13x01 - Tiny cowboy boots, a treasured saz, linen thread scales & a damaged Murano lamp

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to The Repair Shop...

- I'm ready to see some magic.

- ..where precious but faded
keepsakes...

- It's in a bit of a sorry state.

- Deep breath.

- ..are restored to their former
glory.

- New beginnings and new memories.

- Lovely.

- We can do that.

- A dream team of expert
craftspeople...

- Perfect teamwork!

- That's the fun part.

- It's going to look absolutely
stunning.

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

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

- Go on, my son!

- ..restore irreplaceable treasures...

THEY SCREAM

- Take it away, Mark.

- ..and unlock the stories that they
hold.

- Wahey!

- Oh, my God!

- It's like it's brand-new.

- You're a wizard!

- Thank you so much!

- Eagerly awaiting the first
assignment,

cobbler Dean Westmoreland.

- So, how often should you polish your
shoes?

Like, every time I'm going to wear
them?

- No, a couple of times a year.

- Is that all?
- Yeah.

- Needing a little more than a polish
is the treasured possession

of Diane Wynell-Sutherland.

- Hello.

- Hello.
- How you doing?

- I'm OK, thank you.

- What have you got in the bag for us?

- A tiny pair of cowboy boots.

- JAY CHUCKLES

- Look at them!

- Wow. So whose are these?

- They belong now to my eldest
grandson Joss,

but they were brought from America by
my brother, for my son Todd,

and who my brother adored.

We were very close. There was two
years between us.

- Yeah.
- And my brother didn't have any
children, and it was just my son.

- OK.
- He adored my brother. Because we
were so close,

he obviously adored my little boy and
would bring him

all sorts of gifts from America.
- Right.

- So what did your son think when he
first got these boots?

- Oh, he was a cowboy.

Every day, he was a cowboy.
- Yeah, yeah, he was a cowboy.

- And he adored the boots, and that's
why he's treasured them.

- So your brother, what's your
brother's name?

- Roger Pope.
- Roger Pope. OK.

And why was he in America? What was he
doing there, then?

- He was with his band, Hookfoot.
- Hookfoot? OK.

- Yes.
- OK.
- And they were doing a tour of
America.

- So what did he play? What
instrument?

- Roger was a drummer.
- Yeah.
- And they were touring in England,

and then they ended up with their
first major tour

of the States in '71, and they had a
big following.

And their support act was Elton John.

- Oh, was it?!
- Yeah.
- Their support?!

Seriously?
- Yes.

- Elton John was the support to your
brother's band?

- Yes.
- Wow!

- Whoa! So how old was your brother
when he was in this band?

- He's been a professional musician
from the time he was 15.

He went from a local band...
- OK.

- ..into a band called The Soul
Agents,

and the support there was Rod Stewart.

- Seriously?! All right. So he had a
support...

- He stayed at my mum's house.
- Rod Stewart did?

- Yes. My mum always wished she'd got
him to sign the headboard.

- She should have. She should have.

- And then they got this contract with
d*ck James Music.
- OK.

- And then while they were all at d*ck
James Music

is when Roger met Elton John.

He was the office boy.

- Yeah.
- And Reg was just very much trying to
get going.

So Roger did quite a lot of Elton's
early albums,

and he worked a lot, session musician.

If you pick up a lot of albums...
- He's on there.

- ..Roger's on a lot of albums.
- Wow.

- Yeah, he was a highly respected
session musician.

They did the incredible

Dodger Stadium, Madison Square Garden
tour.

- OK, so your brother was in this
band...
- Yeah.

- ..and then he joined Elton's band...
- Yes.

- ..and then toured around America.

- Yeah. Played with other bands.
- Other bands.

- And then he got very, very ill.

He was diagnosed with throat cancer,

and we lost him in 2013.

He died in 2013.

- OK.
- Elton was very good to my brother
when he was ill.

- Yeah.
- Very good to him.

And Elton did a tribute.

He was in Las Vegas at the time, doing
a residency...

- Yeah.
- ..and they played Don't Let The Sun
Go Down On Me.

- Before we play this next song, I
want to dedicate it to

one of my former musicians, my
drummer, Roger Pope,

who passed away last night after a
ravaging illness of several years.

And he was very brave, and the fight
ended last night,

but, Roger, Godspeed, OK?

This is for you.

- MUSIC: Don't Let The Sun Go Down On
Me

- And we played that at the wake,

and it was very, very moving.

- Wow. So these boots mean a lot to
you, then?

- Oh, yeah. They're the last little
bit of my brother.

They're really a testament to the love
that my brother had

for my little boy.

They mean the world to me.

- And what's actually wrong with the
boots, then?

- The leather is starting to get a bit
brittle, and I'm worried

that if it starts to crack, I'll never
get them back,

and they're not safe.
- Yeah.

- The soles are split.
- So you want them to be walked on
again?

- Yeah. Hopefully another little
cowboy wears them one day.

So, yeah, they're very, very
important.

- Well, thank you for bringing them
in.

- Thank you very much.
- We'll be in contact soon.

- Thank you.
- All right?
- Nice to meet you.

- Bye-bye.
- You take care.
- Take care.
- Bye-bye now.

- What an incredible pair of boots,

and what a story from Diane.

I do work on quite a lot of cowboy
boots,

but I've never worked on something so
small.

It's very, very delicate,

and it's very easy to cause, actually,
more damage.

So I'm really looking forward to it,
but I'm also quite nervous.

The condition of the uppers is quite
dry.

Needs some moisture putting back in
there, and perhaps a bit of colour.

It would be nice to go in and retouch
these bits of leather here

and make that pop again.

This is where the main problem is,

is where the old rubber sole has gone
brittle over time,

which is what old rubber does,

and there's not really anything I can
do to work with that.

You can already see how brittle that
rubber is.

Normally it would flex, but it just
snaps.

With that part coming off, I can now
get into these stitches here.

The tricky thing here is getting all
these tiny stitches out

without damaging the rest of the boot.

So I'm going to persevere with that,
slow and steady with these stitches,

try to get these boats prepped for the
new rubber to go on.

- As Dean tackles the little boots
with the big rock-music pedigree,

another musical treat is making its
way into the barn.

Cyprus-born Mehmet and his daughter
Ozlem

are hoping luthier Julyan Wallis can
renew some harmonious history.

- Here they are.
- Look at this.

Wow!

- Hi there.
- Hello.
- Hello.

- Welcome to the barn.

It's a beautiful instrument you've
brought in.

What's it called?
- A saz.

- A saz.
- This is a Turkish instrument,

mainly the folk music.

- Tell us about it. How long have you
had it?

- 60 years.
- 60 years?
- 60 years.

I got it about 14, 15.

- What is this? Can you tell me what
this is?

- This is Cyprus.
- Oh, that's...

- Oh, of course it is.
- That's the island.
- Map of island, Cyprus.

I got it through a family friend,

and then not long after that, the
troubles started,

Cyprus troubles.

- Following Cyprus' independence from
Britain in 1960,

tensions began to rise between the
Greek and Turkish communities

who lived on the island.

In December 1963,

violence erupted and hundreds were
k*lled, forcing thousands

of citizens to flee their homes,
including Mehmet and his family.

- I volunteered to the military
service.

- How old were you at that point?

- 16.
- Goodness me!

- Compulsory military service.

Everybody had to.
- Everybody had to.

- I took my saz with me. It helped me.

It sort of lightened the problem.

When you have the saz and start
playing, less stress, less worry.

You don't think about the fighting or
the w*r.

- The music was like a bit of light,
really,

a break from all that was going on
that was dark around him.

It was like his friend. It was always
with him...
- Always with me.

- ..throughout every part of his life.

- Everyone was holding their g*ns, I
used to hold my saz.

- Wow!
- Did things calm down after a while?

What happened next?

- Things settled, and it started
getting easier, a little bit.

I got my discharge from the army,

and then we used to entertain the
public, because those days,

there was no other entertainment.

We used to play four times a week.

- Used to play in the casinos.

Lots of people told me about how he
used to fill them up,

and hundreds of people would come.

- Hundreds of people?
- Hundreds of people.

- So you were a big deal, then.

- He was a bit of a celebrity.

He doesn't like to think he was, but
he was. They'd all go.

Everyone would get dressed in their
finest and go out,

and go out and listen.

And my mum used to be there. My mum
used to come and listen to him.

- I got married,

and my brother-in-law was in England.

They were saying, "Come over here.
It's better, safer."

We came, saved the money, put deposit
down,

and opened a dry cleaners. It was in
my shop,

it was leaning, and then drop and
crack.

- Ah!
- Big crack.
- Oh!

- And one of my friends tried to help
me to stick it.

- Have you tried to play it since?

- It doesn't make the right sound.
- It's different.

The sound is different.

- It's not what you remember.

- I think to have it back to what it
was like

and maybe sound like it used to...

- The thing is, I can't play at the
moment, because I suffer

lots of problems with my joints,
arthritis and everything.

But we can leave something behind when
I'm gone.

- It's part of my dad. It's part of
who he is,

and it's his companion, and it'll make
him happy, hopefully.

- Yeah.

- We've been through a lot. Lot, lot,
lot.

- Yeah.
- Good and better memories.

It would be nice.

Like long lost friend.

- Well, I promise you, it's in safe
hands.

- Thank you.
- We'll look after your good friend.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- Certainly will.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Take care of yourselves.
- Bye-bye. Thank you.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye now.

What an absolutely stunning
instrument.

Quite a few things to do here.

One of the tuners has snapped off,

and I need to make a new one of those.

The main thing is this horrible crack,
it actually continues

all the way over to this side as well.

If it's left unattended, it's
literally going to break in half,

just like two halves of an Easter egg.

So first thing I'm going to need to do

is to get this old glue residue off.

So this is a two-stage job, really, to
remove the surface glue,

and then I use a hairdryer, begin to
manipulate the old stuff out

by scraping it.

- Having painstakingly unpicked the
tiny stitches on the bottom

of the miniature cowboy boots, Dean
can now create new functional soles.

- I've got now a clean surface that I
can glue to

and put the new rubber over the top,
ready for stitching.

I'm using a contact adhesive.

It's just a case of letting that cure
slightly and then

putting the two surfaces together, and
you get a really strong bond.

It's really important that I do a
repair that has integrity

and strength...

..so that if a little one does
eventually wear these,

they're not going to fall to bits.

I'm actually very pleased with that.

It's bonded nicely,

and there's a nice seal all the way
around the edge.

Can trim them round and think about
getting those stitches replaced.

- INAUDIBLE CHATTER

- The new rubber has glued nicely.

Now it's a case of getting the
stitching in.

I'm using a single piece of very
strong thread

with a needle on either end.

And as I go round, one needle will go
through one way,

the other through the same hole,

and they'll crisscross each other all
the way around.

This will create what is called a
saddle stitch,

and that is a very, very strong
stitch.

Listening to those stories of Roger
and how he toured with

all the greats, slightly envious
listening to that.

Fixing shoes is about as rock-and-roll
as I get these days.

It starts getting really tight into
the toe now,

and there ain't much gap to get the
needle through.

I'm going to continue now around the
toe

and around the other side.

I can then look at the other boot, get
that stitched,

and have a think about how I'm going
to tackle these lovely uppers.

- There she is. Hello, Caroline.

- Hello, Jay.

- From Castlewellan, Northern Ireland,

Caroline Caldwell is hoping Steve
Fletcher's experience

with antique mechanisms will save an
intriguing

piece of industrial history.

- Hello.
- Hello.

- Hi, I'm Steve.
- Hello, Steve. I'm Caroline.

- Hi, Caroline.
- Very pleased to meet you.
- You too.

Now I'm intrigued.

- JAY CHUCKLES

- So, Caroline, please tell us about
it. What is it?

- This is scales for weighing threads
of linen.

It was used in the linen industry to
weigh the weight of a thread,

to determine the weight of a cloth.

This would sort of sit in here - if
you imagine you want your

linen suit to be lightweight, the
cloth's too heavy,

maybe they need to spin it again or
put it through the loom again,

and, you know, so it was very
important, the weight of the thread.

- And where was this?
- It was in Belfast.
- OK.
- In the early 1900s,

Belfast was known as the linen capital
of the world.

Everybody always thinks of Belfast as
the Titanic and shipbuilding,

but the linen industry was massive.

It had 78 mills in Belfast and the
greater area.

- Wow!
- It employed 43,000 people.

- 43,000?
- 43.

- So it's a massive industry, isn't
it?
- It was.

- Because so many people were reliant
upon that.
- Yeah.

My mum worked in the linen industry
when she was 14, in the 1940s.

- And what's Mum's name?
- Jane.

It was a linen mill.
- OK.

- She would have been a weaver,

working two looms at the age of 14,


- Two looms?!
- Two looms, yeah.

- Do you know what the conditions were
like in those factories?

- Very busy, very loud, very warm and
wet.

My mum would have been in her bare
feet.
- Barefoot?!
- Oh!
- Why barefoot?

- The linen floor would have had water
on it to soften the flax,

to weave the cloth, the linen.

To avoid accidents, they would have
been in their bare feet,

so they weren't great conditions.

Yeah, it was just what they had to do,
like,

and there was so many that did it.

But unfortunately, synthetics came
into play, and synthetic fibre

was easier to make cloth from, and
cheaper.
- Yeah.

- And so that sort of, like, took over
and the linen industry

then went, you know, went downhill
from that.

The last working mill, in 2013, had
closed its doors.

- Oh, seriously?
- Yeah.

- So where did you get this from?

- Well, my first job, as well, was
actually in the linen industry.

- Oh, you went in there as well?

- Yes, I went in there as well, but
completely different

to what my mum's was like. Where I
worked, it wasn't a mill.

It was like a warehouse, sort of where
they did all the shipping,

and they were just in a corner,

not even being looked at, not even
being used,

just sitting there, and I had always
admired these.

I always loved them.

So when I was leaving, they gifted me
the scales.

- Oh!
- I just love the precision of it.

- What's actually wrong with these
scales?

- There's pieces missing of the wood
up here.
- OK.

- OK.
- In this wee drawer here, there's a
wee box in here

with all wee, tiny, tiny weights in
it.
- I'm intrigued.

- And it does open, the drawer?
- It's stuck.

- That is really jammed in there.

This is really teasing me now.
- LAUGHTER

- You're going to have to relax!
- Because I want to see these weights,

because they must be so minuscule.

- They are. They are.

This reminds me of my mum at 14.

It reminds me of my brilliant time
that I had working

in the linen industry, and it also
reminds me of the history,

and it would be fantastic to see it
actually weighing something.

- Yeah, absolutely.
- You know?

- I can't wait to get started on it,
actually.

- And get the drawer open.
- And get the drawer open!

- That's the thing, yeah, I know.

Thank you so much indeed.
- You take care.
- Cheerio now.

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

- I absolutely love the quality of
these scales,

and the whole history about the linen
industry in Belfast

is just staggering.

Absolutely amazing.

My first thoughts are that the case
looks really tired,

and Will can certainly make this look
beautiful again.

So I can see now that there's some
form of hanging device

that's not here.

And I'm just keeping my fingers
crossed that the hanging devices

are in the drawer.

So I think the first thing I'm going
to do is get as much

of the case apart as I can, get it out
of the way.

That'll make it easier to try and get
the drawer open.

That is well and truly stuck.

I am completely stumped how to get
this undone.

I'm not going to give up. I
- will
- get it open.

- I'm just looking at the cracks here
in the saz.

This top crack here is what we would
term a separated crack.

It's not one that'll glue back
together.

Over the years, the wood's dried out
so much, when it cracked,

both parts of wood moved away from
each other,

and to clamp them back is nigh on
impossible and you'd do more damage,

so the best way is by strengthening
underneath and then filling it.

So first, I'm going to try to sort
this bottom crack here.

I'm going to be glueing it, aligning
it, and most importantly,

strengthen it from the inside so it
shouldn't move again.

My first step here is to install a
strengthening cleat of hardwood

on the inside of this,

and to attach it, I need to make a
hole right on the crack itself.

That's going right through the crack.

There, look, that's straight through.

So I'm going to thread this wire.

So this wire...

..I'm going to attach the
strengthening cleat

with some glue on. Cover it like
that...

..and I can just push that inside and
thread it through

this brass piece, that's actually
locking the cleat in place.

And now if I thread it in, pull it
through like that,

I now just want to put a spot of glue
on the crack itself.

And, with a bit of jiggery-pokery,

good old capillary action will do its
job.

And then this will act as a winch to
pull that wire through,

keeping the cleat and the brass inset
on the inside totally tight.

Beautiful.

It's aligned it, and the cleat has
gone in,

strengthened it to prevent further
movement.

Just going to leave that to dry, and
then I'm going to move on

to doing the same procedure with as
many as I need

on the big crack up here.

- Dean's riding high on his repair of
the tiny cowboy boots.

- Now that's the sole stitched on, and
I'm really quite happy with that.

I know for sure that, should a
grandchild wear these again,

they ain't going to fall apart.

Now the structural work is done,

I can get onto the aesthetics and how
the leather looks.

Over time, that moisture can be lost,

and that's when you start to see
cracking and drying in leather.

I'm going to use a medium brown shoe
cream.

I tend to use my fingers for
polishing.

Several reasons, really.

I think you can feel it more.

You can feel it going into the
leather.

You know how much you're putting on,
again because you can feel it.

And I think with a cloth, you can
often waste a lot of polish.

It's really important that I get the
colour into all them cracks.

And that's the first coat of polish
on. I'm going to let that soak in

for a while, while I do this other
boot.

Then I can have a look at the finer
details on the upper of the boot.

- Jules is embarking on some details
of his own

as work on the saz continues.

- Now the cleats are drying in place
on the crack,

I'm going to have a look at replacing
this broken friction peg.

I'm going to duplicate one of the
other ones

out of a piece of beech, and I have a
piece of dowel hanging around,

which I've sort of fashioned into
this, to go into my drill...

..and I can hold it against my disc
sander,

and it will turn this square block
into a round dowel.

That's nice.

Look at that!

Here we go.

I've just got to colour it up so it
matches the others,

and I'm all done.

- The repair of the linen scales has
been delayed,

as even mechanical masterminds like
Steve Fletcher

are sometimes foxed by that most
ordinary of foes,

a sticky drawer.

- Done.

Perfect.

I've managed to get the drawer out.

I, in the end, just pulled and pulled,
and it just came out.

And I'm sure that there was some
little bit of grit or something

just holding it up.

Inside, this little box here...

..has all the little, tiny, tiny,
little weights,

just enough to weigh little bits of
linen thread.

Absolutely beautiful.

I have actually found one of the
pieces that I was looking for

where one of the dishes hangs on to,
like that.

The big problem is I was hoping for
two of these to be in there,

that I need another one, which means
that I've got to replicate this.

This is quite a bit of engineering, so
it's quite a challenge.

Now I've got all of this apart, I'll
get the woodwork over to Will,

and then I can start making that
missing piece.

I've just finished scribing out the
hanger that I'm making.

It's more complex than it looks.

There's this little frame here,

and a little cup in the bottom of the
frame that holds a jewel.

The reason why they use jewels in
these devices is to reduce

all of the friction, because they're
weighing such tiny, tiny

things that any friction would prevent
it from measuring accurately

the weight of them.

And so the knife edge that these sit
on acts as a pivot

for when it goes down or up, like
that,

and there's just no friction
whatsoever there.

I can't make a new sapphire jewel,

so I need to reproduce a steel
replica.

- It's the moment of truth for the
crack repair on the saz.

- Taking all the...

..the clamps off, and...

..beautifully aligned.

Absolutely perfect.

It's strong. It's going to be secure
from future movement.

I've now got to turn my focus into
filling that crack.

I don't want to use an actual wood
filler,

because it could fall out at some
point,

so I think a wise choice is just to
put some thin veneer in,

because it will fill the crack and it
will make it stronger.

It's in nice and tight, so just got to
let the glue dry,

then I can start to trim it back and
get it coloured up

to match the surrounding colour.

- These cowboy boots are now at a
stage where they're almost finished.

The brown cream has taken really well,

and it's given a lovely lustre to all
this leather.

It would be nice to just get some
colour into these underlaid bits

and really make that pop.

I have mixed some blue acrylic paint
with some cream,

but now I'm just going to use a very,
very fine brush

and a steady hand,

and just try to drop this blue into
those little parts.

Shoes will always tell a story, and
what a story this is.

I think it's quite incredible that
Roger lived a seemingly

rock-and-roll lifestyle, but he never
forgot about his little nephew

at home.

My hand is never quite as steady as I
would like.

Any excess, I can go over that later
and just tidy that up.

Now it's a case of getting the red
parts in,

painting this lovely white top line,

and they will be ready for Diane to
come and collect,

and I just hope she's as happy with
them as I am.

- Diane's late brother, the legendary
drummer Roger Pope,

brought these little boots back from
touring America over 50 years ago.

- Hello.
- Hello, Diane.

- Hello, Diane. I'm Lucia.

- Pleased to meet you.
- Lovely to meet you.

- Nice to see you again, Dean.
- Nice to see you again.

- Diane, so you're quite excited to
see these little, tiny boots?

- I am very excited, and I have been
thinking about Roger a lot

since the boots have been here,

and they mean so much to the family.

- Do the honours?
- I think you should.

- Oh, Dean!

Oh, I...I'd forgotten about that!

And the colours!

Oh, I'm shaking!

I promised I wouldn't cry.

- SHE CHUCKLES

- Oh, my goodness. Aren't they
gorgeous?

- Beautiful.

- Oh!

You are a genius.

- Wouldn't go that far!
- Yeah, you are. You are.

- You are my hero. My absolute hero.

Oh, they're so cute!

You've brought all the colours back!

But you could only see little bits of
red.

You couldn't see the blue or the
white.

And I've completely forgotten that
this was white round the top,

because that was the contrast.
- Yeah.

- That's what made them stand out so
much.

Oh, it's lovely.

Oh, my gosh. They're so cute!

They are just simply divine.

- They're yours to take away with you,
Diane.

- Thank you very much.

- Enjoy them and handing them on to
the next generations.

- Thank you very much indeed.
- Enjoy.
- Thank you.

They are a real link to my brother and
to family,

and it's little things like this that
make you realise

how special families are and how much
people mean to you.

Yeah. Happy memories.

- As the little boots go riding off
into the sunset,

two new hopefuls have arrived at the
barn.

Mother and daughter Mal and Jo McKenna

are hoping queen of the invisible fix
Kirsten Ramsay

can work her magic on their beloved
keepsake.

- Hi there.
- Hi.
- Welcome, welcome.

- Hello.
- Thank you.

- It says "live plants", but I presume
there's no live plants.

- Nothing live in here!

THEY LAUGH

- Oh, that's lovely.
- That's beautiful.

What a beautiful lamp.

Looks like a Murano lamp, doesn't it?

- So it's all made out of glass, I
presume, the top and the base?

- Yes. And we understand that my
grandmother Beatrice

brought this back from Murano in
Italy. 1920s, yeah.

She brought this home, and it was a
special souvenir

of a very special holiday.

- It's a lovely souvenir.

I mean, Murano, that's sort of home of
the glass-blowing in Europe.

- Especially then as well.
- Yeah.
- It would have been magical, I'm
sure.

- Definitely.
- My grandmother died in 1962,

and then my mother died in 1999,

and I've had it for 23 years.

So, yes, it has carried on.

And it's always been... It's always
been there.

- Yeah.
- That's wonderful.

I like the fact that it's passed down

through the female line as well.
- Yes. And that's how we intend,

because I would really like to be able
to pass it on.

And at the moment, sadly,

it doesn't look as if that's going to
be possible.

- I do think it's here in the nick of
time.

Gosh, I'm seeing quite a lot...

- Yes.
- Yes, there is a lot. It is a real
challenge.

- Yeah.
- My grandmother broke it, and she was
clearly very upset.

- My nan, my mum's mum, did the repair
for her mum,

and that would have been, we think,
around the 1950s,

so with whatever glue she had
available.

- Very recently, the glue must have
dried out,

because it's reached this stage.

Now I'm frightened to touch it.

It's just got so many memories.

- But that's one of the reasons why
something like this is so important,

because "my mum touched this, my
grandma touched this,"

and the fact that it's been passed
down as well.

- VOICE TREMBLING:
- Yes, it's family.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- Both my mother and my grandmother
were very family-orientated people.

And you need to work your magic,
Kirsten...

- THEY LAUGH

- ..because it's just got

so many memories, you know?

- Thank you so much for bringing this
in,

and I'm really looking forward to
making a start

and trying to get this stable again
for you.

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

I absolutely love this lamp,

but it is quite daunting.

Because it's glass, it can be quite
difficult to try and

align the pieces.

I'm going to take it apart, clean off
any of the old adhesive.

I'm then going to reassemble it, fill
any areas of glass,

and try and recreate some of this
missing pattern.

And I will have this rewired

so that we can get that beautiful,
warm glow back.

First, I'm going to just flood this
area with a little bit

of methylated spirits, and I'm just
going to see if this might

start to loosen the old adhesive.

This is exactly what I want to happen.

These are now lifting away
beautifully,

so I'm just going to hope that the
rest of the pieces

will come away as easily.

- Steve's been meticulously
engineering a replacement hanger

in an effort to get the linen scales
tipping again.

- I just need to make a replacement
for the jewel

that should have been in it. And I
can't reproduce a jewel,

so I'm going to do the next best thing
and use some hard steel.

That's all to the correct size.

I now just need to start cutting the
all-important V

where the knife edge sits.

Just gently filing it

so it's even both sides of the little
slot there.

This is the sort of job that you can't
rush,

because if you take too much material
off,

you have to start again.

And once I've shaped it all up, I'll
give it a good polish up,

and then it'll be ready to fit into
the little hanger.

- Oh, yes.

Steve's given me the casework to the
linen weighing scales,

and it's ready for polishing. But
before I do polish,

I need to replace the missing moulding
around the inside edge.

Well, I've cut that angle by eye. I
hope it fits.

If it doesn't, I've still got enough
room

to make those minor adjustments.

Whoa!

Well, that's a really nice fit. Now to
make my second cut,

glue that in place, then I can start
polishing,

and then this will be ready for many
more years of weighing.

- I'm really pleased with this steel
insert.

I'm just going to pop it into the
hanger that I've made.

That fits in there nicely.

Just make sure that it all weighs up.

I'm going to pop the original on that
side.

Put the new one on that side.

Perfect.

I just need to now get on and just
polish up these little dishes,

and then I'm ready to get it back
together again

as soon as Will has finished off the
case.

- I'm just doing the final cleaning
and polishing of the saz,

and it's looking great.

And the part I'm on now, this light
part,

this must have been coming into
contact with Mehmet

all through his playing years, and
it's just worn away.

So that probably goes to show how many
hours

he was actually playing this.

This is such a big part of Mehmet's
history, his whole life,

all the years. All the things that
happened to him, this was there.

The last thing to do here is to put
the strings on the saz

and get it tuned up.

- This instrument saw its owner
through civil w*r, national service,

and playing to adoring crowds in
Mehmet's home country of Cyprus.

And together with daughter Ozlem, he
is eager to see it restored.

- Hello again.
- Hi there.

- Welcome back.
- Ozlem, Mehmet, nice to see you both.

- How are you?
- Nice to be back. Thank you.

- Been eagerly awaiting today, waiting
for this moment.

- This is quite an exciting time for
you.

- Definitely.
- Yeah.
- Definitely.

My hope, really, is I hope he picks it
up and plays it again.

I'd love to hear him play it again.
- Yeah.

- There's that desire to play,

but because of his health and sort of
arthritis and cramping

in his hands...
- Maybe cramps get less and less, and
then hopefully,

hopefully, I manage.

Hopefully.

It looks like my old friend that I
know.

- You ready?
- Yes.

- Go on, Jules.
- I can't wait.

- Oh, my gosh!

- Can I...?

- Of course.

- It's amazing.

- It's beautiful.

Beautiful, beautiful.

Lovely.

Yep.

It's beautiful. Thank you very, very
much.

I'm lost for words, honestly.

Been together, so many good times, bad
times, and it's still with me.

- You want to strum it now and see how
it sounds?
- Yeah, feel free.

- HE PLAYS NOTES

HE PLAYS TENTATIVE MELODY

- I think I can get a little bit
better,

but I don't know how good I can get
again.

No, it's lovely.

I'm so, so grateful.

Thanks very, very much.

- You're welcome.

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

I know the sound is very important.
- Yeah.

- We've got one of Jules' friends
down.

Kourosh, if you'd like to come over.
Would you like to hear a tune?

- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.

- Perfect.
- Hello.

- Hello.

Please.

- KOUROSH PLAYS TUNE

APPLAUSE

- Wow!

That was beautiful. Thank you so much.

- Thank you.
- You're very welcome.

I hope we see you playing it one day
and we would like to listen to that.

- Thank you very much.
- Thank you. Thank you very much.

- Good to see you, Mehmet.
- Thank you very much.
- Take care of yourself.

- God bless.
- All the best now.
- See you later.
- Thank you. Bye-bye.
- Bye.
- Bye.

- It makes me... It's one of my
happiest days.

One of my happiest days now.

It's just beautiful. It's great.

It was like a magic.

- It fills me with joy knowing that
maybe he will

pick it up and play it.

- To me, it's one of my best friends.

All my life, it's with me.

We've been through so many things.

Good days, bad days.

So, good friend come back.

- I've got all of the pieces apart on
the lamp base.

I'm quite daunted by the sheer number
of pieces.

Some of them are absolutely minute.

The adhesive that was used by Lillian

was starting to break down.

I need to remove every trace

so that I can get really good aligned
joins.

It's going to take me a little while
to work out where these bits go.

I've got as long as it takes to locate
all of these pieces

in the right position.

It's always difficult to work with
glass.

It's a pretty unforgiving material.

It naturally just wants to slide
around.

I'm often asked if I like jigsaw
puzzles.

I think it would be a bit of a
busman's holiday,

but I do love doing this kind of
thing,

so I guess the answer to that is yes.

I've got these flower patterns

that are helping me to find the
correct location.

So I'm just going to tape that in
place.

Once I get down to the tiny pieces,

I'm going to be using wax.

It will tack that little shard in
place.

This is where the fun starts.

Probably see you in about a year's
time!

- SHE LAUGHS

- So now I'm just putting a two-part
epoxy resin

along all of those joins I've made.

It's got a very close refractive index
to glass.

Part of the consideration is to
maintain the light

coming through any repairs that I
make.

Mark?
- Yes?
- I have a favour to ask, please.

- It looks rather delicate.

- THEY LAUGH

- It's been...
- Anything you work on is delicate, so
that's what's worrying!

- I was thinking this might be a good
moment for you

to make the fitting safe.

- Do you trust me with your very
delicate lamp?

- If you can do it without touching
it, then yes!

- I'll do my best.
- Yep, OK.
- All right. Leave it with me.

- Thank you.
- Thanks.

Bit of a challenge on this is because
when this lamp

was originally produced, having a
third wire, an earth,

actually wasn't considered a
necessity.

It was originally a two-wire system.

We've now got to create a three-wire
system.

So it makes things a little bit tight
in there,

so it's not going to be easy.

And we've now got a perfectly soldered
joint

which will now make that casework nice
and safe.

That's worked really well.

In fact, I'm more relieved the fact
I've not done any harm to the lamp,

because otherwise, Kirsten would never
talk to me again!

- I've got the lamp base back from
Mark,

and I can now move on to filling the
areas of loss.

I put in a small piece of Japanese
tissue behind the glass

so that I've now got something to fill
onto.

I'm using some transparent epoxy
colours here,

and I'm just going to mix those in
with my fill material.

And I'm mixing the plain in with the
colour,

and that recreates that fusing pattern
that you've got

with the different coloured glasses.

Got a few more areas still to fill,

and then once it's hardened,

I can cut it back and give it a
polish.

- Balancing act Will and Steve have
been working together

on the two sections of the linen
scales.

- So I'm getting to that point now
where I'm just going to

get it all back together again.

Will has done an amazing job of the
case.

I think this must have been the most
amazing leaving gift for Caroline.

I think it'll not only remind her of
the time that she spent,

but also the time that her mum spent
in the factory.

I know that the noise of those weaving
looms are so loud

because I remember my grandparents
working on the looms

in the blanket factories of Witney,

and they all used to lip-read

because the noise was too much to hear
each other.

And this must represent to Caroline

all of that history,

and I think it's important to remember
that as well.

- These scales represent the careers
of two generations of women

who both worked in the Belfast linen
trade.

For Caroline, it's a way to honour her
mum

and all the women who contributed to
this once-great Irish industry.

- Here she is. Hello.
- Hello. Hello. Hi.

- Hello.
- Hi.

- How you doing?
- So excited. Yeah.

Can't wait to see them.

It's always been there and sort of put
away,

and now hopefully I can see it and
talk about it, you know?

- Yeah. And hopefully show it off.
- Oh, absolutely.

- Are you ready?
- Yes!

- THEY LAUGH

- She's excited!

- OK.

- Oh, my goodness!

Oh, my goodness.

That's amazing.

That's absolutely... Look at the
shine!

- THEY LAUGH

- Oh, my goodness. It is gorgeous!

Never thought it would look so well.

It's so good. Oh, thank you so much!

- It's beautiful, isn't it?
- Yeah. What a work of art.

- Yeah. Do you want to try the drawer?

- Oh, yes.

Here we go.

Oh! Perfect.

- So next thing is to really try it
out.

- If you take a little bundle of
thread...

- Oh, look at that!

Oh, my goodness.

- Whoa! That's proper sensitive,
innit?

- My goodness.
- It's incredibly sensitive.

So in that little box there, there are
some tiny, tiny, little weights.

- There. Try this wee bit.

- There you go.
- There you go.

- So how does it feel, seeing it like
this now?

- Amazing. Absolutely amazing.
- Yeah?

- Yeah. Yeah.

I feel so blessed to have it,

you know, now that it's in this
condition and everything,

and I will cherish it forever.

- Yeah.
- Yeah. Thank you so much.

- You're more than welcome. It's been
a complete joy to work on this.

- Thank you. Bye.
- Take care.
- Bye-bye now.
- Bye-bye.

- Not in a million years would I ever
think the scales would look so good.

They're just absolutely magnificent.

When I look at the weighing scales
now, I just think of my mum

going to work in the mill, also of my
memories and the importance

of the thousands of women that worked
in the linen industry

in Belfast. I'm blessed to have them.
I just love them so much.

- I'm in the very final stages of
repairing the glass lamp.

It's been quite an interesting and
challenging job for me,

but one that I have absolutely loved.

The final job now is just to apply a
coat of wax.

It just gives it a really nice uniform
surface.

I absolutely cannot wait to return
this back to Mal and Jo.

- This beautiful coloured glass lamp
was a treasured memento

from a trip of a lifetime, and was
passed down the generations.

For Mal and Jo, it holds dear memories
of all the women

who have cared for it since the 1920s.

- Here they are. Come in.

- Hello.
- Hello.
- Hello, Kirsten.
- Hi.

- Lovely to see you again.
- Yeah, you too.

- How are you feeling?

- Well, I'm feeling excited.

I left you with such a task.

- You... Yes!

- THEY LAUGH

- So it really was in quite a poor
condition.

- Yes.
- How it has survived quite this
long...

- It's a survivor.
- Yeah.
- It is a survivor.

- So are you ready to see it?
- Oh, yes.

- Deep breath.

- OK.

- Oh, my goodness!

That's impossible!

- I can't see...
- I can't see a mark!

How on earth...?!

You can see more detail.
- You can.

- It's very strong and robust now,
so...
- Oh, wow!

- Look at that!
- Oh, my goodness!

- There was a space here.

- There were missing areas.

- Yes! How did you do that?

- Magic!

- Absolutely wonderful.
- It's amazing.

- Would you like to see it working?

- Oh, yes, please!

- Isn't it beautiful?

- OK.

- Oh! Look! Oh!
- It's lovely!

It really is lovely.

I'm so thrilled, Kirsten.

- Aw!
- I'm really so thrilled.

- You're so welcome, really.
- Thank you.

- Really, I can see what it means to
you.

- It's not just a lamp, is it?

- It is a part of our family memories.

It's always been there.

It's just lovely to have that warm
glow again.

- And the thought of being able to
pass it on,

it's just going to follow the line
through, which is a lovely feeling.

It's, erm... It's exciting.

- If you have a treasured possession
that's seen better days,

and you think the team can help,
please get in touch at...

..and join us in The Repair Shop.