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00:01Here at The Repair Shop,
00:03countless treasures have been brought back to life.
00:07Cha-ching.
00:08That reveal so much about who we are
00:11and where we're from.
00:14It's like it's brand new.
00:15But there's so much more out there.
00:17Let's do it.
00:18That's not yet made it to the barn.
00:20This is amazing.
00:22So the team are hitting the road.
00:25I just love getting up close and personal with the objects.
00:27And we're going to get a glimpse into some amazing heritage crafts.
00:31Yes.
00:31I cannot wait.
00:34On a unique adventure.
00:36Oh, yes.
00:37This is terrifying.
00:39To join forces with expert craftspeople.
00:43Whoa!
00:44If we don't point these joints, moisture's going to penetrate.
00:47On their most ambitious restorations yet.
00:50To think every day you come up, this is your office.
00:52Wow, it's big.
00:54Keeping heritage crafts alive.
00:56Keep going.
00:57Keep going.
00:58It's getting hot in there.
01:00On precious restorations around the country.
01:03I can't even imagine what it looks like.
01:06Wow!
01:07There's a legacy here that needs to be protected.
01:15Today, Dom visits a historic music hall.
01:19Look at this place.
01:20It's incredible.
01:21That needs help with an old pianura.
01:24We need a punch of repair kit.
01:26And I brought one with me.
01:28Will and Kirsten join forces.
01:31OK, so we're missing two pieces.
01:32Yeah.
01:33To restore a priceless handmade chess set.
01:36To have something that I can hold.
01:39That he has held.
01:40It's invaluable.
01:41And Dom turns his hand to woodwork, learning an ancient craft.
01:46Quite impressed.
01:47I think I could hire you at this stage.
01:48Oh, yeah?
01:49Yeah.
01:50I'm really enjoying it.
01:58Repair shop experts Will and Dom are back on the road.
02:02Today's first stop, Glasgow.
02:04Having recently celebrated its 850th birthday, it's a city steeped in history and culture.
02:12So, Glasgow.
02:14Yes, I'm dropping you off this morning.
02:16I'm going to a music hall.
02:19A musical?
02:20No, not musical.
02:21I'm not going to be singing.
02:22A music hall.
02:24Oh, right.
02:25Quite an exciting morning.
02:26It will be.
02:28Stepping into the spotlight today are traditional craft skills.
02:33As Dom answers the call of a legendary Scottish venue in need of some restoration help.
02:43Hidden away in Glasgow's historic Trongate.
02:46Oh, wow.
02:47The Britannia Panopticon is the world's oldest surviving musical.
02:51Look at this place.
02:52It's incredible.
02:55First raising its curtain in 1859, it quickly became a sensation.
03:00With popular entertainers of the day, including a young Stan Laurel, performing to packed houses.
03:08Today, the venue is an ongoing conservation project.
03:11And Judith Bowers, director and founder of the Britannia Panopticon campaign, knows all its showbiz secrets.
03:22Judith, this building is absolutely incredible.
03:26What did it used to be?
03:27Do you know originally?
03:29Originally, it was actually a warehouse on this site.
03:32But what the locals really needed was a music hall.
03:36And so that's what it became.
03:42In the 19th century, Glasgow was an industrial powerhouse.
03:46Its population booming as new workers flooded in.
03:50And they all needed entertainment.
03:52This was a bit of escapism.
03:54Absolutely.
03:55This is where you blew off steam.
03:57And the audience left no turn unstoned.
04:00Oh, wow. Okay.
04:02They threw shipyard rivets, nails.
04:04Tough crowd here, then.
04:05Tough crowd.
04:06It was a full house every day.
04:08And in 1906, along came a young man called A.E. Pickard.
04:12He decided to extend the entertainments.
04:16And those entertainments included a wax works, a rooftop carnival, a zoo called Noah's Ark, a hall of distorting mirrors,
04:26and an art gallery.
04:27So you could see everything for the one ticket price, from the attic to the basement.
04:32And it attracted over 20,000 people a day.
04:37A day?
04:38A day.
04:39So what does the future hold for this incredible building?
04:41Well, hopefully bring it back to what it was when it was the Panopticon, so you'll get to see everything
04:47under the one roof again.
04:55And like any other great theatrical establishment, the Panopticon has its very own Grand Dame, albeit one in need of
05:04some TLC.
05:05What have we got here, then?
05:06Well, this is Henrietta, and she's our 1904 Nilsson pianola.
05:12Self-playing piano.
05:13A self-playing piano.
05:15So you can pedal it, and it will play the role of music.
05:18You can change that, I guess, with whichever song you want to play.
05:21Absolutely.
05:21We've got over 573 roles.
05:23No.
05:24But we can't play any of them, because this pianola's not working.
05:28Oh.
05:28If you pump on the bellows, pump on the pedals down there.
05:30Yeah.
05:31Nothing happens.
05:32Nothing happens.
05:33OK.
05:35The Edwardian-era pianola was donated to the Panopticon 20 years ago by a woman from nearby Cumbernault.
05:42But its origins are far more exotic.
05:45A next-door neighbour, her mother, inherited it from her parents, who apparently had a pub in New York.
05:54And they bought the pianola so that it could entertain the people drinking in the pub.
05:59Makes sense.
05:59And then, of course, prohibition happened in the Americas.
06:02Oh.
06:03So they came back to Scotland, and the pianola came with them.
06:07They must have really wanted it.
06:09It was a piece of high technology back in the day.
06:12What would it mean to you to get the pianola repaired?
06:14Well, this is a very important part of the music hall for us, particularly with engaging the community.
06:21They always become fascinated by how this incredible instrument works.
06:27Yeah.
06:27It is our secret weapon for engaging the community, really.
06:31If we're able to get this repaired, can we have a listen?
06:34Yeah.
06:34Yeah?
06:35Yeah.
06:35Oh, magic.
06:38The pianola has been waiting in the wings for its encore.
06:41But Dom knows just the person to get it singing again.
06:47On his way to tackle the specialist job is Jamie McLaren, a local piano technician for more than 20 years.
06:54Isn't this a beautiful thing?
06:56Yes, they're wonderful old machines.
06:59Unfortunately, this one is not working.
07:02How do we establish what's actually wrong?
07:04The first thing I would want to do is pull the roll of music down over the tracker bar.
07:11The tracker bar has lots of little holes which works each note.
07:15And then we would pedal.
07:17So by pumping that pedal, that should be...
07:20Moving a mechanical mechanism inside with chains and other little bellows for the roll to then turn to create the
07:28music.
07:28So the fact that you're pumping that pedal furiously and nothing's happening?
07:31Nothing is happening at all.
07:33So the first thing we want to do is take the bellows out, do a wee assessment, see what's going
07:38on, what repairs needing done, and then we go from there.
07:44While Jamie and Dom get under the bonnet of the old pianola, Will is keeping the show on the road,
07:51searching for more gems in need of the repair shop treatment.
07:56He's left the central belt behind for Inverness, where he's meeting Debbie, owner of a chess set with personal significance.
08:08So this is the chess set?
08:09This is the chess set.
08:11Whereabouts did you get it from?
08:12So my dad made the chess set, Will.
08:14I don't think he made the board, but the pieces, certainly, he moulded and created.
08:19Really?
08:20Yeah.
08:21They are absolutely amazing.
08:22Like, really good quality.
08:26Debbie's dad, Chris, modelled the set on the famous Lewis Chessman.
08:31Discovered in 1831 on a beach in the Outer Hebrides, the original pieces were carved from walrus ivory,
08:39most likely in 12th century Norway, when Lewis was part of a huge Norse kingdom.
08:45The striking pieces have captivated people ever since.
08:49What's your earliest memory of the chess set?
08:52Probably coming home from primary school and wanting to sit with dad and learn chess.
08:59I probably would have been five or six.
09:03You know, just that family time that comes from sitting around a board game together.
09:07Yeah.
09:07Sounds like you had quite a close relationship with your dad.
09:09Yeah, I was definitely a daddy's girl.
09:13He was just such a family man.
09:15You know, family was his life.
09:17There's so much of me, my mum says, that she sees in me that's like my dad.
09:20So this was your dad.
09:22So how comes that you have it now?
09:23My dad died when I was 13.
09:26My dad had MS, multiple sclerosis.
09:30When Debbie was a toddler, her dad got a job abroad and the family up sticks to Canada.
09:37So we were in Canada and that was the first signs that my dad was ill.
09:42Something wasn't quite right.
09:43So they made the hard decision to move back to Scotland to be closer to family.
09:47He went from being this guy that would be throwing me over his shoulder and, you know, playing football in
09:52the garden to a man who was bedridden.
09:56He had really progressive multiple sclerosis and it took his life when he was 37.
10:02I'm really sorry to hear that.
10:05That must have been tough on him, but also the family as well.
10:08Yeah.
10:08I had to grow up quicker than I wanted to, I guess.
10:13You know, we lived in a beautiful part of Scotland.
10:15There's a loch, Loch Moy, and it's a place that's really special to me.
10:20I spent a lot of my childhood there swimming in the loch, climbing trees, building dens.
10:26But I felt that there was a time when I couldn't be that child because there was that extra responsibilities.
10:32And I was the eldest, obviously, of the three.
10:38Sadly, the family suffered another terrible loss in 2002,
10:42when Debbie's brother Ian took his own life, aged 24.
10:47It hit us like a tonne of bricks.
10:49We just couldn't get our heads round why he would do that.
10:52And there were so many emotions, I think, Will.
10:56Unfortunately, my brother's passing was at the loch.
10:58Really? Yeah.
11:00And it's also, though, where I hope to get married.
11:02Literally, it's my past, it's my present, it's my future.
11:05It's such a significant place in my life.
11:09Everything that I have gone through has made me the person that I am today.
11:11And it's why I do the job that I do now and love the job I do so much.
11:15What do you do for work?
11:17So I'm a peer support worker for a mental health charity.
11:20Oh, fantastic.
11:21You know, recovery is a journey. Do you ever fully recover?
11:23But I'm far enough along to be able to use my lived experience to hopefully give hope to others.
11:30Why is this chessboard so important to you?
11:33I mean, out of anything that you could have inherited from your dad, why this chessboard?
11:38You know, he has put the time and the effort into crafting each piece
11:43to have something that I can hold that he has held.
11:47It's invaluable.
11:48And that's why restoring it so that it can be used,
11:53so that I can teach my kids how to play chess on it.
11:57Now, I thought that this board was made of wood, but it's not.
11:59I don't think it is.
12:00Is it resin?
12:01Yeah.
12:01I can see around the outside edge there.
12:02Yeah.
12:03It's really dusty.
12:05I didn't even attempt to clean it because I didn't know would I do more damage to it.
12:09Well, that's why I'm here.
12:10That's why I called in the experts.
12:13If it had the missing two pieces, I would be delighted.
12:17Yeah.
12:17Absolutely delighted.
12:19And some of the pieces that have got the worst damage, I guess.
12:22This guy's head's not even great, is it?
12:24He's half a head, isn't he?
12:25Yeah.
12:26Yeah.
12:26He's like a Scotsman on a Saturday night.
12:29How's it going to feel to play that first game?
12:31As long as I win, it'll be great.
12:34That's the right answer.
12:39Back in Glasgow, it's taken a while, but Dom and Jamie are finally managing to remove
12:45the pianola's bellows, the pedal-driven air pump that powers the whole instrument.
12:52So now we've actually got the bellows out.
12:54How are they looking?
12:56Yeah, there's a few holes there.
12:58If you open that up, that's it.
13:00I can see a hole in yours there.
13:01Right.
13:02You'll often find them in the creases.
13:05Is it mine okay on your side there?
13:06No, there's a wee hole there.
13:08Oh, really?
13:08There's a big hole on this side as well.
13:09Right.
13:10We've found the smoking gun.
13:11These four holes in the bellows are why the whole machine isn't working.
13:15If there wasn't holes there, then there would be an issue up there.
13:20There still could be a few issues.
13:21We need a punch of repecky, and I brought one with me.
13:24I'm glad to hear it.
13:31So I've got some bits and bobs here, and we'll cut out with this leather the right kind
13:40of size.
13:40What we'll do, first of all, is try and take these big springs off.
13:46It should pop off if you get in at the right angle.
13:50Just watch it doesn't nip you.
13:52Oh, yeah.
13:53You got yours.
13:54Did it?
13:54Yeah.
13:55There you go.
13:56Makes it a wee bit easier to get in.
14:00I think you would want to make it round about an inch all the way around.
14:05From this leather.
14:06That's it.
14:07And that gives us plenty of area to glue that down.
14:11OK.
14:19Just make sure it's sealed all the way round the edges.
14:25How's that look?
14:27Absolutely great.
14:28Acceptable.
14:28Yes.
14:29Good, good.
14:30Fantastic.
14:31With the leaky bellows fixed, Dom's starting a new journey north, leaving Jamie to continue
14:37the investigation and repair of this musical marvel.
14:44Meanwhile, Will has brought Debbie's chess set back to the barn to consult with the queen
14:50of model restoration, Kirsten.
14:55Hello, Kirsten.
14:57Hello.
14:58Fancy game of chess?
14:59I was going to say.
15:00Game time.
15:01Now, this is Debbie's chess board.
15:03This was made by Debbie's dad.
15:04Wow.
15:05I know.
15:05Goodness me.
15:06So we're missing two pieces.
15:08Yeah.
15:08It's going to be a bit of a team effort.
15:10The board itself, even though it's not made of wood, it could do with a bit of a tidy up.
15:14If I get that sorted out, could you get started with replacing the pieces?
15:17Absolutely.
15:18I'm sure between us we'll get it looking lovely.
15:26I can see that this is made of plaster where the original body is exposed and they've been
15:32painted.
15:33What I'd really like to do is to fill and touch in all of these little chips that have
15:42obviously just occurred whilst these have been played with over the years.
15:47Unfortunately, there appeared to be two of the pieces missing and I'm going to see if
15:53I can make those.
15:55It's a really long time since I made a chess piece.
15:59I think when I was a student at college, one of the exercises that we had to do was
16:05to cast a chess piece.
16:07So I'm going to have to see if I can remember how I did it.
16:13I think I'm going to start with this piece here because this has got the most damage.
16:30While Kirshen is working on the chess pieces, I thought I'd give the chessboard a bit of a clean up.
16:35The underside has been covered in green beige.
16:37This is the same stuff you get on pool tables and it prevents an item from scratching a nice polished
16:43surface.
16:45The corner here is lifting up and there's another lifting up piece here.
16:48I can glue those down quite easily with some wood glue and that will get it nice and flat again.
16:52Before I do the gluing, I'm going to clean the top.
16:55One thing I like to use when I'm cleaning is a nail brush.
16:59Now this with soapy water is really great at getting into all those grooves.
17:03It will hopefully help me to relieve some of that dirt off the surface.
17:11As Will cleans, Kirshen tackles her first piece.
17:15Because this is made of plaster and it's therefore a porous material, I've painted on a sealant and it's a
17:27way of consolidating that surface.
17:29And it just means that there's a barrier between the fill that I'm using and the original material.
17:37I'm using this black two part epoxy putty, which just makes it a lot easier.
17:44You can just go straight for the black colour and it's also quite nice for putting detail into the fill.
17:52Because this is quite hard once it's set, I want to get as much detail and get the shape as
18:00accurately as I can.
18:02Because what I don't want to do is to be sanding and shaping once this has gone hard.
18:09Because that's a hard fill and the actual plaster figure itself is quite soft.
18:16So if you start sanding, it's quite possible to cause damage to the soft plaster.
18:24So that's starting to come together now.
18:28There's a bit more refining of the detail left to do.
18:33But once I'm happy with that shaping, I'm just going to leave this to harden off.
18:39And then probably have to do a little bit of retouching as well, but not too much.
18:51In Glasgow, with the bellows repaired, Jamie's now removed the pianola section of the instrument so he can access the
19:00piano parts.
19:01He's working on the lost motion, the amount that piano keys move before they engage the hammers, which strike the
19:09strings.
19:10This is for the piano side, when the felt and leather is compressed, so we can always adjust it to
19:16make it feel and play evenly and nicely.
19:23Now Jamie can remove the piano action to get even deeper inside.
19:29And that's your piano action.
19:31Pianolas need expert care because they incorporate standard piano design with pneumatic, air-driven mechanics.
19:39So they have hundreds of intricate components, from valves and gaskets to a gearbox.
19:45I'm going to now clean dust, get all the bits and bobs out of there that shouldn't be.
19:51And this now will allow me to service the key action.
19:56Jamie is starting by giving the brass capstons at the ends of the keys a polish with wire wool.
20:04And then there's a century's worth of dust to contend with.
20:13Next, I'm going to take the keys out, now that it's hoovered.
20:19I'm going to do a section at a time, and you will see all the dust and everything that's fallen
20:27down in between.
20:29As you can see, it is pretty dusty in here.
20:37More dust means more vacuuming.
20:40And once Jamie's cleared up all that, he's turning his attention to the balance pins.
20:46This is them here.
20:47This is what the piano key rocks on, as you can see from the end here.
20:52They're a bit corroded at the moment, so the key is a wee bit slow.
20:57After a thorough clean with wire wool, Jamie has a trick up his sleeve for the pins.
21:03So I'm just going to put some Teflon on the pins, just like your non-stick frying pan.
21:10And it just helps the key glide over the nice polished metal.
21:19While the fine tuning of the pianola continues, Dom is taking to the tarmac, once again on the hunt for
21:26a completely new crafting experience.
21:30Jamie Kunker is Scotland's only wooden ski maker, a craft he's developed over the past decade from his workshop in
21:39the Perthshire village of Burnham.
21:41Competing in a multi-million pound industry, against rivals using high-tech production methods and ultra-modern synthetic materials,
21:50Jamie's construction techniques hark back to traditional methods that have remained relatively unchanged for over a thousand years.
21:59This is Ashwood.
22:01Nice.
22:01And what I've done to it is obviously cut it straight into two segments, and then I've tapered it with
22:06a sort of raised platform for your foot.
22:08And that's going to govern the flex of the ski and how it performs.
22:12What we need to do is bend that familiar ski scoop into the front of it with the steam box
22:18and the steam bending jig.
22:19As you'd expect with modern skis, we're just made out of some ash.
22:23Absolutely.
22:27I've got to say, this is quite some set-up.
22:30This is genius.
22:33It's just a hob, a big pot of boiling water and a box.
22:37It takes around 25 minutes for the steam to heat the wood, so it's pliable enough to bend without snapping.
22:46But when the skis come out of the heat box, time is of the essence.
22:52We've got to act quick now, haven't we?
22:53We've got to act quick. We've not got a huge window, so take this way up.
22:57And what we're going to do is we're going to ease it in there, get the bar out there.
23:02Right. And now start pushing from there.
23:05And then with your palms, don't be shy.
23:08Keep going, keep going.
23:10Push here.
23:11That's it.
23:13That's lovely.
23:13And then we'll close the latch.
23:16You still get scared now doing this?
23:18You do think they're going to crack.
23:20Yeah.
23:20But if you've done it properly, they'll be great.
23:22They'll be okay.
23:22So these will be in for about 24 hours to dry off and make sure that the steam bend stays
23:27in.
23:27But I've got another set on the bench over there, which is the next day forward.
23:31So I can show you the next stage.
23:33Perfect. Thank you.
23:35Okay.
23:36So this is stage three now.
23:38We've got our steam bend in.
23:39This is what they're going to look like.
23:40That's what it'll look like.
23:41So it's got that marvellous radius that's set in.
23:44It's quite a heavy ski at this stage.
23:45So we want to remove some material to help the ski flex, but also remain rigidity.
23:50Oh, so this is quite critical.
23:52Because if you take too much off, they're going to snap.
23:54It's going to be too soft.
23:55Yeah.
23:55So we're going to use a few traditional tools here.
23:57We're going to use spoke shaves, plain, and quite a fun one, the convex spoke shave.
24:03I have never used one of these.
24:05I'm not, I mean, I'm familiar with these tools, but I've never, I haven't got that much experience with them.
24:09So you might see it on kind of like furniture maker's bench to do sort of the grooves and stools
24:13and things to make things more ergonomic.
24:15And so this section is going to kind of fall away and become slightly thinner.
24:19And that's going to create a spine on the ski, which is going to keep the ski stiff in rotation.
24:24So torsionally stiff, but also shedding all this weight.
24:27So when you're turning the skis, the skis feel lighter and don't feel kind of bulky.
24:31This is seriously complicated.
24:33Yeah, this is something that they worked out, you know, thousands of years ago, because all the skis that they
24:37find in bogs and hidden in ice and stuff all have this feature.
24:42This thing is going to start kind of gouging out very slowly.
24:49That kind of convex shape.
24:52How on earth did you learn how to do this?
24:55Well, I actually started my woodworking journey and making archery longbows and stuff.
25:00And I think I always liked wooden objects, which kind of had a, had a bit of dynamism.
25:04So like, you know, had a bit of spring and kind of like spring tension movement.
25:08Yeah.
25:08Yeah.
25:08So have a little shot.
25:10Okay.
25:15You obviously ski yourself.
25:17I do, yep.
25:18Yeah?
25:18Yep.
25:18There's nothing more satisfying actually than skiing on your own skis and they're good.
25:23Nothing brilliant.
25:26Quite impressed.
25:27I think I could hire you at this stage.
25:28Oh, yeah?
25:29Yep.
25:30I'm really enjoying it.
25:34Every pair of skis is made to measure and takes a week to produce.
25:39A testament to Jamie's skill and passion for this rare craft.
25:44The very last stage is we've got to seal them from the elements.
25:47So we've got to apply a traditional pine tar finish onto the base.
25:50We have a pot of Stockholm tar ready to go.
25:56Is there a technique with this brushing or?
25:58Thin coats.
25:59You'll find it'll probably, as it cools down, it'll start to kind of...
26:02It'll start right at the end.
26:02Yeah.
26:03Have a look at the colour change.
26:04It's quite amazing.
26:05Oh, yeah.
26:06Look at that.
26:07Yeah.
26:08Stockholm tar is a natural antifungal preservative with a wide variety of historical uses,
26:14from waterproofing boats to treating cuts in horse's hoofs.
26:18What we'll do is we'll run heat over it.
26:20We'll run that over and you see it bubbling.
26:22Whoa.
26:23So that means some of that tar is actually getting absorbed into the wood fibres.
26:26That's what we want.
26:27And then you'll come along quick.
26:29Oh.
26:30Rub it off like that.
26:32And there you go.
26:33That's kind of that.
26:33That's the finish we want.
26:50Obviously there's, we've got to apply the tar to the sides and the top, and then put the binding on
26:55and then it's kind of good to go.
26:56Finish ski, much like one of these.
26:58They are beautiful.
27:00Jamie, thank you so much.
27:02I have loved every minute of this.
27:04Yeah, come back anytime.
27:05I'd love to.
27:10Back at the bar, Kirsten is making her next move, replacing Debbie's two missing chess pieces.
27:17The first step is to create a mould using an existing piece.
27:22It's so fortunate that I've got both of the pieces that need casting.
27:28So I've attached these threads and I'm going to suspend it into this cup.
27:36There's a gap of about that much just between the head and the bottom of the beaker.
27:43And that's ready for me now to make up my silicone rubber.
27:52This is the silicone rubber here.
27:57This has to be quite accurate.
28:01So I'm just going to add the hardener.
28:05I'm going to mix this really well just to ensure that it is going to harden.
28:15I'm confident that that has been really thoroughly mixed now.
28:20And I'm ready to pour the silicone rubber into the cup.
28:28He's swinging around a little bit in there, but I'm sure it will just settle.
28:39I'm going to leave that to harden now.
28:42And this is where I cross my fingers and hope that all that detail will come out in the mould.
29:04It feels like the moulding material has set really well.
29:09And I'm just going to see if I can pop the chest piece out.
29:17There's always a slight risk of the thing getting stuck, of the mould material tearing.
29:24It's a little bit fraught with things that can go wrong.
29:28There we go.
29:30It's on its way now.
29:31Great.
29:34So the next stage is to make up my casting material and to fill the mould up.
29:55You have to measure the material out quite carefully to make sure that this sets properly.
30:05I think that's looking good.
30:07I'm just going to bang this on the table a little bit because that brings any of the air bubbles
30:13up to the surface.
30:16I'm going to pour this in now.
30:19I'm pouring it quite slowly to make sure that I don't get bubbles in any of the areas where the
30:26arms and things are.
30:28I'm just going to set this to one side now and allow the casting material, which is very similar to
30:34a plaster, to harden.
30:48The casting material feels like it's completely hard and it's therefore ready to be released from the mould.
30:57A moment of truth.
31:01It's coming out now.
31:05Oh.
31:08He looks good.
31:11That's really nice.
31:13That's come out really well.
31:16So I now need to repeat that process with the other missing piece.
31:21And once I've got the two new chess pieces, I then have to start thinking about retouching and matching them
31:31to the original pieces.
31:41Back at the Britannia in Glasgow, Jamie is nearing the end of the time consuming and complex renovation of the
31:48pianola.
31:49The last section requiring work is the piano action, which contains the hammers, levers and dampers that are so crucial
31:57to a fully functioning instrument.
31:59So that's the action dust free.
32:03So I'm just checking all the little screws for all the piano parts, all the hammerheads, levers, make sure everything's
32:12nice and tight.
32:13So if we don't have any clicks or movement, then it should play nice and quietly when it goes back
32:18in.
32:20It's been good fun when you start working on these old instruments, you can take them apart and find a
32:26million things wrong, lots needing replaced.
32:29But this one, I think, will come back to life with all the little repairs that we've done.
32:36OK, that is everything tight.
32:38And what we're going to do now is pop it back in the piano.
32:47Right, that's the action back in, so we're just going to start tuning the piano.
32:54So you can hear it's dreadfully out of tune.
32:57We're going to get it sounding pretty good.
32:59But I don't want it to be bang on because a lot of the roles of music for the pianola
33:05workings in here are kind of ragtime, Scott Joplin,
33:08and it sounds brilliant when it's a wee bit honky-tonk.
33:12So that's the aim of the game.
33:16What a lovely tone this piano has.
33:19I can't wait to hear what it's going to be like at the end because I think it's going to
33:23sing beautifully.
33:28In the barn, Kirsten has successfully recast both of Debbie's missing chess pieces
33:35and is now ready to add the final touches.
33:38This has now hardened and I think it's picked up that detail really nicely.
33:46It's ready to be painted.
33:48I'm going to try and match this cream buff colour that the white pieces have been painted.
33:57And it's not just a straightforward block colour.
34:00You've got this detail where the lines are.
34:04So it's going to take a little bit of trial and error.
34:09I'm going to use an acrylic paint for this.
34:12So I'm just going to mix up a few colours and see if I can try and match that in.
34:35I think that colour looks pretty good.
34:38So I'm just going to leave that now to dry.
34:44And I'm now going to paint the other piece that I made black to match the original.
35:14Hey, Kirsten.
35:15Wow, that's looking fantastic.
35:17Thank you very much.
35:18It was just a light clean and a wax button.
35:20Have you finished?
35:20I have, yeah.
35:22And you've got to guess which ones I've made up.
35:24This is going to be tricky.
35:27I can't tell.
35:28Well done.
35:29The right answer.
35:30Great job.
35:31Debbie is going to be so happy to have this back in the family.
35:37Kirsten and Will have given the chess set and board a sympathetic restoration.
35:42All that remains now is for Will to make the journey back to the north of Scotland.
35:48Well, I'm heading off to Loch Moy and I'm reuniting Debbie with her chess board.
35:54Debbie paints such a wonderful picture of the loch.
35:58Can't wait to see it.
35:59But some of the memories are happy, some are sad.
36:01And I'm hoping that when I give her back the chess board, it's going to add one new happy memory.
36:11My dad made it.
36:13You know, he created it.
36:14And obviously with losing my dad at such a young age, my memories of him are really limited.
36:21When I hold a piece, that's a piece that he's crafted.
36:24And that for me is what brings out the magic in being able to have it restored.
36:31Debbie chose Loch Moy as the meeting place for their reunion.
36:36It's such a special place for me because it holds good memories with some sadness, unfortunately.
36:40But it's a place of peace and calm and serenity and you just have to look at what we've got
36:46behind us to see the kind of feelings being here evokes.
36:53Hi, Debbie.
36:54Hello. Nice to see you again.
36:55Nice to see you too.
36:57This is beautiful, isn't it?
36:58Yes.
36:59Loch Moy.
37:01My childhood memories are all here.
37:03Yeah.
37:04You're getting married here in a few months, aren't you?
37:05Yes.
37:06Yes.
37:06That is the plan anyway.
37:07Well, today I bought gifts.
37:10OK.
37:11Gifts are good.
37:11What are you hoping we've managed to do for you?
37:15For me to be able to play chess on it.
37:17You know, having those missing pieces replaced.
37:19I was happy with that.
37:20I wanted to keep as much of his handiwork present.
37:24Would you like to take a look?
37:27Yes.
37:27Yes.
37:27Yes.
37:32Oh, wow.
37:36Wow.
37:39That's amazing.
37:41Absolutely amazing.
37:43I can't even tell what the pieces were that you've made.
37:48They just look identical.
37:51It's perfect.
37:58I'm a bit in awe because I was so young the last time I saw this complete.
38:02It's made me really quite emotional to see it with all the pieces there.
38:08Yeah.
38:09I'm thankful.
38:10I'm emotional.
38:11I'm grateful.
38:13And just, it's amazing what you guys do.
38:15Well, I can't take any of the praise here because Kirshen has worked absolute wonders.
38:20I can see that.
38:22I love the fact that I managed to bring this back to you at this wonderful location.
38:26Yeah.
38:27Receiving the chess set here helps me to start making even more happier memories connected
38:32to Locomoy, my special place.
38:39The chess set is ready to be played once again.
38:45But can the same be said for Henrietta, the Edwardian pianola?
38:50Dom's hitting the road to find out.
38:53I'm back in Glasgow on my way to the Britannia Panopticon to see Judith and the team there.
39:00And most importantly, to hear that pianola play for the first time in a long time.
39:05I'm so excited.
39:09First on the cards is a catch up with Jamie.
39:12How's it going?
39:13Hello.
39:14You okay?
39:14Still smiling?
39:15Still smiling.
39:16Yeah, it's been a lot of work, but I quite enjoyed it actually.
39:21Repairing something like this, knowing that it's here and it's going to be enjoyed by so many people for years
39:26to come.
39:26As I was working on it, that's what goes through my mind.
39:29So should we get it covered up?
39:30Yes, let's cover it up.
39:35Judith's organised a glitzy and glamorous gathering of artists, performers and friends of the Panopticon,
39:41who are all eagerly awaiting the results of Jamie's repair.
39:47It's kind of important today to share, I think, this experience with them because a lot of them have never
39:53seen Henrietta working and it's just going to be such a buzz for them to see it.
39:59It's such a magical instrument, you know, press a button and off it goes.
40:03It's like a fairy tale and she's going to be turned on again and she'll be entertaining the public as
40:08she used to do. It's thrilling.
40:10The pianola's always been in the background and I can't wait to hear it play. It's going to be really
40:14fantastic.
40:15I can't wait to see it all working. I really can't.
40:19No pressure then, Jamie.
40:21I really am feeling quite nervous. I've worked really hard on the pianola.
40:26I think I've nailed it and I can't wait to see their faces.
40:34Thank you so much, everybody. It's so nice to see such an amazing turnout and you all look incredible.
40:39It's a big day, isn't it?
40:40It is a big day. It's a big day for all of us, I think, to date the scene.
40:44Yeah.
40:44What's underneath that cover?
40:45What difference is it going to make to have it working?
40:48Well, for a start off, having a piano in tune for everybody to sing to is going to be fantastic
40:52and a real novelty.
40:54Is everyone ready to see it?
40:56Yes!
40:57Are you excited?
40:58Yes!
40:59Come on then, Jamie.
41:08I know that it looks the part, but really this is all about what it sounds like, isn't it?
41:12Yes.
41:13Do you want to hear it?
41:13Yes!
41:15Will you do the honours?
41:16Yes, have you been pourCTAM?
41:18If you don't hear this, I do.
41:24Before you start singing, we love you pregnancy.
41:27Oh, what a love of you.
41:30It won't be a stylish marriage
41:35I can't afford a carriage
41:39A cute and sweet
41:41Upon the seat of a bicycle made for two
41:47CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
41:54Judith, how does it feel hearing it for the first time, properly tuned?
41:58Absolutely amazing.
41:59Nowhere's going to describe it.
42:01It's going to bring a lot of joy to a lot of people.
42:04Yeah. It is.
42:05I can't believe I'm grinning.
42:07LAUGHTER
42:09Yeah, I'm going to greet as well.
42:11LAUGHTER
42:16Thanks to Jamie's skill and hard work,
42:19the pianola's decades of silence have been broken at last.
42:23We've never, ever heard the pianola playing like that.
42:26It's incredible. It really is incredible.
42:28To see the pianola actually working again is fabulous.
42:32To see the transformation from, you know,
42:35before and now is absolutely incredible.
42:37I do love history and I do love the scolding.
42:39And I do love that pianola.
42:43MUSIC
42:51If you'd like to see more fantastic fixes and restorations,
42:55search BBC iPlayer for The Repair Shop on the road.
43:01Look there for ê³±c Cheong.
43:17It's just real motivation.
43:17the médecin.
43:17It's amazing and tangible can be verder right now!
43:21And now it's you!
43:25And if you are not going anywhere,
43:26it will go to applicability.
43:27Either we go there on the path or add an 순간ic epm.
43:27Thanks a lot to imagine.
43:29You
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