13x10 - Episode #13.10

[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.

- New beginnings and new memories.

- Lovely.
- We could do that.

- A dream team of expert
craftspeople...

- Perfect, teamwork.

- That's the fun part.

- It's going to look absolutely
stunning.

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

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

- Go on, my son.

- ..restore irreplaceable treasures...

- Take it away, Mark.

- ..and unlock the stories that they
hold.

- Hey!

- Oh, my God!

- It's like it's brand new.

- You're a wizard.

- Thank you so much.

- Morning.
- ALL:
- Morning.

- Making their debut in the barn
today,

father and son harp restorers Nigel
and Alex Tree.

- Tell me, what's it like working with
Dad, though?

- It's a true nightmare.

But that's family for you, isn't it?

You put up with it.

- Got to keep him on his toes.

- That's what I like to hear.

- Hoping for a harmonious restoration
is Lilian Russell

from Newry in Northern Ireland.

- Hello.
- Hi.

- How are you doing?
- Good, thanks.

- So this is your harp, yeah?
- It is, yes.

- Can you tell us about it?

- This was made by my father in the
garage at the back

of our house when I was about 14.

Daddy left school at 14.
- Right.

- He started off as a gardener and
then coal man.

He went on to the shipyard during the
w*r,

and he ended up working in the box
factory,

making cardboard boxes for a living.

- Hold on, he's done all those jobs.

How does he get to making a harp,
then?

Where does that come in?

- Well, when I was about 13, I saw a
harp in a friend's house.
- OK.

- And I thought it was the most divine
thing ever I'd seen.

But because there were six children in
our family

and Daddy was the only breadwinner,

there wasn't any money to buy a harp.

So Daddy decided he would make me one.

- So how did your dad do that, then?

- He got a book.

He wasn't allowed to borrow it because
it was so rare.

So he used to go in practically every
day into the library

and study this book.

- That's exceptional, from a book.

Did he even make these mechanisms?

- He did, yeah.
- Wow. That's extraordinary,

because you know the metalwork as well
like that. Yeah.

No, that's a bit special.

- Daddy was very, very artistic, you
know,

and he was a great craftsman

so he could turn his hand to anything.

I didn't know he was making it.

It was a big surprise.

It took him about six months

and then I come home from school one
day and he went,

"Lilian, do you want to come out to
the garage?

"I have something to show you."

And I thought he had bought it, you
know.
- Yeah.

- He said, "I made it."

- And how did you feel when he told
you that?

- Oh, I couldn't believe it.

I thought, "God, Daddy, you're a
genius," you know?

- What's Dad's name?

- Jimmy Russell.
- Jimmy Russell.

What was he like as a dad?

- Oh, Daddy was lovely.

He was just so kind.

And, you know, if you needed anything
or if you were hurt

or anything, just, you went to Daddy
for comfort.

All he wanted to do was look after the
kids

and he loved Mummy so much.

He was just besotted with her.
- Aw.

- He was very shy and he just loved
making instruments.

This was his first one, so he said it
was very rough.

- His first one?

How many has your dad made in total?

- Oh, umpteen.

There's harps belonging to Daddy all
over the world.

There's harps in Milwaukee and Canada,
New Zealand,

Australia, Germany.

He was just doing it in the garage at
the back of the house...

- Yeah.
- ..for years.

And then he decided then he was going
to try his hand

at running his own business.

So he'd have been in his sixties.

- Did your dad give you a smile when
you was playing it?

- Oh, Daddy loved it.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.

He would just sit in the corner, but
you could see the pride in his eyes.

- And then how long have you played
this?

- Well, until I dropped it.

- Until you dropped it.

What are you whispering for?

- I just feel so guilty.

- You feel guilty? Oh, bless you.

So how old were you when you dropped
it?

- 26 or 27.

- OK.

- So I...kept it secret.

Sorry, Daddy.

- He didn't know?
- Daddy passed over in...

- He passed but he didn't know that.
- ..2006 and he never knew.

Wow.

The base of it's unsteady.
- Oh, yeah.

Yeah.
- It's rocking a bit.

Obviously, the strings are broken,

and there's a crack in the back in the
sound box.

- You'd like it structurally stable,
playable.

- Structurally stable. Yes, exactly.

- And looking a bit better.

- The most special thing about it was
that he made it specially for me.

So it would mean the world to me.

It would mean I wouldn't feel so
guilty.

I could have it out and learn to play
again.

- Well, listen. Thank you for bringing
us in.

It's been an absolute pleasure to see
your dad's handiwork.

- Thank you. Thank you.

- You take care now.

What an amazing dad, eh?

To be able to build this from a book
is unbelievable.

- It's quite extraordinary, actually,

because it's verging on professional
quality,

even though it's his very first one.

And what do you think has really
happened with the accident?

- There's a split on the back there.

- Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's quite
large.

These are very rusty as well, the
tuning pins.

My first suggestion is that we need to
get the strings off.

I'll take the tuning pins out.

I can get on with de-rusting them.

And you can start to have a look at
the...

- Splits in the body.
- ..splits in the body.

- And stabilising the base.
- Yeah.

- Next, an assignment for paper
conservator Angelina Bakalarou.

It's arriving courtesy of lifelong
pals

Mac Greenwood and Pete Hemmings.

- Hi there, guys.
- Hello.
- Hi.

- Come in, come in.

So please take a seat.
- Right.

- What do we have in the brown
envelope?

- It's a bit interesting.

- Is it?

- It's a birthday card

in the shape of a 1960s sick bag.

- Was not expecting that at all.

So it says, "practical cards is what
should be gave,

"useful and plain-like and fit in to
save..."

"..so here's birthday greetings on
this paper sack.

"When mine's due you fill it and send
it on back."

That's amazing.
- Nice.

- So how old were you when you first
sent this?

- Me and Mac have been friends for
many, many years.

And it was...

Mac's birthday was due, I think I was


and my mum says, "I bought you this
card for Mac,"

"and you write on it and in theory, he
sends it back at your birthday

"and it goes to and fro."

And that's exactly what's happened for
the last 60 years.

- That is unbelievable.

- It's never missed. 120 times.
- Yeah.
- Wow.

- We were in different years at
school.

Mac's just a year older than me,

but we both joined a swimming club at
the same time,

and I think we just hit it off from
there as mates,

and we'd go trainspotting together

and going out for miles and miles,
walking and cycling.

- So are there any important messages
in here

with regards to your birthday?

- Yes, it might be difficult to find
them, but I think I can go to one.

"Happy birthday," this is 50 years,

and then another ten years down
there's 60 years.

And there's another one which is 70
years.

- Do you both live quite close to each
other?

- Yes.
- Like 12,000 miles.

- Really?!

- I've lived in Australia 28 years
now.

- You've been sending it from
Australia back to the UK?
- Yeah.

Basically it's friendship.

It just reminds us, you know, of how
long we've been really good mates.

- Pete lost his memory for a little
while,

and that kind of helped bring this
into focus, didn't it?

- ANGELINA:
- How did that happen?

- I had a pretty horrific accident in


I was hit from behind by a car and I
was on my pushbike,

and he was doing 60mph.

I have a lot of voids in my memory
where I...

Just a blank, just a blank.

But at least the card had jogged my
memory.

And I just remember a lot of the great
times we spent together

when we was younger.

It just keeps on giving, keeps giving
these memories back to us.

- But it won't last much longer in its
current state.
- Yeah.

Because it's paper, it's pretty
flimsy.

- Oh, gosh.

- There's the bag form.

As you can see.
- Mm-hm.

- And over the years, we've had to
resort to writing

inside the bag because there's not
much space to write it.

That's why we need a bit more space.

A lot of years yet to fill in there.

- That's it. That's it.

- ANGELINA:
- Absolutely. It's very, very, very
fragile.

You're giving me a challenge here.

I've never worked with something like
this,

so this is going to be interesting.

- It's one of the few constant things
in life, I think.

Things have changed and moved on so
much in the last 60 years.

That is still the same.

And that's why it's so cool, I think.

- I think it's cool.
- ANGELINA:
- I think it's cool, too.

- WILL:
- It's been lovely to meet you guys.
- And you too.

- We'll see you very soon.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

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

- They were lovely.
- They're amazing.

All these years of friendship.

They've set me quite a big challenge.

I need to repair this, but also try
and give them space enough to write.

I can see that all of the folds now
are splitting.

I'm thinking maybe I should ask Chris
to make something for them,

just to make sure that this stays nice
and safe

while it travels back and forth.

I'm just going to give it a quick
clean.

I'm using a dry eraser that should be
nice and soft for the paper,

and while doing that, hopefully a nice
idea will pop

into my head on how to make this into
what they need.

How do you stay cool in all that cord
and hat and bits and bobs?

- You want to know the secret?
- I do, yeah.

- I've got an ice pack in there.

- Ooh.
- It's nice, isn't it?
- It's nice.

- Now the body of the harp is removed
from the base,

Alex can begin levelling the feet.

- There's a lot of weight at the top
of the harp,

which means if it's not stable, it can
easily fall over.

At the moment, it's got a bit of
wobble,

so...I'm just shaving off the base of
the foot.

I don't need to take off too much, but
just a little bit will bring

it back into line with the other ones.

I've only taken a little bit off so
far,

but I think it's time to check it now,

just to make sure I haven't gone too
far.

Let's test the wobble and just see how
it goes.

Well, that seems stable to me now.

- Nigel has also been making solid
progress

polishing the rust from the metal
tuning pins.

- Each one of these tuning pins has
got a hole in it

for the string to pass through

and a square on the end so that the
tuning key

can fit on the end and turn the pin
itself to raise the pitch

of the string by stretching it.

I'm removing the rust not just for the
aesthetics,

but because this part which sits in
the harp

is required to rotate smoothly.

Otherwise you can't get fine
adjustment for that perfect pitch.

I don't want to polish them to a
mirror finish.

It simply wouldn't grip in the neck of
the harp.

That looks perfect.

We've got a nice bit of texture on
there.

We've not made it too smooth and
shiny.

Right. That's pin number 27.

The last three to go.

- Outside, more visitors.

Sisters Fiona Minchin and Kirsten
Tomlinson

are hoping Dominic Chinea can
resurrect a traditional tool

that holds very special memories.

- Hello. Come on in.

- Thank you.

- I'm Dom. It's lovely to meet you
both.

- Lovely to meet you too, Dom.

- This must be your potter's wheel.
- Yes, it is.

- Where do we start? It's epic.

- It is.

- It was our dad's potter's wheel.
- OK.

- Our dad was a potter and an artist.

He was really well-known in Scotland.

His name was Syd Walker, and he made
literally thousands and thousands

and thousands of pots on it.

He painted designs on them as well.

- He was really quite big in the arts
scene in the '60s and '70s.

- You know, I mean, he had quite a few
international exhibitions in America

and Holland and France and all over.

His work is in the Royal Family
collection as well.

- That's amazing. You must be so proud
of him.

- Oh, absolutely. So proud of him,
yes.

- Do you remember what it was like as
a kid in that pottery with Dad?

- Very, very vividly.

As soon as you walked in, there was
this wonderful smell of the clay.

I mean, I loved that smell.

Also the sounds.

I mean, the sound of the potter's
wheel,

the way that when he switched it on,
then it sort of boom, boom, boom,

and then a sort of chug, chug, chug,
chug, chug,

right the way through and the sound of
it was just our soundtrack

to our childhood.

We used to play up there and...
- We did.

- ..spent our whole time surrounded by
clay and everything else.

So this is a huge, huge part of his
life and ours.

- Happy memories by the looks of the
smiles on both your faces.

- Definitely.
- Definitely, yeah.

I mean, it's Dad.
- It's Dad.
- It's Dad.

Couldn't part with it, you know?

It was more than just a wheel to him.

So, yeah, so this is just...him.

For my birthday, Fiona gave me a
voucher

for a weekend pottery course.

So I was bitten by the bug, wasn't I?
- You were.

- I would love to be able to make pots
on my dad's wheel.

It would just be so wonderful to be
able to do that,

but it just needs a lot of TLC.

- How does this work?

- This bit here on the jigger, if you
look...
- The jigger?

- The jigger, this is a jigger.

And while he was making a plate,

when he wanted to make several that
were all the same thickness,

he pulled down the jigger

and then it would actually touch where
the clay was

to be to make it the same.
- I get it.

- Yeah, but it's seized up, so that
would normally go

up and just sit straight up...
- Up. Yeah.

- ..while the pots were being made.

I'd love the clay to stay on that.

You know, there are still bits of him
in, you know,

the last time he used it.

- Goodness me. So I need to be careful
with this.

- Just to actually sit there with all
the memories

and to hear that sound as well.

Honestly, it would be a dream come
true for me.

Genuinely.

- Well, thank you for trusting me with
it.

Honestly, I can't wait to get started.

- Thank you, Dom.
- Lovely to meet you both.
- And you too.

- Bye-bye.
- Thanks. Bye-bye.

- Well, I think it's fair to say

this potter's wheel has seen better
days.

The poor thing is not in good
condition.

Mechanically, I can see straight away
that there's some issues.

There's some... Most of it is to do
with corrosion.

A lot of this in here is rusted and
seized together.

I don't dare turn this on.

The motor is obviously powered by
electric.

There's a big starter on the front.

I'm no electrician but I can see

that the wiring needs to be replaced.

That is luckily going to be a job for
Mark.

I think the best thing I can do is
start at the top, remove the jig,

remove this red part and work my way
down

until I've got the whole machine
completely taken apart.

Yes. Perfect.

Yes.

- Hello, Chris.

So this is a birthday card that goes
back and forth between two friends

from the UK to Australia.

And I'd love it if you could make me a
little folder to keep it in.

- Something like an envelope
portfolio, a...

..en-folio.
- Ha!
- That's a new word.

- Perfect.
- It'd be fantastic fun.

- Thank you so much. Looking forward
to seeing it.

- See you.

- Are you going to make a pot at the
end of it?

- I've been promised a lesson if I can
get it running.

- It's messy business, pottery.

- Yeah.

Well, isn't this? Isn't it all?

- To repair the nasty crack on the
harp sound box,

Alex is using the most modern of
materials.

- We've got some carbon fibre, which
is great acoustically

because it doesn't affect the tone of
the instrument.

In the past, you would have just used
veneer to patch this crack.

It wouldn't do quite as good a job.

So it's much better to use the carbon
fibre

as it will last a lot longer and be a
lot stronger.

To get this stuck in, I'm using a
special laminating resin.

Spread this out a bit.

It's quite hard getting it into place.

Just kind of try and feel...where it's
going.

Making sure that it's stuck down
really nicely.

Right, now that's stuck into place,

I'm going to use some polystyrene to
clamp it in,

which will deform to the shape and
just make sure that

carbon fibre is really pressed in nice
and properly.

Then once that's all dried, I'll come
back,

I can fill in the crack and colour it
in so that it just disappears.

- Resurrecting the 1950s potter's
wheel

requires Dom's mechanical know-how

and the expertise of electronics whiz
Mark Stuckey.

- Mark.
- Dom.
- Help! Please!

This is the original on and off switch
for the potter's wheel.

I've done the easy bit and taken it
apart.
- Right.

- I have painted it. Unfortunately,
it's not working though.

- It's just been left out in a fairly
damp environment,

hasn't it, by the looks of it?

- Yeah. I'd love to be able to keep
it.

- I'm sure I can sort this out for
you.

- Thanks, Mark.
- Yeah. OK. Thanks then, Dom.

- Now I've got all of the components
for the actual potter's wheel

taken apart, I've learned that this

unassuming piece of crumbly black
rubber

is such an important part for the
potter's wheel to be working.

The mechanism relies on this drive
wheel spinning the big flywheel.

It's almost like a car tyre, that
gives the actual working

surface its momentum and spins it
round.

Rubber deteriorates over time.

I need to make a new one.

And so I've raided Dean's drawers and
found a stack of rubber

soles for boots.

The amount of wear that these are
designed to withstand every day,

I think they're a really good option.

I've gone ahead and cut 100mill
circles out of the soles,

and I can punch a hole through the
middle,

stack them all up and that can get
fitted to the machine.

And now all I need to do is use my
awesome punch set,

and it will punch through the sole and
leave me with a nice clean hole.

That's got it.

Then hopefully...

Oh, look at that. Perfect.

I just need to repeat that four more
times

until I've got the stack all the way
to the top.

I need to feed these bolts down
through all of my pieces of rubber.

There we go. I am really chuffed with
that.

I think it's going to work well. It
feels quite grippy.

Nice and strong. It's not going
anywhere.

Perfect.

How do you play one of these?

- Well, they're quite easy.

Your first chord you'd learn, C.

you just put a finger there on the
third fret.
- Yeah.

- Strum all the strings. One, two,
three, four.

Have a go.
- That's it?
- Yeah.

Natural, mate. First lesson done.

I'll see you next Wednesday at three.

- Oh, I'll be there.
- Good luck.
- Yeah.

- On the 1960s birthday card,

while Chris pushes the envelope with
his novel en-folio design...

..Angie is moving on to the next step
of her repair.

- I've been contemplating how best to
give Pete and Mac

what they really need, which is
basically more space

to write their birthday wishes.

So since this area is already quite
open,

I'm thinking to slice open these two
lines

so I can have this look a little bit
more like a booklet.

With my scalpel, I'll slowly go
through just enough on the seam

just to make it separate.

OK, let's see what we've done.

There we go.

Looks like I did a nice, neat job.

There's more than enough space for
them to keep writing.

I'm happy now.

Now I'm moving to repairing all of the
little small tears

that have been made on this paper.

I have this gorgeous Japanese tissue
which has been pre-toned,

and it looks almost exactly like the
paper.

I'm really, really pleased.

This is made out of a mulberry bush.

It's called kozo, and the fibres of
this paper may look

like they're weak, but they're
actually the strongest bits.

I just score one side of the paper
with the water pen.

So now that it's nice and wet, all I
have to do is just pull.

If it dries, the paper will stop being
able to be torn.

So that means that I will have to work
really fast now

just to make sure that it doesn't dry.

Now it's time to glue.

I'm using wheat starch paste, which is
a type of flour paste.

Now that this is nice and full of
paste, it's time to apply.

Just positioning it.

Oh, fantastic.

There you go.

I'm going to continue using the same
technique

through all of the other tears of the
paper

and just make sure that everything is
nice and supported and stable

for many, many more years to come.

- Father and son team Nigel and Alex
have almost finished

their work on the harp.

Just a touch of fine-tuning remains.

- Shall I cut some strings for you?

- Yeah, OK, we'll start at the top
with the 2D.

There we go.

Good. First one.

- There you go.
- Cheers.

Really looking forward to getting all
these strings on.

I'm sure it'll bring all those
memories flooding back to Lilian,

about the early days with her dad.

- This harp was the first of many made
by Lilian's father,

but arrived at the barn in an
unplayable condition.

- Look at that. It's spectacular.

I think Lilian is going to be blown
away.

- Fingers crossed.

- For Lilian, the instrument is a
precious reminder

of her talented and much-loved dad.

- Here she is.

Lilian.

I'm Lucia.
- Hello, Lucia.

- I think you know these two
gentlemen.

- Nice to see you again.
- I'm so excited.
- Really?

- Oh, yes.

I've been...very emotional this past
few weeks now

because it stirred up a lot of
memories of when I was a child.

And it's the last thing I have that...

..keeps me in touch with Daddy, you
know?

And it's just so personal.

And I just want to get it home again.

- And play it? Do you play the harp?

- I haven't played it since it was
damaged.

- You intend to have a go.
- I'll teach myself again. Yeah.

- Are you ready to see the harp?

- I am.

Oh.

Oh, wow.

Where's the cracks?

Oh, it's fabulous.

Oh, that's super.

Absolutely super.

And it doesn't wobble!

Oh, lovely.

And they all move.

It just looks like it did when Daddy
gave it to me.

- That's beautiful.

- I can let go of the guilt and just
be proud now to have it.

- Well, we've got a little surprise
for you.

We have the lovely Tori, who is a
concert harpist,

and she's going to play it for you.

- Oh, I'm so looking forward to this.

Sounds fabulous.

- It feels really great to play as
well.

So he made an amazing job.
- Yeah.

Oh, it's lovely. Thank you, thank you,
thank you.

It's special because it was mine.

And he made it for me.

It's beautiful. Daddy would be
delighted.

He'd be so happy.

- We will pack it up for you very
safely and send it on.

And, yeah, we expect to hear from you

when you start to learn to play.

- When I give my first concert.

You'll be on the guest list.

- We'll be there.

- Thank you very much, both of you.

Thank you, Tori, for playing it so
beautifully.

- Absolute honour.

Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Thanks, Lilian.

- Thank you.
- Bye-bye.

- That was great, guys. I think
Lilian's very happy.

- It was a great honour to work on
such a good harp.

- It's been so long since I heard the
harp played

and it just sounded fantastic.

It just brought back that, that
gorgeous tone.

It was just...very emotional.

It just means so much.

- From Dublin, Maria Gray is hoping
resident horologist Steve Fletcher

can fix a much-loved timepiece that
tells a tale of women's rights

in the 20th century.

- Hi.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- Welcome.

Oh, it's making a noise.
- It is making a noise.

- What have you got in your box?!

What can this be?!

- So, I have my mum's retirement
clock.

- Beautiful clock.
- It is a nice-looking clock.

- What was your mum's name?

- My mum was Philomena Doyle.

She worked in Dublin in the civil
service, in the General Post Office.

And her job was to write up the bills,

the phone bills for people, and then
post the bills out.

- So it would all be done by hand.
- All be done by hand.
- Wow.

- She lived in a flat with other girls
and she had great independence

having the job, and she liked that.

She enjoyed that.

- How old was your mum when she
retired?

- Mum was 27 when she...
- 27?
- 27?

- I know.

So unfortunately back in the '60s,

there was a marriage bar in Ireland.

- What does that mean, a marriage bar?

- A marriage bar means that when you
get married,

you must give up your employment, you
must give up your job.
- Really?

- And you must stay in the home.
- No! That... What?

- You're not allowed to work?

- No, not allowed to work.
- Oh, my goodness.

- That was...the law.

And I know Dad asked her to marry him

and she kind of deferred her yes for
several years to him.

- Is that because she didn't want to
lose her job?

- She didn't want to give up her
independence and her job.
- Yeah.
- Wow.

- Mum's colleagues in the telephone
accounts department

clubbed together to buy this for her.

There is a plaque on the front of it,
an inscription.

- Can I just have a look?
- You can, of course.

- "Presented to Miss Philomena Doyle
on the occasion of her marriage,

"14th of the 9th, 1962."

- And it meant a lot to her because
she took it home

and she put it pride of place on the
mantelpiece.

She jokingly referred to it as her
"retirement clock"

and I know she didn't want to retire
at 27.
- No.

- So the clock signifies the end of
her career in business,

but also the start of her life with my
dad

and what it was to become my family.

- I quite like that. It's the start
of...

- It's the start of our family.
- ..the rest of her life.
- Yes.

- Glad things have changed.
- Yeah.

- The marriage bar was lifted in 1973.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.

- Did she go back to work afterwards?

- No, she never went back to work.

The '70s, '80s, '90s, the technology
changed rapidly.

Fax machines, phones, computers.

And I think it just went too fast for
her.

She was quite a shy, modest lady.

So she never had the opportunity to
get back into work.

- You say, "Mum was..."

She's no longer with us?

- She is no longer with us. She passed
away in December of 2022.

The clock stopped working maybe about
ten years ago.
- Yeah.

- There's very little damage on the
outside.

But if we could just get it working
and ticking again

and make the plaque maybe a little
more visible.
- Yeah.

- Do you remember it, the tick of the
clock

and the striking of the clock?

- Yes, I can.

Dad would wind it once a week.

- If I can get this clock working,

will you have it ticking away and
striking away?

- Yes.

- And do you know where you're going
to put it as well?

- So it definitely has to go back to
my dad's house,

to the mantelpiece there, because
that's where it belongs.

It's always been at the heart of our
home.

It reminds me of the great childhood
she gave to me.

It reminds me of all the opportunities
I have in my life.

And it's just a memory of...of Mum.

- Well, leave it with us.

We'll get it back on that mantelpiece
as soon as possible.

- I'll try my best.
- Thank you so much.

- Bye-bye.
- Bye.
- Bye-bye now.

- Where does this bit go, Steve?
- I know where that goes.

- Yeah? Are you sure?
- Yes, I do.

- I'll twiddle this bit in the middle.
Does that change things?

- No, don't do that!

I'm going to start by taking the
mechanism out.

I'm really hoping this clock has been
overhauled in the past

because if it hasn't, then I'm
probably in store

for a lot of work to a lot of wear.

I can see absolutely why this clock
isn't working.

One of the bearings is extremely worn
here.

If they fail, you get all the power of
the mainspring

almost tearing the clock apart.

I'm going to pop it into the clock
cleaning fluid,

and then I can see what I've got to
fix on the clock.

- So, all of the repairs and the
strengthening of the card

has gone really, really well.

I decided to add a little bit of extra
tissue to support this edge,

and all I need to do is just finish
trimming this.

I've been thinking on Pete and Mac's
friendship

and it's so, so impressive.

All of these years, I think I only
have like one friend

that I still keep in touch in Greece.

This reminds me a bit of that,

and remembering all of those good
times that we had while growing up.

All right?
- Not bad.

Just gluing and clamping.
- OK.

- It's all coming together.

- So the plan's working?
- Plan is working.

- That's what I like to hear.

- Dom brought over to me this switch
assembly which controls the motor

for the potter's wheel.

And we can see here there's this black
sort of tarnishing

on these electrical contacts, which is
acting as a resistive path,

and therefore the motor will cease to
function.

So these contacts need cleaning.

I'm going to use a continuity tester
on my multimeter to see

if the current will freely flow across
these contacts to the motor.

I'm expecting to see that the metre
near enough goes to the zero point.

So we go on the first one...

That's gone down right down to zero.

This middle one is actually as good as
I expect you could get.

And this one is...

It's not really working at all.

So that one has got a problem which I
need to sort out.

So a bit more hands-on elbow grease

and then I'm pretty sure when I do my
next test,

it'll work perfectly, just like the
other two.

- Wow.

This is the jigger part of the
potter's wheel,

so that every plate that you make is
the same size.

This mechanism should pivot at this
point,

and it's completely rusted and seized
up,

which is not good news.

I've ground down one side of the head
of this rivet on the side,

and I'm going to now try and drift the
pin out.

Ah, here it goes, here it goes.

Yes.

Here it goes.

Yes!

Perfect.

And it's actually in remarkably good
condition.

I think with a clean up, I'll be able
to actually reuse that,

which is always a brilliant thing.

Now I've got the main bar removed,

I've got all the pieces broken apart,

I can remove the rust, clean them,
paint them if I need to,

and then they can all come back
together at the end

and put this back in place on top of
the potter's wheel.

- Clock doctor Steve has triaged the
retirement timepiece

and is ready to proceed with a
treatment plan.

- All of these bearings here are what
actually hold

the wheels in place.

And if they're worn, the wheels just
don't mesh properly.

There is one particular bearing that
is extremely worn.

It's moving almost a millimetre, which
is huge in clock-making terms.

I think that's probably the reason why
this clock is stopping.

So what I'm going to do now

is just going to file in the direction
of the dot

to actually bring the holes back to a
central position.

I can then drill it out and then fit
the bush,

which are little plugs of brass, into
the correct place.

And after that it should be really
good for decades.

Good.

What I'm doing now is I'm just going
to put the bush there.

And then just push it into place.

Good. That's one bush down.

Just another eight to do now.

I've finished bushing all of the
holes.

I can now get on with putting the
clock together.

And this is where it gets slightly
tricky.

Right, I need to go down a little bit
lower,

just to have a look at all the pivots

and just lead them into the holes one
by one.

I'm just going to stand it up there
and just make sure

that everything is moving as it should
do.

And everything's working really
smoothly,

even without any oil on at the moment.

- After so much work repairing and
cleaning and rebuilding

all of these components for the
potter's wheel,

it's all now coming back together.

This is the moment I've been looking
forward to,

but also slightly nervous about.

- Hello, Dom.

- Mark, how's it going?
- Good.

There's the switch assembly. Ready to
wire it up?

- I actually am.
- Oh, wow.

- Do you fancy doing it now?
- Of course, yeah. Why not?

- That'd be really handy.

I've got the wires coming out the
motor.

Feed them through to me, I'll grab
them.

- There we go.

- All right, hit the green button.

- There you go.

- Yeah. That's lovely.

- Yeah, it is. It's beautiful, isn't
it?

- Perfect.
- Yeah.

- A thorough restoration has secured
the future

for the 1960s birthday card,

and it's almost ready to be returned
to sender.

- What I really want to do is give
Pete and Mac an extra support

for the card to be handled and opened.

So the plan is to make a tab that will
help them open it

without handling too much this edge.

I'm going to use the same Japanese
tissue

that I have been using for the
repairs.

I just need to attach this

and then it will be nice and ready for
them to come and pick it up.

This card has been an amazing reminder

of how important friends are.

I'm really, really pleased to have
been part of this journey.

- When the birthday card arrived at
the barn,


their toll.

- Angie, that looks amazing.
- Thank you.
- Great work.

Right.
- Right.
- Let's cover this up.

- Yes, let's.

- For Mac and Pete, it stands as an
important symbol

of their enduring friendship.

- Hello.
- Hi, guys.
- Hi.
- Hello.
- Welcome back.

- Hello.

- You look very cheery.

- Yeah, we are.

Excited.
- Excited?
- Yeah. Very much so, yeah.

Well, we just hope that we can carry
on sending it back and forwards

for many, many years.

So we hope there's some space left.

- Yeah.

- Should we have a look?
- Yeah.
- All right.

You ready?
- Yeah.

Oh, wow.

That's very, very, very good.

- You can pick it up.

- Can we?
- Yes, of course.

- Ah.
- Oh, that's...that's brilliant.
- Brilliant.

- The space is there for another 30
years at least.

- Yes, absolutely.

- Yeah.

- So I added this for you to help
open...
- OK.

- Just so it will be easier for you to
handle.
- Amazing.

The whole bag was dropping to pieces.

- It feels quite solid.
- I'm glad.

And that was what I wanted to do with
it.
- Yeah.

- Apart from the writing, it's like
the day my mum gave it me.

- Aw, I'm really pleased.
- Yeah.

- We have made something for you to
help you protect it a little bit.

This was made by Chris.

- Ah! Brilliant.

- So you don't have to fold it
anymore.

- Thanks, Chris. Fantastic.

- Fantastic. That's brilliant.

- What you've done is absolutely
perfect, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah.

- Well, guys, it's been lovely to see
you again.
- Good.

- And here's to many more years of
friendship.

- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.

- Thank you for all your hard work.

- You're welcome.

It was an absolute pleasure.

- Thank you very much.

- Thank you.
- Thanks, guys.

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

- Well done, Angie.

Can't wait for a birthday card from
you.

- Uh, mine is coming first, so...

- Well done.

- It symbolises our friendship, which
is over 60 years.

It's just amazing that we've been such
good mates all that time.

- It's also a constant in life.

An awful lot's changed in life in 60
years

but the card still keeps going and
will keep going.

A lot more spaces to fill.

- With the mechanics of the retirement
clock overhauled,

Steve can turn his attention to the
faded inscription.

- One of the problems is the engraving
is actual hand-engraving,

and it's only just scratching the
surface, so it's not deep at all.

The engraving has been polished so
many times,

there's very little of the engraving
left.

I know how important this plaque is to
Maria,

and I don't want to do any more damage
to it.

So by putting some lacquer on it,

it means that she won't have to polish
it anymore

and it will preserve the surface for
years and years to come.

Right, now I've got the plaque on,

I can get all the mechanism in and get
the hands on.

It's quite fiddly getting the screws
into place.

This is one of my favourite parts of
any clock repair,

is getting it all back together the
way that it was meant to be.

- This potter's wheel has come so far
and I am on the home straight now.

I'm so close.

And I'm very pleased to say that I've
managed to keep

all of the bits of clay that Kirsten
and Fiona were so attached to.

That looks right at home there.
Perfect
- .

- Really, all I've got left to put on
are the side panels,

the last few nuts and bolts,

and then it's ready to go back to
Kirsten and Fiona.

- This potter's wheel once turned out
perfect plates and impeccable pots,

but years of use had left it in need
of an overhaul.

For sisters Fiona and Kirsten, the
wheel is a reminder of happy

times in the family pottery beside
their beloved father, Syd.

- Hi.
- Hi, Dom.
- Welcome back.

- Thank you. Lovely to be back,
thanks.

- Oh, good. It's lovely to see you
both.
- Thank you.

- How have you been?
- Excited.
- Yes, very excited.

- I'm so glad you said that.

I cannot wait to show you.

- Oh, thank you.

It's just so strange not seeing it

and just not having it around has been
quite a thing.

I'm hoping just to see that it's back
the way that it was before

it just got dilapidated.
- Yeah.

- Just life back into it.
- Yeah.

- Do you want to have a look?
- Definitely.
- Yes, please.

- Oh, wow.

- Oh.

- Oh, that is absolutely brilliant.

- That's just amazing.

Oh, Dom, I can't thank you enough.

That just looks... Left the clay and
everything.

Just...

- It looks wonderful.

- It's just perfect.

- Bless you.

- I never imagined it could ever look
as good as this.

- It does really feel that Dad should
just be coming in

and sitting there and making some
pots.
- Absolutely, absolutely.

- And we should be a little bit
shorter and coming back from school.

- It's now a time machine.

- Yeah, it is definitely.

It definitely takes us back.

- Yes, absolutely.

- If you hit the green button... Yeah.

- MACHINE CHUGS

Yes.
- That's the sound, Dom.

Wow, that's just amazing.
- That's fantastic.

Yeah, that's the soundtrack to our
childhood.

Thank you so much.

- You're so welcome.

- This is such a huge, huge part of
our lives,

and it's just wonderful to see the way
it looks.

I just can't express how much this
means to us.

- Well, now I've proved it's working,

do you fancy getting your hands dirty?

- Yeah.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.

- Well, come on then. I'm looking
forward to this.

- Thank you.

Oh, my goodness me.

Thank you. Yeah. The jigger goes up.
Thank you.

I'll just put this apron on.

Gosh.

And you're literally going to...slam
it on.
- Oh, wow.

- So you're going to take the water

and you're going to drip the water on
top.
- OK. OK.

This looks messy already. I might
stand back.

Starting to understand why everything
was covered in clay now.

- Yeah.
- Look at it.
- I know.

- Oh, my goodness.

- OK. So that's kind of how it's done.

- Oh, that's so good.

- That was just fabulous.

I loved that.

Absolutely loved it.

I definitely, definitely am going to
love making pots on here, Dom.

- Restoring this machine for you both
has been an absolute pleasure.

- I cannot thank you enough.

Honestly.

- It's just brilliant to see Dad's
potter's wheel actually back

being able to be used again.

It just brought back so many really
happy memories

of seeing him working.

It was like a flashback to that,
really.

- I feel extremely happy, extremely
emotional.

When I switched the wheel on and I
heard the noise,

I just remembered everything he had
taught me

and I just felt so comfortable, so
happy.

And it just felt so right.

- The retirement clock has been
renovated and rebuilt.

Steve must now restored its voice.

- I've now got to put the gong in
place.

And the gong is a long strip of
hardened steel.

Just this alone makes a bit of a
sound,

but it doesn't make much of a sound.

So once it's screwed into the actual
case,

the case acts as a bit of an amplifier

and makes a lovely, rich, warm sound.

I just need to adjust the hammer on
the mechanism

so that it hits correctly.

If it rests on it, it will just muffle
the sound.

So it just needs to strike it and then
just lift off slightly

and then the sound should just be
right.

- I'm sure as Maria is thinking about
the past

and the time that her mother
sacrificed her job

and the way of life for the marriage
and for her,

um, she'll thank her lucky stars that
society has moved on

a long, long way, thank goodness.

- This clock marked the retirement of
Philomena Doyle,

who gave up her job to start a family
during the time

of Ireland's marriage bar.

- Is it going to work?

- Definitely. It's working really
well.
- Good.

- Having the clock restored is a way
for her husband Mervyn and daughter

Maria to acknowledge the sacrifices
made on their behalf.

- Hello.
- Hello.
- Hello, welcome back.

- Delighted to meet you.
- Hello, I'm Steve.

- Thank you very much.

- Are you excited?

- Very excited.
- Yes.

- There was a hole on the mantelpiece.

A big empty space.

- Aw.
- I want to see it again.

- Yeah?
- And put it back where it should be.

- How long has the clock been in that
space?

- 1962, when we got married.

- Do you want to see your clock?

- Yes, please.
- Yes?
- Yes, yes, we do.

- Go on, Steve.

- Well, that is marvellous.

That is marvellous, I tell you that.

- And the plaque looks lovely.

I can hear it ticking.

- Oh, you can hear it. Good.

- It's brilliant, isn't it?

- Yeah.
- But does it chime?

- Let me show you.
- Yeah.

CLOCK CHIMES

- That's it. Perfect.

- The hammer falls...
- Perfect.

- Yeah.

- It sounds a bit bigger than it is,
doesn't it?

- It does. It's a very grand sound,
isn't it?

- Yeah.
- Oh, yeah. I'm delighted with that.

I am delighted with that.

- It's been a real pleasure to do this
clock for you.

- Thank you very much indeed.

Appreciate that. Thank you.

- You're welcome.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Well done.

You just know it's going to be loved.

- Better get it packed up.

- Oh, well done mate. Well done.

- Oh, I'm really delighted to have
Mum's clock back working,

ticking and chiming.

It sounded exactly like it did in my
childhood.

And to have it back on the mantelpiece

will be like she's back in the house
with us.

- I'm delighted. It'll be back where
it belongs.

And I think of her every day.

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that's seen better days

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