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00:00They say it's the little things that mean the most and in this series we're taking that to heart.
00:09We're stepping into a world where cherished places from the past are brought back to life in miniature.
00:16It's like being detectives isn't it?
00:18From family homes.
00:20I just miss it so much.
00:22To grand public buildings.
00:24This building was so magnificent.
00:27I found my identity there.
00:29Each tiny model tells a big story.
00:32It's a beautiful project because it's all about love.
00:36The craft and skill of our team of miniaturists.
00:39I'll make it happen.
00:41Perfect.
00:42Shines through in every delicate detail.
00:48Oh it's fabulous.
00:50Oh my goodness I don't believe it.
00:54Oh gosh.
00:56It's beautiful.
00:58And while our models may be tiny, the memories they stir are immense.
01:03Welcome to the marvellous miniature workshop.
01:07The sun's up, the glue's out and the team are back in the workshop, ready to tackle another tiny tribute.
01:24We all have our special places.
01:34Usually they're reminders of the people we love and of good times.
01:40But what if we could rebuild those places, not just remember, but recreate.
01:45Tiny piece by tiny piece.
01:47Visiting the workshop today is jazz singer Julia from Reading.
01:56Over the next few weeks we'll recreate a place that reminds her of a significant figure in her life.
02:02But first, let's find out why it's so important to her.
02:15Julia welcome.
02:16Hi, hi Sarah.
02:17How are you?
02:18Well I better know you're here babe.
02:19Oh bless.
02:20Now I'm so excited about today.
02:22So you are going to be telling us all about a really special place.
02:26Oh.
02:27It's called the Central Club.
02:28It was a community centre in Reading, the heart of the Caribbean community in Reading.
02:32It's got special memories for me because my dad used to play dominoes down there.
02:35This sounds like it's going to be a really fun creation.
02:38We're going to go meet Ethan.
02:40He's fantastic.
02:41Oh brilliant.
02:42Come with me.
02:52Taking on this build is technical wizard and graphics specialist, Ethan.
02:58So Julia, tell us everything we need to know about Central Club.
03:01What was it?
03:02So Central Club was a community centre for the whole of the Caribbean community in Reading.
03:07But everybody could go.
03:08It really just embraced the culture and you could go there and enjoy the music, the food.
03:15My dad came from Jamaica and he's always played dominoes.
03:19He played it at the club every Sunday and he was actually the captain of the dominoes team and it was called the Invaders.
03:25Right, okay.
03:26Exactly.
03:27Did they have like suits as well?
03:28No, no, they come in the casual stuff.
03:31They'd bring people from all over the country and they'd have a dominoes tournament.
03:37And then you have a dance afterwards, yeah.
03:39It just sounds like the best day out ever.
03:41It is, yeah.
03:42And so your dad?
03:43My dad was Abel but they called him Shanti.
03:46Okay, what's that?
03:47Well, so my dad, this is this dominoes dance.
03:54Wow.
03:55He used to be a DJ back in the day.
03:57Look at this, Shanti's domino dance.
04:00So cool.
04:01So the captain of the domino team.
04:03Yes.
04:04Sometime DJ.
04:05Yeah.
04:06We need to see some photographs.
04:07Okay.
04:08So this is me and my dad and my mum and my sisters.
04:12That's before our brothers came along.
04:14Oh, my God.
04:15So where are you on this picture?
04:17I'm sat on my dad's name.
04:18Of course you are, Julia.
04:19Of course you are.
04:21And what a gorgeous family picture.
04:23It's so lovely to see.
04:25So was he part of the Windrush generation?
04:27He did.
04:28He came over in 57.
04:29Married to my mum in 58.
04:30Oh, a year later, he didn't mess about.
04:32I know.
04:35In 1948, the ship Empire Windrush brought Caribbean migrants
04:40who'd been invited to help rebuild post-war Britain.
04:43It sparked a 20-year movement that saw thousands employed
04:47into transport, industry and the new NHS.
04:51It also marked an increase in interracial relationships,
04:55which became a flashpoint for racial tensions,
04:59culminating in the violent 1958 race riots,
05:03the same year that Julia's parents married.
05:07I always said to my mum, how come you married dad?
05:10And she said, because I loved him.
05:12And that's all she would say.
05:14It was really weird, because my mum was white
05:16and my dad was black, so her family really didn't like that at all,
05:20so she lost a bit of family.
05:22Some of them didn't talk to my mum
05:24because she married a black man.
05:25It must have been tough.
05:26I mean, it speaks volumes about the love
05:28that your mum and dad had together.
05:30They were together for so many years
05:32until the day that they both died, actually.
05:34What a love story.
05:35Oh, no.
05:36So a big part of your dad's story happened at the Central Club.
05:40At the Central Club, yeah.
05:41And do you think your dad felt at Central Club
05:43that he could just be himself and have to be on guard?
05:46Because he was with friends or family or, you know, the wider community.
05:51I mean, he really loved his Caribbean culture
05:54and bringing that into our family.
05:57Being mixed, I didn't always know kind of where I fitted in.
06:00The Central Club, you could go and mingle with people
06:02that you can relate to and so forth.
06:05You just felt at home and not different.
06:07So have you got a picture of the actual building?
06:09Yeah, but the most amazing thing about this is the mural.
06:13Oh, OK.
06:14It's got a mural on it.
06:15Oh, wow.
06:16Oh, my gosh.
06:17Wow.
06:18Awesome.
06:19The Central Club's enormous mural is unmissable.
06:23It dominates a now run-down 1930s red brick building
06:28with a single-storey frontage, a vast dance hall
06:32and an old warehouse at the back.
06:35So it's got the history of the culture of our Caribbean culture,
06:39really, right, from Africa going right through,
06:43but it's also got local heroes.
06:45My midwife is on there as well.
06:47No way!
06:48Her name was Shirley Graham Poole and she was a nurse.
06:51Aw.
06:52I mean, this would be fantastic.
06:54It would, yeah.
06:55I'm looking at it and I'm just...
06:56It is amazing.
06:57Your face is lit up.
06:58But obviously I'm getting all excited.
07:00That's huge, that mural.
07:01You've got to make it...
07:02Tiny.
07:03Yeah.
07:04Have you got any of the interior?
07:06Yes, here's some.
07:07Here's one.
07:08Oh, amazing.
07:09Gosh, look at those walls.
07:10Look how bright they were.
07:11And you've got the flags as well there.
07:13Yep, all the flags of the different countries.
07:15Have you got a good vibe now?
07:17Very good vibe.
07:18For Central Club, yeah?
07:19It just feels like a party atmosphere.
07:20It was.
07:21It was really good.
07:22It was, you know, it was the heart of the community.
07:24Yeah.
07:25Anything making you nervous about recreating it?
07:27I mean, the mural seems to be like the key point on it.
07:30Yeah.
07:31And, yeah, shrinking that down is going to be a bit of a challenge.
07:33I mean, you know, the size of a normal domino.
07:36Yeah.
07:37This is what I'm thinking now.
07:38They're this big in real life, aren't they?
07:39Get the microscope out.
07:40Yeah.
07:41Dial it down.
07:42Have you ever built a domino before?
07:43Have you ever made...
07:44I've never played dominoes.
07:45I'll be honest.
07:46Have you never played dominoes?
07:47Never played dominoes.
07:48So, we're going to take these fantastic photos and you're going to get to work?
07:51Yes, it begins.
07:52Yes.
07:53Wow.
07:54Can't wait to see it.
07:55It'll be so special.
07:56It would just remind me of my dad and all the precious memories that we had in there.
08:00It'd be amazing.
08:01I'll do my best to bring back to life for you.
08:05It's great.
08:06Good luck.
08:13Ethan needs to get his dominoes in a row.
08:15First up, he has to decide which part of the building to focus on.
08:20So, I want to do the outside of the building, because it was a key element with the mural
08:25wrapping around the walls, but also provide a cutout into the central hall.
08:29It's where Julia's dad used to hold the dominoes tournaments.
08:32She used to perform on the stage as a youngster.
08:35It's key to the building.
08:39Ethan's using 3D modelling software to plan the build.
08:43Along this wall is where I'm going to place the mural.
08:46So, that's going to travel along the whole length of the building.
08:49And then, if we come around here, I'm doing a cutout in the side of the building,
08:53where the parties used to be held.
08:55So, we've got a combination of both those internal elements,
08:58but also still keep that focal point of the mural.
09:01Ethan starts with the outer structure of the building.
09:04He laser cuts the external walls out of 3mm thick MDF, each one etched with a brickwork pattern.
09:13I want to recreate it as accurately as possible, bringing together that real brickwork.
09:18Each wall, crafted with computer-perfect precision, is carefully glued into place, one exact piece at a time.
09:27I always start off using 3D model-making software to create a really accurate model,
09:33which I can then use more modern techniques to recreate it in real life.
09:37It creates really realistic models.
09:39It's all about you. It's all about you. When I was lonely...
09:58Julia works as a singer and still lives in Reading, near the Central Club,
10:02where with a little encouragement from her dad, she first fell in love with music.
10:08Central Club was one of the first places I performed,
10:13and I remember my dad being so proud that, you know, I was performing on stage at Central Club.
10:19He was my inspiration to pick up the microphone and sing.
10:23Baby, it's all about you...
10:30But these days, there's no music to be heard at the Central Club.
10:35It's just come to ruin now. It's just so sad to see it like this,
10:42because it's kind of still there, but it's not there, you know?
10:45You just feel that you could be in there, but you can't.
10:48The club closed its doors to the community in 2006
10:52and has sat vacant and boarded up ever since.
10:56So, this is the front of the building, and that was the main doors.
11:01I know time has taken its toll, but the memories are still in there, you know?
11:09I wish we could get in there and just be there again,
11:16because it was just such a special place.
11:19To Julia's dismay, there are no plans to convert the building into flats.
11:25If I was a millionaire, I'd buy it. I really would.
11:35It's a big loss, really, because I found my identity there.
11:39The Caribbean community in Reading, we don't have a place
11:42that we can all celebrate together.
11:44We had funerals, weddings, parties, everything we had at the Central Club.
11:49Once it closed, the kind of community dispersed.
11:55The loss of the club and fragmenting of the community
11:58is made more painful by another, deeper loss in Julia's life.
12:06The day that I found my dad was...
12:09That's when my whole life just changed.
12:11She just had a massive heart attack.
12:14I was just shouting, Dad, wake up, wake up!
12:17Wake up, wake up! And I just let out this almighty scream.
12:20And my mum come running up the stairs and just looked and said,
12:23He's gone.
12:24My world just was upside down,
12:27because my dad was just always there.
12:29It's really sad, because the place that we could have gone to,
12:33to remember him, would have been the Central Club.
12:36And that not being there at the same time around us, my dad's passing,
12:40it's like a double whammy because you've got nowhere.
12:43We would have had his wake at the Central Club,
12:46but it wasn't there.
12:51It would be so nice to have a model,
12:53because it would just help us all remember what a beautiful space that we had.
12:58Fortunately for Julia, Ethan is on the case,
13:02and the model is taking shape.
13:04With the walls in place, he can start to bring the exterior to life.
13:09A wash of diluted black acrylic defines the brickwork and shows the signs of age and our very British weather.
13:1818 window grids are laser cut and stuck to polypropylene sheets.
13:24No risk of broken glass here.
13:27A tiny windowsill is inserted into each window frame.
13:33Nice!
13:36The back entrance steps are smothered in glue containing tiny particulates,
13:41leaving a grainy concrete-like texture when dry.
13:45It's a nice thing to recreate on the miniature scale.
13:48The same treatment is applied to the lintel area above each window frame,
13:54marked out with masking tape that's gently peeled away to avoid damaging the brickwork.
14:00The back entrance steps are fixed into place.
14:04The windows are carefully installed using a spatula and wood glue,
14:10and resin 3D-printed pots are added to the chimney stack.
14:23Ethan also wants to tune in to Julia and her dad's musical roots,
14:28with important elements in the main hall.
14:31So there are a few key elements to the inside of the model.
14:34Her dad used to hold the domino events there.
14:37She used to perform on the stage.
14:39We're going to have a few chairs, tables, dominoes,
14:42and various bits like the stage and other equipment.
14:47The stage microphone and DJ decks begin life on Ethan's computer,
14:52where every switch, dial and cable is painstakingly designed in miniature.
14:57Bringing the microphone to life is going to be a really lovely small surprise detail.
15:03Once perfected, the design is brought to life with a 3D printer,
15:08layering liquid resin into impossibly fine detail.
15:12Fragile pieces are hand-painted with a steady brush,
15:16and then carefully assembled, transforming the digital blueprints
15:20into tiny illusions of the real thing.
15:23Next up, the club notice board, bearing the shanties dominoes dance poster.
15:28Having scaled down the original artwork with pinpoint accuracy,
15:32Ethan then laser cuts a wooden frame,
15:36assembling it with the care of a cabinet maker,
15:39before mounting the posters to create a flawless miniature centrepiece.
15:44I think it's a really nice detail, and I want to include that in the model.
15:48To help set the scene, Ethan is also crafting a set of teeny-weeny function chairs.
15:54They are precision-engineered on his laptop and 3D printed from resin,
16:00then carefully assembled and given a smart coat of paint,
16:04ready to seat a full house.
16:08Ethan still has to tackle the enormous Central Club mural,
16:17the building's most striking feature.
16:20To help him paint a picture,
16:22I'm off to meet the artist who created it, Alan Howard,
16:26and dig into the roots of his design.
16:31Alan!
16:32Oh, hi.
16:34Lovely to meet you, how are you?
16:35Me too.
16:36So, we are building a model of the Central Club
16:39for a fantastic woman called Julia.
16:41Alongside the Central Club is your iconic mural.
16:45So, I need to know the story behind it.
16:49Well, you had a very rough, very visible length of wall there,
16:54and the idea of decorating that
16:56came from the users of the Central Club themselves.
16:58And this was sort of late 80s?
17:00Yeah.
17:01And overwhelmingly, people wanted black heroes and heroines,
17:04both international, national and indeed local.
17:08Oh, wow.
17:09I can't show you the whole image, it's long.
17:11Go on, talk me through.
17:13It's largely chronological.
17:15There are lots and lots of figures from black history,
17:17but primarily, most of these figures are people who have,
17:20in very direct terms, stood or fought for equality,
17:23countering or opposing racism or colonisation or exploitation
17:28and so on.
17:29We've got Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Angela Davis was part
17:34of the Black Power movement in the 1960s.
17:36Okay.
17:37And Nelson Mandela in the centre.
17:38But we've also got local figures who are prominent
17:41in the foreground of the design.
17:43Oh, great.
17:44And in the centre here, in the nurses' outfit,
17:48is Shirley Gray and Paul.
17:50And Shirley is the woman who delivered Julia.
17:54But this is the point, isn't it, about local people,
17:56local lives being meaningful.
17:59You know what I mean?
18:00We've got heroes and heroines in our midst.
18:02Yeah, I mean, there must be dozens of people already
18:04who walked past that mural and they would have been delivered
18:06by Shirley, so it's quite right that she's on there.
18:09Yeah, most definitely.
18:11I mean, these photos are fantastic.
18:13Well, there's quite a lot there.
18:14Yeah.
18:15I mean, one of the challenges for us in the first instance
18:18was the obvious scale of the mural.
18:21It's about 36 metres in length.
18:23Wow.
18:24Of course, when we did that, we didn't have any technology
18:26at our disposal.
18:27There were no digital technologies.
18:29Well, Ethan, our miniaturist, he likes his technology in this build.
18:32Yes, well, just as well.
18:33You know, he likes his 3D printers for recreating things,
18:36so hopefully there'll be some technology that can help him recreate it.
18:39Oh, I'm sure there will be.
18:40I can't wait to see it, actually.
18:42I think that Central Club, like many, many centres around the country,
18:45provided a space in which black people could articulate
18:48their own culture, their own interests.
18:50Very, very important.
18:51And unfortunately, many of these centres today
18:53are no longer there and no longer operating.
18:55Yeah.
18:56Which is a great loss to communities around the country.
18:59I mean, the mural's still there,
19:01and we hope that it's gonna stay there,
19:03because it's pretty iconic.
19:04It's much loved.
19:06At various intervals in the last 35 years,
19:09it has been under threat.
19:10Yeah.
19:11And any sign of threat, the community has mobilised itself.
19:13We've had protest marches and petitions.
19:15Yeah.
19:16The building remains because, actually,
19:18the image is protected by the community.
19:21Did you know Julia?
19:22I think I do remember Julia's face.
19:24And interestingly enough, a colleague of mine,
19:27Robert Small, who's a local photographer and videographer,
19:30gave me this.
19:31Wow.
19:32This is an image of Julia singing at a function
19:36at the Central Club.
19:37Gosh, Julia didn't have this in the photos
19:39that she brought along,
19:40so I don't think she's seen this picture.
19:42That would be a nice surprise for her, I'm sure.
19:44Yeah, for sure.
19:45This is great.
19:56Armed with vital reference images from Alan,
19:59Ethan can tackle the all-important mural.
20:02I'm currently working on the mural
20:04on the side of the Central Club.
20:06It was the focal point of the actual building,
20:08so I'm really trying to get it as prominent as I can,
20:11keep that vibrant colours coming through.
20:13At a whopping 36 metres,
20:16the mural was always too long to capture in one single image.
20:20Using Alan's photos of different sections of the mural,
20:24all taken from different angles,
20:26Ethan needs to compile them and adjust the perspectives
20:30to create one cohesive image.
20:36Once the image is printed,
20:37Ethan can work on making it look as realistic as possible.
20:41The additional photos have been really useful
20:44in bringing through those small details
20:45and getting the intricacies of the actual mural.
20:50I'm currently applying a glue to the mural
20:53to create miniature ridges and make it look like brushstrokes.
20:56So it turns the print out from something which would have been 2D
20:58into something that's 3D.
20:59I'm just overpainting all of the key details
21:01just to get an extra bit of vibrance coming through.
21:02By applying the acrylic paint,
21:03you can get it to look like an authentic paint as it would.
21:06And the combination between that and the matte finish
21:08makes it look like real brushstrokes.
21:09All the vibrant colours really do bring it to life.
21:23With the mural complete,
21:34Ethan is adding a very special final flourish.
21:43A tiny game of dominoes,
21:45just like Julia's dad used to play.
21:48So I'm currently making the world's smallest dominoes.
21:53Believe it or not, there is a black dot on there.
22:03Dominoes originated in China, way back in the 12th century.
22:07But in the Caribbean, it found a second home
22:10and plenty of attitude.
22:12Known as bones, it's less a game and more a showdown,
22:16full of banter, bold moves and swagger.
22:22After Windrush, it landed in Britain's pubs and clubs
22:25where Caribbean communities kept the tradition alive
22:28one smack of a tile at a time.
22:32These microscopic dominoes are 3D printed
22:35and then barely visible black dots are hand-painted onto them.
22:41These are dominoes which are a reminder to Julia
22:44of her father's shanties dominoes dance.
22:48This part requires a fine needle,
22:50a steady hand and laser-sharp focus.
22:53Oh, that was banging.
22:56That was banging.
22:58It's been a month since Julia first came to us
23:11hoping to recreate her old community centre,
23:14the much-celebrated Central Club,
23:17in memory of her beloved father.
23:19And now it's time to find out if Ethan's model will raise the roof.
23:25Oh, she's here.
23:28Julia, hello.
23:29Hi.
23:30Welcome back to the workshop.
23:31Oh, my gosh.
23:32How are you feeling?
23:33I've been really nervous.
23:35What are you most nervous about?
23:37The feelings that it's going to evoke.
23:40It's going to be about memories of my dad as well, sorry.
23:42The legendary Abel, a.k.a. Shanti.
23:46How was it for you?
23:47It's the pressure.
23:48It's not only obviously your memories,
23:49but it's the whole community.
23:50But I'm just excited for you to see at this point.
23:52Yeah.
23:53Can't wait.
23:54Here we go.
23:55Big moment, Julia.
23:56Julia, you ready?
23:57All right.
23:58All right.
23:59Three, two...
24:09Oh, my God.
24:10You've got the whole mural on there.
24:12Oh, yeah.
24:17Oh, my God.
24:22Everything.
24:23That's like the...
24:24That's it.
24:26I cannot imagine where you started with all this,
24:32but it is just...
24:34I don't even know what to say.
24:38Ethan has crafted a true miniature masterpiece.
24:41An entire 360 recreation of the iconic club's red brick exterior,
24:47its vast proportions captured with pinpoint accuracy.
24:52With graphics genius and some clever texture,
24:55he's recreated the building's momentous mural,
24:59lovingly scaled down to honour the club's rich heritage.
25:05Can we have a look at this mural?
25:07Because it really is something else.
25:09I can't believe it.
25:10It's just...
25:11That is so amazing.
25:12And there she is,
25:14Shirley Gray and Paul.
25:15The lady that delivered me as my mum's midwife,
25:18you know, some of them are from Reading,
25:19so it's very personal.
25:20Yeah.
25:21So, can you turn it around?
25:22Maybe.
25:23Do you want to have a little left?
25:25Oh, my God, you've got to get inside.
25:27Let's see.
25:28Oh, my gosh.
25:29Here we go.
25:30Yes, that's the doors.
25:31We go in there.
25:36As well as the exteriors,
25:38Ethan has brought a key interior space
25:40and the very heart of the club back to life,
25:43the main hall.
25:45No detail is spared.
25:49The stage.
25:52From the miniature chairs and tables
25:54to the vibrant Caribbean flags draped overhead.
25:57We've got the Jamaica flag.
25:59Yeah.
26:00Horse.
26:01You mentioned the stage.
26:02It's not beautiful.
26:03Didn't you used to perform on that stage?
26:04I did, yeah.
26:05You were given this picture.
26:07Do you know what it looks like?
26:12It looks like my nephew.
26:16Is that me?
26:17That's you.
26:19All those years ago.
26:21I wonder what I was singing.
26:24Did you get that picture from?
26:26We have our contacts, Julie.
26:28We can't tell you.
26:31I'll put in a little microphone
26:32just on the stage as a reference to you.
26:34I can see.
26:35That's just amazing.
26:37Can you miniature me?
26:38Oh, of course, yeah.
26:39Can you?
26:40That would be a fiver extra.
26:42And scattered around the room,
26:44Ethan has created joyful reminders
26:46of Julia's dad, Abel,
26:48AKA Shanti.
26:50From his DJ decks...
26:53Who would have loved that?
26:55..to his Domino's dance poster.
26:57Oh, yes, Shanti's...
27:01It's like the original poster.
27:03I don't even know what to say.
27:05I'm kind of speechless.
27:06And last but not least,
27:08the miniscule Domino's themselves.
27:15It's a little game in progress.
27:16Oh, my gosh!
27:17I actually see my dad sat there playing Domino's.
27:20Yeah.
27:21And he said, two!
27:22Two more!
27:24The Domino's themselves are the tiniest thing
27:26I've ever worked on.
27:27A lot of work with tweezers for this one.
27:29Yeah.
27:30Have the Domino's got spots on,
27:31or should I not have that?
27:32Some of them do.
27:33No way!
27:34I just wish I could see him in there.
27:35Yeah.
27:36He would have said,
27:37Good, Julie!
27:38Good, good!
27:41Lovely Julie!
27:43He would love it.
27:45It brought back so many memories of me dancing in there.
27:49The Domino's, the food, the smell, everything.
27:53Oh, I wish I was in there.
27:55Can we bring it back?
27:58Oh, it's beautiful.
28:00I don't know what else to say.
28:01Talk if you are.
28:02If you are.
28:06It's all about you.
28:11It's all about you.
28:16When I was lonely, you came and showed me
28:22What life could be like with you around me
28:27You came and took my grey and dark clouds
28:34And turned them into blue
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