03x07 - A Teddy Called Fred

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to The Repair Shop,

where cherished family heirlooms
are brought back to life.

This is the workshop of dreams.

Home to furniture restorer
Jay Blades.

Nowadays, everybody spends a fortune
on stuff that, once it's broken,

they just bin it. But everybody has
something that means too much to be

thrown away, and that's where
we come in.

Working alongside Jay will be some

of the country's leading
craftspeople.

Every piece has its own story,

it's amazing to think that some of
my work becomes part of that story.

I've always played with things,
I've always repaired things,

and I just love it. There is a real
pleasure in bringing people's pieces

back to life again.

Each with their own unique
set of skills.

I can't wait to get started.

They will resurrect...

..revive... Come on, man!

..and rejuvenate...

..treasured possessions

and irreplaceable pieces
of family history.

Wow!

Bringing both the objects...

She's fantastic!

That's just taken me back 50 years.

..and the memories that they hold...

Oh, yes!

..back to life.

Oh, my God!

BELL RINGS

In the Repair Shop today,

Sonnaz and Will
get their hands dirty

with a very old piece of furniture.

While silversmith Brenton
tackles a tricky fix -

two metal ladies destroyed
in a World w*r II air raid.

They're made of spelter.

It is very fragile, and they're
certainly not built to be bombed,

I'm afraid.

First into the Repair Shop are
Hilary and Mike Elphinstone.

With them, a much-loved member
of the family.

Hello! Hi, welcome.

They're hoping that soft-toy experts
Amanda and Julie

can help bring him
back to life.

OK, what have you got in there?

Oh, wow.

Hello, you! That's Fred Bear.

Hello, Fred Bear.

Fred Bear! He's lovely.

Tell us a little bit about him.

He's 50 year old, he was bought
for Maria, our eldest daughter,

for her first Christmas, and he was
about the same size as her, I think.

Maria then had two more sisters
and a brother,

hence the very battered look,

because he was carried around
by his ear a lot.

Yeah. Yes, I know, I see that's
gone, you haven't got that.

Oh, dear.

But Maria's...

..emigrated to Australia.

OK, and she didn't take him?

She couldn't take him because
he's full of straw.

So customs won't allow Fred in.

Won't allow Fred in.
He might be contaminated.

To prevent the introduction
of pests and diseases,

Australian Customs has strict rules
about importing plant materials,

which includes Maria's bear Fred
and his wood-fibre stuffing.

Since then, one of her daughters,
Lauren, has had a little boy,

Elijah Jay. Congratulations!

And I would really love him
to belong to Elijah now,

cos he's part of our lives.

Part of the family. It sounds a bit
corny, doesn't it?

No, no, it doesn't. Not at all.
It doesn't. So it's getting him out

there. It's getting him out to
Australia.

OK, so where did you buy Fred, or
where did you get him originally?

We bought him from the Co-op
in Chesterfield,

and I think I paid a ridiculous
amount, like £5,

which was an awful lot of money
in those days.

He is a good quality bear,
he's a German bear.

Oh, is he? Yes, he is, by a company
known as Schuco.

The Schuco company, better known
for making miniatures and things

like that, so it's quite nice to see
one of these bigger bears.

He does growl.

Does he still? Well...

You've got to have the knack.

TEDDY PURRS SOFTLY

He does! She's got the knack!
Clearly I have!

What would you like him to look
like? Like to see him furry.

Furry? Please, yeah.

What I'm concerned about at this
time is we're going to be giving you

a new Fred Bear back -
not Fred Bear.

Perhaps we could just do the tummy,
the body, keep his original head,

legs and arms.
So, he's got a little bit...

We could age down some fabric so
he's got a little bit of fur coming

through, so it's in keeping
with the rest of him.

And what about a new ear?

Is that possible? Absolutely.

We will do that for you.

We know he's a bit of a challenge.

We like a challenge.
We like a challenge.

But he'll be safe here.

And we'll let you know as soon as
he's ready to come and collect.

Lovely. Thank you very much!

I'm really glad that they're
actually not going to make him look

like a really modern bear,

that he's still going to
look like Fred, isn't he?

And that is the main thing.

Can't wait to tell my daughter,
can't wait to show her.

When Fred Bear goes to Australia...

..it's going to be a mixture of
emotions, definitely, because...

..he just reminds me
of the children so much.

Amanda and Julie's mission is to
get Fred fit to pass Australia's

strict custom controls.

We've basically got to get
the stuffing out.

Now, this is wood shavings.

Normal circumstances, we would
always replace like-for-like,

to keep him authentic,
so it's really unusual,

but we are going to replace it,
aren't we, with...

..polyester? Yes.

At the end of the day, Fred Bear
belongs to Hilary,

and she wants to get him to her
grandson,

and we want to do our utmost to make
sure that happens,

so, whatever it takes, really,
to get him there.

Oh, poor Fred!

But it's all for the good.
Absolutely.

There we go.

So I'm going to take the arms off.

His limbs are held on
with a pin and washer,

and Fred's not parting with them
without a struggle.

This is proving more difficult
than I anticipated,

this one is really rusty.

Oh, come on, Fred.

Give me your arm.

Yay! Yay!

There it is, that's what's given me
all that trouble.

I've got another four of those
joints to wrestle with,

and Julie can carry on unstuffing
them and getting them all ready

to be cleaned.

Many items that arrive at the
workshop have been passed down

through generations
of the same family...

..and the next is no exception.

Hi. How are you? I'm Sonnaz.

Sarah Allen from Staffordshire is
hoping furniture restorer Will Kirk

and upholsterer Sonnaz Nooranvary
can rescue her family piano stool.

So, this belongs to you.

It does. What's the story behind it?

Cos it looks very well-used.

It is, it's about 112 years old.

Ah.

It's been in my family since 1905,

you can sort of see the date
on the plaque,

although it's a little bit dirty.

Oh, gosh. It was awarded to my
great-grandfather,

William Henry Tappenden,

who was a mason, and he lived
in Margate in Kent,

and they wanted to build a new
lodge, a new masonic lodge,

so, he became the secretary of -
it does actually say an there -

the Debenture Association.

It was for his esteemed duties that
he carried out really well,

as being the secretary of that,

from the masons, so it was awarded
to him. He was presented with this.

And obviously it's been
in the family

ever since then.
It survived two world wars.

Gosh. Amazing.

And, then, when my grandad died,
it went to my mum,

so, then, they gave it to me, so,
I've had it for at least 20 years.

Wow. Is it used today at home?

Occasionally.

OK. But, unfortunately,
I don't play so...

Are there any budding pianists?

My son does, he'd play the piano,
my sister used to play as well,

so, she's played it. OK, and they
used this stool?

Yes, yeah. Oh, lovely.

It does look as though it has had...

It has! ..a really hard life.
I mean,

have you ever had it reupholstered
or restored before,

or is this exactly
how you have had it?

And this is how you remember it?

Yes. It looks as though there was
some carving...

Yes. Hmm, carving.

This would be Will's department.

Yes, you're missing some carving
there, aren't you? Broken there.

And is that missing underneath there
as well?

So, was this broken when this came
into your...?

I don't remember having the carving
on there.

Would you like to see it...

..in the same fabric again,
as you know it?

I did speak to my mum, she's 84,

and I said to her about changing
the upholstery -

she did say it would be nice to see
it just as it was, really.

Yeah, as it should be.
Yeah, and for me to see the plaque,

cleaned up so you can actually
read what's on it.

That is lovely, isn't it? Yeah.
I think we've got our work cut out.

Yeah. Lovely. Thanks a lot
for coming down.

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

I feel quite responsible for it,
it's been in the family 112 years,

quite emotional to see somebody else
walk away with it,

to leave it here and go home
without it.

My mum's really quite excited
about getting it repaired,

then she'll know as well,

that it will be able to carry on
down the family for however long,

another 112 years.

Lots of work to be done.
Lots of work to be done.

Somehow, I feel like I've got
the most work.

I agree. Do you?

OK, fine! Yes, but I have got no
idea how to take his seat base out.

It looks like it's dropped in,
but it's a bit tight,

so whether there's a hidden screw up
underneath it or not, I don't know.

Shall I take it over to your bench?
Yes, please. OK!

First job - prising out a seat pad
which has lain undisturbed

for several decades.

I think it might be glued in there.

What's this?! This sharp stick
you're waving around!

Sorry, it's my regulator.

Your regulator. I've used it to sort
of pry this up a bit.

OK. If you go that end...

Shall I use it like that?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
and I'll go this end.

WILL SPLUTTERS

Look at that. That is a...

Oh!

Eugh.

Look at that! Wow, look at that!

Those must be the original green
colour there. Hm, yeah.

That is really nice.

So are you going to try
to replace that...

Yeah. ..back to that original green,

as opposed to the bleached-out,
yellowy green?

Yeah, definitely. I'll let you get
on with...

Stripping this back.
Stripping that back. OK.

I'll be careful
not to breathe it in.

Yeah, don't breathe
it in, whatever you do.

Oh!

There's another clean-up operation
over at Amanda and Julie's bench.

Fred Bear is getting a deep clean -
his first bath in 50 years.

As you can see, it's proving quite
effective.

I will continue to do this,

changing the water and adding new
soap until the water runs clear.

That's lovely, that is such a good
feeling,

all those years of dirt, and
I'm sure I haven't finished yet.

I'll fill it up again and see how
much we can get out

with a second wash.

While Julie carries on
with Fred's shampoo,

Amanda sets about restoring
the other careworn parts.

So, here is my lovely piece of
mohair.

We're going to use this piece to
make Fred Bear's tummy.

It's not the right colour,

so we're going to have to age it
down and colour it and make it look

like it's part of Fred Bear.

So, the first part of the process
will be to get some colour into it.

I'm making myself a nice, strong
brew of tea here,

I'm going to put four tea bags
in initially...

..and just let them brew
in this boiling water.

If my tea doesn't get me quite
the right tone,

my next step will be coffee,

because that tends to be a slightly
different tone, slightly darker,

but I think for Fred,
tea is going to be the one.

Mohair is an extremely
expensive fabric.

This stuff comes in at about
£120 a metre,

and I'm just about to plop it
in tea.

Wish me luck.

Mohair is a woven fabric,
but it's woven from goat hair,

it's the fleece of a goat.

It's been popular with teddy bears
right since the very first ones

in 1902.

Traditional bears were always made
out of this mohair fabric.

I lift it up and sort of squeeze.

You can see already we're
getting that really lovely, aged,

sort of golden, faded mohair
look that I'm wanting.

Right, so I'm going to leave that
now to have a soak,

and I'll check it now and then

to make sure I've got the right
depth of colour.

And then we'll take it out
and have a look, see what we've got.

I'm feeling quite pleased with that,
actually,

it's looking really good.

I will check before I go to the next
stage, but, yeah,

I think we got it first time.
Brilliant.

The fur's now the right colour,

but Amanda still has some work to do
to make it match the rest of his

well-loved body.

One of the things that Hilary
specifically wanted was to be

able to stroke and feel some fur,

so we've got to get it spot-on so
that she's got enough fur that she

feels he's got that
nice, soft tummy.

But it's also got to be in keeping
with the rest of him.

The first thing I will do is

shave that bit of his tummy.

RAZOR BUZZES LOUDLY

It's quite nice.

It is quite sad,

to see such a beautiful piece of
mohair being treated like this.

But he needs to look good.

I feel it is quite artistic,
actually,

getting the right balance
and getting it right,

and it's literally doing it by eye,
just looking,

but you can see already I've started
to thin out some areas there.

Chest hair suitably trimmed
and ruffled,

Fred can now be
pieced back together.

We can see that he's starting
to take shape now,

and we can kind of see where we're
going with him, so, yeah,

I'm really pleased
with the progress.

Hm. And have...
You've already done his ears?

Yeah, yeah, I was...

He only had one ear when he came in,

so I split that ear

and used a bit
of the tummy that he no longer needs

to make backs for the ears.

Fantastic, so we've used original
fabric.

Yes, yeah. A bit of a sort of
skin transplant.

Absolutely, moved it from one area
to another! Perfect!

Now the most important job -
to get Fred through customs,

gone is the wood-fibre filling, and
in goes the man-made polyester.

Doing this by hand
is more unusual nowadays,

but the good thing about packing it
in tightly is that it's not going to

move. If we fill him properly,

there's nowhere for that stuffing
to move to.

So it's worth putting that bit of
extra effort in now.

And we'll have all his limbs ready
to go onto his body,

which is quite exciting, cos he'll
start to look like Fred Bear again.

Next to call into the Repair Shop,

Jeremy Harrison from
south-east London,

to meet metalworker and silversmith
Brenton West.

Hello there, I'm Brenton.
I'm Jeremy, nice to meet you.

Hi, Jeremy.
So I believe these are yours.

Jeremy has a pair of very precious
but very damaged statuettes.

Well, they were my parents',

and they were given to them as a
wedding gift when they got married

on 17th August, 1940 so...

So, who gave them to your...?

We don't know, we don't know
who gave them to them,

but my mum was from a very large
Irish family in Bermondsey.

OK. And my dad came from
a middle-class family in Essex,

so we think these are probably from
the Essex side of the family.

But, three weeks later, my parents'
house was completely destroyed

in the Blitz. Oh, no.

And when they went to the rubble,
this is all they could pull out.

Everything was destroyed,
my mum's wedding dress,

so, they lost all their wedding
photographs practically.

So sad, isn't it?

It was just a pile of bricks,
and this sticking out.

So, were your parents in
the air raid shelter at the time?

Yes, yes, but it didn't seem to faze
them, they just said, well, look,

it was what happened in those days.

It is what happened, isn't it?
Yeah. Imagine that now.

So, this is the one link we've got
to 17th August, 1940.

Really, really important.

We didn't know about them,

my parents boxed them up and kept
them in the loft until 1979.

Right. And, then, when we moved,
these materialised.

But she kept them because
she wanted them fixed.

And my dad died in '97,
and Mum died in 2010.

And we never got them fixed for
them, cos we didn't know how.

I mean, they've gone through
the wars - literally - but

there's a snapped piece there.

Oh, someone's had a go at glueing
this, haven't they?

Cos that bit of stone is broken
and then is back on again there.

Oh, right. So someone has stuck that
bit of stone back on.

Probably me dad. And then he
probably lost heart with it all,

didn't he, thought,
"I can't do this!"

"This is too much," he said. "I'll
stick that in a box in the loft."

So, getting these fixed -
what would that mean?

It would mean a very great deal,

it would be like a memorial
to my parents,

cos they went through such a lot
during the w*r.

They're looking down, saying,
"Go on, do it, come on."

"Get it done." They were
very proud of them,

we want to see them
in their true glory.

No pressure on me, then!

Yeah, there is lots of pressure!

Well, they're really nice items,
and I will do my best for you.

I know you will,
I've got every faith.

Thank you! Thank you very much
and good luck.

OK. Bye!

I'm feeling surprisingly anxious,

now the statuettes
have been kept here.

They've not left the house
since 1979,

so I feel like I've lost a talisman,

and I'm hoping that when
they come back,

they'll bring good fortune
to the house.

Seeing them mended would be
absolutely fantastic.

I can't actually imagine it,

because I keep thinking that they
look a bit drunk,

the way they are on the floor, and,
well, let's hope they've sobered up

by the time you bring them back.

I've got Jeremy's statues here,
which were damaged in the Blitz

in 1940, and they've had
a good old bashing.

They're made of spelter,
which is a zinc alloy.

It is an economical casting metal,

similar to bronze,

but it melts at a lower temperature,

and it is very fragile,

and they're certainly not built
to be bombed, I'm afraid.

The metal the statuettes are made
from makes this repair a minefield

for Brenton.

Spelter is very difficult to solder
and easy to damage if you get it

too hot, so, on this occasion,
I know how precious these are,

I'm going to be glueing them
together.

So, the first thing I've got to do
is to repair this part of the base.

There's a crack there, I've got to
put some glue in that,

and then I've got to clamp it closed
so that the glue makes a good

contact and have that piece
repaired first.

I'm mixing epoxy glue,
which is a two-part glue.

So mixing the two parts makes
a chemical reaction

that makes the glue start to set.

I'll put some more glue in there.

Because the more glue, the merrier,
as far as I'm concerned.

Back in the barn,

Sonnaz and Will have divided
the renovation of the 112-year-old

piano stool into the upholstery
and the woodwork.

Jay's checking in on how
the young duo are doing.

What do you need the timber for?

That's a bit loose,
that's a bit loose.

So, you're going to replace them?
Yeah. Going to carve them out

with that? I am. All right. I'm
actually really excited.

If you're going to carve all of
that, it's got to look

very similar to that. Very similar.
So those are the only bits

that need doing on this, then?

They are the main bits.

It just needs, like,
a good old clean.

Yeah, it is quite dirty, isn't it?
A clean and a polish up.

OK. Get carving!

Get carving, thanks, Jay.
All right.

Next, over to Sonnaz,

and a chance for two upholstery
experts to put their heads together.

How are you getting on with that
piano stool? Very well, thank you.

You're here just at the right
moment, actually.

Am I? A few more tacks to take off,

and then we can see, kind of,
what's going on underneath.

It's a bit dusty.
Yeah, it will be dusty.

Can I do the glory run
of tack lifting?

Yeah, this is loads of dust, innit?

I know, it's just years and years -

I don't think it's ever been
reupholstered,

and I think that means that this
is the original velvet.

And look at the difference
in colour.

Ooh, cor.

But that's just the sun doing that,
isn't it? Exactly, yeah. Yeah.

Wow. It's pretty...dusty.

Yeah. Even though there's nothing
wrong with the actual upholstery

itself, it's just nice to replace
this with new,

because it will be holding
a lot of dust.

Not only that - this isn't up to
fire regs, is it?

Because that... That is a very good
point.

This is very flammable, this stuff.
Yeah, it is.

So, yeah, replacing it
with new stuff.

You've got it covered, then.
I've got it covered! See, eh?!

Jay! I'm going to leave you to it,
I'm going to leave you to it.

OK. All right.

So, right now, I am mapping out the
drawing for the replacement carving.

I can actually see down the bottom
here there's a really faint outline

of where the old carving used to be,
and, looking at that,

it seems to be almost a reverse of
the carving that is on the top.

So using that,

I can actually work out what needs
to go where and what the detail's

going to be like because I've got
a great example here.

Now he's got a plan,

Will trims a piece of wood down
to size with the band saw,

before clamping it to the desk,
ready to carve.

It really helps when you've got
a really sharp chisel.

It's almost like cutting with, like,
a hot knife through butter.

If your chisel isn't sharp,

then you see that the wood begins
to splinter off and crack.

On the neighbouring workbench,

Sonnaz is beginning to build
the seat pad.

The first thing is really to get
some black wadding on this base.

I need two layers. I think I'm
going to use that as my...

..biggest bit.

This lays on here.

So, what I'm going to do,
I'm going to pull this edge -

or, in upholstery,
it's called teasing,

I'm going to tease this edge.
That just gives it a really...

..a much softer...

..softer edge, and I can feel
the difference in that already.

I'm constantly having to check
the detail on the piano stool,

just to make sure that what I am
doing is exactly what I need.

It's quite easy to get carried away
with the chisels, because they're so

sharp, it's really easy to take off
more than you actually need.

I don't want to rush it,
cos when you rush it,

that's when you have problems
and breakages.

Next, Sonnaz is ready to cover
the seat pad.

Now, this is really the moment of
truth as to whether I've chosen

the right colour for Sarah,

cos not only did she want it to not
look different in terms of

the padding, she didn't want the
colour to be very different either.

And I'm hoping...

..that this velvet I've chosen
is as close as possible.

I'm pretty happy with that, and I
think it's going to work well.

Good. Really happy with that.

It's actually really nice to see it
in new velvet as well,

cos it's the start of you kind of
giving it this new lease of life.

Snip into this.

So, really, the objective with
corners is to secure it

so that you've got as little bulk
as possible in the way.

I'll pop a staple in there.

Job done.

The rail is going to sit
into that lovely.

So, I have finished all the carving.

I've glued the new pieces back
onto the front of the piano stool,

and I've just filled
and touched in some other cracks

and loose bits of wood.

It's all on there, it's solid,
it's good to go.

I just need to get into
the colour matching now.

So, usually with colour matching,
I do lots of different samples,

make sure I'm confident with
the colour that I'm going on with.

But with this...

..I've got a good feeling that the
colour I'm matching is sort of

a general brown, umber colour,
so that is what I'm using here,

and with quite a thin wash...

..it's beginning to blend in
quite well.

Amanda and Julie are coming to the
end of their makeover of Fred Bear.

He's almost ready for his trip to
meet his family down under.

Happy? Yeah, really happy, you?

I am too, yeah. He's going to last
longer, isn't he?

And he just looks like Fred Bear.

Yeah.

Fred's owners, Hilary and Mike,

are back at the Repair Shop to see
if their beloved bear is finally

ready to fly the nest.

Hello! Hello, welcome back.

Thank you. How are you?

We're fine, how are you?
Lovely to see you.

How are you feeling? Mmm!

A little bit...

Yeah, a little bit nervous,
aren't we, yeah?

Do you want us to put you out of
your misery, then?

Mm, yes, yes, please.
Are you ready? Are you sure?

No, you can't cover your eyes!

No!

Are you ready? We're ready.

Oh, look at him!

Oh!

How did you do that?

Give him a cuddle.

Oh, he's solid.

Isn't he? Oh, he's gorgeous.

He is, isn't it?
Oh, he feels lovely.

I was expecting him to be
a lot softer.

TEDDY PURRS

Oh, still got his flatulence!
I didn't think...

I didn't think I would be

like this when I saw...
Well, look at you!

You've filled up as well!

We're just two softies, aren't we?

Oh, he's lovely. Sorry.

Oh, bless you.
Thank you so, so much.

That's fantastic.
Thank you, thank you.

So much.

Look at him! Oh, look,
all his fur on the back!

We did that specifically because I
know you said you wanted to be able

to feel the fur,

so we aged and sort of distressed
it to make it look realistic.

Yeah, that's right.
It just looks like Fred Bear!

Good. But he's lovely!

That's our job done.

Yeah, if you can say that,
that's what makes us happy,

to hear you say that.

So, tell me, what's the next part of
his journey?

We're seeing Maria
for a big family do...

..and then I'm going to
give her Fred.

He's all yours. So, behave yourself!

Say bye-bye to the ladies.
Bye, Fred!

Thank you, bye! Bye!

OK.

Absolutely amazed.

And delighted, we can't believe it.

I became overwhelmed,
because Fred looked like Fred...

..and it was everything
that I wanted.

I just know how my daughter
will feel,

she will feel exactly the same.

She won't look at Fred and think,

"What's my mother
done to that bear?"

A few weeks later,
Fred was reunited with Maria

and completed his epic journey

to Australia,
where he met his newest owner,

Hilary and Mike's
great-grandson Elijah.

Out in the metal workshop,

Brenton is getting to grips with
a pair of w*r-torn statuettes.

One needs her feet reattached
to the pedestal,

the other has lost her basket.

This lady here has got less damage.

We've got her basket of fruit and
flowers that's become detached.

Just to glue that on there,
it wouldn't be strong enough,

so what I'm going to do is I'm going
to put a couple of wire pegs coming

out of her arms and make
corresponding holes in the basket

so that should sit there by itself
without glue, and then when I put

the glue on, that'll be
an extra sort of strength.

The spelter figurines
were made by Limousin,

a prolific French manufacturer
of Art Deco ornaments.

What we need to do now is make
corresponding holes in those.

The company stopped production in
1940, during the Second World w*r,

around the same time that this
resilient pair were caught up

in the London Blitz.

That goes in that hole now,

and that actually stays
on there with just one pin,

so, when I've got the other pin in,
that will be nice and strong,

and then that little bit
of glue in there

will make it good as new again.

Now the statuettes are prepped,

Brenton is giving them a final clean
before fixing them back together,

and Jay is lending a hand.

So, you've worked with
spelter before?

I have, yeah. How do you know
to identify that as spelter?

When you scratch it,
which I've done behind there,

in a bit you can't see,
it goes silver coloured.

So if I just give that
a bit of a scratch...

Oh, yeah. That's silver coloured.

If that was bronze...
Yeah. ..that would be gold coloured.

Oh...

Yeah, they're nice things, and
they deserve to be repaired nicely,

looked after. So, in here
is just soapy water, yeah?

Just really, really mild detergent.

I don't need any chemicals.

The worry of putting chemicals on,
this has got a patina on it,

and if I get any sort of
violent chemical on,

that is going to fetch that off
and they're going to go silver.

Yeah, don't want that.
And I don't want that.

So we'll be really gentle with them.

It's quite therapeutic out here.

Yeah, it's good. Doing a bit of
cleaning. Yeah, nice and quiet.

Away from the barn.

With the statuettes spick and span,

Brenton users the strong
epoxy adhesive

to secure the broken basket.

So, that is in the right place,

so, I've just got to let that set.

Now the difficult one.

So...

..glue round the foot.

And that's going to be
screwed up through the stone,

up through the base...

..into the feet, and that's
going to hold that in position

while I glue that.

That's actually quite happy
down like that,

so I'm going to leave that like
that, I think, to dry,

and a big sign saying, "Don't
touch", and come back and we can

polish them up.

It's been a team effort
in the Repair Shop today.

Sonnaz and Will have been working
their magic on a century-old

piano stool.

Now they're ready to reunite
their parts of the project.

Finished the top! Lovely.

Look at that! Yeah.

Beautiful! Looks great, doesn't it,
that green against your wood?

Look at your carving!

Oh, please. Incredible!

Well done. It's actually come up
really well,

and look at the brass plaque
as well,

you can actually see all the writing
now. That's incredible.

Can you guess which bits
I've replaced as well?

I really can't, actually, I can't
guess which ones you've replaced.

Have you moved them
around or something?

Have you? No, I haven't.
Well, let's get that on,

cos I need to get this
over to Sarah. Yep, great.

I think it's a great joint effort.

Really lovely.
She's going to love it.

She is going to love it.

When Sarah brought her
great-grandfather's stool to

the Repair Shop, it was looking
all of its 112 years -

threadbare upholstery,

missing carving,
wood and brass lacking lustre.

Really looking forward to picking up
the piano stool,

really looking forward to seeing it.

Obviously, a little bit nervous.

Obviously, in my lifetime, it's only
ever looked how it did, really,

when I dropped it off,

so, really looking forward
to seeing it again and excited.

Hello. Hello. Nice to see you again.

And you, lovely to see you again.

Gosh!

So, here it is. Yes.

As you can see,
it's on four legs so...

Yeah! So, that's a positive sign.

Yeah, it's looking good!

Are you ready? I think so!

OK!

Here we go.

Oh, wow.

Oh!

Oh, gosh! Oh, it's lovely.

Oh, I can't believe it, look!

Golly.

A bit speechless, really,
to be honest.

It looks really lovely,
it's just so shiny.

Thank you so much.

Brilliant job.
Yeah, are you pleased?

Really, really pleased.

Sonnaz has done a great job
with the upholstery.

We've tried to keep the same green
colour that was originally there.

Yeah, it looks really vibrant again,
really full of life, yeah, it does,

it's amazing. Finally, the carving.

Yes. The replacement carving.

Yes, it's all back in place,

cos obviously there was some
actually missing, wasn't there?

Yeah, yeah. Was it, I think, that
piece actually wasn't there at all?

And to get it to exactly
the same pattern is...

Stop it!

My mum will be really pleased
to see it as well,

she was very keen to keep it green.

To me, to get it back like this sort
of feels like I'm starting the next

era with it, and I know that
then it will be in a really good

condition. Yeah.

It was a pleasure to work on,

and it was also quite nice for me to
work with Sonnaz on such a lovely

item as well.
So, thank you very much.

Seeing the piano stool,
it's absolutely beautiful.

It just makes you think of all
the people, really.

It's my great-grandfather's
it was given to originally,

and all the things it's survived,
two world wars,

come all the way through,
always been in the family,

and hopefully giving the piano stool
this new boost will keep it going

for another 100-odd years.

Outside, Brenton has secured
the broken pieces

of the w*r-torn statuettes.

Now he's painting the glued joints
to match the patina of the spelter

before applying
the final finishing touch.

So, I've got a specialist wax polish
which will just brighten them up

a bit and give them
a bit of a shine,

and they just need a tiny,
little bit just to give them

a bit of lustre.

All those years
of being in the loft.

We took lots and lots of dirt off
them when we cleaned them,

they were filthy.

So, this will just protect them,

and that's actually coming up
really nicely,

lovely and shiny on the leg there.

So, I think
that's just about ready,

and it's going to be party time
at Jeremy's.

Carefully wrapped, the statuettes
are sent home to Lewisham,

where Jeremy and his sister Liz
are reminiscing about the original

owners of the Art Deco figurines -
their parents, Kitty and Jack.

Oh, look, there's Mum and Dad on
their 50th wedding anniversary.

That's right.

That's their first dance.

And our dad hated dancing.

Hated dancing. He hated dancing.

But he had to do the first dance.

His face!

It seems like yesterday.

Oh, we were all very close
to our parents.

My mum and dad were the hub.

The statuettes were broken during
an air raid. Even though they were

broken and smashed up,
she still treasured them.

It's a link to the past.

Oh! Oh, they're here! It's arrived.

Let's have a look. Are you excited?
I really am! Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my goodness, look!

Oh... Oh, wow.

It's like Christmas.

Exciting.

Wow.

Aren't they gorgeous?
They're lovely.

That's fantastic, look at that!

It's like two little Oscars.

They have not looked this good
since 1940.

They look fantastic!

It doesn't look as if they've ever
been broken at all.

Everything's fixed. Mum and Dad
would have liked to have seen these.

God, they'd have loved this,
Absolutely loved this.

The repairs on the two statuettes
are unbelievable,

there's no trace of any
repair on them.

It looks like how they would have
looked 80, 90 years ago.

Shall we put them up on
the c*ck cabinet?

Yeah.

Let's...

Right, ladies,

it's the end of your journey.

Oh, look at that.

Now, that looks...
Does that look good? Wicked.

I could sit here and just look at
them, couldn't you?

You just want to stare at them.
They're made for there, aren't they?

They're made for there, they really
are. They are made for there.

I love them.

Having these statues repaired is our
family's tribute to our parents,

and it's a memorial to both of them,
to my mum and my dad.

They're seamless, you wouldn't know
the damage that was on them.

I'm really happy.

I'm happy they're complete again,
cos they look stunning.

I'm looking forward to every day
getting the Pledge out,

giving them a polish every morning

and then just thinking about Mum
and Dad while I'm polishing them.

Join us next time as more family
treasures are rescued...

You're a clever bunny, ain't you?

..and their cherished memories
restored...

Oh, amazing. Oh, I love it.

..in the Repair Shop.