So it's actually proving
quite difficult to remove.
"Patience of a saint"
springs to mind.
It's amazing, actually,
how much time you actually spend
undoing previous restorations.
I probably spend more time
taking things apart
than I do doing anything else.
And sometimes I enjoy it
and sometimes I don't.
I still haven't really got a handle
on how much is missing
when I put the two pieces together.
I've got a nasty feeling
that, actually,
there's going to be
quite a lot missing,
and that's going to make it
more problematic
when I actually stick it together.
That's the surface now cleared.
My thumb's really sore.
I can move on to the next stage,
offering up the pieces and seeing
what I've got to work with.
Unfortunately, there are some
quite large sections here
that have been lost.
The main thing, really,
is to actually get a good bond.
This is quite a heavy piece
and I'm going to be using
a concrete adhesive,
which hopefully
will take the weight of this.
I think this is probably a first,
actually, in The Repair Shop,
a concrete piece, and it makes quite
a nice change for me
to work on something like this.
Quite often,
I'm sort of fiddling around
with very sort of minute detail
with porcelain and, um...
And this is just...
Yeah, makes a nice change.
Right, so, I'm just going to
mix these two parts together.
Right.
The moment of truth.
Right.
So I'm now going to offer up
the top section.
The next thing is to actually
try and keep it in place.
So I'm actually
going to use bandages.
Very appropriate, considering
it comes from the hospital.
He seems to be very, very stable
perched on the top there.
So, it's quite a relief
to see him back like that.
Only when the adhesive has cured
will Kirsten find out
if she has successfully
and sturdily reunited
the two broken halves.
It's always slightly nerve-racking,
especially with something like this
that's actually so heavy
because it's concrete.
That feels absolutely fine.
Kirsten can now fill in the missing
areas using an epoxy clay.
Once I've actually
got this section flat,
I can then start
to put in these lines
to mimic the original
concrete finish.
Now the missing pieces
have been filled,
Kirsten can start
camouflaging her repairs.
Sometimes, I do find myself
retouching in
a little bit of dirt,
a little bit of green.
It's quite a magical moment,
because this is where
the work that I've done
actually just starts to
hopefully disappear and blend in.
And it's, for me,
a really enjoyable part.
Having also reached
the finessing stage of her repair,
Suzie is almost ready
to return the hat inkwell.
All that remains for me to do
is to make a leather hatband
that will glue in place
and hold the button
that opens the mechanism in place.
So I feel that this...
..beautiful...
..brown leather would look
really nice in a contrast to it.
So I just need to cut this to size
and get it glued on.
So I've got it around
where the hatband needs to sit.
Now the important thing
is to put the button in.
There we go.
That's in place.
That's going to come over
like that,
and I've got one finishing touch.
I'm not really into bling,
but I feel that this deserves
something a little special.
Right. Let's see.
All done. It's good. It's in place.
Yes! That's what I want.
I hope Pam is going to be
very pleased with this.
Sisters Pam and Frances
have fond memories
of playing with the inkwell
as children.
Now they've returned to see
if Suzie has managed to restore it
back to crowning glory.
The inkwell belonged
to our grandmother,
and our mother loved that inkwell,
and so I'm just pleased
that we can get it mended
so that I can pass it on
to my daughter.
Hello again. Hello.
How you doing? You all right?
Yes, thank you. Hello.
Nice to see you. Likewise.
Lovely to see you, Frances.
Hi, Pam. Hello. Are you doing
all right? Yes, thank you.
Jolly good. Very excited. Are you?
Are you? Yes.
You can't wait. Look, your hand's
so close to the... I know, yes.
We should just show her,
shouldn't we? I think so. Yes?
Really? Let's do it.
THEY GASP
Oh, isn't that beautiful?
Oh, I say!
Oh!
HE CHUCKLES
Oh, isn't that gorgeous?
Oh, aren't you clever? Thank you.
How does he open?
OK, so if you hold it here,
that's where the button is.
Oh, that's it! Oh! Oh, look!
Oh, it's beautiful. Look at that
inside. It is fantastic.
THEY LAUGH
Can I do it again?
JAY: Of course you can.
Like a kid with a new toy. Yeah.
You're so easily pleased. I know.
I can't believe that.
I cannot believe
it looks superb. Yeah.
Well, I hope my mother, Henrietta,
and my grandmother, Elizabeth,
are watching down on us
because they would be so pleased
with this, wouldn't they? Yeah.
They'd be absolutely chuffed
with it. Absolutely fantastic.
So thank you very much.
You're very welcome.
Your skills are just amazing.
Aw. So thank you.
Well, it's all yours now. Absolutely
fantastic. I'll pick it up.
Lovely. Thank you
for bringing it in. Thank you.
Oh... Thank you very much.
And thank you to these guys.
Thanks, Pam. Thank you.
You take care now. Thanks. Bye-bye.
Well done, you, eh? Phew.
You feel better? Yes, I do.
Gosh! Oh, bless you. Yeah.
Aw, it's made my day.
I'm absolutely ecstatic.
I just can't believe it's
the same one that we brought in.
It just looks amazing.
And the inside's just superb.
My eldest sister's going to tell me
off if I keep pinging it too much
cos we don't want to ruin it.
Don't break it.
So, yeah, very pleased.
Very, very pleased indeed.
Yes, it is, it's lovely.
Over on the ceramics workbench,
Kirsten is also in the home straight
with her meticulous restoration
of the St Fiacre statue.
Hello. Hello.
A true artist is never done.
You timed that very well, actually.
You have done an amazing job
on that. Thank you.
I think John and Caroline are going
to be quite shocked to see it...
..well, as one. Yeah, absolutely.
You've done it again. Well done.
Thank you. OK. So all we've got
to do now is get this boxed up
and sent off to St Mark's Hospital.
That would be great if you could
do that. Sound cool? Yeah, lovely.
I'm going to let John and Caroline
know, but can I take...?
OK. I can't take this, no? Do you
know what? I'm absolutely fine.
I'll take it. Thanks, though, Jay.
All right. Come on, then. Cheers.
The St Fiacre statuette,
commissioned by Basil Morson,
is ready to be wrapped
and transported back home
to St Mark's Hospital in London.
Basil's daughter, Caroline, and
colleague Professor John Northover
are eagerly awaiting its return.
Dr Basil Morson was a celebrated
pathologist. He's known worldwide.
He donated a statue of St Fiacre
to the hospital.
The last time I saw St Fiacre,
he was in a complete mess.
He was in pieces.
And I'm hoping
that he's going to come back
as if he had never been away,
but in a beautiful state.
I was heartbroken when I saw that it
was broken in two and very chipped
and not really very recognisable.
I know my father
would have been very upset,
especially in his old age.
I think, in a way,
St Mark's was his lifeblood, really.
So it's a bit symbolic,
this statue coming to life again.
Well, this is a very special day
for St Mark's.
Everybody on the staff
and all the patients know
that St Fiacre
was coming home today.
And a lot of people have said that
I've got to be extremely careful
as I take this blanket off
not to pull him off his plinth.
LAUGHTER
So, here we go.
ALL: Ooh!
Well, congratulations to Kirsten.
She's a wizard.
It's superb.
Well, I know Daddy
will be overjoyed.
Isn't that absolutely fantastic?
Last time I saw him,
he was in pieces in the garden.
I've looked at it
extremely carefully
and, as a surgeon,
I'm used to looking at wounds...
LAUGHTER
..and I absolutely cannot see
where the crack was.
It's such a wonderful job
that she's done.
Well, I'm deeply moved.
I'm near tears.
I mean, it's just
beyond my expectations.
He's beautiful.
Join us again
as our talented artisans...
Oh, this is where things
might start getting a bit tricky.
..turn the ruined into riches...
How have you done that?!
..in The Repair Shop.
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05x15 - Antique Toy Cannon
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Each episode follows professional craftspeople from around the country who restore family heirlooms that have sentimental value for their owners.
Each episode follows professional craftspeople from around the country who restore family heirlooms that have sentimental value for their owners.