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00:00A workshop full of wonders.
00:03I heard the word watch.
00:05Home to experts and time-honoured crafts.
00:09There you go, that's a good sound.
00:11Together repairing treasured pieces of the past.
00:15Oh, I like that. That is really good.
00:19Wow, look at that.
00:21Wow, look at that.
00:23Quite proud of that.
00:25And unlocking their stories.
00:27I'm completely blown away by this.
00:30Oh dear.
00:32Bringing the broken.
00:34I don't know where to start with this.
00:35Back to life.
00:36Wow.
00:39Stunning.
00:40Wow, fantastic.
00:44I think it's just amazing.
00:46Yeah.
00:47Welcome to the repair shop.
01:00Today, joining the cobbler.
01:02The shaker.
01:04And the table leg maker.
01:06Steve Fletcher is admiring the barn's first assignment.
01:11Lucia, come and have a look at this.
01:13Wow, this is something.
01:16It is, isn't it?
01:18I love things like this.
01:20This miniature marvel comes courtesy of ex-coal miner, John Wilcher, from Hollywell in North
01:29Wales.
01:30Hello, sir.
01:31Hello.
01:32So, John, this is an amazing model.
01:36It sure is, it sure is.
01:38It was built by my grandfather in 1904.
01:42It's amazing.
01:43What is it?
01:44Well, this model is a model of a coal mine.
01:47When you turned the handle, all these used to turn and them shafts would go up and down.
01:54So, where was the handle then?
01:55It was just there.
01:56Can you see a little hole?
01:57I can see a little hole there, yes.
01:59Oh, my word.
02:00There was like a crank going over there and it was housed over here.
02:03Yes.
02:04John, what was your grandfather's name?
02:07His name was John Joseph Wilcher.
02:10So, why did he make it?
02:12Because he hurt his back and he couldn't go down the pit anymore.
02:16In them days, it was very dangerous, yes.
02:19Very, very bad conditions, you know.
02:21There was accidents all the time.
02:24So, he just took to making models.
02:27Did you end up going down the mines?
02:29I did, sir, yes, I did.
02:31I went down the mine in the very, very early 70s to 1994.
02:37That's a long time.
02:38Yeah.
02:39Was it scary?
02:40No.
02:41It's dark.
02:42It's dirty.
02:44But I just loved the camaraderie.
02:47You're watching your mates back, you know.
02:49I think that's when I realised it.
02:51I had coldest in my veins, you know.
02:54Tell me a bit about your grandfather.
02:56What was he like?
02:57He was a lovely old boy to me.
03:00He used to tell me stories.
03:02I always remember that.
03:04Fantastic fella.
03:06When I was told that he was coming to me in the will,
03:11I was elated, you know, really.
03:13It's an honour, isn't it, to have this.
03:16I run a little museum.
03:18I am all sorts of mining artefacts.
03:20And, of course, this little beauty was pride of place.
03:24And was it working then?
03:26It was working, yeah.
03:27It was working fine.
03:28But then it started sticking, you see.
03:31I went to a model maker.
03:33This guy says, we'll fix it for you.
03:35Yep.
03:36So, when I went to pick it up, the mechanism had gone.
03:40When you turned, you know, gone.
03:42That's very unfortunate.
03:43Oh, flipping that guy.
03:45I guess because this is a one-off, your grandfather wouldn't have done drawings of the mechanism.
03:52He would have just done it as he went along.
03:54No.
03:55That's what he'd do, you know, Steve.
03:56He'd be so brilliant.
03:57My brain is whirring at the moment, just thinking about the cages going up and down.
04:03But I'm probably going to have to sleep on that one.
04:06What is the plan for the model if I can get it all working?
04:09It will go in pride of place in my museum to keep all the memories of mining alive, you know.
04:18And this will be, you know, the crown on it.
04:22I'll see what I can do.
04:23Thank you so much for bringing it in.
04:25See you, my dear.
04:26See you soon.
04:27Bye-bye.
04:28See you again.
04:29Thank you very much.
04:35Steve, where on earth are you going to start with this?
04:37Do you know what?
04:38I've no idea.
04:39I've got to try and get my head into John's grandfather's head to work out what sort of mechanism it would have had.
04:47Well, there's certainly a lot to do with the paint surface.
04:50Yeah.
04:51And just getting this cleaned up a little bit actually, but not too much.
04:54Well, let me know when you want me to come in and do the work on the surface.
04:58Might be some while.
04:59Okay.
05:00This is incredible.
05:15Slightly worried because I've got to design and make a complete new mechanism underneath that's going to drive everything.
05:27I've got to turn that motion of turning the handle to raise and lower the cages.
05:34Yeah, there's a lot to think about here actually.
05:37As Steve minds his imagination, Will Kirk is awaiting the arrival of Sarah Kelly and her daughter Laura.
05:52Lovely isn't it?
05:55Yeah, it is.
05:56They've come from Belfast with an heirloom that inspired a family vocation.
06:01Hi there.
06:03Hello.
06:04Welcome to the barn.
06:05Thank you very much.
06:06This is lovely.
06:09This is a writing box, right?
06:10It is.
06:11As far as I know, it's a Victorian writing box.
06:13So if these panels sort of sit like that.
06:16That's right.
06:17And then this is the surface that you write your letters on.
06:19Yeah, that's right.
06:20It belonged to my grandmother.
06:24She was given it by what had been her fiancé I think at the time, my grandfather.
06:29I know he gave it to her before they were married because he put her name on it.
06:34So Dolly McCormick was my grandmother.
06:37My grandmother died in 59.
06:40My mum had it all her life until she died and she died in 1993.
06:45Was your mum quite a writer then?
06:47Yeah, my mum was known as Kay Kennedy.
06:49She left school when she was only 14, went on to become a journalist.
06:54Really just through force of character, which sums my mum up.
07:00And then she worked her way up to becoming an editor of one of the papers called The Ulster Star.
07:07And she was one of the first woman editors in Northern Ireland, which I'm very proud of.
07:14That's amazing.
07:15It was amazing.
07:16It was amazing.
07:17And she was quite an exceptional woman.
07:19Yeah.
07:20She did very hard-hitting news stories at a difficult time in Northern Ireland.
07:25Yeah.
07:26She was right on the front doing that.
07:28But she also met all sorts of celebrities.
07:31Did she?
07:32She got to know Johnny Cash quite well.
07:34Yeah.
07:35The Roger Moore, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Bee Gees, you name it.
07:41She was well respected and well admired.
07:44Yeah.
07:45What she achieved for a woman with very little formal education, who just really had a love of words.
07:52Granny really was a trailblazer.
07:54And so it's really important for me to say that and to talk about Kay Kennedy because she broke so many boundaries.
08:01I'm a journalist because my grandmother was a journalist.
08:05She would have brought me into the offices whenever I was like a toddler.
08:08My grandmother was definitely my hero.
08:11Being the writing box, it's all about that link to the craft of words and to, you know, to telling those stories.
08:17But in its current condition, it doesn't really do justice.
08:19Exactly.
08:20Yeah.
08:21I mean, it's a bit of a sad wreck at the moment and it would be really nice if it's not quite so sad looking.
08:27The fact that it's a writing box and writing is so important in our family, this sort of encapsulates that.
08:35You know, linking back through all of those generations of, you know, my family and the women in my family keep that legacy alive.
08:43Yeah.
08:44I'm going to take very good care of this and get it worthy of a journalist again.
08:48Thank you so much.
08:49I'll see you very soon.
08:51Bye.
08:52Bye.
08:57I've got to devise a mechanism that make the cages go up and down, alternately like this.
09:11Oh God, that's complicated, isn't it?
09:13The thought about rack and pinion.
09:15And I don't know what your mind would come up with because you're very mechanical.
09:19I'd go with cams, but again, it's distances, traveling and all this sort of thing.
09:26Yeah.
09:37Now this is a great box.
09:39It's a real shame that this is in the condition that it's in.
09:41It doesn't really reflect Kay's work.
09:43And she sounded like a real powerhouse in the world of journalism.
09:47You've got two compartments, one at the top, one at the bottom.
09:50And it would have been held together by sort of one piece of leather on the inside.
09:54But I'm hoping Chris can have a look at that.
09:59This box gives you the illusion that it's made out of solid walnut.
10:02There's actually pine on the core on the inside.
10:05And a very thin amount of wood will be veneered onto the surface.
10:10When it gets damaged around the edges, it looks not very nice.
10:14I'm going to start off by removing the surface dirt and residue.
10:17The solution is made up of a bit of turps, a bit of meth and a few other ingredients.
10:30Well, it's cleaning up really well.
10:32Once I've finished the other side of the box, then I can start all the repairs.
10:36While Lucia begins restoring the paintwork of the model mine.
10:55The thing with acrylic paints, you have to move really quickly because they dry really quickly.
11:01Steve has been racking his brains on how to create the missing mechanics.
11:06I think I've now come up with a plan of how to drive all of the mine.
11:13And I've split it into two different sections.
11:16I've got this crank arm that I've made.
11:19We'll have various pulleys on.
11:21And that's going to drive the grinding wheel, saw bench and the air pump as well.
11:28The tricky bit then comes in this stage two for the lifts and cages.
11:34To start with, what I'm going to do is just fit the pulleys onto this shaft,
11:40which is the same sort of pulley as I see using my construction set when I was a kid.
11:47So I just need to now pop the pulley belt into place.
11:51And I've got a mirror in there just to help me see what I'm doing.
11:56Otherwise I'm just feeling in the dark a bit.
12:05Good. It's gone on really well. Let's see if it works.
12:12Brilliant.
12:13I'm really chuffed with that. All working absolutely as it should do.
12:30But that is the simple part of this repair.
12:34I've now got to turn my attention to getting the lifts to work.
12:39I'm now working on the part of the mechanism that will drive the winding wheels to lift the cages up and down.
13:08One of the things that makes this mechanism not straightforward is that I'm turning a sort of radial movement into an up and down movement.
13:18I'm just going to make this crank arm.
13:22I'm just going to make this crank arm.
13:23I'm just going to make this crank arm.
13:25I'm just going to make this crank arm.
13:29If someone turns the handle, the crank handle turns this little wheel here,
13:54which then turns this big wheel and moves the rack one way or the other.
14:01And I'm really hoping that my final calculations are correct,
14:06so that there's the right amount of up-and-down movement for the cages.
14:11If not, then I'm in a spot of bother, I think.
14:17Did you ever have a favourite toy as a kid?
14:26I have a little pig, he's called Porky.
14:29Oh, Porky Pig.
14:30And he had a little girlfriend called Porkat.
14:32Oh, I love that!
14:34Here to see plastics and toy restorer Charlotte Abbott
14:39is Jackie Harris from Barrow & Furnace, with a beloved family treasure.
14:44Hello.
14:45Hello.
14:47Hello.
14:48So, who do we have here?
14:50This is Rose Budd.
14:51She belonged to my mum.
14:52She's about 75 years old, we think.
14:55And given to my mum when she first went to live with her adoptive parents.
15:00Gosh.
15:01What was your mum's name?
15:02My mum was called Myra.
15:03She died in 2016, so nearly nine years ago.
15:06My mum lost her dad when she was about seven.
15:08Oh.
15:09And then her mum when she was about nine.
15:12Her mum had a brain tumour and knew that she was really poorly.
15:15So she tried to find a home for all the nine children before she died.
15:19Oh, my goodness.
15:21Nine.
15:22Yeah.
15:23Seven of the children went to live in Ireland with an aunt there.
15:26And then my mum and my mum's sister, my auntie Mary, lived in Barrow with families that she knew that could look after them.
15:33Wow.
15:34So, overnight, my mum lost a mum of siblings and a home.
15:39That is just tragic, isn't it?
15:41It is really tragic, yeah.
15:43Wow.
15:44I mean, she'd never met the family before.
15:46Yeah.
15:47Before she went to live with them.
15:48But I also know that she was loved there.
15:51Yeah.
15:52And she was happy there.
15:53So, my mum was really, really lucky to have that family.
15:55She was looked after like their own, yeah.
15:58And what were her parents like?
16:00So, your grandparents, what were they like?
16:02Yeah, Violet and Walter.
16:03They were lovely.
16:04They just loved my mum.
16:05Yeah.
16:06And obviously they wanted to get a doll.
16:08Yeah.
16:09It's a lovely welcome gift, really.
16:12She'd never had a doll before.
16:13Oh.
16:14So, she really treasured Rosebud.
16:17Yeah.
16:18For her whole life, obviously.
16:19Oh, yeah, she did, yeah.
16:20And when she was really poorly, the week before she died, she just asked that me and my sister would look after Rosebud for her.
16:25Oh, wow.
16:26So, what was Myra like as a mum?
16:29She was a really loving mum.
16:30It was a lovely family home that my mum created really because she'd lost her own and we were her world, yeah.
16:36My dad and my sister and me, yeah.
16:37Best mum ever, yeah.
16:38Oh, that is lovely.
16:40What do you think when you look at Rosebud?
16:42Oh, I think of my mum straight away.
16:44Do you?
16:45Absolutely, yeah.
16:46She was a real support for my mum and she always used to sleep with her and even when she got married, she took her to a new home with my dad.
16:53And then she just sat on this little wicker chair in my mum and dad's bedroom and that's where she sat since I've known her.
16:59I mean, I know she's been loved so much that she's fallen apart.
17:03Yeah.
17:04Has she always been in this condition as you can remember?
17:06As long as I can remember.
17:07Yeah, I've never known her with any legs.
17:09And my dad was married to a mum in 1965 and he said that she never had legs then either.
17:16What would you like me to do?
17:17Legs, hopefully, would be a really wonderful thing to have back.
17:22A head, secure as well.
17:24The head's been taped on.
17:26All her hair's quite matted and there's not much hair.
17:29I'd love to see how my mum had first received her.
17:33But she's still got a gorgeous face.
17:35She does.
17:36She's still got her rosebud lips.
17:37Look at those lips, yeah.
17:38Yeah, which is how she got her name from her rosebud lips.
17:40Oh.
17:41And the lovely blue eyes.
17:42And what's the plan for Rosebud if she's restored?
17:44Well, she'll go back to my dad's little wicker chair in his bedroom and then she'll get passed on through the generations as a family heirloom.
17:52And the starry will be told.
17:55Rosebud is in very safe hands.
17:57I know you'll take really good care of her.
18:00Thanks for looking after her.
18:01No worries.
18:03Bye.
18:04Take care.
18:17You can tell that she's been wearing something that's been sleeveless
18:21because her body is this lovely shade of peach, whereas her arms have faded quite substantially.
18:27So it would be nice to get her colour back to how she was.
18:31God bless her.
18:32She's lost most of her hair as well.
18:34What is left is pretty matted.
18:37I need to make her a new wig.
18:39That is going to be the hard bit, is just making two completely brand new legs.
18:46I don't know what they looked like, but I think before I tackle this, I'm just going to start taking her apart so I can see how much repair is needed.
18:54The safe is really stuck.
19:07I'm inclined to think that it is a ceramic composition.
19:12I'm going to start rebuilding this missing piece.
19:17As Charlotte works on Rosebud's broken body, Will's already stripped the writer's box back to its bare bones.
19:42It might look quite dull at the moment, but once I've finished all my woodwork, I'm going to spruce it up with some French polish.
19:48The cleaning has really brought out the areas of damaged veneer.
19:52My plan is to remove the damaged areas and replace them with a fresh section of veneer.
19:58This is actually off in the old writing box as well.
20:01I always keep spare bits of veneer in case I need them.
20:04It's time for me to remove this old glue and old bits of wood easily with this very small chisel here.
20:11That's why I have so many different chisels because they all have a purpose.
20:15I'm going to start off by cutting a bit of a curved shape to blend in well with the grain and the pattern in the wood.
20:23You want it to sort of end up blending in with the surrounding area.
20:27You don't want it to stick out like a sore thumb.
20:30That is a really good fit.
20:33Right, all I need to do now is cut that section out and stick it on the box.
20:38Well that's now glued in place.
20:57I'm going to let that fully dry.
20:59Once it has I can trim off the excess veneer and move on to the next patch.
21:03That looks perfect to me.
21:21The only thing that doesn't look perfect at the moment is the leather.
21:24So I'm going to speak to Chris and see if he can help.
21:26Hey Chris.
21:33Oh my goodness.
21:35Slight bit of damage there.
21:36To say the least.
21:37It's really important to keep as much of this leather as possible because that's where the history is.
21:42That tooling is absolutely lovely.
21:45Do you think you could try to replicate that?
21:48I'll give it a go.
21:49Brilliant.
21:50Thanks Chris.
21:51Thanks mate.
21:52Lucia is applying her fine art finesse, bringing a miner's miniature world back to life.
22:04Steve's done a great job making these cages that go up and down and through the hole in the floor of the model.
22:11And now it's my responsibility to make them look original old parts.
22:18I'm happy with the colour match.
22:20It's just the actual surface finish.
22:22It just needs a bit more distressing.
22:24Might get a hammer and bash it a bit.
22:27Horrify Steve.
22:29It's good.
22:33I've sketched out the dimensions of what I think Rosebud's leg would have roughly looked like.
22:50Having seen a lot of dolls over the years you start to get a sense for how they probably would have looked.
22:55The next stage in this is I'm going to make a framework out of wire mesh.
22:59And this allows me to make Rosebud's leg quite hollow and nice and light like her arms and her torso are.
23:05It does seem to be perfect shape.
23:08It's just a rough template.
23:14So this is a two part epoxy putty.
23:18You get the two equal parts of it mixed together and after a couple of hours they go hard.
23:25So the first layer is going to just cover everything and then the next layer I can go in and sculpt all the nicer details.
23:33I'm going to use this dowel as like a point that I can push against.
23:39When I was younger I used to love playing with clay.
23:49I would, I really like making food.
23:51So I'd make like three course meals out of clay.
23:54I'd like roll loads of little peas and I'd make little pasties.
23:58Always been into sculpting and making things like this.
24:02So I just finished drawing thisalla on a singular keyboard where I can put the орel.
24:17She's very cold.
24:21When she's demander hip, then I will make great.
24:25That's like a nice horse, but she'll be ekspluning.
24:26This time she sees me in the middle of说oxie.
24:28All these bits and bobs are working, but then the cages are going to go up and down as well.
24:38One's going to go up, one's going to go up.
24:40How do you work that one out then?
24:43Smooth.
24:45You are just enjoying yourself far too much.
24:58I'm going to put in a nice, little, rounded heel.
25:06I'm again using a two-part epoxy.
25:18I'm just using a little sculpting tool.
25:22I actually have a weird collection of things that aren't really sculpting tools that I use.
25:27Like, I've got a metal chopstick that I think is great.
25:30The ends of pencils and paintbrushes and things like that.
25:41My ears really start to look like a leg.
25:48I just need to leave to cure.
25:50And then next up is making a second leg.
25:57Applying his bookbinder's art to a writer's box, Chris sets about repairing the torn leather interior.
26:11The problem with this box is this joint.
26:15It's very badly warped.
26:17When you close it, the gap just gets bigger and bigger.
26:21The leather is getting pulled and that's why it's broken along there.
26:25I would like to put some supporting cloth and a new piece of leather and eventually stick the original down.
26:32The problem I've got is will it rip once I've put the cloth in place and the leather?
26:38And I won't know that until I get to that point.
26:55It's always a nice feeling doing collaborations.
26:58And it's a really traditional, when it comes to writing boxes, for a cabinet maker like Will to team up with a bookbinder.
27:08Goodness.
27:09It's raining out there, cats and dogs.
27:14Wow.
27:18Immersive experience.
27:21It really is.
27:21Wow.
27:24I am so pleased I'm in here, not out there.
27:28Okay, I'm off.
27:29Yeah, we won't match.
27:31So that's the leather in place.
27:36I'm really happy with that.
27:37Now I just need to leave to dry and then I can see whether it's going to work or not.
27:42And if it doesn't, well, I'll have to come up with a plan B.
27:46All right, go, go, go, go.
27:47Go, go, go, go.
27:47Now it's the moment of truth.
27:59Is it going to split when I close and all my hard work so far will be wasted?
28:17It didn't.
28:28What a relief.
28:30So now I know Laura and Sarah can open and close this with ease.
28:35It's all, as the young people would say, gravy.
28:38So now I can start sticking the original leather down and then I can start thinking about retouching
28:44and retooling the missing pieces.
28:46So I'm really happy all the original now has been stuck down and dry.
29:13And now I need to retool and put back in the missing bits of gold.
29:19This is 22 or 23 carat gold.
29:23I've had some tools made of the exact pattern.
29:26And to do that, I've taken a rubbing and you send it off to a fantastic company
29:30that can reproduce the tool for me to re-gold the missing area.
29:35So the gold's now in place and now I'm going to tool it with a hot tool.
29:44So that looks really good.
30:10And I just need to do it to the other side and then I can blend the old and new leather together.
30:16It's taken hours of mind-bending pondering, planning and production.
30:37But Steve's vision for the model mine is about to be realised.
30:42I've got all of the pieces of the mechanism made.
30:48So I'm just going to assemble it all, oil it all and then it's all going to be ready to pop into the mine
30:55and fingers crossed, hopefully it'll all work.
30:59I've really enjoyed doing all of this so far.
31:03I'm just going to connect one of the lines up to see whether it all works and lifts one of the cages.
31:30It's coming up, all right, that's going down there.
31:41Oh, that's really good.
31:45That's working absolute true.
31:49Everything is working exactly as it should do.
31:52I just need to get the other three cages in place now and, yeah, I can play with it a bit longer then.
32:00Once the prize exhibit in a mining museum, this detailed model of a working pit had fallen into disrepair
32:14and the internal mechanism had been lost.
32:19For John, the model is a reminder of his enduring connection to the tradition of mining,
32:25but most poignantly to his grandfather who crafted it.
32:31Hello, John.
32:32Hello.
32:33I wonder what you've got in there.
32:34How are you feeling about being here today, John?
32:39I'm excited, really.
32:41And I'm looking forward to what Stephen has worked his magic on, you know.
32:46Have you done any magic, Steve?
32:47Have you done some magic as well?
32:52What are you hoping to see?
32:54If I get them things working there, it'll come to life again then, you know.
32:59And what will that mean to you?
33:02I mean the world.
33:04Yeah, I mean the world to me.
33:08Would you like to see it?
33:09Oh, yes, please, sir.
33:10Oh, my God.
33:35Steve.
33:36He's a brilliant mate.
34:03Absolutely brilliant.
34:04Is this how you remember it?
34:08Better than I remember it, you know.
34:11Absolutely fabulous.
34:14Lucia has done all the painting work that has needed to be done.
34:19Thank you, my dear.
34:19Oh, it's been an absolute treat.
34:22Yeah.
34:23You've done a fantastic job.
34:25I mean, this is made in 1904,
34:29and I think it'll be going now for another 120 years.
34:32This has been an absolute honour to work on,
34:36not just for you, but for all of the mining community.
34:41Thank you so much.
34:42I am feeling ecstatic to tell you the truth.
34:49What a job that they've done on that.
34:52Brought all the memories flooding back, you know.
34:54My granddad would be so proud.
34:58He's going from here straight to the museum.
35:02The community would be very, very, very pleased.
35:06Yes, to see this thing that was created in 1904,
35:10and it's still going.
35:12And it's brilliant.
35:13From mines to megastructures,
35:32Tilly Newnham has a mighty piece of British engineering history
35:35for the attention of paper conservator Angelina Bacalarov.
35:43Hi there.
35:44Hello.
35:45Welcome, welcome.
35:46Please take a seat.
35:48What did you get for us?
35:49That's interesting.
35:50So this is a drawing.
35:52It's an original engineering drawing
35:53of a design for the Humber Bridge.
35:56Wow.
35:57My God, this is amazing.
35:59Is this all drawn by pencil?
36:01I believe so.
36:02Right.
36:03So tell us a bit more about it.
36:04So this was a drawing that was owned by my grandfather,
36:07but it actually dates back to 1930.
36:10What was your granddad's name?
36:11Bernard Wex.
36:12The detailing's absolutely amazing.
36:14Was this drawn by an artist?
36:16No, it was drawn by Sir Ralph Freeman Sr.
36:20He was a civil engineer in the trade of building bridges.
36:23He was commissioned to come up with a design,
36:24either for a bridge or a tunnel to cross the Humber estuary.
36:29Linking the industrial heartlands of Lincolnshire
36:34to the docks at Hull and beyond with a bridge
36:37took decades of planning and building.
36:41But this original multi-span design was never realised.
36:4630 years later,
36:48the government decided they wanted to potentially invest again,
36:51so my grandfather was approached
36:52and he was given this drawing by the firm as a,
36:56here's some inspiration,
36:57here's what we designed previously.
36:59So how long did it take for the bridge to be built?
37:02So it actually took 10 years in the end
37:03and was opened finally in 1981.
37:06The Queen attended to open it with Prince Philip.
37:09Wow.
37:10We have pictures of my grandfather meeting her
37:12and eventually he was awarded an OBE
37:14for his contribution with the bridge.
37:16That's amazing.
37:18And is grandpa still with us?
37:20No, I'm afraid he died in 1990.
37:22He's just fondly remembered.
37:24Our family generally view the bridge
37:26as that legacy that stands of his
37:27that keeps us connected to him.
37:29Yeah, I bet.
37:30We call it Granddad's Bridge.
37:31Do you?
37:32Yeah, so if we drive under it,
37:33we say hello, Granddad.
37:34Oh my God, that's so sweet.
37:35I took my daughter to see it about four or five years ago.
37:39It's quite sweet,
37:40so I've got pictures of me at a similar age to her
37:42in front of the bridge.
37:42So it's a very emotional connection
37:44for us to Granddad's Bridge.
37:46It's part of the story
37:48of how he came to build the bridge he did.
37:51It's something we will always cherish as a family
37:53and want others to know as well
37:55because we're so proud of what he achieved.
37:58It's a one of a kind.
37:59I can't wait to get my hands on it.
38:02Thank you, we really appreciate it.
38:03We'll see you very soon.
38:04Thanks a lot.
38:04I am so amazed
38:21by how much detail this drawing has in it.
38:26However, there are quite a few issues on the paper itself.
38:29First and most obvious
38:31is this difference of color.
38:33The middle side actually is much lighter
38:35than both of the edges.
38:37Something that is quite interesting
38:40is all of these losses.
38:43This is a very, very typical damage
38:45caused by silverfish.
38:47Silverfish are not fish.
38:49They are little insects
38:51that live in the damp, dark places in your home
38:54and they love eating paper.
38:57These really small black dots
39:00on this side of the paper
39:01some bug has left their droppings on it
39:07which is lovely.
39:08We call this frass.
39:09I love the name.
39:11I don't like how it looks.
39:12It needs to be removed.
39:13Rosebud, a 75-year-old doll
39:27is heading for a fresh new look
39:30as Charlotte addresses those tresses.
39:34I don't want to glue the hair directly to her head.
39:38That wasn't how her wig was originally.
39:39There was fabric there
39:40and the hair was sewn to that.
39:42So I'm going to be following that process.
39:44Right.
39:45Let's see if this fits.
39:48I managed to clean
39:49Rosebud's hair
39:52and there is some of it here
39:54that is in good enough condition
39:55that I can integrate this into the wig.
39:57Looking at Rosebud's original wig
40:00I can tell what style of hair she had.
40:01She's got the parting
40:03kind of running all the way along
40:04but no hair was here.
40:06This tells me that she had a hairstyle
40:08that would have come down like this
40:10and then been in little plaits.
40:13I managed to source
40:15some really good replacement hair.
40:17This is sewn together
40:18and then I can then sew that
40:20onto the wig cap.
40:23It's great to be able to
40:24take Rosebud back
40:26to how she was originally
40:27because Jackie has never seen her
40:29with beautiful pigtails.
40:47Well, job done.
40:50Let's have a look.
40:50No.
40:54What kind of trickery is this?
40:55And it opens
40:56so I feel like a child
40:58on Christmas Day
40:58and it's not even my box.
41:00No.
41:01This is unbelievable.
41:02How have you drawn
41:03those two together?
41:04Well, if I told you
41:06I'd have to kill you.
41:06Oh God, don't do that.
41:08I'm still needed
41:09to polish the box.
41:10Yeah.
41:10And it's going to look great.
41:11I think it will.
41:12Thanks for your help, mate.
41:13Cheers.
41:20It's been dirty work
41:22for Angelina
41:23cleaning the creepy-crawly
41:25calling cards
41:26from the rare engineering plans.
41:30This looks really much fresher now
41:33and especially now
41:34that all of the frass
41:36has gone from this side.
41:38Unfortunately,
41:38there's quite a bit of tape.
41:40It creates stains
41:42that are sometimes
41:43impossible to remove.
41:45The best way
41:46to tackle tapes like this
41:49is to use
41:50a little bit of heat
41:51reactivating
41:53the adhesive
41:54on the tape.
41:58Oh, there we go.
42:00Fantastic.
42:00It's already moving.
42:05Oh.
42:07Oh, done.
42:16Once I remove
42:17as much of the residue
42:19as possible,
42:20then I will start
42:22preparing the drawing
42:23for washing.
42:23I am washing
42:50the Humber Bridge drawing.
42:53It's so yellow
42:54and so discoloured.
42:56It might look
42:57quite scary
42:59that I'm introducing
43:00water to paper,
43:01but paper is surprisingly
43:03strong
43:04if it's not
43:05handled too much
43:06and should allow
43:08any discolouration
43:09to be absorbed
43:10through it
43:10and allow the drawing
43:12to start cleaning.
43:16Well,
43:17I think this is already
43:18a really, really good sign
43:19that the blotting paper
43:20is starting to work
43:21allowing the discolouration
43:23to come through.
43:24I've got to paint quite a lot of limbs,
43:40so I'm going to make quite a lot of paint.
43:42Making this kind of flesh tone
43:44is mainly a balance
43:46between red and yellow,
43:48sometimes with a little bit of blue
43:50to kind of cool it down
43:52and matching to her face
43:55because,
43:56well, that's the bit of rosewood
43:57that Jackie remembers,
43:58so it makes sense
43:59that the rest of it
44:00would be the same colour as well.
44:01Chris and Will
44:14are rewriting
44:15the future
44:16of a writer's box
44:17that once belonged
44:18to Kay Kennedy,
44:20one of Northern Ireland's
44:21pioneering female
44:22newspaper editors.
44:23I'm now applying
44:26a really thin coat
44:28of shellac polish
44:30to show off
44:30that beautiful walnut
44:31and I'm also going to add
44:33an extra little touch
44:34so Kay's name lives
44:35on in the box.
44:36The once-tattered
44:44and battered writer's box
44:46has inspired
44:47four generations of women.
44:49From original owner Dolly
44:51through trailblazing reporter
44:53Kay Kennedy
44:54to Sarah
44:56and journalist daughter Laura,
44:58this box continues to inspire.
45:03Hi there.
45:04Come in, come in.
45:05Hello.
45:05Lovely to see you both again.
45:07It's lovely to see you too.
45:08Kay was a very important lady
45:10in both your lives.
45:11Yeah.
45:11She was an absolute
45:12tribulacer
45:13and she deserves
45:14to be remembered
45:15with the kind of reverence
45:18that, you know,
45:19that she deserved
45:20and she earned
45:20in her lifetime.
45:22Are you ready
45:22to take a look?
45:23I think so.
45:24Yeah.
45:25Okay, here we go.
45:29Oh, my goodness.
45:34Oh, it's beautiful.
45:35Oh, well, it's absolutely beautiful.
45:40I want to get it opened.
45:41I'm like, yeah, let me open it.
45:44Okay, here we go.
45:48Oh.
45:48Oh, wow.
45:52Absolutely gorgeous.
45:54Absolutely beautiful.
45:54This is the original, isn't it?
45:56Uh-huh.
45:56It looks like it's healed
45:59itself, doesn't it?
46:00I cannot take all the credit.
46:02Chris, our bookbinder,
46:04he's actually retained
46:05the original surface,
46:07but he's somehow managed
46:08to, as you say, heal
46:09the drawing line.
46:11It's really beautiful.
46:12It's such a lovely tribute.
46:14Well, I know that as people
46:15pass away,
46:16keeping their name going,
46:18it's important for you.
46:19Yeah.
46:23Oh, oh, that's lovely.
46:28Oh, that's so lovely.
46:30Oh, that was so thoughtful.
46:32Well, as you know,
46:32I was like,
46:33say her name, say her name.
46:35And there she is,
46:36Kay Kennedy,
46:37and she's so important.
46:38And that's just
46:39such a beautiful way
46:41of honouring her.
46:42It's been great
46:43to be able to keep
46:44Kay's name alive.
46:46Thank you so much, Will.
46:47It's a pleasure.
46:47Right, it's over to you.
46:49Absolutely beautiful.
46:52Thank you so much.
46:53Bye-bye.
46:54Bye.
47:00I'm feeling very happy.
47:01I'm feeling proud of my family,
47:03both past and present.
47:05It's important that people
47:06should know who Kay Kennedy was.
47:09She was right there
47:10in the forefront,
47:11as well as covering
47:13some of the hardest times
47:14in Northern Irish history.
47:16And I think that we should
47:17honour powerful Irish women.
47:19And for there to be
47:20one of those in my family,
47:22I've got to champion her name
47:23and keep that flame alive.
47:31With the Humber Bridge plans
47:45now clean and bright,
47:48Angelina can tackle the tears.
47:51I am using wheat starch paste.
47:54It has really good age properties.
47:56It will not discolour
47:58and it will not break down
47:59over the years.
48:09This repair tissue
48:10has very, very long fibres
48:13and it makes it extra strong.
48:16I will just trace
48:18the shape of the repair
48:20with my water pen.
48:22So all I need to do
48:30is just apply it on.
48:34Beautiful.
48:35Beautiful.
48:35Don't worry.
48:54I'm not making breakfast.
48:56I just finished
48:57with the support
48:58of all of the tears
48:59and all of the losses
49:00and now I'm thinking
49:01the best way
49:02to do my infills.
49:03Cellulose powder
49:05is like powdered paper
49:07that when it's mixed
49:09with some methicelulose
49:11or an adhesive,
49:12it creates a paste
49:14and it will effectively dry
49:16just like paper.
49:17However,
49:18this is so white right now
49:20and if I want to avoid
49:22retouching too much,
49:23I think the best way
49:25to do it is toast it.
49:27Toasting the cellulose
49:29will help it become
49:31a little bit browner.
49:32It's pretty much
49:33like toasting bread.
49:36This is starting
49:36to get brown now.
49:37This is lovely.
49:40All I need to do
49:41is just allow it
49:41for a few minutes
49:42to cool
49:42and then mix it
49:43with my methyl cellulose
49:45and apply it on my losses.
49:47This is very exciting.
49:54Looks a little bit darker
49:55but as it dries
49:57it should lighten up.
49:59What I need to do
50:02is just continue
50:03working my way
50:04through all of the rest
50:05of the losses
50:06and then hopefully
50:07at the end
50:07we will have
50:08a much more unified
50:09image of the Hummer Bridge.
50:11with rosebud's head
50:33shoulders
50:34knees
50:35and toes
50:36all painstakingly restored
50:38Charlotte's ready
50:39to bring her back
50:41to life.
50:42I've got this
50:42really long
50:43string of elastic
50:44really nice and boingy.
50:46The tension all
50:58looks great inside
50:58but I think
50:59the final test
51:00is
51:00can she sit up?
51:04Oh
51:04which she can.
51:06Just getting her back
51:06together again
51:07is amazing.
51:09Yeah
51:10to be honest
51:11I'm a bit overwhelmed myself.
51:12Jackie has never
51:13seen rosebud in one piece
51:15and it's just going to be
51:16so wonderful
51:16for her to experience
51:18rosebud like her mum did.
51:19I need to
51:20fit her wig
51:21and then I'll dress her
51:22in some kind of
51:23period appropriate clothing.
51:34Rosebud was gifted
51:35to nine year old
51:37orphan Myra
51:38by her newly adoptive
51:40parents
51:40over 75 years ago.
51:43Hoping to see
51:45her mother's
51:46childhood companion
51:47Hall again
51:48Jackie is back
51:49accompanied by
51:51her dad
51:51Ron.
51:53Hello.
51:56Hello.
51:57Hi.
51:58Lovely to meet you.
52:01How are you feeling?
52:02Excited.
52:03Yeah
52:03emotional
52:04yes
52:05she sits in a
52:06wicker chair
52:07in our bedroom
52:08next to Teddy
52:09and Teddy's lonely.
52:10So what are you hoping
52:13that I've done?
52:14Giving her her legs back.
52:16That would be a big thing
52:17for me
52:17and just
52:18just to see how
52:20my mum first saw her
52:21on the day that she was
52:21given to her
52:22are you ready?
52:24Shall we do it?
52:25Please.
52:26hard to recognise her.
52:42Oh my gosh
52:43oh she's amazing
52:45look at her hair
52:46oh look at her dad
52:50look at her feet
52:51yeah Alexa
52:52and she's sitting up
52:55like we've never seen
52:56her sitting up
52:56oh
52:58oh look at her dad
53:01yeah
53:02oh
53:03she can move her legs
53:05and everything
53:05how did you do that?
53:07you are so clever
53:08yeah
53:09yeah
53:09holding rosebud now
53:13what's going through
53:15your mind
53:15my mum holding her
53:17yeah just my mum's face
53:19when she first saw her
53:20and just
53:21she was comforted
53:22by her didn't she
53:22oh my mum would be
53:24absolutely over the moon
53:25Charlotte
53:26thank you
53:26I wish she was here
53:29oh yeah
53:30she looks brilliant
53:32doesn't she dad
53:32a million dollars
53:35honestly
53:36thank you Charlotte
53:37Rosebud symbolises
53:46my mum's
53:46and family's story
53:48that we just want to be able
53:49to pass on and tell
53:50forever
53:51and now we can do that
53:53now we've got rosebud
53:54in one piece
53:54Myra
53:57would never have expected
53:59to see a hole again
54:00so
54:01today's quite a big day
54:03it's a shame
54:04I you know
54:05I find
54:06quite touching
54:07yeah
54:08the Humber crossing drawing
54:19is no study
54:20but the repairs
54:21have left some gaps
54:22to bridge
54:23I'm going
54:25super
54:26super soft
54:27with a pencil
54:27because I don't want it
54:29to be a very
54:30very distinct
54:32and sharp line
54:33there we go
54:35first line in
54:36Tilly is incredibly
54:39proud of her grandfather
54:40so now
54:42the drawing
54:42has been conserved
54:43and treated
54:44the family
54:45will be able
54:46to appreciate it
54:47without having
54:48to take a trip
54:49up to Hall
54:49to just see
54:50the real thing
54:51the Humber bridge
54:57may have been
54:58a triumph
54:59of British
54:59engineering
55:00built to last
55:02but these
55:03original plans
55:04were showing
55:04all of their
55:0595 years
55:07oh Angie
55:11do you like it
55:13that is amazing
55:14where's the rip
55:16where indeed
55:18yeah Clara
55:19aren't you
55:20for Tilly
55:23the drawing
55:24is a reminder
55:25of her grandfather
55:26his achievements
55:27and the proud
55:28family legacy
55:29they still celebrate
55:31generations later
55:32hello
55:34hi again
55:34welcome back
55:35hi
55:35good to see you
55:37have you been excited
55:38to come back
55:39yeah I have
55:40I'm so intrigued
55:41to see
55:41how it's looking now
55:43we really cherish
55:44the memory
55:44of my grandfather
55:46it's just part
55:47of the whole story
55:48of how the Humber bridge
55:49came to be
55:50and it's something
55:50we're so proud of
55:51as a family
55:52would you like to see
55:54what I've done to it
55:55then
55:55love to
55:56alright
55:56wow
56:04that's amazing
56:06it looks so beautiful
56:09I'm really glad
56:11so lovely
56:11it looks loved
56:16wow
56:19what do you think
56:24of when you look
56:25at the drawing
56:26to build a bridge
56:27it blows my mind
56:28and you know
56:29it's still standing
56:29how incredible
56:31is that
56:31to have achieved this
56:32and that's always
56:34been a real source
56:35of inspiration
56:35my parents will be
56:38over the moon
56:38to see it
56:39thank you so much
56:41like this means
56:42so much to us
56:42so thank you
56:43for all your work
56:44on it
56:44let me give you a hand
56:46let's go
56:49here you go
56:50I'm feeling so impressed
56:55with the final outcome
56:56it's really nice to have
56:58another connection to my grandfather
57:00it can continue to be appreciated
57:03by our family
57:04to stay part of
57:05that pride that we have
57:07in the bridge
57:08if you have a treasured possession
57:18that's seen better days
57:20and you think the team can help
57:21please get in touch
57:23at bbc.co.uk
57:25slash techpart
57:26and join us
57:28in the repair shop
57:29education
57:31all right
57:44thank you
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