04x07 - Penny-Farthing Bicycle

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to the Repair Shop, where
much-loved but broken treasures...

This is amazing.
It is 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.

Is this working? 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! Oh, thank you so much.

I can't see it, because there's
tears in my eyes!

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

Hey!
LAUGHTER

In the Repair Shop today, the
experts are firing on all
cylinders...

1,000!

..as a 1930s pinball machine is
brought ricocheting back to life.

My life is fulfilled!
I can die in peace now.

HE CHORTLES

While storm clouds gather for
Steve

as he attempts to revive a
century-old weather gauge.

How this clock was ever going,
I don't know.

It's absolutely full of black
grease.

But today's first visitor
is Julie Yates from Leicestershire.

She's had an important piece
of family history delivered

for the attention of Will Kirk.

Hi, there. Hello.

I'm Will. Pleased to meet you.
I'm Julie.

Nice to meet you, Julie. Hi.

I presume this is yours. This is
mine. Lovely little horse.

So what are your earliest
memories of the horse?

My parents bought it for me from a
store in Exeter when I was two.

They must have fallen in love with
it.

Apparently, it was in the window.
Hadn't used to look like this.

It was dapple grey. Yeah.

I played on it an awful lot.

I used to have my friends
round to play.

We played on it very, very hard,
and it fell over a few times.

Just lovely. A lovely item to have.

When I left home, the rocking horse
came with my husband Paul and
myself.

Children came along - two boys.

They remember it, and obviously,
it was pretty old by then.

It was looking tired,

and Paul and myself decided to
restore it in the late '80s. OK.

And we didn't do a very good job.
We did what was easy for us.

We didn't do a very good job on the
eyes and the second son has never
it.

He's just found it scary. Scary!
I can see the eyes.

Because of the eyes, and he's
been stored in the loft for a while.

Once their children had left home
and started to have families

of their own,

Julie and Paul made plans
to renovate the rocking horse

for the next generation.

But before they could begin,

the family received
some shocking news.

Up until last year, we didn't even
know that Paul was ill

and on Boxing Day just gone,

we found out that he'd got
terminal cancer.

So we knew he wouldn't be able
to restore it, which he was hoping

to do for the grandchildren
that are on their way.

And then within, well, up...three,
three or four months,

he'd passed away.

You know what they say - people
looking down - he'll be happy to
know it's here.

It's really nice that you have, um,

that you both restored
this together. Mhm.

Obviously, the sentimental value
of this and the memories

of doing that -

what would you like me to do
with the horse, restoration-wise?

I'm happy for you to do
it however you can.

I'd love it to be how it was,
but it doesn't matter.

What about things like the colour?

We chose the colour because it was
easy. Because it's easy.

It was dappled. It was, um, you
know, got dappling here.

Yeah. I remember the stirrups
were red. That's right.

But we did a decent job with the
saddle - or we thought we did,

and underneath there, Paul's
signed his name and dated it.

So he did say if ever one
of the boys restore it, you know,

they'll find his name under there.

So if you do find Paul's name
under there, if the pen has
stayed... Yeah.

..if that could be left on.
Of course.

Just testing my memory, but I think
his name's going to be under there.

Lovely. All right.
Brilliant. Thank you.

It's in safe hands... Good.

..and it'll be a real pleasure to
work on.

Thanks for coming down. Thank you.
Thank you very much.

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

I'm happy that the rocking
horse is at the Repair Shop.

I'm hoping that Will can
make it look attractive,

because at the moment, it doesn't.

I'm hoping that the little grandkids
are going to love it as much

as I did when I was little.

I know he's in good hands and I know
he's going to look a lot better

than when Paul and I restored him

A long long time ago.

So I'm just having a look at Julie's
horse.

It needs a lot of work.

I mean, looking at the paperwork,
it's all peeling off.

The plaster work underneath is
peeling off.

The wood on the inside might be
separating from each other.

I just won't know until I kind
of get the mane off,

get this leather off, so I can get a
better look, basically.

Handily, the Repair Shop is host
to one of the country's

finest saddlery experts, Suzie
Fletcher, who has a lifelong passion

for everything equestrian.

Hey, hey. Oh, my word. What have you
got there?

Oh, this is a heavy, heavy horse.

OK. It would be really nice
if you could assess the
leather-work

and see if something needs
to be replaced.

The saddle - there's a chance that
it could have Julie's husband's name
written underneath on the wood.

They had repainted this back
in the '80s.

OK. So that would be lovely.

If I'm going to be taking it all off
to find the signature, underneath...

Yeah. ..how about if I made a saddle
that could be removed,

so the family can always look at...

That is amazing an amazing idea.

You know where I'm going with this
idea? Are you able to do that?

Yeah. Of course you are. Yes!

You're very clever. Yes!
I'll leave him with you.

OK. OK, brilliant. Thank you.
Thank you, Will.

Will and Suzie begin work
on the rocking horse.

But outside, another visitor is
seeking counsel on a childhood
favourite -

Esther Souter from Sussex.

Hello. Hello. How are you doing? I'm
fine. All right, Esther? I'm Jay.

Hello, Esther. I'm Geoff.

Geoff Harvey is the Pinball Wizard
tasked with getting this vintage

amusement back into winning
condition.

So this lovely game is yours, yeah?

Yes. My grandfather bought
it in - I guess - the late '30s,

because rumour has it it came
off one of the Brighton piers.

Whether he went to an auction house

or whether he went to the pier
and bought it, I just don't know.

Interestingly, I've never seen
this actual model before.

OK. Most, I've come across.

There's a sort of standard layout

a lot of these bagatelle-type
machines used, and this is one

of them. It's bigger than usual.
Most of the machines of the '30s are

a little bit smaller.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it's called a pinball,
obviously, because of these pins.
Pins, yeah.

They're actually in quite good nick,
aren't they? They are remarkably.

Normally, they're very rusty and
very thin.

Good quality nails, you see. We had
a good steel industry then!

So what is your earliest
memories of this game?

I think it's in the attic
of the 1920s bungalow

my grandparents had in Brighton.

There was a massive
billiard table,

and this, and other sort of
debris that one has in an attic. OK.

And then I must've got it from my
family about 35 years ago,

and the children played with it,
so it's had a lot of love.

So when was the last time
this was played, then?

I think probably in my back garden
in Horsham, 20-25 years ago.

Sadly, the glass top got broken...
Yeah. Right.

..and all the ba*ls are inside.

Six old pennies, and if you lift
it up, you will see inside,

there's some pencil markings.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

And I'm not quite sure
whether they're showing the number

of scores or what.

I think that might be the wages
of sin there...

THEY LAUGH

..in terms of how many pennies...
Oh, dear! Don't...! Oh, dear!

But it was...but it was really,

people were paying for fun
and amusement.

Looks very nicely made.

I mean, it's simple but very
sturdily constructed, which is
lovely.

But this is a lovely little thing.

I mean, I will need to see
how it works and what doesn't work.

I think it probably got a bit rusty
in the garage and also as I said,

it did have a plate glass top
which somehow got broken.

Then I was frightened to let
the children use it, in case

they...you know, cut themselves.
Of course.

But they're very excited.

But the play field, apart
from a little bit of damage there,

which may be when the glass
got broken... Yes, indeed.

..it's in amazing condition
for its age.

The ba*ls should be lined up along
there. OK. And then you would pull

the handle, and one at a time,
they'll ping round,

and if you're lucky, you get free.
You get another go. Yeah.

So if we're able to get this fully
restored, where would it go?

At the top of my house, I've got a
cross between my childhood

and a museum for my grandchildren
with dolls' houses and things,

so it will go in there.

So just like your grandfather,
you're creating a games room

for your grandchildren. Yes.

Yes, I suppose I am.

But a lovely little thing, and
I'm optimistic in a cautious manner.

Thank you very much. That's lovely.

That's smashing. Thank you for
bringing it in. Thank you. Thank
you.

I'm really looking forward
to getting the pinball machine back.

It'll be lovely to see it working
again after 25 or 30 years,

and especially to see my
grandchildren, who haven't

seen it operational -

they can see the pinball
restored and working.

So when it's finished and hopefully
mended, we shall have a family

gathering and get some pennies
and play with it.

Now this is great. It's been in
Esther's family for so long, and she
wants to keep it that way.

Absolutely. It's more fun working on
something when you know the history
as well.

It gives you sort of a motive,
actually.

Yeah. No, it's gorgeous.
Very lovely.

Looks in remarkable nick for its
age. It does, doesn't it? A bit
battered. Yeah.

Hopefully, we can get it running.

If it's all there, it'll be cleaning
up parts, getting seized parts
working.

Shame it's been in the damp at some
point, or in the shed.

But the woodwork's not too bad.

The playing field's good, I think.

I think we're in with a sporting
chance. Well, that's good.

All right. Well, let's get it to
your bench. Lovely. Let's have a
look. OK.

Firstly, I want to see what actually
happens when you put a penny in -

which I haven't tried - if anything.

That goes there.

Yeah, and that...brilliant.

So that does work.

But the ball release mechanism
is another story.

This is what the problem
is at the moment.

That's very, very stiff.

When it works, it'll let the ba*ls
drop through.

But I think a bit of a grease,
a bit of an oil, and I think

then we can look at this mechanism.

It's all very, very exciting - well,
to someone like me, it is, anyway!

Across the workshop, Suzie
is preparing to remove the saddle

of the rocking horse, in the hope
that the poignant

signature lies beneath.

Julie is fairly confident...

..that Paul did sign under
the saddle,

when they renovated back
in the '80s.

I really, really hope it's here.

I'm just going to take
the leather off first.

So...

Ah!

SHE SNIFFS

I, too, lost my husband to cancer.

It seems so insignificant,

someone's name -

that they wrote.

SHE SNIFFS

It's so personal.

I'm really pleased for Julie
that it's here.

Really pleased for the children.

SHE SNIFFS

SHE SNIFFS

That's it.

Oh, I didn't think that would
happen.

SHE SNIFFS
Oh!

So this is going to be...

..a very emotional job to do.

But incredibly worthwhile.

I'm going to get on with this now.

BIRDSONG

In the outdoor workshop, Will
has begun the enormous task

of restoring the horse's woodwork.

So what I'm doing now is
I'm using a two-part filler

to fill in the large areas of
missing plaster.

Filling and sanding stabilises
the horse's structure,

while giving a smooth surface,
ready for the next stage.

I'm just brushing
on some white primer now,

sort of, work as a nice white clean
background to work on.

It will get rid of any sort of
imperfections that are sort of left
behind on the surface.

Once that's dry, then I can start
working on the detail.

BIRDSONG

Inside, Suzie's working
on some detail of her own.

So what are we up to?

Saddle, and I thought I would
make it a little bit blingy.

OK. I do like the sound of that!

So what I decided to do was to do
a little bit of gold foil embossing
on the flap.

This is the flap of the saddle. All
right. How do you put that on there?

So you have these sheets of
gold foil, and this is the tool

that you use for the job. Oh, is it?

Suzie needs to heat the tool
to just the right temperature,

so when pressure is applied,

the gold foil will transfer onto the
leather.

Ooh! There we go.

See? Now that is nice!

And this won't rub
off or nothing, no? No, no.

If you've got the temperature right,

then you actually push it
in the leather a little bit.

That's so satisfying.

The Repair Shop welcomes
all manner of historical items

for specialist attention,

and today sees another example.

Meteorology and climate student
Ollie Millin

has brought a scientific curio for
mechanical whiz Steve Fletcher.

Hello. Hi. I'm Steve.

Hi. I'm Ollie. Nice to meet you.

Hi. Pop your box on there.

What have we got?

It's Richard Freres barograph.
Oh, right.

The barograph is a Victorian
instrument that predicts the weather

by measuring the air pressure
in the atmosphere -

a barometer that draws a graph.

My uncle gave it to me
and he received it from an elderly

lady whose late husband was really
interested in meteorology.

And of course, she thought that he
would give it to me,

because she wanted it to go to
someone who was really interested

in it as well, and obviously, I
study it,

and my grandad's really interested
in it as well.

Have you always been interested
in weather?

Yeah, from quite a young age.

It's extreme events and all
that sort of thing, so snow -

heavy snowfall, and from very small,
I've always loved thunderstorms

and things like that. People think
I'm crazy but I love it. Yeah!

So this this rotates once a week,

and the atmospheric pressure
actually alters the pressure inside

and that moves this arm here,

which has the nib on the end and
that just goes up and down.

They are really good fun, and you're
right -

when you get the extremes happen,
like the storm of '87? Yes.

I had one in my workshop
at that time, and it drew a line

straight down the graph.

Yeah. Yeah.
It was an amazing event.

Yeah. Huge drops.

So it's good to record those events.

Yeah, yeah - absolutely.
It's a really nice quality piece.

And what would you like me
to do with it,

apart from get it going?

Would you like it all cleaned up?

Yeah, that would be great.
Yeah, fantastic.

That would be brilliant, because I
know it has some marks in it

in some places, and maybe some of
the woodwork's bashed.

OK. I think that that's a job for
Will to do.

I'll do the mechanics. Yeah.

And he can do the woodwork,
I think.

OK. I look forward to getting
this all sparkling, and working

well for you, so that you can keep
it in the future,

and enjoy watching the weather.

That'll be brilliant.
Thank you very much.

Right, thank you very much. Thank
you. Thanks. Bye-bye. Bye-bye now.

Well, the barograph is quite
a treasured possession,

and quite a special item.

It'd be really, really fantastic
to see it, see it all working again.

This is a real neat little
barograph, actually -

a well-made piece and round about
120 years old.

It's probably never been apart
in its life.

Maybe the clock mechanism has, but I
don't think the rest

of it's been apart.

It's lovely that the original
ink bottle is still there.

The barograph may not tell the time,
but the paper-covered barrel

is turned by a clockwork mechanism.

The movement should just pop out
nicely.

There we are.

It's absolutely filthy dirty
in there, and obviously needs

a thorough good clean.

It's going to be a lovely
piece again.

Ollie should be very, very proud
of having this.

nice thing for someone that actually
works with the weather to own.

On the opposite workbench, Geoff
is on his own mechanical mystery
tour,

trying to pinpoint where the 1930s
pinball machine is going wrong.

What I'm hoping to do is get
this piece off,

which has the mechanism
that drops the ba*ls to start

the game, which is jammed.

Fingers crossed.

Hey! Look at that.

Here we go.

Underneath is this metal plate
that allows the ba*ls to drop

through, but at the moment,
this is very, very stiff indeed.

That's much better.

Just by loosening these screws,
the thing moves now.

I think the wood had probably warped
a little bit.

This machine is actually not
in bad condition, but I think

the problem is that it's been put
in the damp at some point.

And the moment you get damp, you get
problems.

Done a little bit of research and I
found out about this machine,

cos I've never heard of Spry-Ball
before

and I found that this actual one was
made in Coventry, of all places,

and it was actually based
on an American machine

called Rainbow, and I can just
see this on a nice

lovely Victorian pier somewhere.

'30s, you know - people really
liked their bit of entertainment,

and the seaside was such a massive
part of that. People's idea

of entertainment was so different
from ours, and there's something

charming about that.

I have to admit, it's lovely.

It's got a lovely history, this
little fellow.

I'm going to see if I can get
these screws out,

and give it a clean.

Well, I have to admit, if I look as
good as this when I'm in my 80s,

I'll be delighted!

Little bit corroded, but only
a tiny bit.

Lovely.

With the mechanism cleaned and
fitted back into the machine,

the game needs to be tested.

1,000! Oh, my God!

My life is fulfilled!
I can die in peace now.

The next step is to restore
the paintwork,

and that requires a steady
hand and an artistic eye.

For fine brush strokes, it's a job
for ceramics conservator Kirsten.

Do you think you could do anything
about these little bits here?

Just touch it up, just so
it doesn't show.

Yeah, I'm happy to give it a go.
Thank you very much indeed.
Brilliant. Cheers.

This is a bit of a new one for me.

I've never worked on a pinball
machine.

Oh, yeah. Nice paint.

It does make quite a nice change
to paint with something that's...

..it's got a bit of thickness to
it, actually.

It's probably about 40 years
since I used model-making paint.

I remember making planes and things
when I was really young.

In fact, that's probably
where I started enjoying painting

and making things, like the little
kits that you used to get,

and actually, I wasn't really
that bothered about making them.

But I used to love painting
them at the end.

BIRDSONG

With the paintwork refreshed,
it's time to replace the glass.

Esther has got grandchildren,

and they'll want to play, so
rather than the standard glass

that was in it, I'm going to put
a laminate glass,

so if and when it breaks,
it all holds together,

so you don't get bits of glass,

which will be safer
for the kids as well.

Well, every time I'm about to put
the glass in,

I find yet another bit of dust or
something that's just dropped off.

I want to get it absolutely
spotless,

because it is very hard, once
it's in, to get it out again.

Let's have a look.
Now does that look...?

Oops! Not going to get in.

Oh! That's it. Phew!

HE LAUGHS

Someone said to me, "I know a guy
who's got loads of pinball machines
he's trying to get rid of."

So I ended up with about ten or so,

and my parents came home and they
said,

"Geoffrey, you can have
as many as you like, dear,

"but they have to be in your room."
So I had to get rid of all

the furniture and I slept
under pinball machines

in a sleeping bag for the rest
of my life, basically!

Lovely!

Going to give it a little bit more
of a clean up, but it is as it is.

I mean, this machine has a history,

and is mildly but charmingly
battered.

Will and Suzie have been working
together on the restoration

of a much-loved rocking horse,

and Will's side of the
transformation is in the final
furlong.

I'm now using some shellac polish
to seal the paint right in.

It's also giving it a lovely sort
of antique glow, not just, er,

for protection.

Once the shellac is dry,
it's over to Suzie to saddle him up.

Hello.

Oh, my word! Will!
That's how it goes.

Look at him!

Isn't he fantastic?
Isn't he handsome?

Thank you very much for your help.
All right, Will. Thank you.

It's been a labour of love to bring
Julie's childhood rocking horse back
to life -

just as she and her late husband
Paul had intended.

Really nervous today.

Can't wait to see the rocking
horse unveiled.

It's going to mean so much
to have it restored,

and working again, um, because it
was something that Paul

and I longed to do.

We'd only talked about doing
it the last couple of years,

not knowing what was around the
corner for Paul, obviously,

and it's just going to complete
what Paul would have done,

but I am really, really nervous -

no idea how it's going to look.

Hi, Julie. Hello. Hi.

Julie, this is Suzie.

Lovely to meet you. Hi, there.

And you.
How are you? Nice to see you again.

I cannot wait to see
this rocking horse.

I'm really nervous.
I didn't think I would be.

I am so, so excited. OK.

Are you ready? Right, let's do it.
OK. One, two, three.

Oh, gosh!
SHE GASPS

Oh, my goodness me!

I...

That's mine! It's yours. Oh!

Oh! I don't get emotional -
so I won't!

Ahem!

Oh, my word!

Oh, you've worked so hard! Ooh!

SHE LAUGHS

Oh, if my husband was here,
he'd shake your hands.

Thank you. Thank you.

Beautiful. I'm...

Ah! I'm shaking.

Well, there is something I'd like to
show you, if you come around here.

The saddle comes off.

Oh!

I don't know whether I can look.

All right, luvvie.

Oh, bless him!

SHE SNIFFS

THEY LAUGH

SHE SNIFFS

Oh, yeah. He'd be so proud.

So I'm so proud, he'd be
proud of what you've done.

I am just bowled over by it.

Absolutely fantastic.

Thank you very much indeed.
Thank you.

I can't tell you how pleased I am
to see that rocking horse.

It's just wonderful.

I just...I wish Paul
could be here to see it.

But it's...it's...it's brought
the story to a close.

It's...you know, full circle.

It's back to how Paul and I would
have wanted it.

Clockwork expert
Steve is deconstructing

the Victorian barograph.

He needs to clean the entire
mechanism.

Whenever I take something
apart like this,

that's probably never been apart,

It's quite nice knowing
that the last person to do anything

to it was to put it together
all that time ago.

While picking his way
through the components,

Steve thinks he's found
what could be the issue

with the faulty clockwork.

Right, so this is not pulling out
straight away,

which means probably the pivot
is pretty worn.

So you see how black that pivot
is?

If I take that dirt off,

you can see that the pivot is
actually

badly, badly worn.

So I'm going to have to turn
that down,

and put a new bearing in.

How this clock was ever going,
I don't know.

It's absolutely full of black
grease.

I think someone's been pouring
oil onto it as well,

to try and get it going.

Right. Well, I've just got to give
it a thorough good clean through now

and repair that pivot,

and I think it's going to be
absolutely fine.

This should just lift down now.

Good. Well done.

I'm just going to put all the bits
and pieces in the cleaning fluid.

With his hands full with
the mechanism, Steve needs help

if he's going to weather this storm,

and having delivered the rocking
horse safely back to its owner,

Will is just the man for the job.

Got a little job for you to do here.

This is a barograph case, and
basically,

I'd like you to refinish
the box. So a bit of TLC?

Yeah. It's an easy job for you.

Yeah. OK. Leave it with me and I'll
give it a bit of a clean and a
polish.

OK, brill. Cool. Thank you. Cheers.

Now the pieces of the barograph
mechanism have had time to soak

in clock-cleaning fluid,

after a quick scrub with some wire
wool, they're as good as new.

That's made a difference.
That's come up really well.

From afar, it actually looks like
it's in pretty good condition, but

if you sort of open it up here,

you can see it's starting to sort
of give way and pop out.

So before I clean it, I'd quite like
to get that stabilised.

What I've done is I've mixed some
glue in with some pigment,

similar sort of background, kind
of, to the box.

That will sort of help fill it out
and blend it in,

so it's not so obvious.

Then I need some masking tape.

Almost as a clamp,

to sort of really bring those sides
in...

..whilst the glue's drying, because
it's going to give you

the tension you need,
with less risk of damage.

Right. So now that that's dried, I'm
just, like, giving it a clean-over

with this rag.

What I'm using is just a cleaning
solution, which is sort of made

of white spirits and methylated
spirits,

and it's not too, too strong.

When cleaning furniture, if the rag
that you clean it with looks grey
and black,

that means that you're removing the
dirt, but if starts looking brown,

that shows that I'm probably
at the level where the varnish

and the polish is, so I really need
to stop cleaning that area now,

and keep working my
way around the box.

The main reason why it was stopping
was one of the pivots

is very, very worn.

Right, just pop into the lathe.

The pivots are the little posts
that hold the wheels in place

as they rotate.

If they are damaged, the wheels
won't line up properly

and power the mechanism,

so Steve is going to reshape
the tiny pivot.

Now because I've taken some
metal off of that pivot,

if I were to push it into the
hole that it's supposed to go into,

it's just loose. It rattles around
in there

and could well stop the clock.

So what I need to do is find
the right size bush for it.

So this is a ready-made bush.

Tiny piece of brass with a hole
already drilled in it.

I've got to drill out the plates,
so that this will push in friction

tight - really, really tight, and
make sure it's the right size

for that pivot.

So I'm going to put the bush in now
that's sitting over the hole now

and I'm just going to press in.

And that's it.

I'm just going to make sure
that it actually spins nice

and freely in the plates.

So that's spinning beautifully now.

So the clock's all ready to give it
its final clean-up,

and I'll put it together
and it will work.

Geoff is also on a winning streak,

with his repair
of the 1930s pinball machine.

He's just got some
last minute adjustments.

It's trying to get the ba*ls
to run smoothly.

They sometimes stick halfway.

What I'm going to do with my
spanner...

I just loosen it a tiny bit.

There's a little movement, tiny bit.

So let's have a look. Put that back
in. That rests in there.

And that's great.

Bob's your uncle. Let's see if it
works now.

So far, so good.

Come on, come on.

Oh, no! Don't believe it.

Oh, just missed 1,000!

Geoff is hard at work testing
the pinball machine,

but sadly for him,

owner Esther and family are on their
way back into the repair shop

to collect it. The pinball machine
belonged to my grandfather,

and I think if it's restored
and working,

he will be smiling to think
something he bought before the w*r

is going to be played with by
his great-great-grandchildren.

If it's working! Fingers crossed.

Hello, Esther. I see you've
brought a g*ng with you,

which is very exciting.

Very nice to meet you all.

So, do you remember
this machine was like before?

Pins stuck in it. Pins stuck
in it, yeah, that's it.

Old. Old, yes,
old with pins stuck in it.

Rusty. And rusty! Excellent.

Do you remember it at all?

Had no glass.

Had no glass. Excellent.

Well, shall we have a little look?

There we go.

Wow.

Whoa! Isn't that lovely?

The colours are so much better.

Oh, it's smashing, yes,
and it's got its glass back

which is good. Has it taken a lot
of work?

It had all seized up,

and the mechanism under the
playfield had jammed,

but once I got it apart, it was
a very...

I think it will outlast us all,
actually, to be honest.

So you'll have it when you're old
people. Yeah!

Esther, does it bring back memories?

It does, of playing in the attic
at my grandparents' house

when I was probably that sort
of size.

Of dragging it out
when we had gatherings.

You know, it's a sort of slight
sentimental value. Of course.

It's come out of its hermitage now
and hopefully will live

a fulfilled and happy life
with you all. I do hope so.

Fantastic. It's been lovely doing
it, actually,

it's a beautifully made thing, and
you can get really good at it.

You have to beat, my high score
is 3,600, which is pretty good.

Who's going to have the first game?

I think the owner ought
to decide who goes first, actually.

Oh, right.

I will.

To avoid any fighting.

I want to put the penny in and pull
the first one.

Ooh...

Hey, nice!

Oh...

100!

Hooray! That's very good!

We're going to wrap it up
and play it at home,

that would be fantastic. Lovely.

Lovely to meet you all.
Really nice to see you.

Bye-bye. Take care.

Cheerio. Take care, Geoff.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you, Geoff. Thank you, Geoff.

Thank you, Geoff.

We love it.

My grandfather loved children
very, very much,

and I think if he's smiling down,
or wherever he is,

his spirit would be delighted
to witness this little group.

Grandad would be very touched,
I think, yes, he would.

It's been a team effort to renovate
the barograph.

While Steve's been overhauling
the delicate instrument,

Will's been renovating
the wooden case.

For you. That's looking really good.

Well done. Thank you very much.

Give it a clean,
fix those loose joints.

Definitely looks a lot better.
No, that looks absolutely perfect.

Lovely. Good, thank you very much.

I'm looking forward to seeing that
in there. Yeah.

You nearly there? Nearly there.

Well, I can't wait to see
it finished. See you later.

Steve is satisfied all the delicate
components

of the barograph's inner workings
are clean and repaired.

Now he can rebuild the machine,
starting with the clock mechanism.

This is really satisfying...

..doing these final stages.

All goes well, should tick away.

Phew. That's ticking away
with a great action.

Very pleased with that.

Next, the barograph itself.

So, it's ticking away merrily.

It's going to work nicely.

That's it. It's done.

When meteorology and climate student
Olly brought the barograph

to the repair shop, it hadn't
predicted the weather for years.

Now he's returned to collect
the treasured instrument

and he's brought along
his grandfather Bob,

also a weather fanatic.

Hello. Hiya. Hello, Olly.

Hi. How you doing?
All right? Yeah, good.

Hello. This is my grandad, Bob.

Hiya, how are you? Hi, I'm Steve.

Good, yeah. I knew who you were.

So, Olly, what are you hoping?

I'm hoping that it's completely
working now and I can use it.

Where you can see that fluctuations
for sure, yeah.

Do you think you've done it?
Yeah, absolutely.

All right. Right.

Let's show you the finished thing.

So, there we go. Fantastic.

Looks brilliant. Excellent.

So Will's done the box for you.

It does look lovely. Yeah, it does.

Lift it up, Steve, let him have
a butcher's.

Looks great.
Looks always new, doesn't it now?

It does!

And can you hear anything?

I can. Yeah. Yeah.

OK. You can hear it ticking away.

It's all working beautifully.

Really looks brilliant.
It's fantastic. Yeah.

I've just straightened all
of that out.

It's working absolutely super.

Let me come round and
I'll show you

how to set the needle into the graph

and turn this around and have it
to the correct day and time.

There we are. So now that's going
to carry on now

and fluctuate with the atmospheric
pressure.

So great to see it working. Yeah.

You're going to have lots of
fun with it.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

I'm going to get it packed up and
get it ready for you to take home.

Great, thank you very much.

You're very welcome.
Thank you very much.

Bye-bye now. Bye-bye.

This barograph is good for Olly

because it introduces the old method

of doing things as opposed
to all the electronics

that he's used to today.

When I take the barograph home,
I'm going to put it back in my room

in the space that it usually was.

Hasn't been there for a while,
so be nice to have it back

and I'll keep changing the papers
every week

and, yeah, keep it going.

Join us next time...

Excellent!

..as more relics are renewed...

I never thought I'd be able to see
it be like that again.

..in the Repair Shop.