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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.
00:20Wow, look at that.
00:23Quite proud of that.
00:25And unlocking their stories.
00:27I'm completely blown away by this.
00:30Oh dear.
00:31Bringing the broken.
00:33I don't know where to start with this.
00:35Back to life.
00:36Wow.
00:38Stunning.
00:40Wow, fantastic.
00:43I think it's just amazing.
00:46Yeah.
00:47Welcome to the repair shop.
00:58Off to you.
00:59Thank you very much, Mark. Thank you.
01:03First at the barn, Gwyneth Keeble from Powys in Wales.
01:07She's set a challenge for painting conservator Lucia to save a tribute to a heroic ancestor.
01:15Hello.
01:16Hello.
01:17Lovely to meet you.
01:18Who's this handsome man?
01:20This man is my five times great-grandfather.
01:23His name is Captain William Marshall.
01:26He was a sea captain and he spent 59 years at sea.
01:30Wow.
01:31Taking grain and stock to various parts of the world.
01:34So he was a merchant seaman.
01:36Yes, yes.
01:37It's quite something to have your portrait painted.
01:40So for him to have his portrait painted, he must have represented something.
01:44What did he do?
01:45In 1849, there was a terrible potato famine in Ireland.
01:50And on the 3rd of April, 1849, a ship set sail called the Hannah from Newry in Ireland.
01:57And on board were 180 immigrants who were trying to start a new life.
02:01So they set sail for Quebec.
02:04All went well until the Hannah struck an iceberg.
02:08The ship went down very quickly.
02:11Oh, no.
02:11The captain took off with the only lifeboat and some of the crew.
02:15The most heinous act, which is abandoning your ship.
02:19Yeah.
02:20But luckily, the remaining crew managed to get these people onto an iceberg.
02:25And this was at 4 o'clock in the morning.
02:28They were stuck on the iceberg until 5 o'clock the following day.
02:33In sheer terror.
02:34Absolutely, and so cold.
02:36When the mast of a ship called the Nicaragua, which is captained by William Marshall, came into sight.
02:44The whole of the sea was covered in ice.
02:47And they had to break through that ice to get to these people.
02:51Truly remarkable.
02:53And he was able to rescue 129 people.
02:56He put his life and the life of his crewmen at risk as well, didn't he?
03:00Yeah.
03:01We don't know who the artist is who did it.
03:03But it would stand to reason that this is the people thanking Captain Marshall for what he'd done.
03:09And so they commissioned a portrait.
03:12It had come down and down and down in the family.
03:16And then I had a son called Paul, and he was visiting his great-grandmother one day.
03:22And she noticed an acute resemblance between Captain Marshall and himself.
03:28And so she said that she would like him to have the portrait.
03:33So when she passed away in 1992, the portrait went to my son Paul.
03:38And it was his most prided possession.
03:41Unfortunately, my son became critically ill in Christmas 2018.
03:48And sadly, he died in my arms.
03:52I'm so sorry to hear about Paul.
03:55From your point of view, does this look like your son?
03:58The resemblance is actually in the expression.
04:02OK. OK, and the eyes.
04:04And it wasn't always in this condition, was it?
04:06No, it wasn't in this condition.
04:07You could see a lot more clearly what was in the portrait.
04:09Captain Marshall is actually holding a sexton.
04:12But unfortunately, it's almost obliterated now.
04:14For me, it's important to have the portrait restored,
04:19because he's, to me, a very special person who I'm very proud of.
04:23But also because it was the most treasured possession of my late son Paul.
04:28Well, it's certainly going to be a challenge.
04:30If you're happy to leave it with me, Gwyneth, I will do my best.
04:34Thank you very much.
04:40What a brave guy.
04:43Incredible story.
04:45A wonderful challenge.
04:59It's great to have a portrait of such a character, really.
05:02But also to open it up so we can actually see him.
05:04The distinction between the background and this jacket that he's wearing.
05:09I'm hoping that when this gets cleaned, there'll be a bit more distinction,
05:13rather than just looking like he's sat against a black painted wall.
05:16It's just hidden under decades of dirt and discoloured varnish.
05:22And in his face, all this cracking, that's literally dirt sitting in those cracks.
05:28So when this area is cleaned, that will be reduced.
05:32It's been lined, and it's delaminating from this attached canvas.
05:37It's a very wavy canvas, and I'm hoping that once this lining canvas comes off the back,
05:42because that's holding a lot of tension in the animal glue that was used.
05:46Animal glue tends to shrink things, so we've got some shrinkage in both the lining canvas
05:50and the original canvas.
05:52But I'm hoping that once this is removed, some of the tension will be released,
05:57and it should actually start going flat.
05:59I can see here there's a lot of paint loss around there.
06:03That's the biggest worry, because the more you move it, the more paint is going to shell off,
06:08and this is all original paint, and I really need to get that back into place.
06:12And to do that, I apply this beautiful tissue.
06:16It's very strong.
06:17It's actually made from banana leaves.
06:21And I'm going to apply that over the surface using this adhesive.
06:27It allows the adhesive to pass through it, so the adhesive is going onto the surface of the paint.
06:33Once this is dry, I know the paint is secure,
06:36and then I can actually flip it over and remove the lining canvas.
06:55It sounds like a car, so it must be something quite big. Here we go.
06:58All ears for the barn's next arrival.
07:02Expert restorers of paper and wood, Chris and Will.
07:06Hi there.
07:08Hello.
07:08Hello.
07:09Hello.
07:09How are you?
07:10Very good.
07:10What have we got?
07:12Oh, look at this.
07:15I'll take that in.
07:16Take that in, Chris.
07:17Let's go in.
07:20American-born Raphaelio from Gloucester has brought a well-travelled treasure trove of talent.
07:27Oh.
07:28What do we have here?
07:29So this is my father's grip that travelled from Jamaica to the UK.
07:34This is about 1950s.
07:37Okay.
07:39So a grip now is a trunk, and that's what the Jamaicans refer to as their hold-all.
07:46You know, their carry-all.
07:48I mean, it looks like it's been around the world a lot.
07:50It has, actually.
07:52It's made a lot of journeys.
07:53What was your dad's name?
07:54My dad's name was Aubrey Finlayson, a.k.a. Abram Douglas.
08:00He had many names.
08:02So my dad was a singer, he was a songwriter, and he produced a lot of music back in the
08:0750s.
08:08Wow.
08:08Quite creative, then.
08:10Yeah.
08:10How old was he when he came over to the UK?
08:12He would have been in his 30s.
08:15So inside the grip would have been his worldly possessions.
08:19Everything that he had from Jamaica.
08:22So he had a lot of the music that he had produced, he was looking to distribute.
08:28He produced records in Jamaica and then came over here to distribute them to make it.
08:35Yes.
08:35You know, it would have been the dream that was sold to him.
08:38You know, mother country awaits you.
08:40How long did he spend in the UK?
08:42Maybe five years.
08:44I don't think it was enough for him to sustain his life.
08:47No.
08:48He packed up everything and took the grip back to Jamaica.
08:51And I think that's when things really started to roll.
08:55He would start producing records again.
08:58He recorded with Marva Moore, a pop singer in the 60s.
09:02Wow.
09:03So did he stay in Jamaica for the rest of his life?
09:05He didn't.
09:06This man packed up his grip again and ended up living in the US.
09:12And it was there he met my mother.
09:15And so here I am.
09:20What was he like as a dad?
09:22My dad was all about making sure we spent a lot of time together.
09:27I am a daddy's girl through and through.
09:30Do you remember seeing this as a child?
09:32I do.
09:33For me, it looked like a treasure chest.
09:35Maybe there's, I don't know, could have been gold coins.
09:38I had no idea what was inside.
09:41So when was the first opportunity that you got to open this grip?
09:45In my 40s.
09:47It was after he died.
09:49Inside the grip were vinyl that he had produced and released and distributed.
09:56The receipts, the labels.
09:58Really?
09:59The songs.
10:00Everything became true, tangible.
10:03I could touch it.
10:04I could feel it.
10:05For me, it is true treasure.
10:07I want to look inside.
10:09Let's have a little look.
10:11Oh, wow.
10:12Nice paper.
10:14Yeah.
10:14By the way, Chris loves paper.
10:16Yeah.
10:16I don't even got that.
10:18Goodness me.
10:19Yeah.
10:19I can do that.
10:20Yeah.
10:21And the writing I think is pretty cool.
10:22I think so too.
10:23Yeah.
10:24And this cloth, it's also a piece of him.
10:26It definitely needs to remain.
10:28So is the idea to keep it as like a memory box?
10:32Absolutely.
10:33My goal is to be able to house his mini museum.
10:37I know he would be really proud to know that I see it as important as it is.
10:42We'll see you soon.
10:43See you soon.
10:43Thanks a lot.
10:44Bye-bye.
10:45Bye.
11:06Now back in the day when this was brand new, it would have looked pretty smart.
11:10I'm going to see if Rebecca can have a look at this fabric.
11:13Hopefully she'll come up with an idea of how to patch that in.
11:16Chris is going to help out with the paper on the inside.
11:19For me though, I'm missing a slice of wood on the bottom here.
11:23So that really needs to be patched in.
11:25This break edge here isn't completely straight.
11:28It might be easier for me to take that tiny bit of wood off there, leaving me with a nice
11:33surface so I can get a new piece of wood on.
11:39And…
11:40Oh yes.
11:41It's like extracting a bad tooth.
11:51Lucia has detached the old buckled lining canvas that was causing paint to flake off the portrait of Captain Marshall.
12:01I'm really pleased with this.
12:03This is…
12:04The front of the painting is still there, protected by this beautiful tissue.
12:08But the amazing thing is the canvas has gone flat.
12:11All that tension and waviness in this canvas was a result of the lining that had really sort of shrunk
12:17and pulled it up.
12:18So it's gone nice and flat under its own weight.
12:21It's going onto a new lining canvas.
12:23It's a polyester fabric.
12:25It's very strong and it will keep the painting flat for years to come.
12:31The reason I've come outside is because I've got some smelly glue for the lining.
12:35This glue is called a heat seal adhesive.
12:38When it starts activating, I want it to go through the canvas on the back of the painting into the
12:44ground and paint layers.
12:45And that is what will stick the paint back onto the canvas.
12:50Once all the adhesive has dried, I'll be able to get the painting onto its new lining canvas.
12:58Always an exciting moment.
13:17I'm ready to start the lining.
13:19The adhesive has dried, so all the solvents evaporated.
13:22I'm using a lining iron.
13:24It will activate the adhesive and make it flow and I get the bond between the lining canvas and the
13:31painting.
13:35So I have to move all the time, otherwise it will burn.
13:41Now hopefully it will be nice and flat, ready for me to start the repairs.
13:58That's looking lovely and flat now, but what's all this white on here?
14:01This is the facing tissue which holds all the paint layer in place.
14:05And this comes off now, does it?
14:06Yes.
14:07Can't wait to see it.
14:08Me too, yeah.
14:09My great-grandfather was a sea captain on a wooden sailing ship in the 1880s.
14:15Unfortunately in 1883 his boat sank and he drowned and he was no more.
14:22That's terribly sad, but I'm sure it was very common as well.
14:25Yeah, they weren't huge wooden boats and the Atlantic can have big waves and the boat just didn't turn up.
14:31It didn't arrive in England.
14:33Incredible.
14:44Andy Drysdale has travelled to the barn from Perth in Scotland with a true test of Kirsten's ability to transform
14:53smithereens back into special mementos.
14:59Hello.
14:59Hi there.
15:00Hi, welcome.
15:00Well, lovely to see you.
15:02It's lovely to see you too.
15:04So, what have you brought in for us?
15:05Well, we found this bust at our car boot.
15:08I just remember seeing it and I remember looking at my wife, Diane,
15:12I'm like, that actually looks like you.
15:13Oh.
15:14Yeah.
15:15I'm like, you know, got to buy it.
15:16It just took me by surprise when I seen it and I was like...
15:19I bet.
15:20I was just so, so like my wife with the flowing hair and the way the face looks and it
15:25was meant for me.
15:26And it's at the end of a haul and everybody comes in like, it's the first thing you see.
15:30And I'm like, oh, that's lovely.
15:31Where did you get that from?
15:33Can I ask how long ago you bought this?
15:35Over 20 years.
15:36And when I bought that, my wife was okay.
15:40But I lost my wife.
15:42You know, she's not here now.
15:44She had a very rare illness.
15:47This was bought in the good times then?
15:49Yeah.
15:49This was bought when she was perfect.
15:52She was always perfect.
15:53Even when she was Noel she was perfect.
15:55She was a kind of lassie.
15:57Nothing got her down.
15:58She was in pain for years.
16:00She would never show you.
16:02And how did you both meet?
16:03I just moved into a flat in this block in the town centre in Perth.
16:07And as I was going up the stairs, you know the old bins that you used to get?
16:12The silver ones with the rubber tops on the lids, you know?
16:15Yeah.
16:16Summertime, it was really, really hot, eh?
16:17And she was lying across the three of them.
16:20And she was sunbathing.
16:22What?
16:23Across the top of bins.
16:24Really?
16:25It was like something for Top Cat, you know?
16:27So she caught your eye then, did she?
16:29I remember.
16:30I went about two stairs up and I come back down and I thought,
16:34I've got to go back and speak to this lassie.
16:37And that was attraction.
16:39That was the boom, you know what?
16:41She's for me.
16:42It was meant to be.
16:43You know when you know, well I knew how lucky I was.
16:48How long were you together for?
16:51About 31 years we were together.
16:53Yeah.
16:54And that's what the statue's all about.
16:57How did it get broken?
16:59My son accidentally knocked it over.
17:02As you can see, this is everything that was there, eh?
17:05I'm really impressed that you've clearly picked up everything, which is...
17:09I know, yeah. I was gutted.
17:11I really, really was.
17:12I was absolutely gutted.
17:14Hearing you talk about Diane, I'm really going to do everything that I can
17:18to try and get this back as you remember it.
17:21It just would mean so much to me.
17:23I'd be, I'd be overwhelmed.
17:27It's the last bit I've got left.
17:29Thank you so much for sharing your memories with us.
17:32Thanks for listening.
17:33Bye now.
17:41Well, I'd offer you a hand to your bench, but I know what you're going to say.
17:44I'm fine.
17:45Yeah.
17:45Don't touch it.
18:01What I've got here is a plaster bust that has been painted.
18:08Plaster is quite a soft material, and if I'm honest, I'm quite surprised that this is not broken more.
18:17I know that Andy said that he had collected up most of the fragments.
18:23This is quite a daunting collection of broken pieces.
18:29I think my plan of action with this is to break it down into small jobs.
18:37With something like plaster that it hasn't been fired like a ceramic object, you've got these very fragile porous edges.
18:46So initially I'm just going to consolidate all of these pieces, and that's going to give them some strength and
18:53stability.
18:54The consolidant that I'm using is a PVA.
18:59As I paint it onto that surface, it's absorbed into the plaster a little bit and create a seal on
19:10that surface.
19:11I've got a lot of edges here to consolidate, but once I've got all of them done, I can work
19:18out exactly where they go.
19:32Will has shaped a wooden panel to fill the gaping hole in the side of the Jamaican grip.
19:38That is a really good fit. It's like the perfect match.
19:42Once it's glued in place, it should be in place for many more years to come.
19:57Textiles expert Rebecca has also been busy trying to create a fabric that perfectly matches the texture and colour of
20:06the threadbare original.
20:09I've done a couple of samples, but they're not quite right.
20:13I just want to see if I can do a few more samples with just a touch more green in
20:17them.
20:20I've got three pieces of linen, and I've prepared three different bottles of dye.
20:26So I've got a yellow, a brown, and I've got a grey.
20:30So I've got three separate recipes, and each one I've calculated a slightly different ratio of the different colours.
20:54I will feel a bit like a scientist, though I am very much not a scientist.
21:06Right. So I'm going to add the dyes into the little wash baths here.
21:15Mix it up a bit, and then put the fabric in.
21:20And actually the third one, it's a slightly thicker linen, it's a denser texture, but I just wanted to try
21:27it,
21:27because as well as getting the right colour, I've got to get the right texture as well, and that's proving
21:31to be a bit difficult.
21:33So I've just got to wait now, and hopefully I will end up with the perfect fabric for the grip.
21:57That's now looking a bit brown. I'm not sure. This one.
22:02The linen that's been woven, it's got that bit of texture.
22:07Actually, that works quite well there.
22:10Right. Sample three.
22:12So I've just got to dye a bigger piece of fabric, and then I can start patching in the holes.
22:31The painting is on its new lining support, so it's all stable. I'm very happy about that.
22:37I've taken off the facing tissue, so all the flaking paint is now consolidated.
22:44I've removed all the surface dirt, which is basically years of grease and grime that sits on the surface of
22:49the painting.
22:50And now I can start the varnish removal.
22:53So we'll start to see a real visual improvement of the way Captain Marshall looks.
22:59This is always dead exciting, actually.
23:02I'm using straightforward acetone. I know from experience that this is a natural resin varnish,
23:07and it always discolours and goes yellow, and I know that it's highly soluble in something like acetone.
23:15So that's interesting. I'm just going into the black area of this area of the jacket.
23:18It's going to come up really quite nicely, quite contrasty with the dark background.
23:23Lots of lovely yellow, sticky, discoloured old varnish.
23:29I'm going to go onto the face now and see what happens there.
23:33The colours are really quite bright, and he's got this ruddy complexion,
23:38which you would expect from a man riding the high seas.
23:42Also this area with the sextant.
23:44I'm anticipating that that's going to come up really well too.
23:48I'm really feeling very positive about this. I think he's going to look great.
23:51There are losses in it, but the losses are in the hair, not the face, not the character of the
23:57man.
23:58It's going to look great. It really is.
24:10Are there any tools that you've got that you could not do without?
24:14Scalpels, sanding department, cotton wool department, needles, Japanese hole punch.
24:19I've forgotten what's in that one, Steve, if you want to have a look.
24:23So what I wanted to...
24:25Wrapped!
24:25I've forgotten where that was.
24:42With consolidation of the smashed plaster bust complete,
24:46Kirsten's next task is the ultimate 3D jigsaw.
24:51There's not a huge amount to go on.
24:53So I'm going to be looking for clues that will help me get this back together.
24:59So I've got the swirls where the hair is.
25:02And the other thing that I've also got is the thickness of the plaster.
25:06So I can look at something and I'm not just looking at the pattern or the colour.
25:12I'm looking at the thicknesses to give me some clues.
25:18I'm going to start with the face.
25:20And that's really because I can see exactly how that goes.
25:24Now, as I offer up those two pieces, there's some cracks and chips down here.
25:32And perhaps it's in this box, one of these crumbs.
25:37I just don't know at this stage.
25:40I've got an adhesive here which kills relatively quickly.
25:46So I haven't got a huge amount of time to work.
25:51It's absolutely ideal for soft ceramics and things like plaster.
25:59I'm using a fair amount here because there's quite a large surface area.
26:05And I'm now going to try and just use gravity here to help me.
26:13I can actually move this around and I can get the alignment perfectly.
26:20Now, I'm quite happy with that position.
26:23And I'm going to get some of my tape just to help hold the two pieces together.
26:30I'm going to pop that to one side and let it harden.
26:34And I'm going to try and then piece together some of the other elements.
26:50Kirsten, I'm very curious as to what's going on here.
26:52A headless lady.
26:54A headless lady.
26:54Yeah.
26:55Have you got all the pieces?
26:56That I don't know.
26:58Oh, really? Not that far yet.
26:59No, I'm still trying to orientate myself and it's quite tricky.
27:28I put the new varnish on and it's quite a glossy one and the filling went quite well.
27:33So I've started on the face now.
27:36I've done a cleaning of the surface dirt, but there's a lot of staining in the cracking.
27:41I've mixed up a really good colour here.
27:43So I'm actually going to apply this into all the discoloured cracking.
27:49It gives me a bit of a base coat on which I'm going to build certainly some of the pinkier
27:55areas
27:55because it's got quite a ruddy complexion.
27:58For Gwyneth, this is one of her ancestors.
28:03To have a portrait of an ancestor that's actually a hero in his own right is something really quite...
28:09Oh, it's dead exciting actually.
28:11And I hope I've done him justice.
28:14I can't wait to show her.
28:20This painting is a tribute to the bravery of Gwyneth's five times great-grandfather sea captain,
28:27but time had dulled and distorted it.
28:31Now Gwyneth is hoping the portrait not only honours the captain,
28:35but also her late son, Paul, who resembled his seafaring ancestor.
28:41Gwyneth, how fantastic to see you.
28:44And you.
28:45Can you remember this beautiful painting that you brought in that wasn't so beautiful?
28:48It was in such a dilapidated, sad state, and I'm so very excited to see it.
28:54It means so much to me.
28:56And today is a very poignant day because this is actually Paul's birthday.
29:02What a coincidence.
29:04For Paul, it would have been the greatest gift I could ever give him,
29:08would have been that restored.
29:11Are you ready to see the portrait?
29:12I'm absolutely excited to see this now.
29:15OK, let's do it.
29:33Sometimes there are no words.
29:39It's absolutely miraculous what you've done.
29:43We can see the sexton.
29:46I just think it's so fitting.
29:48It's just perfect.
29:51I can see his face.
29:54And in his face, I can see my son.
30:00It's beyond me to express my sincere gratitude to you.
30:06Except maybe a hug sometimes is the best thing.
30:09I can give you a hug.
30:11Oh, I tell you, it's been an absolute privilege.
30:14It's been heavily charged, this painting, I tell you.
30:16Thank you so much.
30:19I'm absolutely spellbound.
30:22There's compassion in that face, I think.
30:24Exactly.
30:24And so, these are the elements that you would have recognised in my son.
30:29And he deserves to have this back on his birthday.
30:32He would be completely thrilled with this.
30:35Thrilled.
30:36I can't wait to get it back on the wall.
30:39It's been a great honour and a privilege to work on such a portrait.
30:42Thank you very, very much.
30:44My pleasure.
30:47I was completely blown away.
30:50I never imagined that that could be achieved.
30:52Never.
30:54William Marshall is back.
30:56And I feel like Paul is with me today.
30:59And I'm just so grateful.
31:14Next at the barn, County Durham-born Amanda,
31:18hoping silversmith Brenton can salvage a precious prize.
31:23Hello there.
31:25Hello.
31:28What have we got here?
31:31So, this is my dad's boxing trophy.
31:33He got it in 1959.
31:36So, was your dad a boxer?
31:38He was, yes.
31:39An amateur boxer.
31:40What was your dad's name?
31:42Thomas.
31:42Thomas Dixon.
31:43But everybody called him Tommy.
31:45That was his first ever international boxing fight in 1959.
31:49Wow.
31:49For England against East Germany.
31:51He'd gone to London to the Royal Abidal.
31:55They had two bouts.
31:57And the team won the competition.
31:59It's a huge achievement, isn't it?
32:01It is.
32:01To fight for England, it was a really big thing.
32:04How old was he when he started boxing?
32:06He started boxing.
32:07When he was about 14.
32:08We come from a big mining area.
32:11And the miners set up boxing associations to the younger ones to teach them.
32:16One of the coaches that he boxed with and looked after him when he was younger, he said he had
32:21a hit like a sledgehammer.
32:22That would be a good nickname in boxing, wouldn't it?
32:25That would make you worried if you're fighting the sledgehammer on Friday night, wouldn't it?
32:29Yeah.
32:30You said he was an amateur boxer.
32:32What did he do for work?
32:33He went to work down the mines.
32:35Before he used to go to work, he would run all the way to Shildon to do his training.
32:41Then he'd run all the way to Brusselton.
32:42Wow.
32:43Do his shift down the mine and then go all the way back to Shildon at the end of it
32:48and do more training and then go home.
32:51Amazing.
32:51When did you get this trophy?
32:54My dad passed away in 2011 and I got it two years before he passed away.
33:00He was the nicest person, the nicest dad.
33:04I mean, he worshipped his kids and his grandkids.
33:08So he's a lovely gentleman but don't get in the ring with him.
33:11That's exactly what you're not supposed to know.
33:13How did this trophy make its way to you?
33:15He said to me, can you take that away?
33:18I said, why, what's it done to you?
33:19And he said, nothing.
33:21He said, well, I can't look at it while it's broken.
33:24Oh.
33:24He said, I really would like it to be fixed.
33:27I've tried silversmiths.
33:29I've tried trophy people.
33:31But they just said it's too intricate for them to mess with and they don't want to break it.
33:37Can you remember this before it was broken at all?
33:41It was absolutely amazing.
33:42It was perfect.
33:43Was it?
33:44It took pride and place in the China cabinet.
33:47Unfortunately, it got a bit played with.
33:50Is that you?
33:50No.
33:52I could've been.
33:54I've got five brothers.
33:55We had little boxing figures and we played boxing in the boxing ring.
33:59Did you?
34:00I feel guilty that we broke it.
34:02It really makes me feel sad.
34:04Oh.
34:05What is the plan if Brenton is able to bring it back to life?
34:10It will stay within the family.
34:12It's part of our history and our heart.
34:16My dad's in this.
34:17Yeah.
34:18I'm looking forward to working on it.
34:20Yeah, thank you very much.
34:21All right, take care.
34:22Bye-bye.
34:26It's amazing how trophies come in all shapes and sizes, isn't it?
34:29Isn't that lovely?
34:43This ring looks like it's done 12 rounds.
34:47This cushion has been broken off of this corner post ring.
34:51That needs repairing or re-soldering.
34:55The ropes are really kinked, so they need to be remade.
34:59The posts have got bent and the rope holders,
35:03some of them seem to be missing.
35:05The whole thing needs a good polish and re-silver plating
35:10so it looks like it did when Tommy was awarded it.
35:13I think the first thing I need to do is to get it apart.
35:18I'm going to undo these screws and take the posts off
35:20and I'm hoping that it's the screws that are bent and not the posts.
35:26I'm not even sure I can get this screw out if it's so bent.
35:31That post actually looks nice and straight.
35:39There we go.
35:42Look at the state of that.
35:44This is quite lucky for me that the screw didn't break off inside this post.
35:50I'm going to need to replace this, I can't straighten it.
35:55Now I know I can get these posts off, I'm going to carry on dismantling.
36:07Is this in the new fabric then?
36:08Yes.
36:09It looks really, really good.
36:11Back here, I guess that's the point, isn't it?
36:13Yeah.
36:13It takes your eye away.
36:14That's it.
36:15Yeah, I'm pleased with it.
36:22Kirsten's reconstruction of the smashed bust is meeting with mixed results.
36:27I'm going through the box of bits and whilst it might feel like quite a hopeless task,
36:35it's amazing how many times you can actually find the pieces that will go in these little areas of loss.
36:45Unfortunately, I can't find any pieces that go in this area of the neck.
36:52So I'm going to fill it now while I've got access to the back.
36:58I'm going to use a little bit of wax.
37:01I can press it onto the back of the hole and that will support the fill material.
37:07I'm going to be using a wood filler because it's got some adhesive qualities so it will bond onto the
37:18edges of the fill.
37:20And it will also give some strength and support to this particular area.
37:26I'm not filling the entire loss.
37:30I'm just filling the back of it so that I've got something to then fill on top of with a
37:37softer acrylic fill material so that I can shape it and retouch it to match the painted surface.
37:52I'm just going to leave that now.
37:54Once the fill has hardened, I can then remove the wax and I can then carry on trying to piece
38:02all of these bits back together.
38:11It's now the turn of paper wizard Chris to get to grips with the Jamaican trunk.
38:17Rebecca and Will have done a remarkable job.
38:20And now the baton's been passed to me.
38:22Now I have to line and cover up Will's work.
38:25Seems a bit sad, but there you are.
38:27And it's this beautiful sort of 1950s tartan paper.
38:32You just can't buy the paper like this.
38:34So I've had some printed, which is a similar pattern, similar colour, and it's sort of slightly faded, much like
38:41myself.
38:41So it's got that age look already.
38:44And throughout the trunk, there's signs of age.
38:47So it seems in the spirit of the trunk.
38:50So I'm just going to marry up the paper and cut the paper to the right size and fold it
38:56along here and up.
38:58The actual structure of the grip is curved.
39:01I really like that sort of challenge.
39:04The joy of cutting a bit of paper and it falls well for me is the joy of the job.
39:23The most difficult thing about it is leaning in and it almost feels like a yoga pose.
39:31Extended man sticking paper pose.
39:36I'm using a PVA.
39:41So on the main body of the grip, there's two bits of paper and they've tried to join it and
39:48it's just slightly off.
39:49They've missed it by a quarter of an inch.
39:51So I'm finishing one bit of my mend along the line of one bit of paper and then I'll follow
39:57on with the next sheet.
40:19I've got the boxing ring apart and I've seen what parts are broken and what parts need repairing.
40:27I'm going to start fixing it.
40:30Now the ring that holds the cushion onto the corner post has broken off and I'm going to solder that
40:39back on.
40:40I've got some spring tweezers, squeeze them to open them and then they stay closed.
40:46So what I need to do is to get that into one position, get another pair of spring tweezers on
40:51the ring.
40:54So I'll put a little bit of flux on there.
40:59I've put a piece of solder on the top of this cushion.
41:02I'm going to heat it.
41:03The solder will melt onto it.
41:04Then I can put the ring on and the solder will flow into the ring.
41:11So that's just melted that a tiny little bit.
41:17I'm putting the ring so that its weight is on that solder.
41:23So I'm just going to heat this up now.
41:26That ring should drop into the solder and it becomes attached to the cushion.
41:36Now that I can see that fits perfectly and it's repaired, I can remove the tarnish.
41:42Then I can consider making a new rope.
42:00Now, moment of truth.
42:10That's so lovely to see.
42:13It's on really nicely.
42:19It's great.
42:20However, there is still loads to do.
42:30I've removed all of the tarnish from the corner posts and the cushions and I'm now ready to turn my
42:36attention to the robes.
42:39I've cut this bit of rope and splayed it open so I can understand how many strands are in it
42:44and how it was made.
42:45And there are six strands.
42:47So that gives me a clue on how many strands I'm going to be putting into my new rope.
42:52I'm going to measure the size of the strands.
42:57And I've got 0.3 millimetres.
43:02Twisted together, this rope is 1.8 millimetres or three sixes.
43:09So I need six strands of 0.3 to make a copy of this rope.
43:15This is 0.3 millimetre brass wire.
43:19This is pretty malleable.
43:22It will take a twist without breaking.
43:24If I over twist it, it will break.
43:27So I've got to stop twisting at the right moment.
43:32I'm going to make this rope by attaching three pieces folded in half in the chuck of my electric drill.
43:39And six ends are going to be in a vise.
43:41And the reason of having a loop on one end is so that I can attach it to the hook
43:46in my electric drill.
43:53That's attached to the vise.
43:55I'm going to pull this into tension.
43:56Then I'm going to activate the drill.
44:04So the wire is twisting really well.
44:08Looking like a boxing rope.
44:10I'm just going to stop a sec and take a look at that.
44:13And compare it to the one that we took off.
44:16Because I don't want to over twist this now.
44:20That's not far off.
44:21A little bit more twisting and I think that'll be there.
44:35I'm thinking that's looking pretty good now.
44:37And I'm going to stop and try and make two more exactly the same.
44:52With fabric and paper repairs to the Jamaican grip complete.
44:56It falls to Will to do some final sprucing up.
45:00In sympathy to its history.
45:03Hey Chris.
45:04Will, job done.
45:05Rebecca's done the outside.
45:06I've done the inside.
45:07It's over teeing.
45:08Look at that.
45:09Beautiful.
45:09Thanks Chris.
45:13I've decided to use some wax and some steel wool to clean up the woodwork.
45:20I don't want it looking brand new.
45:22This is just going to take off the surface dirt and enhance the colour of the wood.
45:29This has been a real team effort.
45:31But I'm really pleased with the outcome.
45:33And it means so much to Raphilia to preserve her dad's memory.
45:36And I really hope that we've done him justice.
45:42This trunk travelled between Jamaica, England and the US as Aubrey built his musical career.
45:50But the mileage had left the woodwork bashed and the interior and exterior coverings ripped.
45:58Right, we need to get this covered up.
45:59We do.
46:00Looks fantastic.
46:04Raphilia has returned to see if her dad's grip can keep his musical history safe again.
46:12Hi there.
46:14Hi.
46:14Welcome back.
46:16How are you feeling?
46:18Elated.
46:19I've been thinking about how it's going to live on.
46:24And what it's going to look like.
46:26And to be in a space where I can have it on display again is a massive deal.
46:33Would you like to see what we've managed to do for you?
46:36Yes.
46:44Look at that.
46:46Look at you.
46:47Oh.
46:48Look at you.
46:51Oh.
46:52Hi.
46:53We back.
46:54We back, Daddy.
46:55We back.
46:56Ooh.
46:58Yes.
46:59Wow.
47:00How?
47:03How?
47:03How do you do that?
47:06What?
47:08Wow.
47:10Oh my goodness.
47:14That is just wild.
47:16And I've got no holes.
47:18Hey.
47:21Wow.
47:23I can't thank you guys enough.
47:26This is important.
47:28It's important to be able to house my dad's collection of music.
47:32Yeah.
47:32I don't want to forget.
47:34Yeah.
47:35It's been lovely to see you again.
47:37Thank you so much.
47:37Can I hand out with us?
47:38Yes, please.
47:39Yeah.
47:39All right.
47:40Go, Chris.
47:41Ready?
47:46For this grip to be able to live on like this, it just means a lot to me.
47:51It's all about building this historical piece, which is like a moving museum.
47:55So, I'm really grateful.
48:05After successfully creating new ropes for the tiny boxing ring, Brenton has more miniature
48:11masterpieces to tackle.
48:13I'm just looking at the ring rope holders that held the ropes into each of the corners.
48:22And these are really damaged beyond repair.
48:24So, I'm going to make new rope holders.
48:27And this is awesome.
48:57Oh, it's coming along nicely.
48:59Yeah, lots of little fiddly bits, which is what I really like.
49:02Yeah. Did you ever try boxing?
49:04They used to make a box at school, but I used to try and dodge it.
49:07Yeah, I know what you mean.
49:08I did try boxing for fitness, but I didn't like the idea of being hit.
49:13Not good, is it?
49:14We're pacifists.
49:15Absolutely.
49:25So I've got everything prepped, ready for silver plating.
49:28There's evidence of silver where the badge was that's protected the metal and silver on the back.
49:35I'm going to re-silver plate it.
49:37Hopefully it will look as good as it did when Tommy was very first presented it.
49:44I attach a negative wire to the canvas.
49:48Positive is a wand which has a silver salt and the silver is in solution.
49:55And that wants to be attracted to the negative with this positive wand.
50:01And as I wipe that, the silver attaches itself to the negative.
50:08This is lovely to see this change colour.
50:11This hasn't been silver for such a long time.
50:27Expertise and infinite patience have got the bust back in one piece.
50:32But Kirsten's challenges aren't quite over.
50:36I'm going to start retouching the face.
50:40It's a really vital stage in getting this looking absolutely 100%.
50:46I'm going to be using acrylic paints.
50:49I'm going to start off with just a white base.
50:53Then to the white, I'm going to add a tiny bit of the blue in.
50:57I need just a little bit of warmth in there.
51:01So I'm going to put some red.
51:04So I've got that lovely combination of colours.
51:07And this is the area that I've filled and smoothed.
51:11And I'm just going to try a little bit on there.
51:14The colour seems to be working quite nicely.
51:19I've got a few more coats of retouching to apply and build up.
51:25But once they're done, I'm going to be ready to hand this back to Andy.
51:35After an unfortunate accident, the bust was almost totally destroyed.
51:41But Andy pinned his hopes on Kirsten to rebuild this likeness of his dearly loved late wife, Diane.
51:50Hi.
51:51Hi, welcome back.
51:52Hi, Kirsten.
51:53Good to see you, Andy.
51:55I've been looking forward to this.
51:56This is big for me.
51:58I've had my haul all decorated and never had ready for it to go.
52:01Have you?
52:02Oh, wow, OK.
52:04So it'll be nice to come in my door and see it again.
52:09It was in such a state, wasn't it?
52:11Oh, it was a mess, yeah, very much, yeah.
52:14You certainly left me with a jigsaw.
52:18Luckily, you're quite good at them.
52:20Are you ready?
52:21Yeah, I am, yeah.
52:22OK.
52:26Oh, wow.
52:33Gosh.
52:37What a job.
52:38That's tremendous, really.
52:40Oof.
52:42Can I see a mark?
52:43That's amazing.
52:45Is it how you remember?
52:47I've got to say better.
52:49Because it just looks like my wife.
52:51It still gets me, just looking at it.
52:54And when I put that back in my haul, I'll think that every time when I walk past.
52:59It's like there's a little bit of her back.
53:02I can't think of you enough.
53:04That's such a job.
53:06It's been an absolute pleasure working on this for you.
53:09Thank you very much.
53:12I think Kirsten's done a magnificent job.
53:15It's important for it to be repaired because it's a memory of my wife, yeah, and she was so dear
53:22to me.
53:23I've lost a big part of my life from when I lost my wife.
53:26And every time I look at this, it makes me think of her.
53:30I'm really, really pleased.
53:43Taken apart, then mended piece by intricate piece, the boxing trophy has just one more round to go.
53:52That's all of the pieces re-silver-plated.
53:55So this is the best bit for me.
53:58And I can now see how well my work has gone.
54:03I'm going to do one rope at a time through the hole and put a nut on it.
54:14The interesting bit is whether I've made this rope long enough now.
54:17So this is a big moment of truth for me.
54:22This is quite tight.
54:25Great for boxers to bounce off of.
54:30But that is lovely and tight.
54:32I've just got to get the top one and the bottom one on and these cushions on,
54:36and then the ring will be ready to give back to Amanda.
54:45This boxing trophy was awarded to a young Tommy Dixon,
54:49who represented his country in 1959.
54:53But years of over-enthusiastic play at the hands of his six children
54:58had left it on the ropes.
55:01His daughter Amanda is hoping for a knockout restoration.
55:08Welcome, welcome.
55:09Hello, Amanda.
55:11How have you been?
55:13A little bit on tender hoops.
55:15Not knowing what to expect and everything.
55:17It's not just a trophy.
55:19It's me dad.
55:20It is me dad.
55:21It's been down here,
55:23and I felt as though a part of me dad was missing.
55:26Well, I'm just so excited.
55:28Can we open it?
55:28It's like...
55:31Are you ready?
55:32Yeah.
55:36Oh, my God.
55:41It's...
55:42It's absolutely beautiful.
55:45I can feel my heart going...
55:48Oh.
55:49Sorry.
55:51Can I, like, pick it up?
55:57Wow.
55:59Brenton, you have done the most fantastic job.
56:04I can't get over how beautiful it is.
56:07Can I give you a cuddle?
56:09Uh-huh.
56:10Oh, thank you so much.
56:12It's been a pleasure.
56:13I've really enjoyed doing it.
56:14Really.
56:15Now, I know what it means to you,
56:17and when I've been working on it,
56:19I've been thinking about Tommy,
56:20thinking about you,
56:21thinking about your brothers.
56:22Mm.
56:22They'll be wanting it now,
56:24but they don't get it.
56:25No.
56:25It's definitely right.
56:26This is definitely staying with me.
56:28It'll be in full view,
56:30but it won't be played with.
56:32You've done yourself proud.
56:34And my dad will be proud of you.
56:37And I'm sure he's up there somewhere,
56:39looking down on us,
56:40thinking,
56:40yes, she's done it.
56:41Yeah.
56:42Yeah.
56:43It's yours to take home.
56:44Thank you so much.
56:45All right.
56:46See you.
56:47Bye.
56:47Bye.
56:53This trophy now does
56:54my dad and his career justice.
56:57He will be ecstatically happy
56:59to see it like this.
57:02Now that I've got the trophy back,
57:04it'll feel like my dad's
57:05coming home with me again.
57:13If you have a treasured possession
57:15that's seen better days
57:16and you think the team can help,
57:19please get in touch
57:20at bbc.co.uk
57:22slash techpark
57:23and join us
57:24in the repair shop.
57:42We'll see you next time.
57:42We'll see you next time.
57:53We'll see you next time.
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