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00:01Here at The Repair Shop,
00:03countless treasures have been brought back to life.
00:07Kitchen.
00:08That reveal so much about who we are
00:12and 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.
00:31I 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.
01:06There's a legacy here that needs to be protected.
01:15Life on the road.
01:17Life on the road.
01:29We think this was written by one of the junior crew members.
01:33It's never been completely determined who wrote it.
01:35An inspiring chair in need of repair.
01:39It once belonged to Trevor Bayliss, the inventor of the wind-up radio.
01:43And Dom tries the traditional art of woodblock printing.
01:47Oh, no.
01:48No, no, no.
01:49I've chipped a bit.
01:50Just to make the mountain a bit bigger.
01:55Another new experience for me today.
01:57Go on.
01:58Whitby.
01:59Lovely.
02:00Not only a fishing harbour, but they built ships there.
02:02Oh, I love a shipbuilder.
02:07Whitby, on Yorkshire's North Sea coast, is a historical port.
02:14That boasts a famous abbey.
02:17Inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula.
02:22And attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
02:30Lunchtime is probably going to be a treat for me today.
02:32Really?
02:33Why?
02:33Fish and chips.
02:34I can't not.
02:35We're at the seaside.
02:36I only had my first fish and chips about a year ago.
02:39Oh, stop it.
02:40That's not true.
02:41That is true.
02:41Now your life has changed.
02:43Completely changed.
02:46But before lunch, there's work to be done.
02:52Dom's destination is Whitby Museum.
02:56Founded in 1823, it's a treasure trove of rare finds.
03:02From fossils to artefacts celebrating Whitby's maritime and industrial heritage.
03:10Rob.
03:12This museum is absolutely incredible.
03:15I could get lost in there for hours.
03:16Yeah, we do.
03:17We love working here, as you can imagine.
03:19Rob Williams is the archivist here.
03:23Where they've recently rediscovered something quite special.
03:27Long buried in the museum's collection.
03:30It's an unofficial journal of Captain Cook's first voyage.
03:36What does that mean?
03:37Unofficial.
03:38We think this was written by one of the junior crew members.
03:41It's never been completely determined who wrote it.
03:43But, of course, because he was a junior crew member, his viewpoint of what went on on the voyage is
03:49completely different.
03:53Captain James Cook was born 30 miles from here, at Martin.
03:57In 1768, at the age of 39, he embarked on his first great voyage of discovery.
04:12The voyage was commissioned by scientists, basically, to observe the transit of Venus, which was Venus crossing the face of
04:21the sun.
04:22But viewed from loads of different locations across the planet.
04:26And the idea was it would help them to work out the size of the solar system, which hadn't been
04:31done at that point.
04:32And also to aid navigation.
04:34And so, of course, the official journal goes into great detail about this experiment and how it was done.
04:40This guy just mentions it in one sentence.
04:43And the rest of the paragraph is about a duel between two of the officers on board.
04:47The journal is a priceless glimpse into the reality behind the official admiralty account.
04:54There's a paragraph talking about some crew members going ashore and stealing potatoes from the natives.
05:00For which they get hauled up in front of the captain.
05:03And someone is cheeky enough to say, yes, but captain, you and your officers have been doing exactly the same
05:08thing.
05:09So, it's just a completely different viewpoint.
05:12Wow.
05:13So, this shouldn't really have made its way off the boat, I'm imagining.
05:17That's right.
05:18The admiralty had rules, which was that you were allowed to keep journals and diaries on the ship, but you
05:24had to hand them in when the ship docked.
05:26Somebody didn't.
05:27Well, this is why it's remained anonymous for all of these years, because this guy would have felt, well, if
05:32they find out it's me, they're going to throw me in jail.
05:36Scientific discovery was one reason for Cook's three-year voyage.
05:40But the Royal Navy had other motives.
05:44Cook had an envelope of sealed orders from the admiralty, which they told him not to open until the experiment
05:50was complete.
05:51So, there was another agenda on this voyage then?
05:54That's right, yeah.
05:55They were navigating and charting New Zealand, Australia.
05:59I mean, it seems incredible to us that nobody really knew the size of Australia, because nobody had really charted
06:05it before.
06:06No.
06:06If you were the first to land in a place, you could claim it.
06:09So, this was all about land grab, really, I suppose.
06:13Cook landed in both New Zealand and Australia at Botany Bay.
06:19This marked the beginning of a major expansion of the British Empire and colonial rule.
06:26Today, Cook leaves a controversial legacy.
06:29But at the time, he became a national hero.
06:34So, this isn't the actual book that they wrote in at the time.
06:38This is a printed book, printed in 1771.
06:42This would have been a real money spinner.
06:44The ship had been away for three years.
06:47No radio, no television.
06:48The public would have been desperate to know what happened on this voyage.
06:52Yeah.
06:52And somebody thought, I can make some money out of this before the official version came out.
06:56This one came out only two months after the ship had docked.
07:00Very clever.
07:01Very clever.
07:02Very sneaky, though.
07:03Oh, yes.
07:04Well, that's what we like about it.
07:05We like a bit of sneaky.
07:06Yeah.
07:08How long has the book been here, in the collection?
07:11Well, we know that this was donated to the museum in 1939.
07:16There's an annotation in here.
07:18This book was bought at Scarborough circa 1890.
07:23Just down the road?
07:23Just down the road.
07:24Yeah.
07:24And the collector was a guy called James Bell Walker.
07:28OK.
07:29So, inside here, we've got lots of notes.
07:32Oh, it's like a scrapbook as well, isn't it?
07:33Yeah, that's right.
07:34Oh, wow.
07:35So, these were pages where we think Walker was making notes about the book, and he glued those in.
07:44Why is it important to you to get the book repaired?
07:46This is a really important piece of the jigsaw puzzle to understand a really important navigator, Captain Cook,
07:53and what he means to the area.
07:56And what we really want to do next is do a lot more research into this book, how it came
08:01about,
08:02more evidence about who might have written it.
08:05But it's in such terrible condition that we're reluctant to let researchers loose on it yet.
08:10OK.
08:10We need to restore it to a condition where we can allow people to handle it and open it.
08:20What an amazing, unique, quirky book.
08:23Thank you for trusting us with it.
08:24No, thank you for allowing us to tell the story.
08:27It's amazing.
08:33200 miles due south, Will is on his own voyage of discovery.
08:41To find a treasured possession in need of some expert TLC.
08:48He's come to West London to find another museum, one that's celebrating the city's more recent history.
08:56And meeting Michelle Whitby, the founder of the Eel Pie Island Museum.
09:02This is very nice.
09:03So tell me a bit more about this place.
09:04Eel Pie Island is a little tiny island just across the road in the middle of the Thames here.
09:12Small island, but an amazing amount of history.
09:15Lots of music history, lots of boatyard history, lots of incredible characters
09:19that have been part of Eel Pie Island's story over many, many years.
09:25Eel Pie Island is a near nine-acre private island in the middle of the River Thames.
09:31When a hotel was built in the 1830s, it became a stopping point for pleasure steamers.
09:36And then in the 1950s and 60s, a venue for jazz and rock concerts.
09:43So you had bands like the Rolling Stones playing there.
09:46Really?
09:47David Bowie.
09:48Before he was even David Bowie played over there, he was still little Davy Jones.
09:53Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, bands like that playing.
09:56So it was quite phenomenal.
09:59The island's bohemian nature attracted artists and eccentrics.
10:04And among those who came to live there was the owner of this chair.
10:10This is it.
10:11This is the chair.
10:12It's a lovely chair.
10:14It once belonged to Trevor Bayliss, the inventor of the wind-up radio.
10:17He lived on Eel Pie Island.
10:19I've got one of those.
10:20No way.
10:20Have you?
10:21I've got a wind-up.
10:21Does this still work?
10:22Yeah.
10:23Brilliant.
10:23It does, actually.
10:23Excellent.
10:24Well, Trevor, who sat in this chair, he invented that.
10:29Trevor Bayliss lived a colourful life.
10:31He once performed as a stunt swimmer for a Berlin circus, but found national fame as an inventor in the
10:401990s.
10:41So Trevor was watching a programme about the spread of AIDS and how it was spreading rapidly through sub-Saharan
10:48Africa at the time,
10:49mainly because people didn't know about it, because they didn't have access to information.
10:53Lots of people didn't have any electricity.
10:55And he was just horrified that something as simple as not being able to get information around was allowing this
11:00disease to spread.
11:01So he literally watched this programme and then apparently just stayed up all night tinkering in his little workshop that
11:07was round the side of his house
11:08until he came up with the basis for this wind-up radio.
11:11So the idea being that you could be anywhere in the world and you just had to wind this thing
11:16up and hear the news.
11:17Mind blown.
11:18So that is the story behind the wind-up radio?
11:20Yeah, that's the story behind the wind-up radio, yeah.
11:23Trevor Bayliss's radio was a worldwide success.
11:27When he died in 2018 at the age of 80,
11:31his friends, including Michel, gave him a suitable send-off,
11:36building him a custom-made coffin
11:39in the shape of his most famous invention.
11:44So where does this chair come into the mix?
11:46We ended up getting quite a few of his items from his house, including this chair.
11:50And, you know, we kind of make a joke, like, you know,
11:52have you invented anything yet while you're sitting in here?
11:54But as you can see, it's getting very, very worn.
11:57What would you like us to do with the chair?
11:58It would be just fantastic to get this cushion repaired so people can sit in it.
12:04It's more than about Eelpie Island for you.
12:07It's that love and link with Trevor.
12:09He really was a big, big source of inspiration and support to me as well.
12:13His door was always open.
12:14He could just pop in and, you know, shout,
12:16all right, Trevor, and he'd get the kettle on and just go and sit and have a chat.
12:20I feel duty-bound to keep his chair in good condition, you know,
12:24see what you guys can do with your magic.
12:29Can you always see him sitting in it now?
12:32Yeah, definitely. Yeah, definitely.
12:34Can almost smell the pipe smoke.
12:38A world away from West London.
12:42At the barn, resident bookbinder Chris Shaw is preparing to start a new chapter
12:49in the long history of the Cook Journal.
12:52It's a journal of a voyage around the world, 1771, so really old.
13:00And it's beautiful.
13:02It's really important that this book for the community in Whitby can be read again.
13:06And currently, it's in an unfit state.
13:09So I've got to sort that.
13:11And there's a lot of problems.
13:13There's a problem with the boards.
13:15There's a problem with the spine.
13:17The pages don't open.
13:18There's loose pages.
13:19The list is endless.
13:23There's three pages of additional notes.
13:28So I need to remove this.
13:30And then this is the original flyleaf,
13:33which is really badly dog-eared around the edge.
13:37And on the top left-hand corner, there's a massive tear.
13:40And it's stuck, actually, good and proper to the title page.
13:45To separate the flyleaf and title page,
13:49Chris must first remove them from the rest of the book.
13:52I know where I can pull the pages to pieces safely.
13:56It's not part of a section.
13:58Books are bound together in separate sections.
14:02If Chris is correct, the two pages should come away easily.
14:06Wow.
14:08That's a relief.
14:09But this is just the beginning.
14:12Chris now has to tease the two pages apart.
14:17To start with, I'm going to go in with the book's worst nightmare.
14:23It's water.
14:24I'm going to sort of dampen in it slightly.
14:27And hopefully that will be enough moisture without doing any damage to the paper.
14:32This is definitely water-soluble ink, so I have to be a bit careful.
14:38Every time the page is turned, there's a pressure point there.
14:42So it's going to get worse.
14:43So this is the point I can actually get it sorted properly for the future.
14:49So I'll get my trusty scalpel onto it and just see if I can lift the paper.
14:57I need a patience of a saint for this job sometimes.
15:09Just needs a bit of encouragement, I think.
15:16So that's the page is separated.
15:18I'm going to put this to one side, the title page, and I can start mending the flyleaf with some
15:24repair tissue.
15:27I'm using some very fine tissue paper.
15:31It's very, very strong.
15:33And this particular one, once it's dry, goes just about invisible.
15:43And then I'm going to use some wheat paste to put it on.
15:48And it just disappears.
15:52This is stabilising where the tears are.
16:03That's one edge done.
16:04I'm going to put this under a weight in between the sandwich of silicon release and blotting paper.
16:10When that is dry, I can move on to the other edges.
16:14With Chris taking a deep dive into the detail of the journal's restoration...
16:26Dom stayed behind in Whitby, keen to learn a little more about Captain Cook and his connection to the town.
16:33Oh, we're on our way already.
16:35And this is it. We're setting off.
16:36OK.
16:37On a replica of the Endeavour, the ship Cook sailed to the South Pacific.
16:43He's meeting local lad Dennis Buck, the volunteer who rediscovered the journal deep in the archives.
16:52People, I think, had forgotten the significance of it.
16:54And to be quite honest, it was tucked away and quite forgotten about.
16:58So when I brought it to the attention of our librarians and archivists, the excitement suddenly grew.
17:06Why is the book important?
17:08Because Cook brings visitors to Whitby from all over the world.
17:12From Australia, New Zealand.
17:15This is where he learnt his trade.
17:19And the ships that Cook used later for sailing around the world were all built in this very spot.
17:27How important to Whitby is Cook?
17:31When Cook first set out, of course, he was just a humble sailor.
17:37Later on, as he became more famous for his expeditions, for his discoveries, he still came back to Whitby and
17:46the people greeted him because now he was a renowned hero.
17:53He was a Royal Navy officer.
17:55Yeah.
17:56An explorer who had met the greatest scientists of the age.
18:00He left Whitby as a humble sailor.
18:02Yes.
18:03And came back a hero.
18:05A hero.
18:06Very much so.
18:09But it's thanks to people like you that volunteer and give up your time that these stories and these legends
18:15keep being told.
18:16So a pat on the back to you.
18:18Well, thank you very much.
18:20This has been an absolute pleasure.
18:22I've loved it.
18:23Captain, turn the ship round.
18:38Over in East London, Will is entrusting expert upholsterer Ray Clark with the restoration of Trevor Bayliss's chair.
18:49I'll start with treating the existing leather.
18:52It looks like it's dried out in a lot of areas and it's quite grimy.
18:57I'll need to get some new leather for the border because it's just completely worn and gone in certain areas
19:06here.
19:06Looking over, oh, I can see that the cushion itself is in quite a bad state on this side.
19:13So I might have to replace this panel entirely.
19:16So it's going to need unpicking, deconstructing some new leather put in this area along with the new filling.
19:27As Ray gets to grips with the chair, in the barn, Chris is starting to work on the boards that
19:39make up the book's cover.
19:41So now that bit of paper has been removed, I can now concentrate on removing the rogue cloth from the
19:47boards.
19:47Repairs have been done to this book, and the most recent one is a cloth spine which has been stuck
19:54over the original leather.
19:56So I'm going to give it a new leather spine and then remount the original spine back on that.
20:02At this point, it feels like it's a massive challenge.
20:15I'm going to put some water on it and just see if that reactivates the glue.
20:20And then in a while, I'll just tease it up and see if it's working.
20:25Underneath this cloth, there should be part of a leather spine.
20:29So I've sort of liberally distributed the water along, and there you can see underneath, it's all very exciting, what
20:39I suspected.
20:39A little leather spine underneath there.
20:45And it's just one of those real connections you have as a bookbinder,
20:50because the process of binding a book the traditional way hasn't changed.
21:11It's going better than expected.
21:14It has revealed the marble paper underneath, which is nice, not too many losses.
21:28And it's just one of those, which is nice, not too many losses.
21:30The fending bit of cloth's off.
21:32Now I just need to do that to the other board, and then I can start repairing the edges.
21:41In his workshop, rebuilding the seat cushion, Ray is using the old form as a template,
21:49before cutting precisely into the new.
22:03Hey, Ray, how are you getting with Michelle's chair?
22:05Right, I'm in the early stages of this restoration, and I thought I'd turn my attention to the seat cushion.
22:11So what's going inside?
22:12So this, this is what you call Ecoflex.
22:15It's basically foam that's made from recycled plastic bottles.
22:19OK, good.
22:19So that starts the base and the top, and in between I want to put this.
22:26This is a spring unit.
22:27That looks like a mini mattress for a dog.
22:29That's right, yeah.
22:30Well, it's something like that.
22:31But it still needs to be trimmed up a little bit, so it actually fits inside comfortably.
22:36What can I help with?
22:37Can you see all these little hooks?
22:39If you can snip through those and just remove this row along here,
22:44that would really be a great help.
22:46Definitely.
22:50Oh, Ray.
22:51Come on, put your back into it.
22:53Am I supposed to snip these?
22:55Yeah.
22:58OK, you've got to twist as well as...
23:00All right, all right.
23:01You've done it before, Ray, I haven't.
23:02You've got to twist.
23:04It's all in the technique.
23:05It's all in the technique.
23:09You're making a big deal out of that.
23:11I'm not, Pete.
23:13Just twist it, twist it as well.
23:16Oh, actually, twisting works.
23:17There you go.
23:17You didn't tell me to twist it.
23:19I did, I did.
23:21Yeah, well, you know, I'm trying to make an effort
23:23because I know how much this means to Michelle.
23:26How long have you been restoring furniture for?
23:29It's 19 years.
23:30And do you still have the same passion for it as you did then?
23:33It's much deeper.
23:34I love restoring and upholstering furniture.
23:38I love using the tools.
23:40I love working with different types of materials and fabrics.
23:44And, yeah, it's wonderful.
23:46Right, now that's snipped off, what's next?
23:49So you've got the springs in the middle
23:50and it's sandwiched between two layers of this
23:54and encased in more of this foam around the side here.
23:58And that will form, like, a new unit
24:00that will go inside a new leather cover.
24:02If I lay that on there now and you feel...
24:04Yeah.
24:06Oh, yeah.
24:06So it's like a sandwich.
24:07Right, so that's all going to be encased.
24:09What about the leather going around the top of it?
24:11Right, so...
24:12This is the original cover.
24:15Oh, my word.
24:16Hold on a second.
24:17Yeah.
24:18Yeah.
24:19That's just wear and tear.
24:21What I'm thinking, I want to do a gentle restoration to this.
24:25I want to keep as much of the original cover as possible.
24:28So I'll keep this panel.
24:29I will repair that.
24:31I'll take a part of the original leather and patch it in here.
24:35Very good.
24:36Piping as well.
24:36I'll try and keep as much of that as I can.
24:40But it sounds like you've got a great game plan.
24:41Yeah.
24:42But it also sounds like you've got a lot of work to do.
24:43You could say that.
24:44Well, I'm going to let you get on with it and I'll catch up with you later.
24:46All right, thanks a lot.
24:47Cheers, Ray.
24:47Take care.
24:50As Ray begins to carefully unpick the original leather work,
24:54keen to preserve as much as he can...
25:02Don is out and about,
25:05seeking heritage skills being kept alive across the country.
25:10In Somerset, Annika Reid creates woodblock prints
25:14using traditional techniques to produce vibrant, colourful designs
25:18for fabrics and wallpapers.
25:23This studio's beautiful.
25:24Thank you so much.
25:25There's inspiration everywhere.
25:27This is all your work?
25:28Yes.
25:29At the moment, I'm launching a new collection of wallpapers and fabrics.
25:32OK.
25:34So this is what?
25:34A piece of...
25:35This is wood.
25:35Yeah, a piece of Asian ply.
25:37OK.
25:38I'm so fascinated by this process.
25:40I've had a go at lino years ago, back in college.
25:43I've never actually tried carving wood.
25:45Can we have a go?
25:45Yeah, of course.
25:46I'd love to try it.
25:47Yeah, so I thought we could start off by just maybe thinking about
25:50some of the simpler designs.
25:52I like it.
25:52Keep it simple.
25:53Yes.
25:53So each of my design has a theme, has a story behind them.
25:56So maybe we could think about...
25:58A narrative and a theme.
26:00Well, we're on the road.
26:01Yeah.
26:01So how about roads?
26:03Fantastic.
26:04Yeah.
26:04Sounds great.
26:05It's been a wiggly journey getting here.
26:06Somerset roads.
26:07Excellent.
26:08All of Anika's designs start with a sketch.
26:13Right.
26:14So we'll have some straight bits and some wiggly bits.
26:16Some are fatter than others.
26:17Yeah.
26:19Only when she's happy with the image will she begin to carve it into wood.
26:24Right.
26:25So along the way, there are also lots of roundabouts.
26:28Excellent.
26:28So what about this gap in the middle?
26:30Some mountains.
26:32Never felt quite so nervous about trying to get a design in front of somebody, but...
26:38OK, I'm quite happy with that.
26:40Excellent.
26:42OK, you need to work out first of all what you're going to carve and what you're going
26:45to leave as wood.
26:47So everything you carve away will be the colour of the paper.
26:49OK, so at the moment it's a flat surface, the whole thing would be covered in ink.
26:52Yeah, so...
26:53We're going to use these tools to carve away and to remove material.
26:58Yeah.
26:58So anything we remove won't be printed.
27:01Yeah.
27:01So you've got different size gouges, and I would always recommend having the gouge in
27:08the palm of your hand.
27:09OK.
27:10Always move the board.
27:12Don't move the chisels.
27:13Would you like me to show you first one?
27:14Please do, yes.
27:16Great.
27:17So you just need to take the top layer, follow the grain of the wood.
27:20You can probably be able to just get one.
27:22Look at it, peeling all...
27:23Oh, wow.
27:24Two, in, one.
27:25And that is as deep as you need to go?
27:27Yeah, yeah, yeah.
27:28That's it.
27:28Let's have a go.
27:29All right.
27:30Is that deep enough?
27:31Yeah, perfect.
27:33And then...
27:35Following all the way together.
27:39How's that?
27:40Yeah, excellent.
27:41Because this is a very traditional technique, isn't it?
27:43Yes, it is, yeah.
27:44And I went on a residency to China in about 2006, and I was taught this technique.
27:51And it's quite amazing over there, because you're not actually allowed to design your own piece of wood.
27:57You have to just learn the craft.
27:58So we had to carve their designs.
28:02What sort of things were you printing there?
28:03So I was printing, like, images onto paper.
28:07But it was then, when I went to India, that I saw the incredible block printing there,
28:12and that's when I transitioned to fabric.
28:15Do you have a preference?
28:17Wallpaper's still my love.
28:19Is it?
28:19Yeah.
28:20I just love how it can tell a story.
28:29This is... It's taking shape.
28:30OK, shall I have a go at the mountain?
28:32Yeah.
28:35Oh, no. No, no, no.
28:37I've chipped a bit. I've gone the wrong.
28:40Big old chunks flaked out.
28:41We've had it.
28:42No, we can just make the mountain a bit bigger.
28:45OK.
28:46So just chisel that bit away.
28:47Yeah.
28:50Nobody will ever know.
28:52Perfect.
28:53Shall we try and link it up?
28:54Are we ready?
28:55I think so.
28:55The print that Dom is making will be a single colour.
29:00For Annika's designs, a multi-colour.
29:03Using the same block after printing one colour, she'll then cut away more wood, adding each new colour, layer by
29:13layer.
29:13Called reduction woodblock, it's a time-consuming process, and any mistake means starting again from scratch.
29:24So I'll try and make the paper straight and get the print in the middle.
29:29Oh, I'm really nervous.
29:30It's the best fit, though.
29:33OK, so then turn the wheel once through, pull it through.
29:37All the way through?
29:38Yeah, and then back again.
29:40OK.
29:41You can feel it there.
29:41Yeah.
29:42Yeah.
29:43That's it.
29:44Helping through.
29:45OK.
29:46Steamrollering it.
29:47That's it.
29:49Good there.
29:53Oh, look.
29:55Yay.
29:57That's worked really well.
29:58That has worked.
29:59I think it'll make a really good wallpaper.
30:02Seriously, you actually mean that?
30:04I'm honestly really quite pleased with that, and I've got a new appreciation for the craft that you do and
30:10how long and how much skill goes in to some of your prints.
30:14Oh, thank you.
30:15I really do, especially adding multiple colours.
30:16It must be, I mean, very time-consuming, but so rewarding.
30:22Do you mind if I keep this?
30:23No, please do.
30:24Is that OK?
30:25Yeah, that's great.
30:25I'm actually going to take that home with me.
30:27I love it.
30:34In the barn.
30:38Having strengthened and consolidated the book's component parts, Chris is also beginning to focus on decoration.
30:46The boards now have all been repaired.
30:49I've covered them with some tissue paper, and it's nice and rock-hard now, absolutely fantastic.
30:56But it's come now to the point where I need to reinforce the marbling by putting some new marble paper.
31:06It's a Dutch pattern paper, very period for 1771.
31:11The original bit of paper was this sort of colour, as this would have been at the time, a very
31:17bright and vibrant colour, which, with age, and it's got to blend, I've painted the marble paper down with some
31:23watercolour.
31:24You're trying to get a lifetime into this new bit of paper, and I'm really happy with that.
31:30First thing I've got to do is slip it underneath the original and get it to the point where I
31:36want it to be.
31:37Line up the pattern so it's all going the same way.
31:41Then I'm going to flip it over and just mark sort of a rough turn in.
31:46I'm going to make two marks.
31:49Now I'm just going to cut it to size.
31:52Just double-check.
31:54Pleased with that.
31:56And now I'm going to glue it.
32:13Just pleating the folded, the cut pages round.
32:16I just need to start getting it to stick.
32:30I'm really happy with that.
32:31And once it's blended in, you're not going to notice it at all.
32:35Now I just need to do the other two edges.
32:39In East London, Ray is now rebuilding Trevor Bill as his chair.
32:48Laying new webbing.
32:54Then having sourced, color-matched leather, replacing the worn panels.
33:03Finally, he treats the leather, first with saddle soap.
33:08This will clean it.
33:11Before a final application of hide food to ensure that the chair stays in good shape
33:18and looks its best
33:22for its return journey
33:24to the west of the city.
33:31How come I'm walking backwards?
33:33At the Ilpi Island Museum, Will and Ray are sneaking the chair in.
33:40Out of sight of museum curator, Michelle.
33:45Yeah, it would be really nice to be able to sit in that chair
33:47and just think about Trevor.
33:49I feel quite emotional about it, actually.
33:52And she's not the only one.
33:55Let's get this covered up.
33:56Right.
33:56I pour my heart and soul
33:59into every stitch, stuff, tack, staple, tuck.
34:03I just love what I do.
34:06Everything I do goes into my work.
34:09I'm proper nervous, to be honest.
34:12Yeah, brilliant.
34:13Good.
34:14Right.
34:15You ready?
34:16I was born ready.
34:17No, I wasn't.
34:19Hey, Michelle.
34:21Hey.
34:21This is Ray.
34:22Ray, lovely to meet you.
34:23I'm the man that's been working on your chair.
34:26OK.
34:26He's a bit nervous.
34:28I'm a bit nervous.
34:28So am I, so am I.
34:30Why are you feeling nervous for?
34:32Because this chair has been part of the museum
34:35for the last seven and a half years
34:37and it got to the point where we couldn't allow visitors
34:39to sit in it because it was so damaged.
34:41We like the idea that people can sit in this chair
34:43and maybe have a bright idea like Trevor Bayless did.
34:46Are you ready to see what Ray has done?
34:48I am. I am ready. I am ready.
34:52Oh, wow.
34:55What have you done to the cushion?
34:56That looks amazing.
34:57I was literally just expecting the cushion to come back repaired.
35:01I can see what you've done to the chair.
35:03It looks phenomenal.
35:04Yeah.
35:05That looks really beautiful.
35:06Well, please, if you wouldn't mind, have this.
35:08Can I sit in it?
35:09Yeah.
35:09Can I?
35:10Yeah, thank you.
35:13Oh, yes.
35:14Oh, here you go, Trevor.
35:16The chair's back.
35:18How does it feel to sit in the chair?
35:19Oh, it feels much better than it did before.
35:22Yeah, yeah.
35:22That crunchy old cushion.
35:23This is lovely.
35:25Ray, that looks beautiful.
35:27You wear it well, Michelle.
35:30Now, Ray, what exactly have you done with the chair?
35:31OK, so I've nourished and cleaned all the hide, replaced the piping, refitted a new zip, repaired
35:40any holes.
35:42You can just see this circle.
35:43Oh, yes, of course.
35:44So, yeah, that would have been 100% him sat there with his pipe and maybe dropping a match
35:48hall.
35:49Yeah.
35:49No, Ray thought it could have been a stiletto hole.
35:52Yeah.
35:53Well, you know, Trevor was known for his Wilkers parties back in the day, so you never know.
35:58You never know.
35:59And I love how you've kept the marks and things on here.
36:02Oh, absolutely.
36:03It's a character.
36:04Yeah.
36:05I used to put his oily hands on there when he'd been tinkering in his workshop.
36:08No, it's beautiful.
36:09Absolutely beautiful.
36:10You've done such a great job.
36:13Now, we really hope that this chair inspires the next generation of inventors.
36:18You could feel free.
36:19We'll sit down and see if you can come up with a great idea.
36:25Oh, Ray.
36:28That is nice.
36:29Oh, that's really nice.
36:30I've got so many great inventions just flooding in now.
36:33Shut my eyes for a minute.
36:36Have a cap.
36:36Oh, I could do with the pipe, it's not actually.
36:39This is lovely.
36:40I could get you to have a pipe out of the display case.
36:42Yes.
36:43And the blanket came off.
36:44I was just transported back to, you know, the times when I'd just be able to pop in
36:48and see Trevor sit there and have a cup of tea with him.
36:51So, yeah, I could literally hear him talking to me when I saw that chair again.
36:56I feel really relieved that Michelle loves the chair.
37:02I think the reason why people resonate with furniture is because of all the memories that it evokes
37:09and the feelings.
37:11Yeah, it was good to work on.
37:17Back in the barn, there's still more to be done before Chris can close the book on what
37:24has been a very challenging restoration.
37:28All the pieces of the book are just about all together.
37:32All the edges now have been marbled and repaired.
37:36I've attached a new leather spine, which it needed, but I don't want to leave anything behind.
37:42And I've got the original spine that I'm now going to remount back onto the new spine that I've just
37:48fitted.
37:51These slivers are very, very fine.
37:59I'm now sort of applying some paste, because it's quite a wet paste, makes the leather slightly malleable,
38:07so it allows it to fall into place nicely.
38:13I really have enjoyed working on this book.
38:16It's very, very daunting to start with.
38:18And to be able to return it in a state that they can actually use and study the book is
38:27reward enough.
38:30Book safely stored on board.
38:34Time now for Dom to charter course back to Yorkshire.
38:39I'm on the way to Whitby to reunite Rob and Dennis with the Captain Cook's journal.
38:46It's a very special book.
38:49Chris has done such a beautiful job.
38:51I just can't wait to get it back into the museum, where it belongs, back with the community.
38:58Really excited to see what it looks like.
39:00It's one of our most important documents, because it's telling a little bit of hidden history.
39:05And it'd be nice to have it in a condition where people can actually come and see it and enjoy
39:09it.
39:12I can't wait to see what's been done with this book, honestly.
39:16I'm so excited.
39:17It was in such a terrible state, and we've all fallen in love with it, really.
39:21So, yeah, it's going to be really, really good to see what's been done.
39:27Rob, it's so nice to see such a huge turnout today.
39:31We're all really anxious and nervous to see what's happened, yeah.
39:36Rob, I'm so excited for you to see the book.
39:39Ready?
39:39Yeah, yeah, let's do it.
39:43Oh, good Lord.
39:46That's incredible, is that the same book?
39:49Take a look.
39:55That is fantastic.
39:56The spine that we were so worried about is right back where it should be.
40:03All the pages, back where they should be as well.
40:09Look at that.
40:12Yes, we can definitely let people handle this.
40:14I'm confident that it would survive handling again now.
40:18It feels like a book again rather than a collection of loose papers.
40:23Incredible.
40:24It's gorgeous.
40:26It's really gorgeous.
40:27But it's not just one book that's returned to Whitby.
40:32Dom's brought a second.
40:34There were so many clippings and notes in the front of this book.
40:38So Chris has gone and made another book.
40:41There's a kind of scrapbook in a way.
40:43So some of the clippings are in there.
40:45You can have a look.
40:45And the newspaper cuttings.
40:47Wow.
40:48And the history of the original.
40:50He's come up with a sympathetic cover to it and he's made it the same size.
40:54Same size.
40:55And, yeah, replicated hand-marbled paper.
40:57And also I've got him to put a few extra blank pages in there.
41:00Just because I'm hoping you're going to find out more in the future.
41:04Exactly right.
41:05So you can add to this.
41:06Now it's your turn.
41:07And now it's our turn.
41:09The responsibility's on us to fill in these blank pages with the research that we find.
41:15And we will.
41:17Eager to begin that work is Captain Cook curator Dennis.
41:24You're shaking a bit there.
41:25I know.
41:29When we discovered this in the archives, I never thought I'd see it like this, in this condition.
41:37I thought it would be put away in a box, talked about, but never allowed out.
41:42It's wonderful.
42:10It's wonderful.
42:12Without it being sanitised.
42:14And I think it would give a lot of pleasure to a lot of Whitby people.
42:18I would say this is probably the beginning of the book's journey now.
42:23Our team will be able to investigate it more thoroughly, try and figure out some more about the history of
42:28that particular copy and also try to find out who wrote it.
42:36What a day it has been.
42:37I was, I knew this was a big day.
42:40I knew this was an important book to everybody here in the community, but I was a bit taken back
42:46by Rob and Dennis's reactions.
42:49They were speechless.
42:52This meant a lot to them.
42:54Whitby is Captain Cook's town.
42:57Whitby goes together with Captain Cook like fish and chips.
43:06If you'd like to see more fantastic fixes and restorations, search BBC iPlayer for The Repair Shop on the road.
43:44We'll see you next time.
43:44We'll see you next time.
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