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00:00And in this series, we're taking that to heart.
00:05We're stepping into a world where cherished places from the past are brought back to life in miniature.
00:11It's like being detectives, isn't it?
00:13From family homes...
00:16I just miss it so much.
00:17...to grand public buildings.
00:19This building was so magnificent.
00:22I found my identity there.
00:24Each tiny model tells a big story.
00:27It's a beautiful project because it's all about love.
00:31The craft and skill of our team of miniaturists...
00:34I'll make it happen.
00:35Perfect.
00:37...shines through in every delicate detail.
00:42Oh, it's fabulous.
00:45Oh, my goodness. I don't believe this.
00:51That's beautiful.
00:52And while our models may be tiny, the memories they stir are immense.
00:58Welcome to the marvellous miniature workshop.
01:00We're back at the miniaturists' workshop.
01:12We're back at the miniaturists' workshop.
01:14When memories take shape in wood, paint and glue.
01:22Rebuilding places where people felt happy, loved, welcome or safe.
01:29Sometimes, safety isn't found behind locked doors,
01:35but through open ones and to a place of acceptance.
01:38But can a miniature really rebuild that memory
01:41of feeling like, at last, you actually belong?
01:46Visiting the workshop this morning
01:48is restauranteur Kareem from Hemel Hempstead.
01:51Over the next few weeks,
01:54we'll recreate a place that shaped his childhood.
02:00But first, let's find out why it's so important to him.
02:05Kareem, so lovely to see you.
02:07Lovely to see you, Sarah.
02:08Now then, welcome to our little workshop.
02:12Tell me, what brings you here today?
02:14I would love for you to make a model of my old secondary school
02:18where I had the most amazing time.
02:19People say school's the best days of your life.
02:22It sounds like they actually were for you.
02:23For me, my secondary school, definitely.
02:26OK. I'm intrigued to hear the story behind all of this.
02:29Let's go and meet her miniaturist. You'll love her.
02:37Masterful miniaturist Abby
02:39will be the head girl on Kareem's school assignment.
02:43Hello, Kareem.
02:44Hello. Lovely to meet you.
02:45And you.
02:46So, Kareem, I'm really excited to hear all about this school
02:49that you loved so much.
02:51Have you got any far-tars?
02:52I think we do, right.
02:54So, this is St Paul's Way School in Bow, East London.
02:59Built in the 60s, St Paul's Way looks exactly like thousands
03:05of functional school buildings all over the country.
03:10Nothing special.
03:11It's such a beautiful school,
03:13not because of the way the building looks,
03:15but because of the memories I have.
03:17Yeah, I was going to say.
03:20It is not a school.
03:21Are you sure it's this one that you want us to make now?
03:24Oh, it's definitely this one.
03:26I like that because it's not beautiful Gothic arches.
03:29This looks like lots of concrete, sort of brutalist building.
03:33They threw up a lot of these sort of buildings in the 60s and 70s.
03:3660s and 70s, yes.
03:36So, do you remember whether the classrooms
03:39were contemporary and modern inside?
03:41Yeah, I mean, the furniture and everything else
03:43that was in there was pretty modern.
03:45Is that one of the classrooms?
03:46Yes.
03:46I mean, there weren't anything fancy.
03:49When I went in 1984,
03:51it looked like it needed a good lick of paint.
03:54Yeah.
03:54So, a lot of people look back on their school days,
03:56me included,
03:57and have been quite pleased that they've left them behind.
03:59What are your memories?
04:00I loved my secondary school days.
04:02I have very fond memories.
04:04There were plenty of good teachers in that school,
04:07and, yeah, I think they all understood very well
04:09what people, you know, from my background were going through.
04:13It was a difficult time growing up in East London
04:16for someone like myself.
04:19There was a lot of racism, unfortunately.
04:21Did you encounter that yourself?
04:23I did, sadly, many times.
04:25I mean, we accepted that we would...
04:28Almost every day we would get verbal abuse,
04:31and sometimes it would become physical.
04:33It was hard because you always were looking over your shoulder,
04:37but as soon as I walked through the school gate,
04:39it was like, yes, another day to enjoy.
04:42Sanctuary.
04:43Yeah, sanctuary.
04:44Yeah, it felt like that a lot of the time.
04:46In school, we were pretty safe.
04:48Yeah.
04:48We had a big percentage of, yeah, pupils from Bangladesh,
04:52and I have to say, the teachers, when I look back,
04:57they made life really good for us.
04:58I'd love to see a picture of this time when you're at...
05:00Sure.
05:01Well, this is one from my time when we went to a rural study centre.
05:08Are you in the middle here?
05:10Is that right?
05:10Yes, that's me, and this is taken by my favourite teacher,
05:15Mr Carter.
05:15What was it about Mr Carter that made him stand out?
05:19He was very kind, very empathetic,
05:22and he had the most fantastic sense of humour.
05:24As you can probably see from the photos,
05:26everyone loved Mr Carter.
05:28What an absolute dude.
05:29I know.
05:30He looks great, doesn't he?
05:31Yeah, he was a maths teacher,
05:32but he taught you so much more than maths.
05:34He taught you so much about life.
05:36I just think he was just one of those people
05:38who were just exceptionally kind.
05:41It just shows, doesn't it,
05:42what a difference a good teacher can make.
05:44So, Abby, looking at these photos,
05:46any alarm bells ringing?
05:47What are you thinking?
05:48It's not my usual style, let's put it that way,
05:51but this is a nice challenge for me,
05:53just because we're not resting on the architecture here.
05:58We need to inject the personal details and the memories.
06:02I guess it's conjuring up that kind of busyness.
06:04Exactly.
06:05It's, like, things like an overflowing bin
06:07or, you know, the stationary supplies being left out.
06:12Chewing gum under the desks, maybe.
06:14Please tell me you're going to do some chewing gum under the desks.
06:16Would people doodle on tables?
06:18Oh, yeah.
06:19They etch things with a compass.
06:21Yeah, with a compass.
06:23Not you, though, obviously.
06:24Oh, I didn't do anything like that.
06:26Yes, you're a very good boy.
06:27Good to hear.
06:28So, this might be a bit of a challenge,
06:30but I think the key will be putting life
06:33and your memories into it as much as we can.
06:36Hopefully, when you look at it, you'll be like,
06:38oh, it's like being back there.
06:40Fingers crossed.
06:41Good luck.
06:42Abby's got a lot of homework to do,
06:50and she's starting by deciding which part of Kareem's secondary school to build.
06:55I have chosen to concentrate on Kareem's favourite class and his favourite teacher.
07:03This is actually the maths classroom and Mr Carter with his favourite teacher.
07:08Now, this isn't a great quality photo,
07:11but I think with a bit of research about classrooms at the time,
07:16we can fill in some of the gaps.
07:21Abby carefully constructs a three-sided open room box.
07:26It's 24 times smaller than the real thing and crafted from foam board.
07:32She paints it white,
07:36then measures and sticks in the grey board skirting
07:40and a dado rail of slender beechwood,
07:44both expertly painted in that unmistakable shade classroom sludge.
07:48It's kind of a generic 1960s-type school.
07:56But ultimately, I need to pick out key points that are special to Kareem.
08:02Even little things like the blackboard and also the filing cabinets,
08:06things like that, where he would have gone to pick up his work,
08:09his worksheets and his books.
08:11Little details, I think, that will really make it special for him.
08:15While he waits for his classroom model,
08:31Kareem is taking his own trip down memory lane.
08:34He's come back to the area where he first lived after moving to the UK as a child.
08:45It was a real experience coming to this country from Bangladesh.
08:55I was born in a village where we had no running water, no electricity.
09:00It was so quiet, and to come to a city where you saw cars everywhere
09:08and there were tall buildings, it was a life-changing moment.
09:20Kareem's father was one of many who emigrated to East London
09:24from Bangladesh after the Second World War,
09:27when the UK invited people from the Commonwealth to help rebuild its economy.
09:33By the late 1970s, when Kareem and his mother followed,
09:37attitudes had hardened.
09:41People are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped
09:45by people with a different culture.
09:47There was quite a lot of racism around here.
09:50People, for no reason, just other than we were brown-skinned people,
09:55that they thought it was all right to attack us or verbally abuse us.
10:01Bangladeshis in the Brick Lane area faced growing hostility and violence,
10:06fuelled by white supremacist groups like the National Front.
10:13In 1978, a young Bangladeshi textile worker, Althab Ali,
10:19was brutally murdered in a racially motivated attack.
10:22Around 7,000 people marched behind his coffin to Downing Street,
10:33demanding that the government tackle racism.
10:36A recent report on racial violence in this area
10:40described the Asians as an isolated and terrorised community,
10:44the victims of an appalling catalogue of violent crime.
10:46For young Kareem, feeling safe here was never something he could take for granted.
10:56On the way to school, we were always wary that we might be attacked.
11:02We would often get called all kinds of names.
11:05Sometimes I just felt like, you know, we were punchbags for them.
11:09And school was really a safe haven compared to out on the streets
11:14because school, you could always go to teachers.
11:18They tried their very best to be supportive.
11:21It was the first school where I truly felt really comfortable.
11:26But today, St. Paul's Way School is not as Kareem remembers it.
11:32It feels really strange to be back here.
11:37I feel so sad that my old school's not here anymore.
11:41The 1960s building Kareem recalls so fondly
11:44has been replaced by a shiny new school.
11:47A great thing for today's students, but a shock for Kareem.
11:51When I got here, I couldn't recognise the building.
11:58For it to be completely demolished and with a new building like this,
12:04it was pretty gut-wrenching.
12:08I was almost in tears.
12:10I know that I will never see the building again,
12:14but that's why it would be wonderful to have the model of parts of the school
12:19where I spent those really happy days.
12:31Fortunately for Kareem,
12:33a miniature version of his cherished old school is taking shape.
12:38And Abbey's aiming for top marks.
12:40From Kareem's four tours,
12:48she knows the classrooms were packed with large shared desks.
12:52So she makes eight,
12:54cutting frames from polystyrene rod,
12:57meticulously gluing them together
12:59and painting them with black acrylic.
13:01The desktops are made from two millimetre plywood,
13:07topped with coloured paper to mimic an old formica finish,
13:11then given a coat of satin varnish,
13:15glued to the legs and ready to pass Kareem's school inspection.
13:20Next up come the familiar plastic classroom chairs.
13:24I am making the iconic school chairs that everybody knows.
13:29They were featured in one of the photos we were given by Kareem.
13:33And I think everybody knows the shape and, you know,
13:37even the feel of them, the texture.
13:39These will be really, really fun to make in miniature.
13:43Invented in 1963,
13:46the polyprop chair is a British design classic.
13:49Plastic is melted and then injected into a mould.
13:55Injection moulded plastic at its mass-produced futuristic finest.
14:00Comfortable, stackable, wipeable and famously cheap,
14:04no wonder generations of kids learned, daydreamed
14:07and occasionally doodled on them.
14:10To make the chairs, I use a plastic called Warbler,
14:14which is a thermoplastic, so it means it bends in heat.
14:18So I put this over a candle and then bend it in the middle
14:23and it will curve in half
14:25and then that means that I can get the lovely sort of chair seat.
14:36And then can just attach the legs made of styrene.
14:39We don't want them to be beautiful and clean.
14:49They've been in a school,
14:51so they need to be bashed around and distressed.
14:55There'll probably be a bit of graffiti on the back,
14:57maybe even some chewing gum.
14:59So all of those in one 24th scale is going to be really tiny.
15:03As promised, Abby's crafting chewing gum
15:07by dotting neon paint onto wax paper,
15:11letting it dry, then rolling it into tiny balls.
15:17A dab of superglue sticks each piece to the back of a chair.
15:20A tiny tribute to school rebels everywhere.
15:25At the moment, I'm just scratching in some very tame graffiti.
15:32I use my needle to try and draw on the back of these.
15:38Just sort of iconic, silly little pictures
15:42and words that you'd find scratched into school furniture.
15:46The more cheeky little details we can get into this model,
15:58the more it will transport him back in time.
16:04So I'm off on a fact-finding mission.
16:07To meet the person who can tell us more
16:09about Mr Carter's maths classroom
16:12than anyone else.
16:16Mr Carter.
16:18Hello.
16:20I'm going to love to call you Chris.
16:21You are, yeah.
16:22In fact, I would prefer that.
16:24It's so lovely to meet you
16:25because I've heard so much about you.
16:28Now, Chris, we are going to make a miniature model
16:30of St Paul's Way School for Kareem,
16:33a former pupil of yours at the school.
16:36I mean, you're his absolute favourite teacher.
16:39So our fantastic miniaturist, Abby,
16:40is going to make a model of your actual classroom.
16:44Wow, that would be amazing.
16:47We're going to bring it back to life.
16:48OK.
16:49But before we ask about the classroom,
16:51how does it feel finding out now
16:53the impact you had on a former pupil?
16:56Obviously, it makes me feel, you know,
16:59rather special, really.
17:00So, you know, thanks for Kareem to bring that up,
17:04you know, is, you know, very meaningful.
17:07I feel like I should have a rosette
17:08to pin to you at this point.
17:10What are your memories of Kareem?
17:11I remember him as being quite a jolly lad.
17:15He was always laughing
17:16and he was very popular with his other fellow students.
17:19I just remember him being very enthusiastic about learning.
17:22It was nice teaching him.
17:23Were you aware teaching young kids
17:25from the Bangladeshi community were vulnerable?
17:27Yes, of course we were.
17:28We were very aware of the issues around racism.
17:32And some of these young people
17:34were having a tough time on the streets, yeah.
17:36I mean, the National Front, we saw them around
17:38trying to cause trouble.
17:40I'm obviously aware, I've been taught for a long time,
17:42that for some students, school is a sanctuary.
17:46So let's talk about the classroom where you taught Kareem.
17:49So to help Abbey, our miniaturist, out a little bit,
17:52what has to feature in this classroom?
17:55My memories are that it was quite a busy place.
17:57This photo here shows some of the filing cabinets
18:00and shelving.
18:02This is absolute gold for our miniaturist,
18:05so it really will be like we're just whizzing Kareem back in time.
18:08I remember the wars would have displays of students' work
18:12and other sort of mathematical posters.
18:14There'd be some pie charts, things like that.
18:17Yeah, something like that.
18:18Well done on the mathematical knowledge, yeah.
18:20Woo, yeah, go me.
18:22There must have been a blackboard.
18:24There was a blackboard, yes.
18:25Yeah, but back in the day when we used chalk.
18:28Were you a chalk thrower?
18:29Er, no.
18:30No, I knew you wouldn't be.
18:33Would you write anything on the blackboard that is specific to you?
18:36If it were the beginning of a new term,
18:39I would probably write my name there.
18:42And one sort of strange for people I've used most of my career
18:47is to use the digits in the date to make a sum of some sort.
18:52I mean, wouldn't it be lovely if we could recreate one of your fun sums
18:56on the tiny little blackboard?
18:59That would be amazing.
19:00And maybe, maybe with your name.
19:02Yes, yeah.
19:03So maybe we need to get you to write your name
19:05so she can copy your signature.
19:07Okay.
19:08Don't give any other bank details or passwords.
19:10No.
19:10Obviously, we just need your signature.
19:11Right, okay.
19:12And also, there is going to be a day where we unveil the miniature to Kareem.
19:16Yeah.
19:17And we would absolutely love it if you could be there to surprise him, please.
19:22Well, that would be, it'd be absolutely lovely.
19:24It'd be an honour to meet Kareem, actually.
19:27That's so exciting.
19:28It's going to be so lovely.
19:28Back in the workshop, Abby is putting Mr. Carter's intel to good use
19:43as she adds finishing touches to the model.
19:49First up, the notice boards.
19:53Abby cuts a neat rectangle of grey board
19:56and wraps it in hessian
19:59to give that classic pinball texture.
20:03Then she turns humble kebab skewers
20:06into a smart wooden frame.
20:12Finally, she fills it with tiny maths posters,
20:16hard enough for a miniature head scratch.
20:26Next, the textbooks.
20:29Abby concertinas paper
20:31and carefully glues each fold together.
20:35Then cuts out tiny covers
20:37and sticks them on.
20:40She's done her own work, too,
20:41recreating the ubiquitous
20:43Smile mathematics series.
20:45A shared memory for many
20:47who puzzled over long division.
20:49And finally, she's cracking on
20:54with that classic classroom staple.
20:57The sliding blackboard.
21:00The blackboard is probably one of the most iconic parts
21:04of the classroom.
21:06So that's what I'm making right now.
21:07Miniature.
21:08I'm painting a special blackboard paint
21:15onto this grey board.
21:17And we need to do horizontal and vertical strokes
21:20to really coat the board properly.
21:23Abby adds a hefty coating of chalk dust
21:26for that no-one's-cleaned-me-old-term look
21:29and cuts it down to size.
21:32I'm making the frame for the blackboard
21:36out of everyday coffee stirrers,
21:39which are really easy to cut.
21:44The blackboard in the model is really special
21:47because Sarah's actually given me
21:50a sample of Mr Carter's handwriting.
21:55So I'll be adding that onto the blackboard
21:57as a bit of a surprise for Karim.
22:00As a finishing touch,
22:02Abby adds Mr Carter's signature date song
22:05and here's a clue.
22:07The answer is the year he first taught Karim.
22:23It's been a month since Karim first came to us,
22:27wanting to recreate his secondary school.
22:30And now it's time to see if Abby's model
22:40deserves a gold star.
22:43Karim, lovely to see you again.
22:44Lovely to see you.
22:46How are you?
22:47I'm well, thank you.
22:48How are you?
22:49Very good.
22:50You look very relaxed and happy.
22:51Thank you very much.
22:53More relaxed than Abby looks.
22:54Yeah, a bit of pressure.
22:55How do you feel?
22:56We're about to take you back in time to your school,
22:58to St Paul's Way School.
23:00I feel very excited and also quite nervous as well.
23:05Let's do this then, Karim.
23:07Are you ready?
23:07Mm-hmm.
23:08Three, two, one.
23:18Wow.
23:19That is pretty amazing.
23:22That is my old Matt's classroom.
23:26Mr Carter's classroom.
23:30Wow.
23:31Absolutely wonderful.
23:33Thank you so much.
23:36I really love it.
23:37It's an absolute pleasure.
23:40Mr Carter's classroom is a tiny time capsule
23:43of 1980s school life,
23:46where every desk, doodle and dog-eared textbook
23:49has been recreated with meticulous care.
23:52I love the details.
23:54I remember the maths room being just like that.
23:58Oh, yes.
23:59I recognise the door straight away.
24:01And the chairs.
24:03The desks.
24:04The filing cabinets.
24:06And all the textbooks.
24:07These are actual real maths textbooks.
24:10Aren't they?
24:10Called Smile.
24:11It's a maths syllabus thing.
24:13I remember.
24:13Do you remember that?
24:14Yes, because I remember I was useless.
24:16Yeah.
24:17I was going to say,
24:18the irony of a maths book called Smile.
24:20I know.
24:21I know.
24:21Also, there is chewing gum
24:23and a bit of graffiti
24:24on the back of the chair.
24:26Right, it's so small.
24:27I'm not saying that that was you that did that.
24:30Oh, no.
24:30But, you know.
24:30No.
24:31I know it was there.
24:33I remember sitting on some of them as well.
24:36I wanted it to look like a class
24:39had just stormed in there
24:40and stormed straight back out, you know,
24:42and left a kind of...
24:43Like a whirlwind.
24:44Yeah, a flutter of papers in their wake.
24:46Thank you so much for all of this.
24:50Pleasure.
24:52Abbey's crafted busy notice boards,
24:54shelves groaning with books,
24:56and on the blackboard,
24:58she's also set a special sum
25:00with a surprise hidden in the answer.
25:04Let's see, we've got Mr Carter's name
25:05on the blackboard there.
25:07Oh, yes.
25:07Yeah, there's a little...
25:08Oh, there's even a little sum.
25:10What's that?
25:1217 times five.
25:14God, my maths is still terrible.
25:16Don't ask me.
25:17Don't ask me.
25:1917 times five?
25:20No, I couldn't do it one.
25:21No, no.
25:21Let's see, 17 times five.
25:24Not easy, that, is it?
25:2717 times five.
25:28Have you any idea?
25:30I think we need a little bit of help,
25:31I think, with the maths.
25:32Oh, my goodness.
25:37I don't believe this.
25:39Oh, Mr Carter.
25:41Oh.
25:42How loved did you feel?
25:44I haven't seen you for 30 years.
25:46I know, I know, I know.
25:47Oh, my God.
25:49You haven't changed a bit.
25:50Oh.
25:51I can't believe this is happening, really.
25:54I was expecting to meet Mr Carter here.
25:57Still calls me Mr Carter.
25:58Call me Chris.
26:01No, it just doesn't feel right to call you
26:03anything else but Mr Carter.
26:05Oh, it's so lovely to see you.
26:08I can't believe this is happening.
26:11I really had no idea.
26:14Anyway, the answer is 85.
26:1685, there you go.
26:18OK, thanks, Mr Carter.
26:19We're done now.
26:20That's all we needed.
26:21No, no, no, come back, come back, come back.
26:23Come and have a look, come and have a look.
26:24I'm looking for our classroom.
26:26Has Abby got it spot on?
26:27It is amazing.
26:29The furniture is fantastic, really good.
26:31And I just noticed the bin with all the rubbish pouring out.
26:34I was never super tired.
26:37That's not Kareem's work, is it?
26:39No, you're not.
26:40No, no, no.
26:40I didn't do any, by the way.
26:42This model isn't just about getting the details right.
26:48It's about recreating the feeling of school as a safe haven for Kareem.
26:54Something Mr Carter was a big part of.
26:57And Kareem, how does it feel to see Mr Carter?
27:00You know, the guy who was an incredibly important figure in your life.
27:04It's really wonderful.
27:06School was great because Mr Carter and they were, you had some amazing colleagues, if I may say so.
27:12Because they were all fantastic, you know, this was a difficult part of the world to be teaching, but they were so fantastic.
27:20It was fulfilling and, you know, it was an enjoyable to try and get Kareem to do some maths.
27:27Yeah, I'm sorry, he still couldn't do that song.
27:29I mean, we were hoping there'd be a happier ending and he'd get the song right.
27:33There he was standing right in front of me after 30 odd years.
27:39He's the cheerful, fun, Mr Carter I remember.
27:43It was amazing to see Kareem again.
27:46There was a look of delight in his eyes, which was, you know, very humbling.
27:51Man.
27:52Absolutely.
27:53What a legend.
27:54So, Abby, congratulations because it's an incredible creation that you've made here.
27:59Just hope it's brought back some happy memories, guys.
28:02Certainly has.
28:32Thank you so much.
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