03x12 - Much Loved Rocking Horse

[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...

THEY GASP
Oh, yes!

..back to life.

Oh, my God!

This place is filthy!

In The Repair Shop today...

When you paint any line, you
basically just hold your breath.

Kirsten immerses herself
in a complex repair.

And breathe!

While Brenton gets his hands
on THE Victorian must-have gadget.

I'm going to have some fun
with this.

Look at that!

These are brilliant.

But first to arrive
at The Repair Shop,

Claire and Graham Rowe from
County Down, in Northern Ireland.

Hello. Hi. How are we doing?
Pleased to meet you.

How's it going? Hi there. Hi.

How do you do? Hi.

So, what have you got for us?
We've got a rocking horse for you.

A rocking horse? Yes.

Yeah, I got it. Got it?

They've brought along
a much-loved family heirloom

for furniture conservator Will Kirk
to cast his expert eye over.

It's working. It's working,
yeah, exactly. It's working.

It's a bit wrecked. It's rocking.
It's rocking!

What's the history behind this one,
then?

The rocking horse itself came
into our family...

My nanny, she remarried -
Grandad Wesley.

It belonged to him,
so it's kind of known

as Grandad Wesley's horse.

Right. He sadly passed away
shortly after, but the rocking horse

has been in our family ever...

..ever since. I played on it
as a kid. Right.

My brother did, my cousins,

and everybody from the street
used to come round, and then

we would all play on it. But
obviously, as the years have went

on and on, it's become a little bit
more sort of battered.

And we've got our own children
who play on it.

There's a lot of flaking,
a lot of peeling off.

That's not... Yeah. ..really great
for children, I would say.

Whenever the kids play on it,
plaster starts to fall off.

So usually after they've played
on it, you have to HOOVER.

It's not much fun holding a hoover.
THEY LAUGH

I quite like it in the state
it's in now.

Yeah? I think it's got a lot of age
to it.

But what would you want us
to do to this?

I just want to be able to keep it
rocking. Oh, I like that!

Keep it rocking, we can do that.
So, Will?

I really like it, and I like

the sort of natural patination
over the years.

Yeah, we can get someone to have

a look at the leather-work
and the flakes.

That's the only thing that
concerns me, because I think it

could be the tip of the iceberg.

There's a chance there might be
more paint that's actually

come away from the surface.

Yeah. But it's a functional piece,
this is. Yeah.

Completely different to some
of the pieces we do work on,

this one is going to get used
by your children.

As much as the kids have got
all-singing, all-dancing toys and

stuff, they still are drawn back...
This is a proper toy. ..to this.

That's what this is. Yeah.

It would be a pleasure to work on.
Oh, brilliant.

And I'm sure that we can get it to
a state where you can still use it

and it still looks lovely.
Brilliant.

Yeah, definitely. Cool.

Something that we don't have
to hoover after. No, no, no.

Not at all. Course not.

Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Bye.

Lovely horse, though.
I know, I do like it.

A lot.

I always wonder how many children
have played on it before it got

into your family. And to be able
to keep it going for more children

to keep playing on it... It'd be
lovely, wouldn't it? It'd be lovely.

I really like this horse,
but I definitely

think before anything, this
leather-work needs to come off,

and I think Suzie
is the right person for that.

Suzie. Yes?

Would you mind having a look
at this horse, please? No.

Suzie Fletcher is a master saddler.

What have we got going on, then?

It's a horse.
Yeah, it's lovely, isn't it? Lovely.

It needs a bit of attention,
doesn't it?

Well, you can see why
I called you over. Yeah.

That doesn't look right.

That doesn't look right. No.

Obviously, the reins and the head
strap, that needs to be replaced

cos the kids are going
to pull on that.

We can re-use the rest
of the saddle, I think.

If you can get the leather-work off,

then it will be easier for me
to tackle the horse.

I can certainly do that. Yeah? Yep.

The first thing I'm going to start
tackling is taking the studs out

that are holding the saddle on.

Hopefully, I'll be able
to re-use them.

But it is interesting, as you start
taking things apart,

what you find underneath.

I can see, actually,

looks like there's a little bit
of damage up in here.

And there is a crack running
all the way along the horse here.

So as I reveal more about the horse,
we'll be able to see how extensive

any damage underneath the saddle is.

Next to arrive is Janice Pinder
with a set of precious keepsakes

from her childhood to show
ceramics conservator Kirsten Ramsay.

Hello. Hi there.

Hi. I'm Kirsten.
Oh, pleased to meet you.

Very carefully take these out.

Oh, gosh, that's beautiful!
These are... That's one.

Gosh, aren't they stunning?

But sadly, not all of them
are in such good shape.

And this is the culprit.

Oh!

So... OK.

Well, firstly, they're
absolutely beautiful, aren't they?

They are, they are real treasures.

I absolutely love them.

The day I was born,
my nana gave these to me.

I was the first grandchild,

and they hung on the wall
above my cot.

Oh, really? Yes.

So is that one of your first
memories, then? Yeah. Oh, wow.

And then in a house move, my mother
took great care to wrap them up in

tea towels, and unfortunately,
as she got out of the car to go in

the house... Oh, no!
..this one dropped on the floor.

And that was 57 years ago,
when it got broken.

Goodness gracious me!

Have you had these ones on display
and just kept this...? Yes.

Yes, you have. I've had the two.

They're on display in the hall.

And this has just gone
in different drawers

over the years. Oh.

I would think this sort of around
the 1890s, something like that.

Oh, right.

They're actually an earthenware.

And, you know, they've been glazed.

So that's what's so lovely
about ceramics.

If they're well looked after

they can endure
and keep that lovely colour.

So it looks to me like someone's had
a go at repairing this.

SHE LAUGHS
Guilty!

It's a shame it's broken
through her face, actually.

I mean, it's... Couldn't be
in a worse place, could it?

Well, it could,
it could be through her eyes.

I always find that quite difficult.
Oh, really?

I know there's bits chipped out
the side here as well. Yeah.

I guess that's where it hit
the ground. Yes, probably.

Tell me about your grandmother,
then.

She didn't have very much at all,
financially.

She lived in a little
two-up, two-down terraced house,

but she used to like nice things.
Right.

And she collected blue glass
where I can remember that

being in the windowsill,
all sparkly and polished.

I mean, I don't know how old
they are.

I don't know whether my nana
bought them second-hand

or she inherited them...

Yeah, I'm sure I can make something
up for you.

If you'd like to leave
them with me... Sure.

..then I will see if I can get that
back together for you.

That would be wonderful. I really
appreciate that, thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

I'm feeling quite excited
at the thought that I might get

to see this plaque back together,
in one piece.

I was really close to my nana.

She would be so pleased to think
that it meant so much to me.

The plaques were made
by Royal Doulton

and are commonly known

as the Blue Children series.

There are 24 different scenes
in the series, which were reproduced

on a wide range of ceramics
up until the 1930s.

Having the opportunity to have
a really good look at Janice's

lovely Doulton plaque,

she's actually had a go
at sticking this together,

and that has left this residue
of glue along the breakages.

So I'm hoping that, actually,
I'm going to be able to pick

this adhesive off.

But hopefully I can

get this cleaned up,

get it stuck together

and hand paint in that
little area there, and

put some of the gilding
back on as well.

So I'm just initially going to see
if I can just

mechanically pick this off

along the edge with a scalpel.

It's not until I remove
all this adhesive

and I offer the two pieces together

that I can really see
the full extent of the damage.

Because this is
an earthenware plaque,

and earthenware is actually
very soft,

I don't want to risk damaging it,
so I'm just going to try a little

bit of acetone
on a cotton-wool swab,

and see if that will just soften
the adhesive for me.

That's coming off really nicely now.

We're going to make a start
on the other side now.

And hopefully
this will come off as easily.

Next to arrive at the workshop,

Ronnie and Rita Fell
from Merseyside,

with a box of childhood memories
for the attention

of antique photography expert
Brenton West.

Hi. Hi there. Hi, how are you?
I'm Brenton.

I'm Ronnie. Hi, Ronnie.
Rita. Hi, Rita.

So, what have you brought for me?

It's a stereoscopic viewer.

Wow, stereoscopic viewer.
That makes me excited. Wow.

I love these.

So this is a Victorian item

that everybody had,
and you had stereo pictures

that you could look at,
and they became three dimensional

when you looked at them.

I mean, I remember as a child
at school on a rainy games day,

the teacher brought one
of these in, and I can remember that

from many years ago, vividly.

And I've had one for a little while
myself.

So it's...
And they're fantastic things.

Have you got any cards for it?
Yeah. There's a few in the box here.

You've got some pictures?
Oh, brilliant.

Well, let's have a look at those.

Oh, wow.

These are brilliant. I love these.

But some of them are a little

bit naughty, aren't they? They are.
Oh, yep. That one there...

The butler... What the butler saw.

That one there's
a little bit naughty.

That chap looks very guilty.
These are brilliant.

Between the 1840s and 1930s,
stereoscopes could be found

in most households.

The scenic pictures,
or stereographs,

provided cheap entertainment

but also covered news events
of the time,

such as parades, disasters
and politics.

I believe Queen Victoria saw one

at the Great Exhibition in 1851,

and she approved of them.

Because she approved of them,
everyone had to have one. Yeah.

So this particular one,
what seems to be the problem?

We've had this a long time
in the family,

and the handle's come off here.

And it was held on, I think,
by a ring,

but that was lost some time ago.

There should be a brass ferrule
on there, I reckon, don't you?

It has been well loved.

So you get these out and the kids
are thrilled by it...

Yes, even in these computer days,

they still, "Wow, it's magic,"
and they look behind...

So how long have you had this?

My father,
who died about 17 years ago,

he had it when he was a child.

This would have been quite old
even then. Yes.

So this would have been probably
his father's before that,

do you think? Yes. Yes, it was.
It was.

Oh, you know it was his
father's, OK. Yeah.

Brings back happy times with
my grandparents and my father.

So this has been broken off it
for...

We're not sure when it happened.

I don't know if when it came
into my ownership,

but... Did you break it, or...?

No, we don't know.
It came out of the box broken.

Honest, it came like that!

THEY LAUGH

Well, leave that with me, and I'll
try and do my best with it, OK?

All right. Excellent.
Thanks very much.

Pleasure to meet you.
OK, I'll be in touch. OK.

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

Oh...

Oh, I'm going to have some fun
with this. Look at that.

I first remember these pictures,
the stereographic pictures,

at Christmas time
when I was about five,

and my grandparents would get

to the stereoscope out.

It was magical because
of all these far-off places.

They sort of came alive
on the stereoscope.

I hadn't seen one before until
I met Ronnie,

and then when he got it out
and showed me,

I've been in the love
with it ever since.

It's such an old family heirloom

that we want to protect it
so it doesn't get lost.

On closer inspection,

there's a fair bit to do to this
stereoscope.

Brass ferrule is missing
off the handle.

It needs the brass ferrule because
it will give it some integrity

and some strength.

A ferrule is a metal band or ring
that reinforces a joint or holds

a component in place.

On the bottom of the slider here...

..someone's put what looks like
a carpet tack in there.

That has split the wood, and it's
not really done the job anyway.

These two things are meant
to be bent down

to make a sort of spring

so that this is tighter on here,

so it doesn't sort of fall
like that.

I've just got to be very careful
of it because it's quite frail

in its old age.

So the first stage for me
is to make the brass ring,

the ferrule, for the handle.

So what I've got is an old piece
of brass

out of an old camera,
so it will be quite appropriate

recycling it and

keeping it in photography
for a little bit longer.

So I've cut my brass.

I'm just going to bend this
into a ring.

Bending this one is a bit
like making a wedding ring,

and...I made my own wedding ring
and my wife's wedding ring.

And it's a really nice skill
to have.

Nearly good enough, I've just
got to make sure those two

are really close together
for soldering.

The handle will be under control
very shortly.

On the other side of the barn,
Suzie has uncovered a problem

with the rocking horse.
Hey, Will, are you busy? No.

Um, I've got the saddle off. Right.

And I'm taking the bridle off.
What I'm finding is,

as I'm removing the leather,

we have a split in the wood
down the horse's head here.

There's extensive damage
around the chest of the horse here,

where it's all peeling away.
Oh, my gosh. I am shocked

by the damage in the front.

Isn't that...? It's enormous,
isn't it?

There's so many cracks,
and it's peeling off.

How... How on earth
are you going to do that?

I have no idea.
I mean, it's a big job.

I didn't realise
that there's so much damage. Yeah.

My feeling is, let's replace
all of the leather.

It's... It's really dry and brittle.

The flaps of the saddle
just disintegrated.

At least then it all matches,
it's all even, and it's

going to last a lot longer
rather than you try to get

something back on that
isn't really good. Yeah.

Sounds great. Thanks, Will.

Whilst Will ponders how
to repair the extensive damage,

Suzie makes a start on the new
leather-work for the horse's tack.

At the moment, I'm cutting out
the skirts for the saddle

from this soft leather,
and then I'm going to line it.

I've started also cutting out
all the strap work here

for the bridle work.

You can make the saddle and
the bridle exact miniature replicas

of the real thing. In this instance,
I'm just replicating

everything that was originally
on there,

just to make sure that it's going

to last for many, many years
for the children

that are going to use it
in the future,

which I think is quite exciting,
really.

Outside, Will is attempting
to dismount the horse

from its rocker...

Ugh! There's always one,
isn't there?

..and take a closer look at the wood
and plaster.

This rocking horse

is in such a sorry state of repair.

I think that the wood has actually
shrunk on the inside,

and in doing so,

it sort of pulled the wood away
from this finish on the surface,

and that's why it's started
to crack.

It just needs a lot of love,
a lot of TLC.

There we go.

It's coming off.

Will's come up with an ambitious
plan to tackle the flaking paint

and plaster.

What I'm going to do is use
some of this pearl glue

that I'm mixing up here.

It's a hot glue.

It's actually quite watery.

And the reason
that I need it like that

is cos I'm going to apply it behind
a lot of that loose paintwork,

and being watery, it can then seep
behind into all the areas

that I couldn't get to just with
a brush, and hopefully stick

what is loose back on
to the surface.

That looks an absolute perfect
consistency.

It's almost like honey -
not too thick and not too watery.

Some of this will flake off
and be lost, but if I can save

the majority of it,
that'd be absolutely perfect.

The traditional wood, plaster
and horsehair heirloom

was manufactured by FH Ayres,

known as the Rolls-Royce
of rocking-horse makers,

and they are highly sought after.

Now I'm really glad that I kept
my rocking horse all of these years.

It's exactly like the one
that we're working on here.

And no doubt it's in
pristine condition.

It's not bad...

I'll be replacing the bridle
and saddle at some point.

LAUGHS: Cos I like working on them.

Must be nice. Such a challenge!

I'm hand-stitching the skirts of
the rocking horse,

and decided to do it double-hand
hand stitching.

And in order to do that,

I need an awl
which is very, very sharp,

and just angle the awl in,
push it in, and you don't look

at the back, you're finding the awl
with your left hand

and the needle, and hook
the left needle through,

grab it with the right needle.

Push that through,
pull the thread back with it.

And pull it up. And you'll notice
as I'm doing it,

I never put the awl down.

You have to be a little bit
ambidextrous for this job.

I'm really looking forward
to this all being completed,

and more so when I can put it
on the rocking horse,

but I have to wait.

I've got to be really patient
till Will has finished

with all that he has to do.

He has a huge amount to do
on that rocking horse.

The glue that I've used
has now dried,

and I can actually feel that...

..the paint feels more stable
on the surface.

And it should be ready
to be filled now.

Cos this needs to be more
hard-wearing,

I'm going to use some wood filler.

It dries quite quickly, so I need
to work with a lot of haste.

I'm trying not to cover too much
of the surrounding area

cos I dearly like to keep
as much of the original paintwork

surrounding the cracks as I can.

That...is definitely starting to
thicken,

so I'm actually going
to leave that now,

wait for that to dry.

Once it's dried, I can then start
sanding it down, making sure it's

flat with the surrounding area,

and hopefully be then ready
for painting.

So that's going well.

It's really nice and smooth.

And...it feels durable enough
that when this is used again,

it should be able to withstand
a lot of...

..children's feet kicking
on the side and things.

Now, the next challenge is
painting that to make it look

like the original horse.

I'm really enjoying working with
this horse because it's not just

my usual woodwork - the plaster work
and shaping that back in,

and now with all the colouring,
it is a challenge,

but a challenge that
I'm actually really enjoying.

Ceramic expert Kirsten
has been entrusted

with a cherished
Royal Doulton plaque.

It has waited patiently
in pieces for 57 years

for some specialist attention.

But it looks like mending it may not
be as straightforward as hoped.

It does go together quite nicely.

But unfortunately, there do
seem to be a few little chips

in the glaze, along the breakages.

Particularly bad across the shoulder
of the young girl. And it's a shame

because it means that I'm actually
going to have to fill those areas

and paint them.

But first things first -

the long-awaited moment
where two become one.

I'm going to have some tape ready.

And this is sort of going to act

as a spare pair of hands, really,
to pull the two sides together.

The adhesive that I use
is air drying

so I have to work
reasonably quickly.

I'm just trying to get a really nice
tight join here,

and I'm balancing

one piece on top of the other,
using gravity to hold these

two pieces together.

If the edges aren't held
perfectly flush,

then the plaque's repair
may not stand the test of time.

I'm actually applying
quite a lot of pressure,

pulling these two breakages
together,

just running my finger
over the join,

just checking all the way along.

Feels absolutely fine.
I'm happy with that.

So I'm just going to leave
that now to cure.

That's it.

With the main fracture firmly fused,

Kirsten can begin the painstaking
task of ensuring any trace

of the fix completely vanishes.

So I'm going to add
some hardener to this filler.

And, um...

It'll work relatively quickly.

And I'm just going to work
that along the breakage.

So this filler is just going to fill
in to any sort of tiny...

..chips, and it gives a really
lovely sort of smooth surface

for me to paint.

I've got these large areas
that are missing here as well.

I'm just going to pop some filler
in there.

Although the little girl depicted
on the plaque may have been reunited

with her body, she is left
with an unsightly scar.

And to rid her of that,

Kirsten is going to have to reach
for her trusty palette.

It's always tricky when you've got
a line going through someone's face

cos it's quite easy to make
the painting look clumsy.

But actually, I think
it's... It's going to be OK.

And it's not just the location
of the break

that's going to be a challenge.

I do find that blue is actually
the most difficult colour

to colour match.

It's just a question of trial
and error, really, with this.

That's just straight ultramarine.

And that is looking fine, actually.

The next stage in Kirsten's
repair vanishing act

is the precarious task of
replicating the gilded trim,

which is tense -

even after decades of experience.

When you paint any line,
you basically just hold your breath

and try and get as smooth a
line as possible.

And breathe!

You basically get one go at that,
really.

You have to get it right
pretty much first time.

But I'm happy with that.

On the neighbouring bench,

Brenton is forging ahead
with a new brass ferrule ring

for the stereoscopic viewer.

I'm mixing up some borax flux.

I just need to paint
a little bit on the joint.

The borax flux stops
the brass oxidating

and it helps the solder to run
when it's hot.

Oh, that's a nice flame.

I have a little tiny bit of solder
in there

that I've put on top of the flux.

As soon as that melts,
then it just fills the gap up.

There it goes. Brilliant.

So the ring now has to be made
round so it will fit on to the...

..on to the wooden handle.

OK, so that's a really,
really tight fit.

And now I know that that fits,

that's ready to be polished now

and...put on the handle. We can put
the handle back on when we're ready.

There was, I think,
millions of them sold.

Because people have looked after
them, quite a few of them survive.

I know it's really important
to Ronnie. It's been in his family

for probably a century now.

Just a precious thing
that's lasted a 140-odd years.

So it's important
that we get this right for him.

But on an antique
with 140-year-old moving parts,

any repair needs to be tackled
with caution.

There's a split here where this
large carpet tack has been banged

in, and it's split the wood.

There you go.

A great big nasty, nasty carpet tack
that someone's put in there.

So I'm going take this brass piece
off.

There you go. That one's...

That's the size of nail
that should be in there.

A little tiny baby nail.

I've got a little bit of glue now.
I'm putting it in the hole there.

That's going to be where
my little screw goes.

And...

Just leave that to dry.

And...that's that done!

Before Brenton can reassemble
the repaired parts

of the stereoscope,

he needs to finish off
the brass ferrule ring.

This has fit on here.

Look at that.
That's absolutely spot on.

That's really good. That's how
it would have been originally.

That'll never split,
that piece of wood now,

with that ferrule on there.

I've got a little bit of glue now.
I'm putting it in the handle.

And just pushing the handle
into place.

And that will stay on there.

Tomorrow that will be
solid as a rock.

That'll be good
for another 140 years.

Job's a good 'un!

Kirsten is lovingly repairing
a Royal Doulton earthenware plaque

that holds so many fond memories
for the owner.

It is part of a series of three,
but since the fateful day

it was smashed 57 years ago,

it's been kept in a drawer.

It'll be really nice to get this
finished so that Janice can actually

display the three plaques
together again,

after...after all these years.

These plaques are really important
to me because I've got such a lot

of lovely memories that my nana gave
to me.

My nana was the most lovely,

kind, caring,

selfless lady.

I just want to...

..put these back together,

as they were as a group of three,

in her memory, really.

Hi, Janice. Hello. Nice to see you.

And you. How are you doing?

So, have I set you a challenge?

A bit, yes. I can't wait to see.

I can't wait to see. All right,
well, I won't keep you in suspense.

Oh, my Lord!
How have you done that?!

Oh, my goodness!

EMOTIONAL: Wow.

Aw...

Are you all right?

I didn't know I'd get
that emotional.

Thank you. That's all right,
you're very welcome.

I don't know how you've done that.

That's amazing.

I can put that up on display now.

Yeah, that's wonderful.
You can, yes!

So, to have hung on to it
for all those years, broken,

it's obviously something
that's very precious.

Yeah, it's wrapped up
in a lot of memories.

WHISPERS: I wish I wasn't crying!

Aw...

Yeah, just... Just so pleased.

Just wasn't expecting
quite that emotional a reaction.

And yet, I don't know why
cos she was very important to me,

so why would I not? Yeah.
That's the thing about these pieces,

you know, we sort of invest
a lot in them, really.

And also, they're a vehicle to sort
of talk about family,

and we continue that family line
so... Yeah. Yeah.

Anything's possible.

Well! We try.

Thank you. Thank you very much.
You're very welcome. It's wonderful.

It's been a great pleasure.

OK. Well, I'm going to pop that
in a box for you,

if that's OK. Yeah, that's lovely.

And I shall take it away
very carefully. OK.

Thank you.

I'm feeling quite emotional,
actually,

because the plaque was broken
57 years ago.

Here it is, all in one piece
and repaired and looking amazing.

Couldn't be happier.

Brenton is putting the finishing
touches to the stereoscopic viewer.

I've straightened this brass spring.

That's ready to screw back on there.

I've got some old screws
out of an old camera.

So it's not too new
and shiny-looking.

See if that's all right.

Yeah, that's a nice action
on there.

I'm going to try
one of Ron's pictures,

see if it works.

Oh, brilliant.

Yeah, that's fantastic.
That's absolutely amazing.

He's going to be made up by that.
The handle works, the slider works.

I think that's...back
to its old glory.

But before it's returned
to its owners, someone else is keen

for a sneaky peek.

How we doing? Yeah, good, mate.

I've been dying to have a go
on this,

but you haven't let me have a go.
Well, it's fixed now.

Yeah. So what we do
is we get one of Ron's pictures,

we hold it by the handle,

we move that backwards and
forwards as you look through it.

And should see... 3D. 3D.

OK.

Wow.

Good, innit? That is unbelievable.

So this is because of the two
pictures that are together...

Yep, and it fools your brain into
thinking it's three dimensional.

Now, that is amazingly.
Good, innit? It is very good. Yeah.

I need one of these in my life.
You need one.

Everyone has to have a stereoscope.

Before Jay can get too attached,

Ronnie and Rita are back to claim
their prized family heirloom.

Hello, Rita. How are we doing?

Fine, thank you.
How are you doing, Ron?

Hi, Ron.

Right, well, I've been at it,
hard at it, working on fixing it.

Good.

Rita, have a look. Oh!

Wow!

Look, all shiny. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, and the handle's back on
again. Yeah, yeah.

Oh.

Oh, it's just like...

..when we used to do it,
when we were children, really.

I want to reach out
and grab the boat.

Yeah, look at that.

You've not used that with the
handle. No, no.

Even the lens is clean.

All right... Oh!

Yeah, it's one of my favourite
photographs, this.

So that takes you back
to your grandparents' house.

Can't remember
if it was ever that shiny.

You can see the detail on there.
It's nice, isn't it? Lovely, yeah.

How do you think your grandfather'd
feel if...

I think he'd be proud, really,
that we'd had it repaired, really.

We'll get it out again.

My boys, you know,

and future generations, now they'll
be able to use it, really. Yeah.

We've made a little picture
for your collection.

Oh, right. An extra picture for you.

Oh, my goodness.
Of The Repair Shop team.

Yes. Oh, that's fantastic.

Wow.

Cor, that's really amazing.
Honestly.

So you've got one more for
your collection. Yeah. Look at that.

It was great getting
the stereoscope back.

It was so bright and repaired,

and that gives us the confidence
to use it now.

We've not been able to do that
for, what, 30, 40 years?

Which is amazing, really.

Thanks for all the hard work.

My grandparents would be
really happy that I've had

this repaired, really.

You know, they saw the joy it
brought to me as a child.

And I've seen the joy that
my children have had with it.

And, you know, hopefully
it'll go on for generations.

Over on the leather-work bench,
Suzie has taken back the reins

on the rocking-horse restoration.

Hello. Hello.
What do you think of the horse?

I'm so impressed
with what you've done.

I have some horsehair.
Oh, beautiful.

I was wondering if you'd like to do
a hair transplant for me.

I'd... Well, not to me...

Actually...

I knew you'd have to start
a new look.

And that will really...

..finish him off beautifully.
Oh, yeah.

But before Suzie can start
on the mane, she needs to refit

the blanket
and the new leather tack.

So it's beginning to come
to life now.

Just need to remove
this old mane here.

There we go.
Just going to ease this off.

And there's the old mane.

We have a channel that

actually goes off to one side.

If I follow that channel,

it's going to encourage the mane
to fall over to the one side.

Beautiful.

It's like stroking
a real horse's mane.

Just stay here the rest of the day
and does this.

So here we have
the final part - putting the...

..the last rosette into him.

When this tired old rocker
arrived with flaking paintwork

and crumbling plaster,

he was ready to be put out
to pasture.

But with a sensitive restoration
and a little grooming,

he is certain to win
Best Turned Out.

Now he's heading back to
County Down, in Northern Ireland,

and owners Claire and Graham.

CLAIRE: The horse, it was wrecked.

Graham: Yeah, it wasn't in a very
good state at all.

It was played with by all the kids
in the street,

all the kids in the family, so...
And you could tell by looking

at it that it was well-cherished
and well-loved.

I'm so excited!

Wow, look at this. This is well
wrapped. Brilliant, brilliant.

Daughters Melissa and Alexandra
are also keen to welcome

back their treasured toy. Let's see!

I'm very excited to see
the rocking horse.

It's very important because
it's been through her family

and everything,
so it's really important to us, too.

I can see a tail!
Oh, my gosh, look at that.

I'm just excited to get on it,
really.

CLAIRE GASPS
Oh, my goodness!

Oh, look! Wow. GIRLS: Ooh!

Wow, look at that! Wow!

Oh, my goodness!

It's all smooth,
and it won't break!

Oh, that is absolutely awesome.

Oh, that is just class.

I would never have imagined it
to have hair that long.

I know, I love it.

I didn't think it would be...

..that good.

It's, like, really, really nice.
I really like it.

Go for it.

There you go. Hold on to this.

It's absolutely brilliant.

It's exceeded everything that
I thought it was going to be.

We just can't quite believe it's
the same horse that went away.

Yee-haw!

It looks absolutely awesome.

I am thrilled.

I can't wait to show it off.

It sounds quite sad,
but I really can't wait.

Very, very, very proud of it.

Brilliant.

Join us next time as more
precious pieces are rescued...

Oh, blimey!

..and their cherished memories
restored in The Repair Shop.

Oh, wow! Oh, gosh!