10x08 - Running Shoes

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to The Repair Shop, where
precious but faded treasures...

Oh, my goodness.

..are restored to their former
glory.

That actually works a treat.

Ah, here we go.

We work on teamwork.
That's what I like to here.

A dream team of expert
craftspeople...

Yes, that's good!
There we are, look at that!

Hello! That's amazing!

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

We're using time-honoured
skills to preserve history.

Ancient techniques often
work the best still.

..restore irreplaceable heirlooms...
SHE GASPS

Thank you.

Wow!

..and unlock the stories
that they hold.

Oh, my goodness!

Miracles do happen.

That'll be treasured in our
family forever.

How are we doing, ladies? Good,
thanks. Did you not even start yet?

Cheeky, cheeky! I'm only joking.

In The Repair Shop today...

I'm used to making it look
right, but I think I'm going

to have to take these gloves
off at some point and check

that it is feeling correct.

..a first for Kirsten as she fixes
up a furry favourite whose owner

has lost his sight...

A little bit of heat encourages
the flow of the adhesive, and then,

hey, presto, it's reattached.

..while Lucia rescues a badly
peeling portrait...

The more of the original
paint I can save, the better.

Start with that.

..and David has his hands full

with a tuneless party piece
belonging to a whole town.

That's the first string tuned.

Now we've just got the hundreds
of other strings to go through.

First, Jay's looking forward to

putting master cobbler Dean
Westmoreland through his paces.

You must be good at running,
you've got long legs, ain't ya?

I'll give you a race if you want.
I'll beat you.

You think? That's a challenge.
I don't think, I know. Confidence.

HE LAUGHS

Dean is about to be tasked
with restoring a prized possession

of Neil Scott, who's accompanied
by his granddaughter, Saadia.

Hello. Hey. How are you doing?

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.

So you've got some shoes
in the bag, haven't you? Yes.

Let's have a look at these shoes.

Well, these are the shoes
that I had made to measure

when I was sprinting in the 1940s.

Nice.

Nice, yeah?

SHE LAUGHS

Very nice.
So where did you get these made?

Well, my parents had them
made, actually, for me.

I was 17, and my parents
weren't particularly well-off,

but insisted on my getting
the best pair of spikes

that I could have.

Did you win much?
Yes. Yes, I...

LAUGHS: She's nodding yes.

I won the Amateur Athletic
Association... Yeah.

..100 yards in 1948

and again in 1949.

I did National Service,

I was posted to Germany,
and I won the British Army

of the Rhine Championship 100.

I worked in the Civil Service for 42
years,

represented the Civil Service,

and on one occasion ran
against Norris McWhirter,

the Guinness Book of Records
champion.

Did you win? Yes.

THEY LAUGH

I beat him.
Wearing these, yeah?

Wearing these.

And how many races have you won
wearing those?

Oh, a dozen, at least.

You're just saying a dozen
like it's nothing, "A dozen."

I've seen the medals and heard
the stories, but it's nice to be

able to connect the stories with
the shoes.

And then your connection
to the shoes,

you're not going to want
to wear these, are you?

No, I don't think I'll fit in them.
OK, that's cool.

Myself and my brother took
up athletics because Grandpa

was so good at it.

It's something special to us
because it's like a connection

between us and Grandad.

You've inspired
her, and your brother? Yeah.

You must feel super-proud.

Oh, gosh, yes. My word.

Grandad turned 90 last year.

You look good for 90, man.

HE LAUGHS

Nice one.

He's a huge inspiration
to all of us,

so these are going to be passed
down to keep in the family

and to hopefully tell future
generations about all

of his successes. Of course.

So what would you like Dean to do
to them?

The result of extensive
wear was that.

Oh, wow.

I'd like to see them restored,
if I could.

The age of them makes that a pretty
difficult job, I would say.

I'll say.

THEY LAUGH

Thank you both for bringing these
in. I know Dean's going

to have a bit of a challenge,
I can already see it on his face.

A little bit, yeah. All right? Thank
you.

Thank you, thanks. All right, bye.
Take care, bye-bye.

Bye-bye. Bye.

This is like cardboard.

Yeah. You can see they're
beautifully made, though.

That's the colour it used
to be, look at that. Yeah.

That's a red, innit?
Red, isn't it?

There's a tear on this as well.

See, I'm puzzled at this point

how I'm going to reattach
the leather, cos getting a needle

through that, it's just kind
of going to go to dust.

Really? You're unsure how you're
going to repair it?

I'll figure it out, lad.
That's what I like to hear.

I think it's quite incredible that
these have been kept for so long

by Neil. I want to preserve
all that history and Neil's

love for running.

So the damage is quite extensive,
particularly in this right shoe.

The tear down the right side,
it runs all the way back

to the ankle.

The tricky thing here is it's a
turnshoe, so it's made inside out.

A turnshoe is very, very refined
work, very fine stitches.

The soles can be very thin
and very flexible, but it's also

very, very strong.

Thinking about the forces
that the shoe would go

under while running.

So a turnshoe gives the lightest
construction with the most strength,

really. To re-stitch this while
it's the right way out is bordering

on impossible, really.

And the leather's so dry I'm almost
scared to work with it.

So this is quite a challenge.

I think the first thing
to do, though, get a cleaner

on there and just soften
this leather a little bit.

Leather has pores
because it is a skin.

Those pores can get blocked
and clogged.

So this is like a deep cleanser,

but I would not use
it on your face.

So, visually, you may not be able
to see much difference,

but I can certainly feel
that the leather is slightly

more supple, so I feel a little bit
more confident working with it now.

Waiting obediently for his master
to arrive,

the next restoration project
is already raising smiles.

Look at this little guy,
his little jowls.

I know. Sweet. Like, "Mm..."

I wonder what he'll be serving -
drink, food?

SHE LAUGHS

Nigel Garry, with wife Karen,
has his hopes pinned on ceramics

restorer Kirsten Ramsay patching
up his dog-eared friend.

Hello! Hello there, good morning.

Is it Kirsten? Yes, Kirsten.

Good morning, nice to meet you.
Good morning, I'm Will.

Morning, Will, how are you?
Very good, thank you.

Good, good, good.

And who's this?

This is Boozy Barman.

KIRSTEN AND WILL: Boozy Barman!

This is Bulldog Boozy Barman,

and he's absolutely wonderful.

I absolutely love him to bits.

Ever since I lost my sight,
I've always liked material things

that are obviously very,
very tactile to me.

I quite often touch his monocular
and his ear and everything,

you know, and he brings a lot of
pleasure and delight to my life.

Nigel doesn't know I sneak
home and I see him

just stroking his ear, you know?
THEY LAUGH

It's got a lovely texture,
hasn't it?

Yeah, he's got a lovely texture.
Yeah, he's got a lovely texture.

Where did he come from?

It was a very small shop,
and she sold all unusual things.

We walked in one day with Nigel,

and she let him have a feel,
and he says, "I want that."

I fell in love with him straight
away.

So there he was,
he came home with us.

He sits at the side of me
awaiting his gin and tonic once

a week, or perhaps twice a week.

THEY LAUGH

Unfortunately, when we moved house,
Karen's had quite a task,

and obviously she can't tell me
where every box was,

and on this particular occasion,
I walked into Barman.

He went over, and I thought,
"Oh, no, no, no!"

I were worried sick when she picked
him up,

said, "Nigel, his ear is off."

Did more damage to him than what
we thought at first,

we thought it was just his ear.

There's a crack down the arm
that holds the tray,

it brought tears to my eyes,
you know.

People say to me as a blind person,
"Surely now,

"Nigel, you lost your sight
when you was 19,

"you're getting more used to it."

But it doesn't work like that,
because as you get older,

you don't seem to concentrate
as much.

That was the time that it wasn't
good for Boozy Bulldog Barman,

because he were the victim
of the move.

You say that you lost your eyesight
at 19,

that must have been really quite
hard for you.

Absolutely devastating, Will.

I had perfect sight, and then,
unfortunately,

I developed a condition called
optic neuritis,

which was inflammation of the main
optic nerves.

Just to go just overnight,
that was a real shock, a real shock.

So it went overnight?

Yeah. Really?

One Sunday lunchtime, he says,
"Karen, I can't see,

"it's like someone's thrown
a white sheet over my head."

I've been of the attitude

if you sit with your feet
in the water, you'll freeze.

And I've got on with my life,
and I've worked voluntary for three

big national blind charities.

And then Karen and I set
up our own small charity.

We've already transformed the lives
of many, and that is all Karen

and I want to do is put
smiles on faces.

Well, one person who has put a smile
on your face is this little

four-pawed friend here. He has.

Kirsten, what are the chances of him
becoming back to his norm?

Oh! Oh!

THEY LAUGH

I think he might be a tricky
customer just because you're going

to know exactly how he feels,

so that's going to be quite
a challenge.

Thank you so much for bringing
Boozy in.

Wish you the very, very best
of luck with him. Thank you.

Thank you so much, thank you.

Bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye!

So nice.

Nigel spoke so beautifully

about how important this bulldog

has become to him, and I can
absolutely see why.

There are all sorts of textures
and things to explore,

and I think he's just become
part of the family.

It's really important that I can get
this

so that it looks and feels nice.

Underneath this resin coating,

there's actually sheets
of fibreglass that have been folded

into the shape of the ear.

At the moment, it's quite sharp
and it's quite a nasty break area.

It's quite nice I've got the other
ear here so that I can use

that as a reference.

OK, so I've got that.

I've also got a few bits that Nigel
brought in that have snapped

off and broken off.

I think, to be honest, this is just
textured resin, so I don't think

I'm going to be able to use
many of those pieces,

so I'm mainly going to use this bit
here and then build up the rest

of the ear around it.

The other problem is that there's
this really massive crack that's

running down the side of
the bulldog, and that's

going to weaken the structure,
cos actually there's quite a lot

of weight going on that paw.

And then once you've got a couple
of gin and tonics on there as well,

it's definitely going to be heavy.

So I would like to get some adhesive
in there,

and any of the missing areas

I'm going to fill and retouch.

I'm going to make a start,
as I always do, just cleaning

the surface before I start
to stabilise and bond the ear.

Now the leather running
spikes are supple enough

for their marathon repair,

Dean is calling
on all his traditional cobbling

skills to work out how to fix
the right shoe's terrible tear.

My idea is to use some red leather

and hand-sew it onto there.

Once that's in, I can then turn
that,

and then the upper I can bond onto
the other side.

To try and keep it original as
possible,

I've decided to make my own threads.

Can't really thread that through
the eye of a needle.

Before needles were made,
or invented,

they would use boar's bristle.

Boar's bristles are quite hard to
get, we now use fishing line

because it's more easily accessible.

You would wax the ends
of your thread and twist them

onto the end of your boar's bristle.

It can be a little tricky
to get started.

I'll make a hole in the base
of the thread,

and I feed the head of the bristle
through it,

pull that tight, and that should
secure it.

I just create a fine point, almost
like the head of a needle.

And we're ready to sew.

So the first one is always tricky.

I don't want to make this tear
any worse.

I think this is an element
of my craft that I do enjoy,

and I love keeping these ancient
skills that were passed

down to me alive.

So we've got one thread and two
bristles,

that allows me to do what's
called a saddle stitch.

If one side of the stitch
was to break, the other side

would still be intact.

The strength it creates can't
really be replicated by machines.

Now I've got that first stitch in,

it's easy to see how that's
going to work.

This might take a little bit
of time, but patience is key

with jobs like this.

So I'm really happy with
those stitches,

I think they're really strong,

and it's just a case of glueing
this band.

I've chosen to use a neoprene glue,
which is extremely strong.

Once that is glued, it will not
come apart.

So, yeah, you only really get
one shot at sticking this.

Because the upper leather
is so delicate, I wouldn't

really be able to pull it back
off if it was in the wrong place.

I'm happy as far as I can be
for now,

but as it goes on, I will try
and perfect the shape and get

it to how I think it should be.

So I'm just going on to the sole
here.

I need to get some of this surface
rust off the spikes.

So I think the wire brush
is the best option.

You can already see the silver's
really coming through really nice,

and you can see the maker's mark
and the patent number.

The last time Neil probably saw
these spikes in this state was

when he got them out of the box
for a bit of a run.

It's really quite satisfying to see.

Art conservator Lucia Scalisi

is next to have her restoration
skills put to the test

with a treasured window into the
past belonging

to Sophy Bellis and son, Harry.

Hello. Hello.

I'm just looking at this gorgeous
painting. Yes. It's delightful.

Thank you very much.

This is little Sophy,
little, serious Sophy.

This is you? This is me,

painted by an artist called
Roger Hampson, who lived

up the road from us when I was
a little girl in Bolton.

My mum thought, "Hmm,
an artist living up the road,

"this is a really good opportunity."

I believe I had to go several
afternoons and sit on the orange

chair for a couple of hours,
which is quite tough

when you're a little girl.

And I can also remember
that that dress was really scratchy.

Is this the '60s?

So this will be the late '60s,

I think that would be 1967 or '68.

Beautiful colours.

And the artist has done such
a good job of capturing a child

trying to sit still. Trying to sit
still - not managing but trying.

Yeah. He said to my mum,
"Barbara, I think the thing

"I may not have got quite right is
the mouth,

"because Sophy didn't stop talking
at any point."

SHE LAUGHS

My mum thought it was absolutely
fantastic.

It hung on the wall and was much
admired.

Harry, what are your memories
of this painting?

I remember it in my granny's living
room, and I remember looking

at it and thinking, "My mum
was my age once" -

what a scary thought! Oh! Did you
like it, did you like the portrait?

Yeah, I think it's a really
good portrait.

It'd be lovely to see it restored.

It began to flake a little bit,

and she was really,
really bothered about this.

Mum was desperate to find
some way of stopping it.

She would say to me, "I need to find
someone who can look

"after the painting for me."

Sadly, a few years ago...

..Mum developed dementia,

and it became very difficult
for her to create new memories.

We would look at old photographs,
she could talk about those,

but, actually, talking about
the painting would always get

the strongest reaction.
That makes it even more special.

It was a vehicle for us to be able

to connect till, really, the very
end.

What a lovely thing to have,
and the memory of your mum.

Absolutely. Yeah. It's flaking
really quite badly, isn't it? It is.

What do you want me to do to it?

Just see what you can do to perhaps
slow down the passage of time.

I really want to have it
on the wall, I really do,

because every time I glance
at it, I'll think of Mum.

Thank you for bringing it in.

It's absolutely fantastic and it'd
be lovely to work

on this lovely portrait.
Yeah, I'm really excited, actually.

Yeah. I'll see you soon.
Bye. Bye. Bye.

It's a real thrill to be working
on something like this,

and just such a lovely, intimate
portrait of Sophy.

I absolutely love it.

But there's very poor adhesion
between the canvas

and the actual paint layer.

My goodness. It's very interesting
what the artist has done

with the canvas.

Oh, yes, it's obviously where
the problem's come from.

This is a reused canvas,
which is not an unusual thing

for artists to do, because artist
materials are expensive.

But I think what Roger Hampson
has done is scraped off a painting

that was on the back.

So the canvas itself is really quite
stiff and dry

and not particularly absorbent.

So the initial approach is going to
be consolidation of that,

securing it before we lose
any more, then application of a thin

coat of varnish. I will fill
the losses and then retouch.

It's quite a lot of work,
but it's very rewarding to do

it, because the results
are fantastic.

Striving for success with her pet
project,

Kirsten's preparing for
the trickiest stage of the repair.

I'm now ready to attach
the largest piece of the ear.

I'm just using a two-part epoxy.

Whilst this is quite a nice,
large section,

it is just floating in mid-air,

so I need to get a really good join,
and I'm then going to fill

in the missing area.

What I am going to do is place
it on its side.

I always try and get gravity
to assist if I can,

it just gives you the edge.

That's good.

So I'm going to let that cure,
and with the same adhesive, I'm now

going to consolidate some
of these cracks.

Then I will be ready to do
some filling.

Hi.

I'm preparing a two-part epoxy

modelling paste to try and recreate

the Bulldog Barman's ear.

This is Nigel's companion, and every
evening, he sits and he strokes

it and he feels it,

so it's really important
that it feels as he remembers it.

The point where you're most likely
to notice that this has been

restored is where the new meets
the original,

so it's quite important to work
on that join and blend it.

So what I've got is a really furry
texture in the surface here

and I need to try and recreate that.

It's literally just a scratching
technique,

so I'm going to try that and see
how it looks.

I really love putting texture
and patterns on things,

it's really fun to do.

It might be that I need to use
a dental tool.

I'm just going to have a go,

trial and error.

I'm used to making it look
right, but I think Nigel

is going to probably be quite
a tough critic.

But I think I'm going to have to

take these gloves off at some

point and actually feel it and check

that it is feeling correct.

I think that's really starting
to look like it's matching

the original texture.

So I'll take my glove off.

That's definitely starting to feel
like it's matching the texture

of the original.

I think that just needs a little bit
more work and then I'll be there.

Hey, Jools, do you run?

Not as often as I like. Yeah?

I love it in the summer.

Maybe we could have a race
at lunchtime. Yay! Shall we do it?

Get our trainers out and go round
the fields.

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

LAUGHS: Yeah. That'd be a lot of
fun, eh? Yeah, yeah.

I've waxed the bonds, polished
up these spikes.

The red has come up beautifully
well. These shoes have seen

a lot of action. This is indicative
of Neil's glory days,

winning so many things as he did,
and I think it's important to keep

the shape of them.

So, as I always advise, you should
have a pair of shoe trees.

Now, these are going to be
a tight fit,

so this is a real test of my
hand-sewing and my repairs.

I was worried when they first came
in that I wouldn't be able to do

justice to them,

so to come all that way and see them
like this is quite a proud moment.

I just hope that Neil is as happy
as I am.

Made in the 1940s, these old-style
leather running spikes were badly

disintegrating, and it appeared
their race was run.

'Ey up, Jay. Look at them.

Yeah, they've come up all right,
haven't they?

Wow! They've got a bit of body to
them now, ain't they?

Yeah, they look like a shoe.

Good on ya. Nice one.

Along with granddaughter Saadia,


can stand testament

to his achievements on the track.

There he is. Hello.

Hello. How are you doing? Good,
thank you.

NEIL CHUCKLES

Neil, you're smiling already.
Oh, yes, I am indeed.

It's so long since these spikes

split... OK. ..that I'm anxious to
see them in its original state.

Oh, in an original state?

SHE LAUGHS

No pressure there. A lot of
pressure, yeah.

So that's the state when your mum
and dad bought them for you?

They were something like that.
HE LAUGHS

Shall we start again?

THEY LAUGH

Dean? Shall I do the honours?
Do the honours.

Wow! My word!

Oh, my goodness!

SHE LAUGHS

Oh, my goodness!

They look amazing!

HE LAUGHS


in that condition.

Yeah? I never expected to see
them in this state again.

I were dubious.

THEY LAUGH

Was it a lot, was it tough? Yeah?

Remarkable job.
Thank you. Remarkable job.

I can't even remember which one
had the hole in now.

That's astounding!
Yeah, they've come up nice.

THEY LAUGH

So, Neil, do these take you back
to that time when you was winning

all those races? Yes, it does.

They were halcyon days, those.

Yeah. The whole family's going
to be amazed to see them

like this. They are indeed.
Yeah. That's what we want. Yeah.

Well, thank you for bringing
them in. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much indeed
for everything, all your skills.

Yeah. Enjoy. Thanks. Thank you.
Take care now. See you later.

Bye. Bye-bye.

I only wish that I could make use
of them,

but I think those days
are long past.

Our family's so sporty
that the running spikes are a symbol

of that, and it's great to not only
have been able to get them repaired

for you, but also for everyone
to enjoy the stories, seeing

the running spikes
as they are again now.

It makes me very proud,

and I'm very grateful for everything
that's been done.

The next item ready and waiting
in the Barn has already struck

a chord with organ restorer
David Burville.

Hello. Morning. Morning.
How are we doing?

For Norman Kench and daughter
Sarah, from Warwickshire,

it's a local and personal
legacy well worth saving.

Good morning. Morning, morning.

We've brought a lovely barrel organ
for you to have a play with.

So please tell us about this,
it's yours?

It actually belongs to
Henley-in-Arden town,

and a lot of the people
in the town are really keen on it

coming back to life.
It plays ten tunes badly.

So you wind it up and then you let
it go and then it just plays it?

No, you have to wind it all the
time, continually winding it.

Yeah. Seriously? Seriously, yeah.

Well, you crank this little
handle here.

ORGAN PLAYS OUT OF TUNE

THEY LAUGH

Name that tune! Yeah!

Now, stop that. Cor blimey.

All the right notes, not necessarily
in the right order.

That's the one, yeah,
that's the one.

We think it's been in the town
for about 100, 110 years.

Really? Yeah. Nobody wants to hear
it as it is now. Yeah.

However, prior to that,
it was brought out for Christmas

on the high street, cos they do
things with the Christmas lights

and get the whole town involved.

So to have this back as a centre
point would be so nice.

Yeah. It would be nice for it to
play nicely, wouldn't it?

And look a bit nicer as well...
Yeah. ..cos it looks a bit tired

on the outside, just a wee bit.

So the whole town knows
that you brought this in?

They do indeed, yeah.
I'm community-minded myself,

but why - have you always
lived in that town?

Mum and Dad moved to the town
about... 2004. ..2004... OK.

..and the town just brought
Mum back to life.

She retired. it gave her a purpose
in life from going

from being a very busy working
person.

She became involved in a lot
of the societies

that were in the town,
cos she was a fantastic office

manager and secretary.

She ran a lot of these societies,
and that's where Dad's involvement

with the town came in as well.

I'm with you.
Yeah, it's a great community.

They've been very, very supportive
of me.

I think since Mum's gone,
they've given Dad more of a focus,

more of a purpose.

I unfortunately lost my wife
four years ago,

but they're just great people.

A lot of people underestimate
community, and they are friends,

but then they start to become
family members.

So this is kind of like in memory
of Mum as well, then, cos

she started that whole...?

She started us involved with the
town.

So that's why you want to get
this done? Yeah.

For us to gather round and enjoy
it as a community.

Yeah. Just to have it play properly.

So at least you can recognise
the tune. There's a label

inside which tells
you what they are.

Just lift the top, swing this out.

Yep. I'll take it this end. OK.

And there's ten different songs.

My Old Man Said Follow The Van.

Yeah. Broken Doll, Honeysuckle
And The Bee.

There's a few old c*ck tunes in.
Yeah, yeah.

It don't sound like
any of them at the moment, does it?

They all sound the same.

THEY LAUGH

So we'd like this to be up
and running. Yeah. Yeah.

Thank you for bringing
this in, and let the community know

that you brought it to the right
community to be fixed.

I will indeed.

I'll say you promised this guy
is going to fix it.

THEY LAUGH

No, I didn't say I promise,
I said "possible".

THEY LAUGH

Get him out of it.

Thank you very much, guys,
thank you.

You take care, cheerio.

You ever seen one of these before?

Yes, it was actually one of these
that got my dad interested

in, like, the whole mechanical
music thing,

and he's still got his one.
So how does his one sound?

Does it sound better than this?
No. No. No.

THEY LAUGH

It's like being a motor mechanic.
You always have the worst

car, don't you? Cos you don't have
the time to work on your own.

No, that's it. So I'll give you
a hand getting this out.

Great. Lovely. You've got the
heavy end. LAUGHS: Yeah, yeah.

Off we go.

I'm really, really, really excited
about this.

It would have started out, actually,
as a cafe piano, so you'd have put

a coin in it, selected a tune,

but a lot of them got converted
later on to being on carts.

So I dare say this one has seen
quite a varied life.

If only it could talk.

But for me, it's a real
connection to my dad

and his love of these mechanical
musical machines.

So, yeah, I'm really pleased,
really pleased to be working on it.

What we've got to do is to get
it to sing,

and in order to do that, we've got
quite a lot of work ahead.

Cosmetically, it's been bashed
about a bit, but the most important

bit is the mechanical part.

We'll see what delights are inside.

It's actually operated by this
pinned barrel,

so it works like a giant
music box, in effect.

These little pins operate
onto these hammers,

and then they strike the strings
which produce the notes.

I'm going to get it to pieces

and then we'll see what's
wrong with it.

As David embarks on his hefty
restoration,

for Lucia, it's all in the detail
as she repairs the damage

to little Sophy's portrait.

There's quite a lot of flaking
across the surface of the painting,

so I'm just moving across quite
slowly.

I'm using an acrylic-based
consolidant.

I put an absorbent, acid-free
tissue on it.

Then I will use my absolutely
essential heater spatula.

A little bit of heat encourages
the flow of the adhesive

and the softening of the paint.

And then, hey,
presto, it's reattached.

It's very satisfying to be able to
see these going down nice and flat

because the more of the original
paint I can save, the better.

I shall go across the whole
of this cracking with this process

until it's all nice and secure.

And then, when I've finished
all that, I can take the tissue

off and everything will be nice
and flat,

and then it'll be ready
for cleaning.

I've just finished the consolidation

of the lifting paint.

It's looking good, and there
are far fewer losses

than I originally thought.

I'm really pleased
that this has gone so well,

because I was a little bit nervous.

Because it's a reused canvas,

you never quite know how things
are going to react.

I'm now going to apply a coat
of varnish.

Right, I'm going to do this by just
pouring the varnish

directly on the centre
of the painting.

It will act as an isolating layer
between the original paint

surface and anything
I'm going to do.

The varnish, as you can see, it
saturates the colours so it makes

it look much richer.

And by continually brushing
as it's drying, it's almost

like a suede effect on the surface.

But it sort of matts it
more and more.

So I'm just going to keep
working it until I think

it's at a nice level.

I really want to spread
it out very, very thinly.

So I'm really pleased with that.

Just need to leave this to dry,

it will go off very quickly,

then I can start filling the losses.

I love this portrait,
it's really good.

It's all very fiddly.

You ever tried a monocle, Steve?
I was just thinking that.

SHE LAUGHS

How do you think that would
look on me? What, added on?

THEY LAUGH

Have them all over my head.

There we go. Oh, fantastic!
All done.

Au revoir.

I'm using an acrylic gesso
filler, which has a really

beautiful, smooth finish.

I use the filler to actually
bring up that paint surface

from the canvas underneath
because they're shallow losses,

and retouching the paint
will not bring that depth up.

So this one in the hair
is quite a deep one.

I've had this dental tool for years,

and it's just been the best
thing for filling.

So I'm going to fill this little
loss here.

It's quite a contrasted loss

because it's in this dark hair

and the ground underneath is white.

I'll just gently sort of push
it into the loss.

I'm also thinking about the colours
I'm going to be using

to do the retouching.

It's a really nice palette
the artist has got.

I think it's very of the period.

It's really lovely.

Once I've rubbed them down and
they're all really nice and neat,

then I can start the retouching.

Kirsten's already at the point
of disguising her repairs

on the bodywork of the Bulldog
Barman.

I'm going to use several different
colours.

Whilst this is mainly black,

I think that there's probably some
white in there,

and there's quite a warm
red coming through as well.

I'm just going to get a base colour
on to block out the fill,

and then I'm going to work my way
over it, adding in the different

colours that I can see.

I think that's blended in quite
nicely, and it's going to be really

lovely to see the Bulldog Barman

upright, holding the tray

and ready to go home with Nigel.

After a mishap following a house
move, this curiosity of a side table

was no longer fit for purpose.

Hoping his faithful friend can sit
by his side again, and serve him

a tipple or two,

Nigel has returned with wife Karen.

Hi, Nigel, hi, Karen. Hello,
Kirsten, and Jay, of course.

How are we doing?
BOTH: All right, thank you.

Fine. So how are you both feeling?

We are both really,
really tremendously excited.

Can't wait.
He's quite a presence, isn't he?

THEY LAUGH

He is. Absolutely.

I hope he's not been causing
any trouble. All sorts of trouble.

THEY LAUGH

He's a big part
of our lives, isn't he?

Ready? Yes. Yeah?
BOTH: Yes!

OK. OK. Here we go.

Oh, his ear, bless him!

SHE LAUGHS

Where is he?

Straight in there, go on. He's
there, Nigel, don't knock him over!

THEY LAUGH

Hold me cane.

Oh, my God, Kirsten, that is
phenomenal!

Oh, wow, that is amazing!

He's got his ear back on,
he's absolutely so tactile again,

he's perfect.
Oh, wow, I can't thank you enough.

I cannot feel where the repair is,

it's all just blending in again.

What about his back? Yeah, his arm,
the crack's gone from his arm.

You're on your way back home, mate!
THEY LAUGH

Right. Absolutely wonderful.

He'll be serving you once again.

He will. I will not walk into him
again.

No, definitely not. We are so
indebted to you. I've got tears

in my eyes. I'm glad I've got dark
glasses on, you can't see.

THEY LAUGH

Well, it makes it all worthwhile
to see your reaction. Thank you.

Wonderful. Thank you so much.
It's been a great pleasure.

See you back at home, mate.

THEY LAUGH

Thank you very much, thank you.
A pleasure. Thank you.

You both take care now.
Bye-bye, thank you. Bye-bye.

Well done. Nice one.

Absolutely over the moon.

Words cannot express how
I really do feel.

To fill that gap again,

and have him there serving Nigel his
G&Ts will be fantastic again,

absolutely fantastic.

It's just going to be such
a pleasure and a privilege

to have him back home with us.

David's got a way to go
with his restoration, but he can now

examine why the barrel organ
has become so terribly tuneless.

I've got the hammer mechanism out.

The lower notes are done
with a felted hammer to give them

a slightly softer, warmer tone.

And then the plain wooden hammers

in the upper melody section,

that gives a bit a more
of a brilliant sound.

So, fortunately, the felt

is in a reasonable condition,

but a little bit soft,

and at some point somebody has put
leather onto the surface of the felt

to maybe alter the tone.

The leather needs removing,

so the first thing I'm going to do
is to see if it's going to come

off reasonably easily.

Well, it's come off reasonably well,

it has left some glue
actually onto the felt.

I should be able to actually
clean that away.

What we need is a nice, firm surface

so that when that hammer hits

the string, it gives
a really nice, clear tone.

I'm just using a weak solution
of shellac and methylated spirits

just behind the actual hitting
surface.

It actually soaks into the felt
and makes it just a little bit

harder.

That actually looks quite promising,

so I'm going to remove the rest

of the hammers and then I can

actually take the leather off

and then I can start redressing

them all together.

How's it going, Dave?
Hello, mate, all right? Yeah.

Got it all apart, ain't you?

LAUGHS: Yeah!

So you've taken all of these out?

Yep, they've all been dressed,

all these felt ones have all been
dressed and just hardened

and all that sort of thing.
Yeah. I'm just having to shim them

up because they have to be

dead straight, no flex in 'em.
So, yeah, a bit of a fiddle, mate.

Once you put those in there, that
will be it, it will sound better?

Got to tune it up, tune it up a bit
and then put the barrel back in.

But it looks like you're winning.

Oh, getting there, I'm hammering
them in. OK.

And then the outside, who's working
on that?

Me. There's veneer which has lifted.

We're going to just do a little bit
of stabilising

on it, because they wanted it to
look like it was. It's well-used,

it's all part of its character,
so...

All right. And then, hopefully,
we can have a knees-up.

Well, you're smiling, that's the
main thing, all right? Enjoy.

HE LAUGHS

See you, mate.

It's certainly
looking better than it was...

DISCORDANT NOTES RING

..and it's still horribly out of
tune.

But there's one or two that just
need a little bit of alignment,

but before that happens, I'm just
having a look at the casework.

But, unfortunately, some

of the original veneer has bubbled,

so what I want to do is to actually
stabilise the veneer.

I'm using some hot glue,

and I'm just using the brush to rub

it into the lifted areas

of the veneer,

and then the small

iron and a damp rag to introduce

a bit of heat and pressure,

and that should re-stick it,

just so that it can't get any worse.

Well, that seems to be working

really well, so I'm just going

to carry on with the rest

of the case like that,

and then it's ready for a final
coat of polish.

As David presses on with
his project, Lucia's in the final

stages of hers.

I'm very pleased with the filling,
it's nice and level.

I did all the base layers and now

I'm using my retouching pigment.

I'm actually at the point that's
very satisfying.

At this stage, when the main colours
are all in there,

I'm really just being quite
pernickety,

just to pull it in a little bit more
with the idea that it doesn't look

as if anything's happened to it.

So, yeah, my work should be

completely invisible.

I have never worked on a portrait

where the sitter is still alive.

Usually they're artists' self
portraits

and they've been long gone.

But this is a little girl,

and she's around to comment on it.

It's precious.

It's really precious.

That's why I hope she likes it.

Over the decades, this charming

painting from the 1960s had become

flaky and lacklustre.

With son Harry,

Sophy's back to collect
the painting her late mum wanted

to have restored so much.

Hello.

Hello. Hi.

Lovely to see you again.

How are you doing? Nice to meet you.

Likewise. I'm so excited.

I don't think you're as excited
as Lucia, she's proper excited.

I think it could be a
close-run thing, believe me.

THEY LAUGH

I'm hoping to see the little girl
Sophy looking a little less flaky

than she did last time.

Restored to her prime.

Do you want to show her?

Yeah. Are you ready?

Yes, more than ready.

My goodness! HARRY: Wow.

Oh, my goodness!

That's amazing!

Oh, that is extraordinary!
That is amazing! Wow!

That is absolutely incredible.

You are so clever!

I cannot remember
it looking this good, honestly.

It's just so vibrant,
that's what I can't get over.

It's truly, truly amazing.

Granny would be absolutely thrilled,

she really would. She really would.

Oh, I can't thank you enough.

LUCIA: Thanks for the opportunity,
cos it really has been a treat.

I'll get this wrapped up for you.
Thank you so much.

HARRY: Thank you so much. So looking
forward to taking her home.

Thank you for bringing it in.
Thank you. Thank you.

See you soon.
Bye. Bye. See you, bye-bye.

I'm feeling absolutely elated.

I never in my wildest imaginings

thought that the painting would look

as fabulous as it does.

I think Granny would be very,
very pleased.

She would. Very proud.

And I feel very connected
to her right now,

and I know that we've done something
that she was desperate to have done,

and that's a really nice feeling.

The barrel organ has had a spit
and polish,

but there's a crucial job to do

before it can make its c*ck
comeback.

It's now looking really quite good.

The next thing is it's got
to sound good,

and in order to do that,
I've got to tune it.

You'd think this would be an easy
job, because you've actually got

all of the notes marked
on all of the strings.

But the notes that are marked

aren't actually the notes

that the strings are playing.

Fortunately, when I took

the piano to pieces, I checked

all of the notes,

and so I know that, in actual fact,

the notes that are marked C
are actually playing the note A.

So what I'm going to do
is I'm going to set the electronic

tuning meter to A...

TUNER HUMS

..so I'm going to take the left-hand
string...

PLAYS OUT OF TUNE

..start with that,

just plucking it by hand.

You're just knocking it
round just a little bit at a time.

SOUNDS MORE IN TUNE

So that's the first string tuned,
and that sounds really good.

Now we've just got the hundreds
of other strings to go through.

Tuning is actually one of the most
time-consuming parts of a job

like this, but it's really worth
the time and effort.

I'm hoping that Norman really hears
the difference.

For more than a century,
this musical relic's cheerful

repertoire delighted
the townspeople to whom it belonged.

What do you reckon? It looks the
part, but does it sound all right?

I hope so.

HE LAUGHS

Don't give me that, you're supposed
to be doing that.

I don't know what that is.
Let's get it covered up.

Super.

Hoping it will allow the town
of Henley-in-Arden

to enjoy more singalongs,

are Sarah and dad Norman,
who shares his late wife's zeal

for the local community.

Hello. Are you all right, Sarah?

Hi. How are you doing? Are you all
right, Norman?

Hello, Jay, Dave.

How are you guys feeling -
are you excited?

Naturally, yes.

THEY LAUGH

Hearing it actually do its job
properly.

Yeah. You ready to see it?

Yeah, yes, please.

Go on, then, Dave. Here we go.

It's amazing.
Yeah? It's absolutely amazing.

It looks beautiful.
Yeah. It looks lovely.

Wow! Yeah, beautiful!

Now to hear it, shall we?

Do you want to hear it, yes?
Oh, yes, please! He's so impatient.

"I want to hear it." That's all you
want to do, innit?

Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry.
Oh, it's no problem. Dave?

All right, then. Play 'em a tune.
Right, here we go.

PLAYS ALL THE NICE GIRLS
LOVE A SAILOR

Sounds proper, doesn't it?

Brilliant, isn't it? Really good!

It's hard work, though, isn't it?
Yeah!

Hey!

THEY APPLAUD

SHE LAUGHS

Thank you. Oh, David,
that were a wonderful job.

Thank you very much, young sir.
You're very welcome, you're welcome.

That's beautiful. Well played,
very well played. Really good.

I think it will be so nice
to have it back in the town.

They're going to be over the moon.

It's beautiful. Yeah.

I didn't think I'd ever hear it
going properly again.

And you did it.
Thank you for all your efforts.

Well, we'll get this shipped
up to you, but thank you, both,

for bringing it in. No, it's all
right. Thank you. Thank you.

You guys take care now.
All right, all the best.

Thank you very much. Bye-bye.

It just sounded so good,

it sounded like it should do.

It'll be out there on town events
and they'll all be able to enjoy it.

It will be back in the heart
of the community

where it does belong.

I think if my wife, Pat, could hear
the barrel organ now,

she'd be very pleased that we got
it back into the community.

Yeah. Henley meant the world to her.

Yeah, she'll be so proud.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: 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.