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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.
00:24And 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.
00:35...back to life.
00:36Wow.
00:38Stunning.
00:40Wow, fantastic.
00:43I think it's just amazing.
00:46Yeah!
00:47Welcome to the repair shop.
01:05Do you know what? I was thinking about buying another guitar recently.
01:08I'll do it.
01:09Really? You've got to do it.
01:10That would make it my third one.
01:11It's never enough.
01:12You need more.
01:13I need more.
01:16Hoping to strike a chord with stringed instrument restorer Julian Wallace,
01:20the barn's first project.
01:23It's given Gary Miles from Mould in North Wales plenty of teenage kicks.
01:30Hi there.
01:32Hey.
01:32Welcome.
01:33What have we here?
01:35This is my very first ever electric guitar that my father bought me when I was 14.
01:43Oh.
01:44Whoa.
01:45It's a Les Paul copy.
01:48It's an amazing present for a 14 year old.
01:50Isn't it just?
01:51My dad was a musician in Liverpool and he had the real deal.
01:56The proper Les Paul custom that was very expensive.
02:00And, you know, if it was out, I'd pick it up.
02:02He'd always say, careful, but, you know, and I used to play it quite a bit.
02:06But this came pretty quickly once he knew I was interested,
02:10because it was like, well, you go and bash that one about now.
02:12He was pleased you were learning, but not on mine.
02:14Yeah, not on that one.
02:17Do you remember the day when you first saw the guitar?
02:19Like yesterday, I remember my dad putting it on the sofa,
02:22literally just lifting the lid.
02:24And it was just a wow moment.
02:26It was just like, you know, I've arrived.
02:28I'm a rock star.
02:30And I used to, like, do all the thin Lizzy,
02:32follow the licks and try and copy them, you know.
02:34What was your dad's name?
02:36His name is Eddie Miles.
02:37Started in the late 50s.
02:39It had been in a skiffle band.
02:40So he was the Eddie Clayton skiffle group,
02:43of which the drummer happened to be a certain Ringo Starr.
02:46Really?
02:47Yeah, yeah.
02:48So they played together for about four years, five years.
02:51And then Ringo went off and joined a little band called The Beatles,
02:54who did rather well for themselves.
02:56There's a, in Matthew Street, when you walk up Matthew Street,
02:58where the cavern is,
02:59got like a big wall outside a little cafe.
03:02And it's got all the names of the bands,
03:04who played there over the years,
03:05the Rolling Stones clapping, you know, they're all on there.
03:07But if you go on the bottom corner,
03:09four up and four left,
03:10that's the Eddie Clayton skiffle group.
03:12Legendary place.
03:13Just amazing.
03:14And what was he like as a dad?
03:16Really, really quiet.
03:18Never raised his voice.
03:20Mild-mannered.
03:21He'd be practicing, say, on a Saturday morning,
03:23ready for the evening or something.
03:24I'd be other side of the room playing something.
03:28I would often say, you know, I can't play this bit,
03:30I can't play that bit.
03:31And he would go, it's like this and it's like that.
03:33Even when he was poorly, right near the end,
03:34he played often as he could.
03:37Did your dad know that you kept onto the same guitar
03:39that you've had since you were 14?
03:40Oh, yeah, yeah.
03:41You just can't let go of it.
03:43Like my son, Evan, is out of the age now when I got this.
03:48So it'd be great to say, here you go.
03:50He picks up the acoustic sometimes.
03:52He'd be delighted.
03:53So what happened to this guitar then?
03:55Because I can see that it's missing a chunk of wood at the top.
03:57Yeah, so it was leaning up on the side of the wall
04:01and it slipped and fell sideways
04:02and it smashed off the top corner.
04:05I don't think the electrics were...
04:07If it could be repaired to some playability,
04:10it would be amazing to watch Ev play it.
04:12If I could pass that to him, it's like,
04:13well, I know you've never met Grandad,
04:15but this is what I got from Grandad.
04:17I'll actually do my best.
04:18I think it's an honour to have it.
04:21And we should see you soon.
04:22Cheers, thanks.
04:35I so relate to what Gary went through when he got this.
04:39As a 14-year-old, I was exactly the same age pretty much
04:41when I started to play.
04:42And I remember I had an almost identical guitar like this.
04:46And I remember that buzz and that feeling of like,
04:49yeah, rock and roll.
04:50I'm going to be a rock and roll star.
04:52I can't wait to breathe new life back into this.
04:56So I'm looking and straight away I see
04:59the frets are very, very low in height,
05:02which isn't ideal.
05:03We need tall frets to play on comfortably.
05:06And these have had a lot of wear, I think,
05:08just through Gary's love of playing.
05:10The big one is the damage on the head.
05:13So I need to get that looking good,
05:15along with the decorative strips and edging
05:18called purfling and binding.
05:19But the first thing I really need to do
05:21is to plug this into an amplifier and run some tests.
05:34We have some sound.
05:36One of these pickups is working.
05:38Move the switch to the other pickup.
05:40That one's dead.
05:41So it could be this switch that's faulty.
05:46It could be an idea to replace all the electrics.
05:48I won't know until I get the cover off and inspect.
05:53Ooh, it's making lots of noises.
06:12Next to arrive, Joanne Thompson from Stamford in Lincolnshire
06:16with some well-travelled family jewellery
06:19for master goldsmith, Richard Talman.
06:24Hi there.
06:25Hello.
06:25Hello.
06:26What do we have here?
06:27A gold bangle that used to belong to my grandmother.
06:31It has her initials on it and her surname, L London.
06:35Louise London, she was.
06:37That's a real unique piece then, isn't it?
06:38It is, it is.
06:39This was made from bits of jewellery that she has.
06:42It's a beautiful piece.
06:43It must have taken someone a significant amount of time.
06:46It was made in Guyana in South America.
06:49And it represents my amazing grandmother
06:51and all the love that she poured into me as a child
06:57and throughout my life.
06:58When did your parents come to the UK?
06:59My dad emigrated when my mum was pregnant with me in 1962.
07:05And then my mum came over with me when I was five months in early 1963.
07:10And so it was really part of what you call now the Windrush generation.
07:13But I think what was difficult for them was they used to live in shared houses
07:17and have one room per family.
07:19And I had two younger brothers, so I got to about two and a half.
07:23So they decided that I was a lively little toddler,
07:27my development was being cramped,
07:28and that they really should provide something better for me
07:31until they got on the housing ladder.
07:33So they sent me back to Guyana to live with my grandmother.
07:35And that's why she's so dear to me, because she was a mother to me for three years
07:39between the ages of two and five.
07:41She was so nurturing, so loving.
07:44I just always remember her just encouraging me all the time.
07:47No wonder you had such a wonderful relationship with her.
07:50She was my mother.
07:51Yeah.
07:52I called her mummy.
07:53And in the house, it was always full of grandchildren.
07:56I don't have any memories that weren't wonderful of being with her.
08:00Then came back to my parents because they got on the housing ladder,
08:03which was great.
08:03Were you able to keep in contact with your grandmother?
08:06Oh, yeah.
08:06I missed her dreadfully.
08:07I sent her little letters, and she'd write back to me.
08:10Then Louise, my child, who's named after her for her first birthday,
08:15my grandmother came over.
08:16It's lovely to see Louise on my grandmother Louise's lap.
08:21How did you end up with a bangle?
08:23Well, when she died in 2006,
08:26all of her children decided she'd come to me.
08:30So that's how I ended up.
08:36What an incredible honour, though.
08:38It is.
08:38So special.
08:39Really special.
08:40Yeah.
08:41That's when I decided, without thinking about it,
08:44that I would wear it every single day.
08:45So I wore it for nine years, and then all around where the name is,
08:50it started cracking.
08:51I could feel it cracking more every time I opened it, put it on and closed it again.
08:56I thought this was going to break into it.
08:58I didn't want it to do that.
08:59So to see it get to this state was really heartbreaking for me.
09:03And the dream would be to be able to wear it again and then hand it on to my eldest
09:06daughter,
09:07named after my grandmother.
09:09Leave this bangle with me, and I will do my very, very best for you.
09:12Bye-bye.
09:13Bye-bye.
09:13Bye.
09:18Lovely, isn't it?
09:20It is beautiful, but it is so fragile.
09:23You sound nervous.
09:24I am.
09:24Good luck you got this, mate.
09:36This bangle really is such a beautiful piece.
09:41However, this is definitely up there with some of the most challenging repairs
09:47that I have ever taken on.
09:48The bangle has cracked as a result of the bending that is required when it's taken off and on.
09:57So it's cracked all the way from the side here, runs up and around the D and across the top.
10:04I'm going to need to solder it, but that alone is not going to make this bangle wearable.
10:11It's just going to crack again at that point.
10:13So I'm going to have to think of a way of reinforcing this so that all of those cracks don't
10:18reappear.
10:19The letters, they've been individually soldered onto the bangle.
10:24And there's a very, very high chance that when I apply the heat hot enough to run the solder to
10:29mend the cracks,
10:30that the solder that holds the letters on, that will run too.
10:33And if that happens, that would be utterly catastrophic.
10:37And that's making me feel really quite nervous.
10:40Now, before I apply any heat to this bangle, I need to make 100% sure that there's no debris
10:46stuck up under any of the lettering,
10:48because that could melt and make a real mess.
10:50So I'm going to be using an ultrasonic cleaner, which blasts dirt out of any of the nooks and crevices
10:57that we can't see.
10:58So I'm just going to pop this in the sonic and let it do its magic.
11:08I love it when Steve's not in. We get to rummage around in Nicky's toolbox.
11:11I know. I'm going to take this.
11:13Yeah, I've actually come in for these. Perfect.
11:19With the electric guitar from Liverpool now fully dismantled, Julian's been busy preparing the ground for its musical comeback.
11:29I've had a good look at the electrics and they've really had it.
11:32The two corroded to ever sound good and clean again.
11:34I've ordered parts and while I'm waiting for those to arrive, I'm turning my attention towards the head.
11:40I've removed the strings and the tuners and I'm focusing on this piece of mahogany that's going to replace the
11:46missing part of the headstock.
11:48This piece of wood here is really misshapen and you have to trim it back to get a nice flush
11:53surface to put the new piece into.
11:57Always a bit scary taking chisels to guitars.
12:02Gently, gently, gently does it.
12:06It's important that all of this is flat so the two pieces of wood pair together perfectly.
12:13That's pretty good.
12:18Here's my rough piece of wood.
12:20So I now need to match the end of this piece into that angle, shape it and glue it into
12:27place.
12:50So I've got my two surfaces with glue and I'm just going to push that into place and put on
12:56the clamps.
13:00While Julian has his hands full with woodwork, from Leeds, Phil Rackerson has brought the most fragile of family heirlooms
13:09for the stellar skills of leather expert, Susie Fletcher.
13:14Hello.
13:15Come on in.
13:17Thank you very much.
13:18What do you have here?
13:19So this is a talus bag.
13:22What it is, basically, a Jewish boy at the age of 13 becomes a man.
13:25He has his bar mitzvah and is normally handed a talus bag.
13:28And inside the bag, there is a prayer shawl, which is a white talus.
13:32Okay.
13:33There's normally a yarmulke, we call it, which is a skullcap.
13:36And there'll be a daily prayer book.
13:38So how old is this bag?
13:41So I would say over a hundred years old.
13:44Wow.
13:44So this has a long history because this was my great-grandfather's who came from Russia.
13:49And this was given to my grandfather, Philip, who then passed it on to my father, Lloyd.
13:56And then I found it.
13:58When you say found.
14:00A couple of years ago, my father passed away.
14:03And I didn't really know what to do when he passed.
14:07No.
14:08And I thought, well, where does he go?
14:10He goes to synagogue on a Saturday.
14:13So I thought, I'll go.
14:15So I walked in, sat at my dad's seat, which gave me immediate comfort.
14:20And I felt, in a strange way, he was there.
14:22Yes.
14:23And in the seat, I opened it up and this was in there.
14:26No.
14:26I was very surprised.
14:27I'd never seen it before, actually.
14:29Oh, goodness.
14:29And then I went to synagogue that day because I'd lost my father.
14:33And I wanted to be close to him.
14:35Because I was never a synagogue goer.
14:37Yeah.
14:38But the day I walked in, I just felt like big arms around me.
14:42It was incredible, actually.
14:44Yeah.
14:44So what sort of person was your dad?
14:46Dad was a real character.
14:48Super sporty.
14:49Really, really good fun.
14:50Dad was a marathon runner.
14:52He raised hundreds of thousands of pounds.
14:53Goodness.
14:54Which I now have taken over and, you know, I've got some big shoes.
14:59Yes.
15:00Yes.
15:00You sound extremely proud of your dad.
15:03Absolutely.
15:04Yeah.
15:04Very much so.
15:05It must have given you a great deal of comfort to find something so personal that belonged
15:10to your father, but also your grandfather and your great-grandfather.
15:14Yes.
15:15It felt quite amazing, actually.
15:17And the more interesting thing about it is it actually has my initials on it.
15:20Wow.
15:20How fantastic.
15:22So PR, which is Philip Rackerson, which was my grandfather's name.
15:26It's in a bit of a sorry state, isn't it?
15:28It is.
15:28It really is completely and utterly worn.
15:32The surface has come off completely.
15:34Mm-hmm.
15:35Yeah.
15:35Oh, look at this.
15:37That's split completely.
15:37Yeah, it's totally gone.
15:39You know, I go to synagogue a lot more now and I'm in my dad's seat.
15:42I would just love you to restore it to just something that I can be proud of.
15:48Mm-hmm.
15:48Because as it stands at the moment, it isn't usable.
15:51It would mean that I could have something that really will last again.
15:57And I know that I have something that I can pass on.
16:00Oh, okay.
16:00You have a son?
16:01I have a son.
16:02I have two.
16:03It would be really special for us.
16:05This is my very first talis bag, so I feel very excited to get stuck in.
16:11All right.
16:12Take care.
16:17It's lovely, isn't it?
16:18What a legacy.
16:20Yes.
16:21And it's one of those things that is so fragile and I've got to do it justice.
16:25Good luck.
16:38Well, this bag has definitely seen some life.
16:41It's really quite tired.
16:44So this will need some serious reinforcement to get some strength and integrity back.
16:49The sad thing is, in order for me to strengthen these areas and reline this, I'm going to have to
16:57drill out the original press studs and replace them with new ones because I'm not able to reuse any of
17:04the original studs.
17:06So this piece that was floating around is actually the lining of the underside of the flap and over time
17:13it's just got worn and perhaps with the prayer book going in and out, it just tore away.
17:19So that will need to be replaced because I can't reuse that.
17:24So really interesting on the inside is the condition of this dividing piece and this is just beautiful.
17:34It just gives you an idea of what the exterior originally looked like.
17:38My goal is to get the exterior as beautiful as I can so that it looks very smart, it can
17:46do the job of protecting the contents and Phil will be able to honour his dad's memory.
17:52So the first place I need to start is by dismantling everything, taking all this old stitching out.
18:02I've got black thread on black so you can't really see.
18:06And just using the scalpel I can feel when I'm on the thread versus the leather.
18:11And once I've got it all apart I can focus on the repairs.
18:23Richard is gearing up for the tricky task of repairing the cracks on the Guyanese bracelet without causing any collateral
18:32damage.
18:33The cracks have followed all the way around the outside of the lettering.
18:37So in order to repair that I'm going to start from the outside.
18:40I'm just going to use the laser welder to tack together this top part here so I can get the
18:45structure of it back together.
18:47And then I can solder all of the rest of the cracks after that.
19:04So that laser has tacked that join so it's nice and secure so there's less chance of it moving when
19:11I come to solder it.
19:15I'm going to have to heat up the whole bangle in order to get this solder to run down through
19:21the crack.
19:22But if the solder holding the pieces of lettering onto the bangle melts, the lettering themselves could move and it
19:31could end up looking like lettering on a fridge magnet.
19:33I really have got no other option.
19:35So I've just got to hope that all of those letters stay in one piece.
19:39Here goes.
19:45Now in an ideal world I would be doing this looking in from behind.
19:52But on this I want to keep an eye on this lettering just so I can see if anything starts
19:58to move I can act really quickly and pull the heat off.
20:04Come on you.
20:06There we go.
20:08There we go.
20:13Right, so the solder has definitely run how I wanted it to and the lettering is still there which is
20:19absolutely wonderful.
20:21But I've got to do all of the rest of the cracks.
20:24I am by no means out of the woods yet.
20:50Julian's repair to the electric guitar splintered headstock is rocking along nicely.
20:56Well this is looking absolutely gorgeous.
20:59It's perfect.
21:00It looks symmetrical.
21:01It's got the shape back.
21:03It's all nice and smooth.
21:04Next thing I need to do is route in the channels for the purfling and the binding.
21:07The purfling and the binding are decorative elements and they basically seal the end grain on two sides.
21:14Over the years I've collected just countless amounts and out of my stock only one strip was the correct white
21:21black white black.
21:22To install the purfling and bindings I need to use a small handheld router to cut the channels and then
21:28they fit in.
21:29Just slightly proud and I can scrape them flush when the glue is dried.
21:52That's it.
21:53That's the channel cut.
21:55Should be a nice perfect fit.
21:56Oh look at that.
21:57Yeah that channel is absolutely banging.
21:59And they're going to apply the glue and clamp it into place with the tape.
22:06And then I can start looking at these frets.
22:27Now that Susie has taken apart the leather talus bag, she can start making it strong enough to continue its
22:35tradition of holding sacred items.
22:37So this is the old lining, but it has completely disintegrated.
22:45So I've managed to find a lining material that matches what was originally used.
22:51It's going to add some extra stability to that old leather because this is like a cloth that looks like
22:59leather.
22:59So I'm just going to glue it into position.
23:06Get that as smooth as possible.
23:11So I'm just going to let this dry and then I can trim it to size.
23:16I'm now going to turn my attention to these edges that have just broken away.
23:21So what I'm going to do is run this reinforcement strip of very fine leather along the inside of that
23:30edge.
23:30And that will give it the strength and give it that structure back that it's missing.
23:35And then once I come to sewing the seams together, I'll have two very strong pieces of leather that can
23:44be bound together.
23:55The headstock of the electric guitar now restored, Julian is ensuring the next generation can play it once it's been
24:04restrung.
24:05I've removed the old frets that were so warm. So I'm going to run some glue into the slot.
24:11Gary did say that he was passing this on to his son.
24:14And if I didn't put new frets in, this would never be a comfortable playing surface to play upon.
24:19And also, it will be easier to learn on.
24:22A lot of guitars, they're hard to learn on because they're not set up.
24:25So my job is to get these frets perfect.
24:28So it's the correct feel whether Gary or his son are playing it.
24:33I'm just going to put the frets into position.
24:37Give a little tap for the fretting hammer to keep it in place.
24:47And they're going to clamp it in.
24:53There, that is seated.
24:58A little bit of accelerant.
24:59That dries the glue straight away.
25:02That's the first one in.
25:0421 more to go.
25:17Rich is still in the hot seat repairing the broken bangle from Guyana.
25:22So the solder has joined the cracks back together beautifully.
25:26The letters are all still there in one piece.
25:30However, if Joanne was to put this back on now, it is still going to bend in these points and
25:35it will re-crack.
25:36What I need to do is reinforce this back part here.
25:40So I'm going to take a piece of metal, the same gold, and I'm going to line it just inside
25:46this edge here.
25:47I'm going to make myself a little mould of the internal curvature of the bangle.
25:53Which when removed, I can act like a little dolly, dome the metal over it to make sure that I
25:58get the curvatures correct.
26:01I'm just going to line the inside of the bangle with some tin foil.
26:05And I'm just going to take some plaster of Paris and just apply it to the inside.
26:11When it dries, it's rock hard.
26:15I can then get a really nice solid block that I can push the metal over.
26:29So the electronics have arrived and I can now put all of the components together to make this guitar work
26:36the way it should.
26:38Then it's rock and roll time.
26:51So I've got the basic curvature achieved by using the punch and hammer on this little piece of reinforcement for
26:56the back of the bangle.
26:57Now I can make my final adjustments on my special made plaster dolly.
27:12It looks like I'm barely touching this with the hammer.
27:15What I'm desperately trying to achieve is just the finest little adjustments that make sure that when I put it
27:23inside the bangle,
27:24I haven't got any areas where I'm going to solder, where the gap's too big and it's going to jeopardise
27:28the structure.
27:29And it's going to risk it breaking when Joanne puts it back on her wrist.
27:33So I'm just offering it up inside the bangle.
27:40I'm certainly getting there.
27:42There is, however, still little gaps between the new piece and the edge of the bangle.
27:48And it's those bits that I've got to tease down so I make sure when I solder it forms a
27:52perfect joint.
28:06Julian has finished returning power to the electric guitar and it's just a beat away from being ready for more
28:14riffs.
28:15So my strings are on. I've now got to set the height of the strings at the nut slots.
28:22If these are not set at the correct height, it will not feel right.
28:26The strings will be hard to press down.
28:28To set the height of the nut slots, I remove the string with this little tool.
28:34And then the file goes in of the correct thickness that matches the strings thickness.
28:39Just a little file.
28:42And then I test the height.
28:46If I can get this all set up just like Gary experienced, then I think his son's going to pick
28:52it up and have a lot of fun too.
28:57Thanks to this guitar and his dad, Eddie, who shared a stage with Ringo Starr, a teenage Gary discovered the
29:05thrill of plugged in playing.
29:07But an unfortunate fall smashed its woodwork and its electrics had long fallen silent.
29:15Very nice.
29:16Hey.
29:16Good look at that.
29:18Yeah.
29:18It's all done.
29:19Gary would like to gift it to his own son to keep his rock and roll heritage alive and pickin'.
29:26Hi there.
29:27Welcome back.
29:28Hi.
29:29How have you been?
29:31Excited.
29:32I was 14 when I got it.
29:34And I've kept it for a reason and hopefully this is the reason.
29:37Are you prepared to feel 14 again?
29:40Yeah.
29:41Yeah.
29:42I'm looking forward to it, yeah.
29:50Wow.
29:56Yeah.
29:58That's just how I imagined it.
30:02It looks brilliant, thank you.
30:04You're so welcome.
30:09Wow.
30:10It looks good, doesn't it?
30:11Yeah.
30:12Yeah.
30:12You can't explain how it just floods back.
30:16I'm really looking forward to playing it and I'm really looking forward to teaching Evan as well on this.
30:22It'll be amazing.
30:23I might keep it a few weeks before I give it back.
30:25See look, he's starting to change his mind now.
30:27Yeah.
30:28Yeah.
30:28It'll be in the house, won't it?
30:30Yeah.
30:31Well, you look at the part with the guitar.
30:32I'd love to hear you play the guitar as well though.
30:34Yeah.
30:35Do a little ditty for you.
30:36Perfect.
30:36Here we go.
30:37Here we go.
31:09Here we go.
31:10Here we go.
31:11Beautiful.
31:13Thanks.
31:13Bye bye.
31:14See ya.
31:16That would inspire anyone to play the guitar, right?
31:18That's a cool sound.
31:19Yeah.
31:20Yeah.
31:24The amount of work that Julian's done on it is just phenomenal.
31:27It's the only guitar that I've actually owned that was from my dad.
31:32So it's such a buzz to get it back and to be able to pass it down the line to
31:37my son is just amazing.
31:48As one item goes home.
31:50Hello.
31:51Hello.
31:53Deirdre Frye from Staplehurst has brought along a lucky find relating to a skill her family has traded in for
32:00centuries and which she hopes stonemason Richard Fraser can rescue.
32:07So I have some Kent peg tiles made by my grandfather.
32:11These are called Kent peg tiles.
32:13Yes.
32:13Why is that?
32:14Because they're made in Kent but also because they are pegged onto the roof with wooden pegs.
32:20So the two holes in the top are where the wooden dowels go and then they're pegged onto battens with
32:25those.
32:26They're from a small brickyard called Frittenden in the world of Kent.
32:29They were made by my grandfather and these are the last tiles that were made at the brickyard before it
32:36closed down.
32:37What was granddad's name?
32:38Charles Morfitt but he was known to everyone as Charlie.
32:41He inherited the brickyard from his father and it goes back we think six generations in the family to about
32:501690.
32:51That is extraordinary.
32:52So he made Kent peg tiles, bricks, ridge tiles and hip tiles.
32:58They dug the clay by hand.
33:00Oh my goodness.
33:01They basically slap it into the mould quite hard and then smooth it off with a wire.
33:06For the week that the kiln was being fired, every four hours he would rush down there and stoke all
33:12the fires up with coal to keep the temperature up.
33:16Really?
33:16I spent lots of time there as a child and I loved the coal fires, I loved the heat that
33:21came from them.
33:22Did you try your hand at making any of these?
33:24Yes.
33:25I used to help him especially laying the tiles out in the drying sheds because they were very low to
33:30the ground and you had to get on your hands and knees to get in there to lay them out.
33:34So that was my job, yes.
33:37When did the brickworks finally close?
33:40It actually closed in 1972 but they carried on making a few peg tiles for repairs until 1975 and that's
33:49when these last three were made.
33:51I can see there's an inscription on there.
33:53I think it says last tile made by Seamorfit, November 4, 1975.
34:02No, it's all there.
34:03He was the last person when the brickyard closed.
34:07And you've hung on to these all those years?
34:09We only actually found them about six weeks ago.
34:13No.
34:14Really?
34:14Yes.
34:14We went to a local farm sale, my sister and I, and noticed that there was something in the sale
34:21from Frittenden Brickyard.
34:23But it was a huge lot.
34:25We spotted the writing on these and I saw the sea that my granddad used to do, which is curly.
34:31And I thought that looks really familiar.
34:34And looked closer and found that they were actually made by him.
34:37That is awesome.
34:39We were so excited.
34:41I don't think we could speak.
34:43I'd be jumping up and down.
34:44I mean, that is really quite miraculous.
34:46We were really gobsmacked to find them.
34:48A chap from the local salvage yard bought the lot.
34:52We had a little chat with him and he gave them to us.
34:56Oh!
34:57That's alright.
34:58It's just so nice to have something that relates to him, that relates to the brickyard and that relates to
35:04our family history.
35:05Yeah, they tell a story.
35:07Yeah.
35:07What would you like Richard to do?
35:09This one has got a small part missing.
35:13Although they do fit together quite well, there are some gaps, so I don't know whether that can be fixed.
35:19And maybe just make the inscriptions look a bit more obvious.
35:24And what about the missing piece here?
35:26Well, if you can do something about that, that would be even better.
35:30Well, you've really set a challenge for me.
35:32It's not going to be easy.
35:34No.
35:34But I'll try my best.
35:35Thank you very much.
35:36Pleasure.
35:37Bye-bye.
35:37Bye.
35:54These are gorgeous.
35:56Absolutely stunning.
35:57They're all the same, but they've all got their individual fingerprint with their little differences.
36:03Because the sky-facing surface is so heavily eroded, it alludes to the fact that they were actually on a
36:09roof and then taken off.
36:10So the fact that they've actually survived to get here is phenomenal.
36:15These tiles are fractured into separate pieces.
36:19They'll need brought together, bonded into place.
36:21This can see there's quite a loss of detail underneath the 1975.
36:27The writing on these tiles is the most important part.
36:31They make these tiles irreplaceable.
36:34So this third tile here is the top section, which we'd have had the peg holes in.
36:38It's gone.
36:39I'm going to have to try and make the top section to marry in with this, which is not easy
36:46because of all the imperfections.
36:48So the first thing I've got to do is remove some of the surface pollutants from the tile so we
36:52can read them a lot better,
36:54ensuring that I get a really clean edge when it comes to bonding these fractured pieces together.
37:10With every piece of the talus bag strengthened, Susie can install some shiny new press studs.
37:19Yes, that's what we like to see.
37:21And steel herself for a stitching marathon.
37:25I've got the seams to join together of the outer edges.
37:31And it's going to be covered with a piece of binding leather that's going to create a beautifully strong and
37:40secure edge.
37:43And then it will be a complete bag again.
37:45So I'm doing a hand stitch using two needles.
37:49So it's called either saddle stitch or double hand stitch.
37:54If I was to pop this on the sewing machine, there is a good chance I wouldn't hit these original
38:02holes.
38:03And in doing so, I would add extra perforations and create a weakness.
38:12So I have reached that point in life where I need an additional set of glasses when I'm doing fine
38:19work.
38:19Just like Steve does.
38:41That looks incredibly hard on your hands, Sus.
38:44Oh, it is actually.
38:46I mean, it's sort of 50 years of having done this and my hands are definitely beginning to feel it.
38:52And in the morning they're like this.
38:55And then I have to open them up.
38:59So I can't ever stop.
39:16So I've got a fair amount of stitching still to do.
39:19And then I'm going to turn my attention to just improving the initials here.
39:25I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet, but I've got plenty of time to think about it
39:30while I'm sewing.
39:45Stonemason Rich has successfully rid the clay peg tiles of decades worth of dirt and dust.
39:52These tiles have cleaned up beautifully.
39:54We can see much more detail in them now.
39:56They're imperfect, but beautiful.
40:00Now I'm about to glue these together.
40:02The glue is transparent and if I add a little bit of pigment into that, I should be able to
40:06disguise that junction and hopefully it will be invisible.
40:10So the base of the repair mortar starts with brick dust.
40:13This is it here.
40:13So this is a set of sieves.
40:15So if I just agitate it a little bit, that works the finer particles down the sieves until it's under
40:25one millimeter.
40:29So this is what I'll be using.
40:31This is my base.
40:32Now this pigment here is a little bit too bright, but this pigment here is an excellent match.
40:40We'll just keep on adding.
40:42In fact, I think I can be quite brave with this.
40:44Let's see how it reacts with the epoxy.
40:47Epoxy resin is perfect for this kind of work.
40:49It's got a really high bond and it's very strong.
40:53I'm just going to check to see what it looks like wet.
40:57That's really good.
40:58I'm really happy with that.
40:59So I'm going to start bonding them together.
41:01Just take my time.
41:02Don't rush.
41:03I'm not worried about the excess oozing out because it will stiffen up and I'll scrape it off and it'll
41:11leave it super clean.
41:12Yeah, I'm absolutely delighted with this.
41:14I can feel that they're well bonded.
41:17Which gives me so much confidence in moving into the rest of the repairs.
41:20In particular, the bottom of this tile with Charlie's signature on it.
41:48This is the tile that we glued back together.
41:51It's got writing through the crack.
41:53So I need to infill this little section here with 1975 on it.
41:58So I've just mixed up some more mortar repair material with the pigment.
42:02I just want to place it exactly where it's needed.
42:09That's good.
42:11That's compact.
42:16So if I bring in its neighbour, there's also a date written on that.
42:21Same date, of course, 1975.
42:23It gives me an idea of Charlie's handwriting.
42:25So I can use that as a blueprint.
42:27I think Charlie's done this with a nail.
42:30Now the nervous bit.
42:31Matching his writing.
42:34The seven is quite a sharp corner.
42:39So we've got the top of the seven here.
42:42Let's grab that down.
42:45So the nine got quite a tight loop and then straight down, straight down.
42:53So, matching the seven.
42:56This nine doesn't curl all the way around, but it does on this one.
43:03Yes.
43:05That's it.
43:06At some point, you've got to say enough's enough.
43:09I'm delighted with that.
43:11That'll do.
43:23Richard's nerve-wracking repair of the Guyanese bangle is almost complete.
43:30I've now got to the point where I can do what's probably one of the most important things to a
43:36piece of jewellery.
43:37And that's to bring this bangle up to that beautiful, rich yellow colour.
43:43To rekindle that memory for Joanne of how she remembered seeing it as a child.
43:51So now what I've got to do is get this wonderful finish here.
43:56All the way across the whole bangle and in the inside.
44:00Once I've done that, I'll move on to the lustre polish.
44:03And that will get that really beautiful mirror shine.
44:05If you think this is shiny, just wait until the last polish.
44:16This cracked and misshapen bangle embodies the unbreakable bond formed in Guyana between Joanne and her grandmother Louise.
44:27Now Joanne's back to reclaim the precious jewellery which reminds her of the woman she thought of as her second
44:35mum.
44:36Hello.
44:37Hello.
44:38Hello.
44:38Hi Joanne.
44:38Hello again.
44:40How's it been since you left the bangle here?
44:42I've been really excited.
44:43I wore it every single day.
44:45So to be in a state where I could actually wear it and then pass it on would be beyond
44:51my wildest dreams actually.
44:54We're going to make some dreams come true?
44:55Yeah, let's do it.
44:55I hope so.
44:57Ready?
44:57I hope so, yes.
45:02Wow.
45:05Gosh.
45:09That is amazing.
45:14Beautiful, it's gleaming.
45:19Wow.
45:23Absolutely amazing.
45:24That is so much better than I could have ever imagined.
45:27Am I able to put it on?
45:28May I help you in the first instance?
45:31Yes, please.
45:32Here we go.
45:34And then, brisk over.
45:39Wow.
45:40It looks stunning.
45:42I love it.
45:43I just can't describe it.
45:44I just haven't worn this for 10 years.
45:47So it feels absolutely amazing.
45:49I've made a strengthening plate just on the inside which covers where the El London is.
45:55Does that mean it shouldn't crack again?
45:57That's my hope, yes.
45:58Brilliant.
45:59No, that's absolutely brilliant.
46:01This special connection with my grandmother has been restored.
46:04It just brings back all the times I remember her wearing it.
46:08And yeah, it's wonderful, thank you.
46:11To see the banger on your wrist is beautiful, isn't it, Reg?
46:14It really is.
46:16Well, I'm delighted to have it back on my wrist.
46:19Thank you so very much.
46:21Take care.
46:21Bye-bye.
46:22Bye-bye.
46:23Bye.
46:27It feels unbelievable after 10 years of not being able to wear it.
46:33And it's beautiful.
46:34It's gleaming.
46:36It's shiny.
46:37It feels sturdy.
46:38It feels strong.
46:40My children have only been to Guyana once.
46:43I just want them to always know that that is a huge part of their background.
46:48And to be able to pass that down through generations is extremely special.
47:00With two of the Kent peg tiles successfully repaired, Rich is moving on to the third one, a section of
47:08which is missing altogether.
47:11I'm going to have to make the top half by hand.
47:13To do that, I've made this profile box.
47:17So the back of this tile has a slight curvature on it.
47:20And this box was flat, but I've used a little bit of clay in the edges just to build up
47:24that slight angle.
47:26So when I lay my mortar on top of it, it'll be exactly the same shape as the tile that
47:31I'm repairing it to.
47:33I'm going to mix up this mortar.
47:34So four parts lime, to one part cement, to one part brick dust.
47:41So mortar is the material that you find in between the bricks on your houses.
47:45Mortar's got a multitude of uses in the built environment.
47:49They're used to bond the stones together.
47:51They're used to protect, point them, render them.
47:55In this scenario, we'll use the mortar to make a tile.
47:59It really is a luxury having the bottom tile here so that I can get a really clean junction between
48:04the tile and the mortar.
48:05And when this mortar stiffens up, I'm going to separate the two and use resin to glue it back on
48:10the tile so it'll be a really strong bond.
48:13So I'll maybe just leave that for now, let it stiffen up a bit, and then I can come back
48:17and match the texture.
48:33So the mortar repair's formed up really well now.
48:37It's firm enough to take a good sand and I'll be able to match the texture and the style and
48:42shape of the bottom tile.
48:45Okay, we've got like a significant drag mark there.
48:49This is where when they cut the clay, it must have dragged a little bit of clay from the last
48:53cut.
48:53I'm using a really heavy grit stone rubbing tool to get these grooves.
49:03So this little scar here, this little individual mark, it's not straight.
49:08I'd like to transfer that into my mortar repair.
49:11I'm going to have to be quite fast and strike this line.
49:15Wish me luck.
49:17Oh, that's not bad.
49:18I've got a couple of low indentations, so let's pick out a few.
49:24They look a little bit harsh, but once I rub this magic pad over it, soften them down the tree.
49:31These drag marks are not as heavy, so this stipple brush should introduce some scoring.
49:41Okay, enough's enough. I'm delighted with that. I just need to add the two holes because they wouldn't be Kent
49:47clay and peg tiles if they didn't have peg holes.
50:04As Susie's restoration of the bag nears its conclusion, she's moved on to reviving the monogram.
50:11I'm really happy with the talis bag now. The sewing is great. It actually feels really strong.
50:18The initials here, over time, as the leather has been bent, the gold itself has sort of crapped off in
50:27some areas.
50:27What I like to do is just find a gold acrylic that matches and then just very carefully fill in
50:37the gaps.
50:39It's where you need a steady hand. So I've nearly got the P completed.
50:44I'm just going to let that fully dry and move on to the R.
50:48And once I'm happy with that lettering, I can give it a really nice polish ready to give back to
50:54Phil.
50:55This is now in a condition where he can confidently pass it down through future generations and keep that legacy
51:02going.
51:08Part of a Jewish coming of age ceremony, this sacred pouch was passed down three generations.
51:15But tattered and flat, it was no longer fit to carry its contents.
51:21For Phil, who discovered it while grieving for his father, it represents a hundred years of his family's faith.
51:30Hello.
51:31Hello.
51:32Welcome back to the barn.
51:33Thank you very much.
51:34How are you?
51:35I've been thinking about it a lot.
51:38Okay.
51:38And how much history there actually is.
51:42Yeah.
51:42I am actually super excited, to be fair.
51:45So, um, are you ready?
51:47I am.
51:48Very nervous.
51:49Okay.
51:55Wow.
51:57My goodness me.
52:00Susie, that is absolutely incredible.
52:04Oh, wow.
52:05How have you done that?
52:06And there's no holes.
52:09Oh, wow.
52:12Amazing.
52:14And it's even got my name on it.
52:16I just picked out where we had some losses, just needed enough of enhancing.
52:21It's incredible.
52:22Looks like I'm going to have to spend some more time in synagogue.
52:28Oh, wow.
52:28So how does it feel to hold it in your hands?
52:31Um, I actually don't want to put it down.
52:33Quite emotional, actually.
52:35To think where it's been, who it's been with.
52:39And, like, every person that's owned this has had a story.
52:42We don't have many items left in our family that sort of carry through, whereas this is something that will
52:52carry through now.
52:53Yes.
52:55That's quite something.
52:57Well, Phil, it's been so enjoyable working on it and reviving it.
53:02You've done the most amazing job and the bag will carry on through the Rackerson family for many years to
53:08come.
53:08Thank you so much.
53:10You're very welcome.
53:11Take care now.
53:12Bye-bye.
53:17I was really stunned.
53:18I couldn't believe it.
53:20It just was the same bag, but just unbelievably well repaired.
53:24It's just fabulous.
53:26I'm flabbergasted.
53:28This is an amazing, amazing piece of history, which will be loved and used.
53:47Rich is in the final stages of his restoration of the Kent peg tiles.
53:53We just need to make the pegs now.
53:54Time to get the axe out, get splitting.
53:57I'll hold my fingernail where I want the axe to be.
54:01I'm going to bring everything up and down.
54:05There we go.
54:06How does that look?
54:09Yeah, so this is too big, so let's make the next one a little bit smaller.
54:13You know, what's really important is that hereditary skill set that Deirdre's grandfather had.
54:20The passing down the skills from line to line, generation to generation.
54:25Yeah, those two are perfect. They fit really well.
54:28Just need to make another four for the rest of the tiles and be able to present it to Deirdre.
54:36Fired at the Frittenden Brickworks during its final days,
54:40these tiles, found completely by chance, are touchstones of a trade one family can trace back to the 1600s.
54:51Deirdre has returned to collect her grandfather Charlie's last creations.
54:56And this time, she's got company.
54:59Hello, this is my sister Lynn.
55:02Hello.
55:02Who was with me when we found the tiles.
55:05I saw them initially and I didn't recognise the signature.
55:09So had De not been with me, I would have just left them.
55:13Yeah, so many things fell into place on that day.
55:17We were meant to find these tiles and we were meant to get them preserved.
55:21Would you like to see them?
55:23We would.
55:24Are you ready?
55:29Oh, that's fabulous.
55:31Oh, wow.
55:34I think that's really good, isn't it?
55:36That's absolutely lovely.
55:39Oh, gosh.
55:39Isn't that brilliant?
55:41Yeah, they look amazing.
55:42And that one was broken in two.
55:44So that's all new.
55:45It is, yeah.
55:46And yet they look perfect, don't they?
55:48They probably look how they looked when they came out of the kiln.
55:52Yeah.
55:52Yeah.
55:52And they're amazing.
55:54Aren't they?
55:54And the writing.
55:55You can really see the signatures, can't you?
55:58I like his curly C, but he also did his M upside down.
56:01It looks like a W.
56:03Yeah, he had quite a distinctive signature,
56:06but it's the curly C that was the thing that did it for me.
56:10We couldn't be happier actually, I think.
56:12What does the future hold for these beautiful tiles?
56:15So they're going to come home with me for safekeeping
56:17where anyone in the family will be welcome to come and have a look at them.
56:21I think everyone will actually want to see them.
56:24Yeah.
56:25It was a pleasure to work on them.
56:27We are absolutely over the moon with them.
56:30We are.
56:32To anybody else, these are just ordinary roof tiles,
56:36but obviously to us it's a legacy of our grandfather
56:40and generations before him.
56:43And having them repaired means that future generations can learn all about it as well,
56:48which is a lovely thing to happen.
56:52I think Charlie would be absolutely chuffed to bits if he saw the tiles.
56:57He would be over the moon because nobody ever thought that we would find them,
57:02and we did, and now they're back as he made them.
57:09If you have a treasured possession that's seen better days,
57:12and you think the team can help,
57:14please get in touch at bbc.co.uk
57:17slash take part and join us in the repair shop.
57:36We'll see you next time.
57:51Bye.
57:51Bye.
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