04x06 - Rocking Horse

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to The Repair Shop,

where much-loved
but broken treasures...

This is amazing.
It's absolutely brilliant.

..are brought back to life.

Welcome to my universe.
It's pretty marvellous.

Furniture restorer Jay Blades...

It's so nice that we can be part of
that kind of history

to just keep things going.

..and a dream team of some of

the country's most skilled
craftspeople...

I'm having a lot of fun, and I'm
really liking the end result.

Sounds like teamwork.

..bring their talents to bear on
beloved pieces of family history...

Look at that! I'm liking what I see.
Yes.

This works.

You beauty!

..utilising expertise passed
down the generations...

I'm going to teach you how to do it
the old-fashioned way.

..transforming priceless pieces
of family history.

Oh, my goodness me!

The Repair Shop team will resurrect
the items...

Oh, gosh!

..the memories...

I'm going to have to hug you.

..and the stories behind them.

Look at that!

Thank you so much.

I can't see it because
of the tears in my eyes.

This is a very emotional job to do,
but incredibly worthwhile.

THEY CHEER

In The Repair Shop today,
a game of two halves...

..on the renovation of a piece
of vintage seaside fun.

Compared to what Steve has to do,
I think I might have got

the slightly easier, simpler option
of the two.

And it's a bad hair day
for Amanda and Julie,

as they attempt to transform a
tired, old nag into a thoroughbred.

It just looks like he's got
a bad wig on.

There's an air of magic
in The Repair Shop today,

as Betty and Ian Hill
approach the barn,

bringing a cherished item that
represents an enchanting love story.

How are you doing? Hello.
You all right? Fine, thank you.

I'm Jay. Hi, Jay. I'm Betty.

All, right Betty. I'm Ian.
What have we got here, then?

A little music box.

Oh! Steve. A little baby one.

Hello. Hello.

Steve's our expert on music boxes.
Right.

So, tell us about this.

Well, my father was
a professional magician.

Belonged to the Magic Circle. OK.

When I was very small, he sometimes
included me in his shows.

I'd be sitting in the audience,
and he would say at some point,

"Now, I need a little boy or a
little girl to come up and help me

"with the next trick". Yeah.

And I would go on up,
and I would stand up there,

and he would say to the audience,

"I want you to understand
I don't know this little girl."

And he used to turn to me and say,
"Do I know you, little girl?"

And I would say, "No, Daddy!"

And the audience would of course
erupt with laughter.

Whenever he went out for work,

he always brought my mother
back something.

My mother's name was Rose,
and he came back one day

with this little music box,
which plays...

Well, it used to play eight songs,

and the sixth song is called
The Last Rose Of Summer.

Oh, that's nice.
He absolutely adored my mother,

and they were married
in June 1926. OK.

And my father wanted a movie film
of the wedding,

which, in those days,
was unheard of. Very advanced.

So, we have actually got film
footage of them being married.

No way! Really? Yes.

And, at that time,
as far as they were concerned,

it was the first movie film
of a wedding in this country.

No! Yes.

They were very,
very happily married.

They lived together
very, very closely.

He would never spend
a night away from her.

And they were married for 54 years,

and, to the very end,
they used to sit and hold hands.

So, this music box is a symbol
of their love, then, isn't it?

From my point of view,
it links them together,

but it doesn't work, Steve!

I don't know what you can do
with it. I don't know, either!

So, when was the last time
you heard it playing?

I think I must have been
six or seven,

so I don't know how long
it hasn't worked.

So, help me a bit. Was there
an event or something

that stopped it working,
or did it just...?

No, I'm not aware of anything.

No. I'm not aware of it being
dropped or damaged in any way.

Well, it's interesting
because you look in there,

and there's nothing apparently
wrong, but it just doesn't go.

THEY LAUGH

So it's quite
an interesting project.

I'm looking forward to this one.

What would it mean to you
to have this fully restored?

Well, it would bring my dad back
to me, wouldn't it?

He was the most wonderful,
kind man, very generous.

It would just be good to see Betty
remember all the memories

that come with it.
Well, if you leave this with us,

I'm sure Steve's going to
work his magic.

Yeah, lovely. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thanks, Steve.

Looking forward to it, actually.

I will feel very, very happy if
Steve can get the music box to work.

Even if it's one song to bring
my parents back in my memory,

that would be lovely.

I'm sure he'll do his best,

and, if it can be repaired,
he will repair it.

Now, that is quite cute.
Never seen anything so small.

You could just put it in your
pocket. Yeah, compact.

This is at the top end
of its category.

It's a very nice example.
But it's more of a challenge

with the smaller boxes because
everything is on a smaller scale.

So, no pressure.

Yeah, I do appreciate there's
no pressure there.

It's over to you, then.
Thank you very much. Cool. Yeah.

So, the first thing I've got to do
is remove the mechanism

from the case.

Now, happily, the little screws
that are holding the mechanism

are just here.

Now, you've got to be
quite careful here,

because, if I drop it,

Betty will be very cross.

So, we'll put the case aside.

So, the first thing we've got to do

is remove the comb.

The comb, crucial to producing
the sound, is extremely delicate.

And there you go. It's off.

So, I can relax a little bit.
I can be a bit more chirpy now.

While Stephen wrestles
with his tiny assignment,

a larger item is on its way for
the attention

of dream team Steve and Will.

Despite battling a sore throat,
Christine Dawkins and her husband,

Frank, have brought a piece
of seaside nostalgia

that played a part in their
lifelong love story.

Hello. Pleased to meet you.

I'm Steve. I'm Christine.

I'm Will. Nice to meet you.

And we've got a penny arcade,
obviously. Yes.

So, tell us about it.

I really love Southend,
and the arcade games.

I used to spend my summer holidays
when I was at school

with my cousins, and we were always
walking up the pier,

and on the front,
spending our pennies.

And then one of the family
came across this,

and just knew that this would have
a place in my heart.

And, when Frank was young,
his dad was a guard on the railways,

so he was allowed
to travel for free.

So, he'd be going to Clacton
and places like that.

So, we both love these sort of
machines,

and that's why it was given to us,
in 1976. 1976! Yes.

And was that actually working?

It was working, yes.

But, in 1986, we had
a public house in Cornwall,

and it got flooded.

I'm afraid the machine was
badly damaged,

and, since then, it hasn't worked.

OK. You got the ball bearings?
We have three ball bearings.

Well done!
Let's just stand it up a moment.

There we go.

Right. It has suffered from
the damp, hasn't it?

Was it completely submerged?

No. Just up to about here, I think.

OK. So, let me just turn it around,
have a look at the gubbins.

Right, well, I'm not going to
pretend that I know anything

about this mechanism, because
I've never done anything like it

in my life, but it will all
make sense, and, certainly,

the woodwork will all
make sense to Will.

I mean, it looks pretty bad
on the top.

Well, particularly on the top.

I tell you what - let's lie it down
before it falls down.

Fantastic.

How much will it mean to you
if we can get it going?

It's hard to put that into words,
because it would just mean so much.

Yeah. Our grandchildren are so keen
on electronic games.

We would love to show them
the fun they can have

with a good, old-fashioned
penny arcade machine.

Well, I look forward to trying to
get it working for you.

Good luck because I hope you can.
I think it'll be wonderful.

Thank you very much. Thank you very
much. Nice to meet you. Thanks.

Cheers. Bye-bye. Bye-bye, then.

The penny arcade machine brings back
many happy childhood memories,

and I want to pass those memories
on to my grandchildren,

so I'm really hopeful that they'll
be able to make it new

and shiny again, and if they're
really lucky, make it work as well.

That would be the icing on the cake.

Penny arcade games
were popular seaside attractions

in the 1950s and '60s.

To play the game, you insert
an old penny and yank the handle,

which sends the ball bearings
spinning around the game

and into one of seven holes.

Hitting winning holes can get you
up to a sixpence.

I'm looking forward to
working on it.

I used to play on these when I was
a kid down at the local fair,

and I always wondered
what went on behind.

On saying that, I'm slightly
apprehensive about this job,

having never worked on
anything like this at all.

This has got to be one of
the biggest challenges I've had.

There's absolutely nothing
that moves on here.

It's totally and utterly seized.

If I put a penny in here...

..it just doesn't go anywhere.
If I try pushing another one in...

..and it just isn't rolling.

It's completely bunged up with rust,

so, I'm going to start by
taking it apart bit by bit, and...

..hopefully, I'll get it working.

Hoping for a similar miracle,
Stephen is attempting to resurrect

the clockwork mechanism
on the music box.

Now, this mechanism has been dormant

for 60-odd years,
according to Betty.

So, we've got to try and see
if we can coax it into life.

I'm going to put a little bit of
light oil on a brush

and tease it into some of the moving

parts and the bearings, to see
if I can't dissolve a little bit

of the congealed oil

that is spoiling the magic.

So, I'm just going to apply
a little bit of pressure

with my fingers on the cylinder.

And...

HE CHUCKLES

..there we are, look at that.

The plan now

is to do what I always do.

Take it to pieces.

Check every bearing for wear,
every spring for cracks.

Correct any deficiencies.

Put it back together again,
and hopefully she'll be good

for another 60-odd years.

Crucial to getting this music box
playing sweet music again

is removing the decades of grease,
grime and dust from the components.

One of the occupational hazards
with this job is that you live

in a semi-permanent fug

of soap, metal cleaner,
ammoniated clock cleaner.

There we are. I'm pretty happy
with that.

The next task will get Stephen

one step closer to restoring
the voice of the music box.

We have here the comb, which is
primarily concerned with producing

the music. To get
a good, clean sound,

we have to dampen these teeth
just before they're plucked.

I can see that a good proportion
of the dampers are damaged so

they'll need to be replaced.

You can just see there,

small pieces of spines of
chicken feather

stuck to the tips of the comb
and they're there to give

a good, clean sound, basically.

Any residual vibrations
spoil the music so we're going to

put some new ones on. These days,

you can't go and mug a chicken
and get a feather

and slice it up and put it on.

You have to use
a modern equivalent.

So that's what we'll be doing.

It's not cheating.

It's just out of respect
for wildlife.

This is the part of the restoration

that is going to make
the music box sing.

The quality of the sound
is dictated by the work

we're doing now.

So, if I get it slightly wrong,
Betty's only going to be sort of

marginally happy when she first
hears The Last Rose Of Summer.

So, it's slow, painstaking work.
This part of the procedure...

..is crucial...

..to the success of the restoration.

Once the new plastic dampers
are in place, Stephen must carefully

trim each one to precisely
the right length.

If they're too long,
you tend to get a muted sound,

and if they're too short,
they just don't work.

Hopefully, I've got them
the right length.

Next into the workshop,

hoping childhood memories
can be restored,

are Caroline and Mark from St Ives.

Hello!

They're calling in the cavalry
and hoping that soft-toy experts

Amanda and Julie can restore
a childhood toy

with huge sentimental value.

Right. So, who have we got here?

This is my horse.

It used to be my brother's,
my older brother's.

He had it when he was a baby.

We're not sure where it came from.

It's always been in the family.

I learned to walk with him.

And I think my brother learned
to walk with him before me.

But he had a congenital
heart disease,

so he was very sick as a child.

This was one of his favourite toys.

And then it was my toy.

And I've kept him for years and
years. And when we had our children,

I repaired him and I don't know what
he's stuffed with now.

This is your sewing?
This is my sewing.

This was about 28 years ago.

But you can see, I've stitched down
there, stitched underneath.

This was... The handle was covered
up because it was very rusty.

We didn't want our children
chewing on the rust, basically,

as they do when they're toddlers.

This is just an old plaster,
isn't it? I think so, yes.

You don't want to keep that?
Band-Aid. No, I'd rather not!

He looks like, from these eyes,

I think he's Pedigree. Do you think?
Yeah. Yeah, I think he's made

by a company called Pedigree. Oh, I
see, I thought you meant "pedigree"!

Might be! Could be. He might well
be but these eyes are quite

significant for the company.

You can feel they're in two parts.
Amazing. That ridge on them.

And they're dating in him around
the '50s, late '40s,

early '50s, I would say. Yeah.

No, this...this sort of blaze here,
I think, will carry on down.

So, it comes down to about here.

Yes, it would have been furry
but... Yeah.

..this would have been loved
away. Yeah.

When you and your brother
were younger,

were there ever arguments
over who was going to play with him?

Probably, we argued a lot.

We fought like cats and dogs.

What was your brother's name?
Nathan.

Nathan. OK. He died when he was 24,

after having a heart and lung
transplant... Oh, gosh.

..that went wrong. So, he lasted
a week and then...

..the new heart failed,
so it was all a bit...

He lived every minute to the full.

He did two degrees.

He went on to discover
two fish cancers.

He sounds quite a character.
He was a real character.

Yeah. We all miss him.

No wonder the horse is so special.
Yes. He's very special.

The horse has been through it all.
Yes.

Yeah, I can imagine.

Just about survived.

So this is going to... Yeah.
..bring his memory back closer.

Definitely. Keep him in the family.

Pass him on to our grandchildren.
Oh, that would be lovely.

Thank you for trusting him to us,
and we will do our best.

Will be amazing. It's a pleasure.

OK. See you. Bye. Thank you.
Bye-bye.

Isn't he sweet?

I'm hoping they'll repair him enough
or restore him enough,

so he'll go on for another 50 years
and be used by our grandchildren,

maybe our great-grandchildren.

I think he's in good hands,
safe hands. I trust them, I'm sure

they'll do a fantastic job.

Let's have a look and see actually
what's going on. Caroline's work.

She's always going to pop easily.

Oh. Yeah.

I'm feeling encouraged already.

So, if they want future
grandchildren to be able

to sit on him, before we do
anything, we're going to have to

reinforce all of this, as well,
before we start doing anything,

but definitely
this is the worst bit.

Yeah. He has got some fur. Yeah.

So, I think if we get a nice
matching fabric,

we might have to dye it, and age it
and do all sorts of tricks, but

we can get it to match, and then
really thin it down and pluck it

so that it looks
just slightly worn on the top.

My concern is the frame.

Yeah. I think...

Do you think we'll be able to ask
Dom to have a look at the frame?

I'm sure he'd love to have a look
at it. He's going to look fab.

He is going to look wonderful.
Yeah. Wonderful.

Excited about this one.

Feeling less chipper, The Repair
Shop's mechanical guru Steve...

..is struggling to dismantle
the flood-damaged penny arcade game.

He's going to need Will's
help to separate the case

from the mechanism
so they can both make a start

on their respective halves
of the job.

Hey, can you give me a hand
taking the glass out

and taking this...this
whole thing out? Sure.

No problem. Now, the door
is a bit saggy, so... Right.

Now, if we just slide that glass up.
Slide that up? Yeah.

Yep, yep. Cool. Have you got it?
Yep.

Hold on.

Oh, gosh, that's so thick.

I'll give that to you.

Put that down somewhere safe.

But I need to just take
out this main unit now.

Good.

Lovely.

With the game mechanism removed,

Will can get a closer look
at the water-damaged case.

This is in a bit of a sorry state,
to say the least.

It's rocking all over the place.

And it seems that most of the glue
in the joints have failed.

So, probably knock this apart,
get some fresh glue in there

and then think about tackling
that flaking, water-damaged varnish.

But, compared to what Steve has to
do, I think I might have got

the sort of slightly easier,
simpler option of the two.

Steve's got the trickier task,
as each individual component

of the game needs to be stripped
down and cleaned.

I've laid it out like this, to put
it into different sections.

There's bits of aluminium
that's oxidised. You've got thick,

white oxidisation on it.

It was no wonder that the pennies
weren't even

sort of rolling through it.

The rusty steel I can put
into this de-ruster.

And I've got plenty of components
here that are made of brass

and I'm going to pop them
into the clock-cleaning fluid.

So, now I've got everything

flat-pack, and I've sort of
exposed all the wobbly

joints, just giving it a light clean
out with some sandpaper, to remove

nasty, old bits of glue,

cos the cleaner the surface
of the two pieces of wood,

the better the bond
when you glue them together.

So, I've taken the whole thing
apart.

I've cleaned all the rust
off it, polished it up,

painted some of it,
and now I'm going to

put it back together again.

If I can remember what order
to put it back in.

But, before Steve can reconstruct
the game, there's a key issue

he must address.

So, the hammer is the thing
that actually knocks

the ball bearing around.

And, so, this hammer is just loose
because this hole has just worn out,

and, so, the actual head has been
flopping around. And, at the moment,

it's worn right over to one side.

And I think if I just
patched it up,

it's going to break through again.

So, I'm going to fit a brass bush
in there, because it'd be nice to

actually make a really good,
strong job of it.

A quick delve into the store of
brass bits and bobs

he's squirrelled away over
a lifetime of clock-making,

and the hammer is ready

to be soldered back together.

Hey, Steve. Hey. Cor...

..that looks great.
Lovely? Really good.

Brilliant. Well, that is all.
That's really good timing.

Thank you.
I'll leave that with you. Brill.

Over on the next bench, Stephen
Kember is gearing up for a huge

challenge on the tiny music box -

straightening the pins
on the cylinder

that play the notes on the comb.

I've measured the diameter
of the pins on the cylinder

and they're 1/6000 of an inch.

To put that into perspective,
if we take a sort of a hair here,

one of mine, the diameter of that is
1/2000 of an inch.

So, my hair is a third of
the diameter of one of these pins,

which is pretty small, and there's
probably getting on for 5,000 pins

on this cylinder, and I've got to
sit here and detect the bent ones...

..and straighten them.

It's a bit of a time-consuming
fiddle to do this.

It is important that we get
this right because the cylinder

moves on its longitudinal axis like
that, and it has eight positions,

one for each song, in this case.

If the pins are bent
slightly left or right,

they won't play on the tune
intended,

they'll play on the adjacent tunes
either side,

so we don't want a bit of

The Last Rose Of Summer
playing on...

..the adjacent tune of
The Bluebells Of Scotland.

It tends to sort of degrade
the performance.

I'm just going to slip it into the
case and I think we're well on

course for a very smart rendition
of The Last Rose Of Summer.

My work's done now, and we're going
to send the box off to be cleaned.

I think that Betty's going
to be pleased.

For owner Betty,
this music box represents

the love her parents shared.

She's hoping to hear their song
again and pass on the gift

to someone special.

This is Rosie, our granddaughter.

Named after my mother, Rose,

for whom my father bought
the music box to start with.

And it would be lovely to hear
it again and bring back

all the memories of my childhood.

Hello. Hello, again.

Hello, again. Nice to see you.
Nice to see you.

This is Rosie, our granddaughter.
Hello, Rosie. I'm Steve.

Nice to meet you. Are we all ready?

We're ready. Hope you like it.

I'm sure I will. Oh, so do we.

OK. Oh, my goodness! Oh, wow!

That's lovely. Can I open it?
You can. It's yours.

You carry on.

Oh, it's lovely inside.
Looks new. Yeah, it does.

Yeah. It's lovely.

Does it work? Of course.

MUSIC PLAYS

SHE SNIFFS

It's OK.

The last time I heard that,
my dad was...

You've done a magical job on that.

You really have. It's lovely.
Thank you very much.

He would have been very, very happy
to see it restored

to its former glory.

And my mum would have been
thrilled as well.

That's beautiful.
Thank you so much, Stephen.

It's a pleasure.

What do you think, Rosie?

It's just so tiny and has so much
detail, it's incredible. Yes.

Oh, it's brought back
so many memories.

You've made the magician's music
box magic alive again.

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you very much. Thank you
for letting me work on it.

Oh! Cheerio. Thank you very much.

Pleasure. Bye-bye. Bye. Bye-bye,
Stephen. Thanks.

The last time I heard it play,
it was my dad opened it,

and played it to me when I was
a very small child,

and it was very moving for me.

It's always been nice listening
to the stories that my grandma's

been telling about it, and now
to actually have something that was

in there, than can work,
is just amazing.

Toy repair experts Amanda and Julie
are restoring

a vintage, push-along horse.

They're drafting in metal
expert Dom to clean up

the well-worn frame.

Hello!

Nice to see you both out here.

Thank you, it's nice to be out here!

What have you got?

A horse on wheels.

Called Horse. Original.

Yeah, we need some help with this
metal...metalwork.

Yeah. OK?

The restoration is going to be very
sympathetic on him. On him.

So, yeah, we just want this kind of
smoothed out, polished up a bit.

No problem at all,

cleaning up the metal,
we won't paint anything.

It won't look fully restored
and repainted,

we can keep all of this character.

My main concern is
it's a messy process.

So, before Dom can get to work
on the frame, Amanda and Julie

will need to protect Horse.

You know, I've never cling-wrapped
a horse before. No!

I think Caroline would find this
hysterical... Yeah.

..when she what we're doing
to her poor horse.

Yeah. Perfect.

Say cheerio. Bye-bye.

While Julie takes Horse
trotting back out to Don

for his metalwork makeover,

Amanda begins to work on
a new patch for his back.

At the moment, I'm just preparing
the mohair that I'm going to

age down and dye ready for Horse.

If I don't wash it and get
the dressing and the oil etc

out of it, then the colours
won't take when I start to dye it.

So, I'm just about to start trying
to remove this glue, the tape that's

been around this handle.

I need to be as careful as I can.
I don't want it to scratch

and chip and, like,
attack the paint or damage

that in any way, so I'm just going
to work very carefully with some

very fine steel wool.

Little bit of white spirit
and just gently work it off.

I'm not going to retouch any of
the painting - we're just going

to tidy it up, smooth it all off,

then probably just seal
it all again so it should stop

it from going any rustier.

With Dom's sympathetic
repair complete,

Amanda can now begin dyeing
the mohair patch to blend in

with Horse's existing coat.

I washed this piece and, so,
now it's ready to go into my tea.

I've got here a really good
strong brew of tea.

I find that tea gives
a more yellow tone.

Sometimes we use coffee,
sometimes we use a mixture.

It just depends.

I think it's...with experience,
your eye tells you which way,

which one to use.

And I'm just going to
pop it in there.

Make sure that it's totally
submerged and then...

..yeah, wait for the magic
to happen.

The fur may now be the right shade,

but it's rather too hirsute
for Horse.

If I were to offer this up
to Horse here, you can see

that it just wouldn't
look appropriate.

Yeah, it just looks like
he's got a bad wig on.

That's the way I describe it.

If we were to start to shave
this, sometimes you get a...

..spikiness to it -
it looks like stubble.

By reversing the fabric this way,

we used the suede brush like this,
and if you brush really hard...

..like this...

..you can see that the fur starts
to come through from this side

to this side.
Obviously in a thinner...way.

Also, if I want some really
nice, clumpy bits, I use

a very fine crochet hook -

it's a bit like the old
hairdresser's highlighting cap -

and I just go in...

..like this and pull
pieces through like that.

So, it's very time-consuming
and it's got to be done properly

to get that authentic look.

With the mohair
realistically sparse,

Julie and Amanda now need to age
the fur to mimic the rest

of Horse's near-70-year-old coat.

We do have to build up the layers
very gradually and very slowly -

partly because that's how the
original dirt would have built up

on Horse in the first place.

Whenever I come to your bench,

it always takes me
right back to my childhood.

Fluffy times - this is
the ageing process. Yeah.

How are you getting this colour?
Is that your potion, there?

Yeah, I've got really
good, strong brew in there.

What do you mean, brew?

Is it really tea?! No!

Yeah. It is as well!

So, that's your stain? Yeah. So I
used that, a little bit turmeric...

OK. ..goes in there. Yeah.

And I've been up one of the houses
up there and I've stolen some soot.

As you do. And I've been working
that in as well, to get the sort of

greyness and I'm just sort
of playing with it now

and you can see
that we're getting...

I'm with you. So you're trying to
get these...that colour.

Yeah. Same as something on there.

And obviously you don't want it
to look brand-new.

Then it'd just stand out like
a sore thumb. Yeah.

You see, what I want to say,
just for the record,

it is kind of like child's play,
what you do. But what you do,

the level of craftsmanship
that you do is not child's play.

That, as well. I'm going to
have to nick that idea.

You like that? Tea. Brilliant.

Thanks, Jay!

While Julie finishes ageing
the mohair patch, Amanda gets

the rest of Horse groomed.

I'm going to start off with just
a very gentle vacuum to get rid

of the old dust
and stuff that's in him.

After the quick vacuum,
it's time for a bath.

Using just literally the bubbles,
I'm going to lay them gently

onto the fur like this.

You can actually see, as you're
doing this,

the kind of shine coming back
onto the fur.

So, once I finish this process,

we will make sure
that he's nice and dry

and then we'll be able to start
the really exciting bit of

putting him all back together.

Over on Steve's workbench,
he's been tussling

with a reconstruction of his own -

the flood-damaged penny arcade game.

Oh-h*-h*! Now that is a work of art.

That's all right, isn't it?
A bit more than all right!

Come on! I've got to try
and see whether it works.

I need the glass in there
because every time I try

and flick the ball... Yeah?

..it flies out. OK.

So you're going to put
the glass in it. Yeah.

Can I ask you to support the door?
OK.

You ready?

All right. Yeah, you're down. OK.

All right. That does look good, man.

Returning to The Repair Shop
are penny-arcade devotees

Frank and Christine.

They're hoping their game has been
returned to working order

so they can recapture
a misspent youth.

We're both really looking forward

to getting the penny-arcade
machine back.

It just brings back
such happy childhood memories

that I just can't wait
to see it again.

And me.

And of course Frank.

So we're both really looking
forward to playing it again,

if they've been able to mend it.

I'm just going to keep my fingers
crossed and hope for the best.

Hello. Hello. How are we doing?
Nice to see you.

So, how are you feeling?

I'm really excited to see it.

I can't wait.

I just can't believe
that it can be fixed.

Well, we have to see what Steve and
Will has done.

Because it just looked

like a load of springs and...rusty
bits of metal. It did!

Shall we show them, Steve?
Yeah. Better. Yeah.

Oh!

Oh, doesn't that look smashing?

Oh!

Wow!

That just looks like brand-new.

So, the big test is do you
want to have a go with it?

I would love to have a go.

Oh, right. Are we ready?

Oh, loss?!

Oh, you've got a win.

And you get tuppence
cos you got a win!

So, what memories
does it bring back?

Oh, candyfloss
on the pier at Southend,

and banks and banks
of machines like this

and running up to my dad and saying,
"Can I have a penny?!"

THEY LAUGH

But that is just lovely.

I can't wait to show it
to our grandchildren.

I'm sure they're going to
have hours of fun with it.

Yes, it might get them away
from their tablets and whatever.

Yes. Yes.

Well, thank you for bringing
it in. It's brilliant.

Thank you very much.
He's had loads of fun on it!

Unbelievable.

So we will get it wrapped up for you
and we'll bring it to your car.

That's lovely. Thank you so much.

Thank you. You're welcome.

Thanks a lot. All right.
Keep these pennies for later!

It was just like going back to 1960
and playing on Southend Pier

and having a really nice time
in a very innocent era.

It was just...
Well, just like going back in time.

Vintage toy restoration duo
Amanda and Julie

have been lovingly repairing
a push-along horse

that helped a generation of
toddlers take their first steps.

So, Horse is in the final
stages of his repair now.

I've sewn all these
panels into place

and then it will be the final bits -

we can put on his mane,
and his tail,

and his eyes, and he'll come to life

and start to look really, really
good. Won't end up sticking up

in the air quite like
I've got it at the moment.

I think he's really looking good.

I'm really pleased with him, Amanda.

High-five?

Gotcha!

Caroline had wanted The Repair Shop
to restore this beloved toy

in memory of her brother, Nathan.

And now she, husband, Mark,
and their daughter Chloe

have returned to collect
the little horse.

This horse was my brother's -

my older brother's -
before he was mine.

My brother died so there's lots of
memories connected with Horse.

In fact, my brother
introduced me and Mark.

There's lots of family connections

and it's sort of part
of the family.

We want to keep him going.
It's a nice, visual link to him.

I want him healthy. Good, healthy
Horse. Revamp, new lease of life...

..for the next generation!

Hello. Hello again. Hi.
Welcome back.

There's three of you this time!

This is our daughter Chloe.
Pleased to meet you, Chloe.

Was it a difficult wait?

It's been very strange -
there's been an empty space

in the bedroom where he usually is.

Yeah, I've been a bit nervous.

Chloe, what are
your memories of Horse?

Oh, gosh.

Mainly from old family videos
because I was so young at the time.

I liked to walk with this thing.

So, you remember sort of
pushing him along.

Yeah, I guess I was the last
person to use him, really.

And I guess my kids will be
the next people in line.

So, are you ready to see? No!

Yes!

OK.

Ohh!

Oh, fantastic.

That's brilliant.

That's great. You've still got
all his character. Yeah.

Fantastic.

Fantastic - that
blends in perfectly.

Aww!

If he'd been really furry...
It wouldn't look right.

No. No. That's right.

He's got a tail! He's got a tail!

We didn't think he would have
looked right

with a great, long, flowing tail.
No. No.

Oh, he looks amazing.
Thank you so much. That's great.

He's still got all
the old age. It's great.

That's part of the memory.
Definitely.

You know, each one that's played
with this has created a memory.

Yeah. In some way.

You've kept them all. Yeah.

Well, I just love that he looks as
he always has done, so he's got

the same personality.

What would your brother think?
Oh, he'd think it's great.

Yeah, he'd be really pleased.
Yeah.

He's carrying on.

He didn't leave much behind,

so this is something that will be

passed down and down through
the family and looked after.

Fantastic. Nice to get him back.

He looks really good.
Really, really good.

Two weeks in the health spa's
done him the world of good.

Really pleased.

They've done an amazing job
because he had loads of character,

but looked worse for wear, and
now that character's still there

but he looks healthy.

It's fantastic.

He looks like how I remember him,

which is just perfect.
They've done a great job.

He's just... He's ready for
a whole new family to take him

and all the new children
to give him a go.

Join us next time...

..as favourite treasures...

The craftsmanship
in this is outstanding.

..are given a new lease of life.

It meant so much to us.

..in The Repair Shop.