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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.
00:35Back to life.
00:36Wow.
00:38Stunning.
00:40Wow, fantastic.
00:43I think it's just amazing.
00:46Yeah.
00:47Welcome to the repair shop.
00:56Have you had a haircut, David?
00:57I have, mate.
00:58Yeah, I'm streamlined.
00:59I'll work faster.
01:01Have a good day.
01:09The barn's first arrival is John Wilson from London,
01:12with a battered survivor of heady days in the capital,
01:17for upholsterer Sonnes and paper conservator Angelina.
01:21Hello.
01:22Hello.
01:23Hello.
01:23Come on in.
01:25Hi.
01:26Hiya.
01:26How are you?
01:26Hello.
01:27Nice to meet you.
01:28And you too.
01:31So that's a light bulb in there.
01:33Is this a lamp?
01:34Yes, it was once a very, very beautiful lamp.
01:37Oh.
01:38This came from my friend Brian Davidson, and he'd have these fabulous cocktail parties in
01:43a flat in Soho.
01:45It was a very small bijou apartment, and he had it absolutely packed with incredible furniture.
01:53But everything was basically designed around the lamp.
01:57Was it?
01:58Yeah.
01:59And it froze a very, very beautiful light, actually.
02:01Yeah.
02:02What was London like at that time?
02:03You know, in the 80s, it was full of kind of bohemian artists, and, you know, we'd all
02:08be hanging out the window, and, you know, you'd see drag queens having massive kind of hissy
02:13fits over stolen wigs or whatever, and, you know, I mean, it was just a great place to
02:19be sort of a young gay person in.
02:21Yeah.
02:22And then the AIDS epidemic happened, and that kind of changed a lot of things for a lot of
02:27people.
02:27Sadly, Brian was diagnosed as positive, and I became his carer and companion.
02:34It sounds like you and Brian were really close.
02:36Yeah, we were really, really close, yeah.
02:39He was my family, so it became a very sort of normal thing for me to want to look after
02:45him, to keep an eye on him.
02:46Yeah.
02:47And a couple of years later, in the mid-nights, he died of an AIDS-related illness.
02:51He left me the lamp.
02:53It had our kind of history and represented something.
02:55Mm-hmm.
02:56Do you know how it broke?
02:58It was very, very strong for a long time, and then there was just a period where it just
03:03started to kind of snap.
03:05It became brittle.
03:06It became really, really brittle.
03:08So these twist around that central piece?
03:11Yeah, so basically, it stood up like that.
03:15Okey-dokes.
03:16Those were attached to the top.
03:18Mm-hmm.
03:18Those were attached to the bottom.
03:20And then, can you hold the bottom, darling?
03:23And then basically, it sort of, it cascades all the way down.
03:29And there's a double one.
03:30Right.
03:30So there's one over that as well.
03:32So what would you like for me to do?
03:34I'd like it to be the lamp that I remembered.
03:38You know, it's a reminder of Brian and all the friends that I lost.
03:42So it's a very, very important piece to me.
03:44Thank you so much for bringing this lamp in.
03:47It's my absolute pleasure and thank you.
03:49Pleasure.
03:50See you soon.
03:51Bye.
03:51Bye.
04:03Could you imagine this at a party being the center of attention?
04:07It must have looked incredible.
04:08Yeah.
04:09I mean, it doesn't anymore.
04:11No, sadly.
04:12Have you ever worked on something like that before?
04:14I've made lamps before.
04:15Okay.
04:16With a very similar type of material to this.
04:19This is definitely a polymer material.
04:21Oh, I see.
04:22But never with a paper backing.
04:25I have worked on just paper lamps.
04:28Have you?
04:28But nothing sandwiched together with the polymer.
04:31Oh, really?
04:32We're going to have to dovetail our skills and our experience somehow.
04:35We've got this crack here and quite a bit missing.
04:40Yep.
04:41And the challenge is the material, isn't it?
04:44It's 40 years old and we can't replicate it.
04:47That's going to be a very creative little info.
04:51A little drawing.
04:51Yes.
04:52There's obvious stains.
04:55Definitely these pockets need to come off.
04:58And you can kind of see where the pressure has been on the pocket from the inside.
05:04Some of them are so brittle that they've broken.
05:07Definitely need relining.
05:09Shall I start with taking this half and unpick these pockets?
05:13Perfect.
05:14See you in a bit.
05:15See you in a bit.
05:24Next to arrive, Chris Gosling from Surrey.
05:27He has some shoes with a surprising past for the attention of Cobbler Dean.
05:33Hi there.
05:34Hiya.
05:35Welcome.
05:36Ooh.
05:39Spiky shoes.
05:40So these are my late father's and they are running shoes.
05:45Are they now?
05:46What was your father's name?
05:47George.
05:48He was great.
05:49We had a great upbringing.
05:50Mum and Dad were just great.
05:52When we were kids we used to go to the Isle of Wight and we used to run along the
05:56beach.
05:56Dad used to beat us and we used to chase Dad along the beach.
06:01So I've got those memories of him.
06:03Was your dad a professional runner?
06:04No, but he was a very, very good runner.
06:07So much so that he was a mile runner and he could do that in 4 minutes 12.
06:12Wow.
06:12That's still quick.
06:13Yeah.
06:13My dad used to train with Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway who were Roger Bannister's pace runner when he broke
06:21the 4 minute mile.
06:22No.
06:23Crazy.
06:24Yeah.
06:24Crazy running.
06:25Now would he be running in these?
06:27Yes.
06:27Yeah.
06:28Did you see him run?
06:29No, unfortunately not.
06:31I didn't know anything about his running until he passed.
06:33Really?
06:34Yeah, nothing.
06:35So two years ago my mother moved house and she'd come out with a bag and she said,
06:39Oh, would you like these?
06:40I was just gobsmacked.
06:42And then she said, Oh, I've got this with it.
06:45And these are two trophies.
06:47That's for running the mile in competition.
06:50But both of these are like 1942.
06:54Amazing.
06:55Why didn't he tell you about his running career?
06:58I asked my mum and he said, Oh, well, that's your dad.
07:00He's quite a modest man then.
07:02Yeah.
07:02Very much so.
07:03Yeah.
07:04I'm going to get upset.
07:06Yeah.
07:07I'm taken back by that man.
07:10You must have felt a real sense of knowing a different part of him.
07:13Yeah, exactly that.
07:15But a part that I would love to have known.
07:17Yeah.
07:17He helped me when I started running.
07:19Do you chip off the old block?
07:20Well, I'm not short distances.
07:22I'm a marathon man.
07:24Are you?
07:24So I run marathons.
07:25My claim to fame is I'm the youngest person in the world to have run every London marathon.
07:3045.
07:3245 London marathons?
07:331981 till this year.
07:35That's amazing.
07:36And got my daughter into it.
07:38She enjoys running as well.
07:41What is it you wanted me to do with the shoes?
07:44It has here a hole here underneath.
07:48It's split there.
07:49OK.
07:49I just like them to get a bit of colour back into them.
07:52OK.
07:52And the leather's quite dry, but they would have been really soft.
07:55That's what I mean.
07:56Now, if Dean can restore these for you, where are they going to go?
08:00I would like to put them out on a stand.
08:02So when people come into my house, they will go, What are they?
08:07Right.
08:07Sit down.
08:08Just make a cup of tea and let me tell you.
08:10Your dad sounded like an amazing man.
08:12It was lovely to meet you, Chris.
08:13I'll do my very best with him.
08:15Thank you very much, guys.
08:17See ya.
08:17Bye.
08:23Wow, they are really sharp.
08:25Yeah, you be careful.
08:36What a fascinating pair of shoes these are.
08:39It's a very specific technique where the upper is attached to the insole using handmade threads.
08:48It is done inside out, and then it is turned once it's all attached.
08:53However, these are not in the best condition.
08:55There's quite a bad tear here, and that's gone right through the upper.
09:00I'm a little bit worried, actually, about how I'm best going to approach that.
09:04I certainly can't turn this shoe back inside out.
09:08The leather is quite stiff, which tells me a lot of the moisture has been lost.
09:13Luckily, leather is a natural material.
09:15It's very absorbent, so I should be able to get a lot of that moisture back in.
09:19Before I do that, though, I need to remove any grime.
09:32Angelina has planned a test run of a technique to reduce the blotches on the paper surface of the lampshade.
09:39Obviously, the paper has been splashed with water, creating all of these stains.
09:44So, I have prepared a little gel.
09:49It's made from algae, and what it will do is I will slowly seep through to the paper
09:58and pick up the discoloration and just, like, suck it back in.
10:01So there's a beautiful exchange of water between the gel and the paper surface.
10:08I have put a piece of plastic transparency on them and a bit of weight.
10:14It helps the exchange move a bit faster.
10:19The first piece has been on for a little while, so hopefully it's already done something.
10:26Well...
10:30Oh, goodness me.
10:32This is already working great.
10:34Like, this is the area where the gel has not touched the paper, and this is the area that it
10:40has.
10:41I'm just going to leave it here to continue working.
10:43And it just makes me really confident that this method is working well and will allow me to use bigger
10:52pieces.
11:03Heyo, Rich.
11:05Hey.
11:05Chris has given me his dad's medals, and thought it would be a nice little touch if we could get
11:10these back to how they were.
11:12Because that's something you could tackle.
11:14Probably more than I'd be able to build a pair of shoes, mate.
11:17Well, likewise, I can't tackle them.
11:18This is more your world, I think.
11:19Leave it with me.
11:20You're astounded.
11:20I'll get them over to you.
11:37I've been able to delicately unstitch all of the original stitching that was holding this piece of fabric to the
11:46end here, which the rods slotted into.
11:49And on every pocket there are some cracks and also some losses.
11:56Now that the pockets are off, I'm going to line them with this zephyr.
12:00It's very, very fine leather.
12:03It's flexible, it's strong, and it can be glued onto this polymer material.
12:17So I'm just gluing up to the size of the piece that I've prepared.
12:27Okay.
12:28That's about there.
12:37I'm going to just lay it on.
12:41Oh yeah, look at that.
12:48That has worked surprisingly well.
12:53This zephyr is going to provide the strength that I need to enable me to stitch this back into place.
13:00I'm going to leave the glue to cure and line the other pockets.
13:10Have you got a favourite type of jewellery?
13:13I love them all, but it's got to have coloured stones in it for me.
13:16A bit of colour in the gemstones.
13:18Nice.
13:18What about you?
13:19Anything that you make me rich.
13:20Ah.
13:23Sisters Sarah and Simone have travelled to the barn from Somerset
13:27with an inherited gem that needs Richard Talman's gift for salvaging sparkly things.
13:34Hi there.
13:35Morning. Hello.
13:36Nice to see you both.
13:37What have you bought in for us?
13:39So I bought a brooch today.
13:43Oh, that's lovely.
13:45This brooch belonged to a lady called Jean Bull.
13:47Jean would have been our step granny, but sadly we never met her.
13:51She was unfortunately killed in a plane crash just when we were very small.
13:56What exactly happened?
13:57Jean, along with a lot of other women from the local area of Somerset,
14:01took a day trip to Switzerland.
14:04On the 10th of April 1973,
14:07nearly 140 people from North Somerset and Bristol
14:11boarded a plane to Basel for a shopping and sightseeing trip.
14:15But the plane crashed in low cloud and heavy snow,
14:1910 miles from the airport.
14:2391 of the 108 people who died were women.
14:28Husbands became widowers and more than 40 children lost their mothers.
14:35Amazingly, 37 passengers survived.
14:38But sadly, Jean was not among them.
14:43Jean wasn't actually supposed to be on the plane.
14:45Somebody had given up their ticket and offered it to Jean.
14:50And of course she jumped at the chance to go.
14:52Oh my word.
14:54How awful.
14:56Everybody knew somebody that had been killed.
14:59Of course.
15:00Mothers, aunts, sisters.
15:02So it's still kind of affecting the local community now.
15:06Yeah.
15:07Children are still alive.
15:09Did your grandfather ever talk about the crash afterwards?
15:13No, not much.
15:14It was too difficult for him to talk about.
15:17Our stepdad talks about her a lot.
15:19It still affects him.
15:20Birthdays, anniversaries.
15:22You know, naturally you think about it, don't you?
15:24It never goes away.
15:26What kind of lady was she?
15:28Well, we knew her sister.
15:29So we knew that she was very kind and caring.
15:33Very family orientated.
15:35Very humble.
15:36But this was her little bit of sparkle that she could give when she went out.
15:41When did you inherit the brooch?
15:43Just after Grandpa passed away.
15:46We had the box of jewellery presented to us.
15:48So I gravitated to the red one.
15:52And I chose the green one.
15:53There was no sisterly squabbling over which one.
15:55No, not forever.
15:56That's interesting.
15:58How come your one is in good shape and your one is not?
16:02We went to Switzerland for the 50th anniversary to visit the crash site.
16:06I wore it all the time we were there.
16:09Left it on my dress for safekeeping.
16:11Came home.
16:12Just put everything in the washing machine.
16:15And when I opened the door, the gems were in the little tray.
16:19I got out as much as I could.
16:21It had a good old spin of the drum to see if there's anything else rattling around.
16:25But unfortunately there wasn't.
16:29Yeah, we're definitely missing quite a few of the stones.
16:32And it is a little bent, isn't it?
16:33It is, yeah.
16:35Thank you for entrusting me with it.
16:37And I look forward to doing my very best for you.
16:39Thank you. Bye-bye.
16:46Have you ever fixed anything that's been damaged by a washing machine?
16:49I haven't. This is definitely going to be a first.
16:53Good luck.
16:53And hopefully a last.
17:01These are cool, Dean.
17:03They are, aren't they?
17:04Yeah.
17:0480 years old.
17:058-0?
17:06Yeah.
17:07Wowzers.
17:07Were you much of a runner?
17:09When I was younger.
17:10Yeah.
17:10I did run very fast.
17:12That's great.
17:13I loved running when I was a kid.
17:14I was pretty quick.
17:15Were you?
17:16I'll have a rest with you.
17:17Yeah, later, yeah.
17:24This poor brooch really is in a sorry state.
17:29Being a piece of costume jewellery is very, very soft metal in an alloy combination of tin, zinc, lead.
17:37I'm going to have to tread very, very carefully to manipulate this back into its former state.
17:43The catch.
17:44The catch.
17:44This has been bent at an angle whereby it's no longer able to be used.
17:49And the pin itself is bent.
17:54Now, looking at the front of the brooch, on the outside edge, you can see the hole is actually probably
17:59more like a D shape.
18:00That's almost definitely occurred from the spin cycle of the washing machine.
18:04So, I'm going to have to make these outer holes round again.
18:09I have got a handful of the gems back that Sara has managed to salvage from my washing machine.
18:14I'm going to have to source some new gems, exactly the same size and colour.
18:18And then using the correct clear adhesive should be able to set them back in and make this brooch hole
18:24again.
18:27So, firstly, I need to pop out these rather stones.
18:33They're most likely to be glass and a really easy way to tell is just to pop them to your
18:41lip.
18:42OK?
18:44Now, if this was plastic, it would feel warm.
18:47As this is glass, it feels quite cold on my lip.
18:51You can't feel that level of temperature in your fingers.
18:55Now, I just need to remove these final stones here before I get on with making these holes round again.
19:19Dean has cleaned and conditioned the leather of the 80-year-old running shoes to prepare them for repairs.
19:27I'm going to approach this quite large tear in the side.
19:32The tear runs into the stitches here.
19:36If I go on the inside, I can see that tear runs right down to the bottom of the upper.
19:43And that leather is still quite delicate, so I'm going to have to patch that and also re-stitch it
19:48in.
19:51This leather is very strong despite being very thin, so that is perfect for a patch.
19:59I'm going to get some glue on it now.
20:19I've managed to position that really well.
20:22The centre of that patch is going right over the tear.
20:25I'm just going to open the front up here, and then I know the patch is in place behind this
20:32tear.
20:32I should be able to feed a little bit of glue into the front edge of this, and then I
20:37can push it all together.
20:39It's a case of getting the glue into these edge fibres of the leather.
20:45And as I use my awl to push them two together, I should be able to create a now invisible
20:52repair.
21:02I'm going to let that cure now before I remove that excess glue.
21:06I'm pretty happy with how that's gone together.
21:14Here we go.
21:15You got my other half?
21:17I do.
21:18With both rolls of the lampshade cleaned and strengthened, it's time to reunite the parts of the one that had
21:24split in two.
21:26All right, so here's the plan.
21:28Okay.
21:28I have prepared a polyester film with an acrylic adhesive.
21:35So what we have to do is kind of like hold this together while I lay the piece on.
21:41Let's just put a couple of weights around so nothing moves.
21:45Right.
21:45Okay.
21:47This is your giant homemade sticky tape.
21:50Yes.
21:51Right.
21:52We've got one chance at this, right?
21:55Yes, pretty much.
21:56Right.
21:58That looks good.
21:59It's so difficult to get this right, isn't it?
22:01Yes.
22:02Because the two sides are moving, it's curling up on the edge.
22:07We're trying to stick it down flat.
22:10This is a challenge and a half.
22:12I'll say.
22:17Okay.
22:17Right.
22:18Happy?
22:18Yeah, let's do it.
22:19I'm going to move my hand down.
22:22That's good.
22:23Oh, my goodness.
22:27The really good thing about this material is that it's basically transparent.
22:32Right.
22:32So it shouldn't be visible when the light shines through.
22:36So, yeah.
22:38Should we see what it looks like from the all-important face?
22:40Yeah.
22:41Let's do this.
22:42Okay.
22:49That's pretty good, isn't it?
22:51That's great.
22:52Right.
22:53All I have to think about is doing my infills here for the losses.
22:57I will leave you to it and we will cross paths to reassemble.
23:01Yeah, absolutely.
23:21Now that the two pieces of the lampshade are back together, I need to focus my attention on the losses
23:27that are here.
23:29When deciding on what color of paper to use for these infills, I had to figure out whether I wanted
23:37it to look good when the light was off or when the light was on.
23:41In this case, since this is a lamp, I preferred when the light is on because that is its purpose.
23:49I have decided to use three layers of this relatively thin long fiber tissue.
23:56Three layers because it has enough transparency and I tried and tested and three was the one that was the
24:05best.
24:06When Sonos and I did this repair, I cut a much bigger polyester film to cover this, which allows me
24:15to directly put my infill on this gap and it should be the perfect fit.
24:21Let's see how this goes.
24:29It is such a funny shape.
24:31It kind of looks like a little claw.
24:36But look at that.
24:39That is looking beautiful.
24:46Now that this is all nice and in, I'm just going to let it settle and then move on to
24:52the other loss.
24:56Richard has also been focused on getting things into exactly the right shape.
25:01In his case, on the crushed edges of the brooch.
25:05I've punched out all of the outside round settings here.
25:10And it's double good news.
25:12That's first of all, they're now all lovely and round.
25:16The other bit of good news is now I've been cracked, which I am absolutely delighted about.
25:22I've got one more little bit of bending to do.
25:25And it's the catch that holds the pin.
25:27So while I'm on a lucky streak, I'm just going to go straight for it.
25:31If it's going to break, it's going to break.
25:34I'm going to hold it here with my parallels.
25:36And it's a kind of a mixture of pulling the brooch down and pushing it back at the same time.
25:46Yes.
25:48Nearly there.
25:49A little bit more.
25:57So I've now got the catch straight 90 degrees to the brooch, which means it's going to do its job
26:01properly when the pin engages.
26:05Now, looking back at the front of the brooch, we've got this yellow.
26:09That is almost definitely going to be the residue of the glue.
26:13So what I'm going to do is I'm going to use some cellulose thinners.
26:20I'm just going to leave this to rest in the thinners for about five minutes.
26:38So this thinners here has removed a lot of the adhesive from the brooch.
26:46Now this black residue that's on it, it's most likely going to be some kind of reaction with maybe the
26:54detergents in the washing machine.
26:56I just need to remove this.
26:57And for that, I'm going to use this little abrasive burr.
27:12It's slightly shifting all of the residues.
27:23Just now need to repeat that for the other 50 stone holes that are there.
27:28And then I've got to think about trying to get a polish on this little outside edge.
27:44Having patched the tear in the running shoes, Dean now needs to replace the failed stitching where the upper is
27:51attached to the insole.
27:55Now, I've been pondering hard about the best way to approach the stitching on these shoes.
28:01I can see that they were hand sewn.
28:04And I've decided to follow that tradition and make my own threads.
28:08And I can see from the broken threads that this is how these were made.
28:13And keeping everything as original as possible is really important to me.
28:18And I feel that it would be equally important to Chris.
28:22I'm going to go with six strands of this lovely linen.
28:25And as I run my nail down it, I'm able to taper the end to almost nothing.
28:32Now this is ready for some wax.
28:35The purpose of the wax, when I run it along the threads, is to bind everything together.
28:41Individually, these threads are not the strongest.
28:44But once I get the wax on and twist the strands of linen together, it creates a very, very strong
28:50thread.
28:51Now traditionally, this lovely tapered end would be wrapped around a boar's bristle, which was taken from the neck of
28:57a wild boar.
28:59But wild boars are not easy to come by these days.
29:03So we use fishing lines, which is really flexible but quite strong at the end.
29:09So I cut a nice length of that.
29:12Now I take my fishing line bristle.
29:16And it's a case of twisting thread around the bristle.
29:29Now that is twisted onto the bristle, I take an awl, put a little hole through the threads.
29:39And then I feed the head of the nylon bristle through the hole there.
29:45That will stop it sliding off.
29:52That's all nice and tight now.
29:54Now I can use my new thread that I've made to secure this upper and replace those failed stitches.
30:12Angie, shall we?
30:14I am so ready.
30:17Sonas and Angelina are teaming up for the final push to get the 1980s lamp reassembled and ready for the
30:24big switch on.
30:26Can I do the top? Sure. And I'll do the bottom.
30:28Yes.
30:33Fabulous. All right.
30:35I'll start with the bottom.
30:37You take the top.
30:38Got it.
30:39Right.
30:40Right.
30:40Let's still be gentle.
30:44All right.
30:45Must have gone round.
30:47What? That feels perfect.
30:48Good. Yes.
30:50Right. Shall we turn it on?
30:52Let's do it.
30:52Ready? Yeah.
30:56Oh.
30:57Oh.
30:58Oh.
30:58Hey.
30:59Okay. Oh, that's so much better.
31:01That's good, Angie.
31:02It was never going to be completely invisible.
31:06Yeah.
31:07But I think the fact that you've got it to look similar to this...
31:11Yeah, it's really good.
31:14So good.
31:15Shall we put the other piece on?
31:16Yes, and get it ready for John.
31:18Can't wait to see the two pieces together.
31:22Okay.
31:24Once the centrepiece of exuberant Soho parties, this lamp arrived at the barn grimy, brittle
31:32and fragmented.
31:34But for John, it's a memorial to Brian, a dear friend amongst many lost during a tragic
31:42hero.
31:43Hello, hello.
31:44Hello.
31:45Welcome back.
31:46So Naz, Angelina, hi.
31:47Feels like Christmas morning.
31:49Yeah.
31:50Because I haven't seen it in its, I'm hoping in all its glory, for a long time.
31:55So yeah, no, I'm really, really excited.
31:58I mean, it represents a time in my life which was kind of sadness, there's loss, there's,
32:04you know, there's joy.
32:07Are you ready to see your lamp?
32:09I'm absolutely ready to see it.
32:11Yeah.
32:11Before you do, if you wouldn't mind turning around for us.
32:15Sure.
32:15And no peeking.
32:16Okay.
32:17I promise I won't.
32:18And I'll bring it out for you.
32:27You can turn around now.
32:31Oh, my God.
32:34Oh, wow.
32:38Wow.
32:38It looks exactly like it looked.
32:41I can't believe it.
32:42It's incredible.
32:44Can I switch it on?
32:46Absolutely.
32:47Go ahead.
32:51Oh, wow.
32:56Oh, I'm so happy.
32:59It's fantastic.
33:01It's as beautiful as it always was.
33:03I mean, it's just fantastic.
33:06I can see why Brian fell in love with it.
33:09Yeah.
33:14You'd be really pleased.
33:19It's stunning.
33:20It's beautiful.
33:21Yeah.
33:21Yeah.
33:22So, no, I'm absolutely delighted.
33:26We've loved working on Brian's lamp.
33:28Well, thank you, really.
33:30I mean, both of you.
33:31It's been a fantastic journey and thank you.
33:36You're very welcome.
33:37Take care.
33:38See you.
33:39Bye-bye.
33:39See you.
33:40Cheers.
33:45The work that Sonaz and Angelina did is absolutely extraordinary.
33:51It looks as splendid as it did in its heyday, really.
33:55And it's a story of Brian.
33:57It's something which evokes his memory, evokes his life.
34:03So, it's a very important piece and I'm absolutely thrilled.
34:20It's a very important piece.
34:20Of the many talents beneath the barn's thatch, Michael Whitehead has come from Lancashire with one particular set of skills
34:28in mind.
34:30Hello.
34:32Hello.
34:32Hi there.
34:33Hello.
34:33He's hoping electronics wizard Mark Stuckey can revive a retro audio device.
34:39Whoo-hoo.
34:40This is actually my dad's old reel-to-reel recorder.
34:46He'd kind of recorded songs on this to learn the words of songs.
34:51So, your father was a singer?
34:53Yeah.
34:53What was his name?
34:54Alan.
34:54Alan Whitehead.
34:55Some people didn't know him by his real name, they knew him by his performing name.
34:59Which was?
34:59Alan Curtis.
35:00Where did he perform?
35:02My dad would be singing around the pubs and clubs around Oldham and the wider Greater Manchester area.
35:06I'd say everybody knew him.
35:08People just, you know, would stop him in the street and talk to him, where are you singing next Alan?
35:13What was his music?
35:14What did he like to sing?
35:15Well, so he sang a lot of Neil Diamond and the Frank Sinatra and stuff like that.
35:20Like really fitted to his kind of tone and his voice.
35:22Right, okay.
35:23He was a very shy and humble guy.
35:25So, I think he didn't really like the build-up.
35:28But once he got up there, he just...
35:29He was fine.
35:30Yeah.
35:31How did he get into singing?
35:33Dad was a printer.
35:35Mum was an occupational therapist.
35:37And so, it was just for earning the extra money to kind of provide the best he could for his
35:41three children.
35:43Did you go to gigs with your dad?
35:45When we were younger sometimes, so it would be kind of like if children were let in.
35:48Hearing him hit those notes as well and the way he sang it and people applauding afterwards,
35:52it was like just a sense of pride and he was so humble about it.
35:55How long did he sing for?
35:57When did he stop?
35:58Well, he stopped singing in the close of that late 70s.
36:01Mm-hmm.
36:02But as we moved on and it was a family event, that was it.
36:05It'd be like, come on Alan, get up, sing us a song.
36:08When Dad passed away, it was kind of like, you know, the music died that day.
36:13It was after he passed and then obviously, you know, we're kind of doing a clear.
36:16I took some things and it was in the bottom of the wardrobe.
36:18Oh, I see.
36:18Just sat in the corner.
36:20You've tried?
36:21Yes.
36:21What happened?
36:22Nothing.
36:23Not even a light, not a move of the needle, nothing.
36:26When did it stop working?
36:28I would guess around about the 80s, sort of.
36:31It's been quiet for a long, long time.
36:33Yeah, it has.
36:34Yeah.
36:35So we've got a precious tape, but do you really know what's on these reels?
36:39From memory, there is songs that my Dad recorded so that he could learn the words.
36:45Yep.
36:46And then you've got a particular song that I really do remember.
36:48I Understand, and I think it was sung by Freddie and the Dreamers in the 60s.
36:54Right.
36:55Where my Dad's singing it and there's some women harmonising in the background, which
37:00could well be aunties and my mum and things like that.
37:03Oh.
37:03So, I mean, if that kind of comes out on there, that's just going to be on repeat.
37:07Yes.
37:07You just be playing it all the time.
37:09Yes.
37:10Got to get this little machine working again.
37:13Looking forward to it.
37:14Thank you very much.
37:15I think we all are.
37:15Yeah.
37:17Definitely.
37:18All right.
37:18Thanks.
37:19Bye-bye.
37:19Bye-bye.
37:25Mark.
37:26Yeah.
37:26What are the chances of this just being the fuse?
37:29Very unlikely.
37:30Okay.
37:31I wouldn't be that easy.
37:48Michael said that when he turned this on, nothing happened.
37:52The only way I'm going to find out what's really going on in here is to get the covers off.
37:58It's a little bit like working with an unexploded bomb.
38:02You don't know what to expect.
38:05Now, let's see what's going on inside here.
38:09Oh, yep.
38:10Exactly.
38:10Straight away, the belts.
38:12The original rubber literally breaks down and over decades, this is what it does.
38:19It just goes literally into goo.
38:20If I scoop some of this up, it is absolutely horrible.
38:26New drive belts definitely going to have to be fitted here.
38:29The whole area will have to be stripped out and cleaned up.
38:32What I need to do next is find out what other little horrors may be lurking under the chassis.
38:42Ooh.
38:51Removing adhesive and residue from the brooch has left it dull.
38:56So Richard has been thinking about how to restore some sparkle.
39:00Polishing isn't going to work because the metal is quite soft.
39:03so I think the very best solution is to use an enamel based spray paint which
39:07will give me a lovely glossy finish that's more in keeping with the brooch.
39:33I'm very happy with that just going to leave that for a few moments to dry then I can flip
39:38it over and paint the other side.
39:51So next it's time for me to re-adhere the gems back into the brooch.
39:56Now Sara was fortunate enough to be able to save quite a few of them from the washing machine but
40:01not all of them.
40:02So I've had to get some other pieces which are all a perfect match.
40:08Just going to take some special adhesive.
40:14It's actually got a lovely little needle like end on it which is great for applying the adhesive direct into
40:24the brooch.
40:26To put the gems back into the brooch I'm going to use a piece of beeswax which has just been
40:31formed in your face.
40:32You can put your fingertips by the heat of your hand but honestly there is nothing better to pick up
40:37a stone.
40:39And that holds it without the risk of firing it off somewhere in your tweezers.
40:43It just allows you to drop it exactly where you want it and then releases it in a perfect place.
40:52So now I'm moving on to the smaller ones around the centre.
40:59This just makes me really excited that as we put more and more stones in this this is really going
41:03to bring it back to life.
41:16Mark has made a disappointing discovery after removing the reel-to-reel recorder from its case.
41:22We have a major catastrophe here where the combined transformer and motor have actually completely failed.
41:31Literally we've had a barbecue, it's all charred and beyond repair.
41:35What I need to do is find a very similar type of tape recorder which has identical motor and transformer
41:41in it.
41:42I can replace that part over to this to make this part good.
41:46It just now leaves me with the unenviable task of removing all the original debris from these drive belts and
41:55that's going to be horrible.
41:59I'm using a window cleaning solution.
42:02It's a form of a degreaser and it's very effective removing items like this.
42:10I think I'm actually starting to do a touch of what Lucia has to do with a painting.
42:15Just keep working slowly over it and removing all the original muck.
42:29You okay Mark?
42:30I'm fine thank you, how about yourself?
42:33I'm good yeah, you want to be careful with that white shirt.
42:35I wish you told me that earlier.
42:37Yeah, you already ruined it.
42:38I've done it!
42:49I've managed to remove what I like to call the goo.
42:52Next thing I need to do at this stage is to put this motor and transformer into place.
42:59So I've managed to source another old part but as far as I'm aware it should work.
43:25That's now wired in.
43:27I'm now going to actually attempt to put the power on and I'm monitoring.
43:31I've got some current flowing.
43:35Oh, okay.
43:36I've got to do slight adjustment.
43:39All right, what's happened there?
43:41It's working but one of these little fans is just touching something.
43:45What I need to do now is look at it and try to understand which one of those fins is
43:50actually hitting.
44:03Things are really coming together now, it's really starting to look like an elite running shoe.
44:08That is now preserved and shined to a point that I'm really happy with and the spikes have shined up
44:14nice as well.
44:24All I need to do is get this other lace in the other shoe and these will be ready to
44:30be reunited with Chris.
44:34George Gosling used these vintage shoes to achieve some outstanding times on the track.
44:40But weir had slowed them to a standstill.
44:44Now George's son Chris has returned with a very special running partner.
44:50Hi there.
44:51Hiya.
44:52Welcome back.
44:53And who do we have here?
44:54I'm Lauren.
44:55I'm his daughter.
44:56We've heard that you're quite the runner as well.
44:58Yes, it's been passed on granddad to dad and then dad to me.
45:02And we've done it together, which has been wonderful, hasn't it really?
45:06It sounds like running is really in the blood.
45:08Yeah, it really is.
45:10Which we didn't know at the time.
45:12Which is even wilder, isn't it?
45:14To know it was granddad as well that was in our, in the same shoes.
45:17Choose a pun.
45:19How were you both feeling about the prospect of seeing them?
45:22I think emotional, isn't it?
45:25It's emotional, excited and just to see the hard work that you've done on them.
45:29They were hard work.
45:32Shall we take a look?
45:33Yeah, please.
45:40Oh my God.
45:43Oh my God.
45:44Look at that here.
45:45Dean, they are just...
45:48Come on.
45:49Oh my God.
45:51Look at this.
45:53It's beautiful, isn't it?
45:55You are a genius, mate.
45:57They are absolutely brilliant.
46:02I'm gonna go.
46:06It's the shine.
46:07It's beautiful, aren't they?
46:08Do you think that he'd be amazed to see how they've turned out?
46:10Yeah.
46:12He would have taken them and he would have gone.
46:13Yeah.
46:14Straight up the bar.
46:15Straight up, he would.
46:16He would.
46:16He would.
46:18You've brought us a couple of his medals from his races.
46:22We've taken the liberty of asking Rachel, our jeweller, to polish some of those up.
46:30They look brand new.
46:32Oh my God.
46:35That's so special.
46:36Oh.
46:38They're just fantastic.
46:41I'm going to go.
46:44They look better than yours now.
46:48I've got to shake your hand.
46:51Thank you so much.
46:52Are they yours to take away?
46:53Yeah.
46:54Come on.
46:57Thank you very much, guys.
46:58And keep up the running.
46:59We will.
47:03They were happy, weren't they?
47:05They were, yeah.
47:05Good job.
47:06Good job.
47:07Well done, mate.
47:10I just keep looking at them because I think they're so beautiful.
47:14They're such a beautiful pair of shoes.
47:16It's really important for me to have that memory of Granddad, I think, because how much
47:22running means to me and my dad.
47:25Absolutely brilliant.
47:26To have them in the state they were before and how they are now, that's why it's emotional.
47:32I had that image straight away of my dad putting those shoes on.
47:36That's how good these shoes are.
47:47Mark has been working on the unwanted sound from the reel-to-reel tape machine.
47:54I've managed to sort out the problem with the fan.
47:57It was actually one of the fins had gone at the wrong angle.
48:00Now, the next thing I had to come across was the fact that the mechanism was pretty well jammed solid.
48:05I've re-greased it and now this is actually working as one would expect.
48:11So it's doing very well.
48:13I'm now going to fit the brand new drive belt.
48:18So put that one round there.
48:21Now, that goes round there and then it goes round like that.
48:27We're now going to put some full power to it basically.
48:33Go up to the proper mains voltage.
48:36There are belts.
48:37So the belt is turning.
48:40No funny noises.
48:41Let's go.
48:43Fast forward.
48:46Stop.
48:47Rewind.
48:49Play.
48:50I'm going to sort of smell something and I can actually feel this motor is getting a bit hot.
48:55So I'm going to turn it off.
48:56I wasn't expecting it to do that.
48:59Now, it could be the motor at fault still, but I think it's more likely the circuitry that may have
49:05a problem.
49:06So that's what I've got to investigate next.
49:19Okay.
49:35So
49:40I have changed new enough everything apart from the chassis. I've changed transistors,
49:45I've changed capacitors, changed motors, and I'm still not really getting anywhere with this. So
49:50I've come to the conclusion for Michael to be able to hear those great voices from the past
49:55on this machine. I'm going to have to do the ultimate open heart surgery. I'm going to change
49:59the circuit board. It feels a bit like a get out clause, but there is something funny going on,
50:05and this is the only way I can see to get out of this.
50:16Richard has had better luck, restoring sparkle to the brooch, but there's still one point outstanding.
50:24The pin is a bit bent on the back here, so this isn't engaging properly in the catch. So
50:31I am going to start by just hammering this flat. The metal here is brass. It's quite hard and quite
50:42forgiving. I'm sort of hammering it and stroking it at the same time.
50:53And then now the pin is nice and straight, and that's beautiful. That's engaged into the catch
50:59just right. That's now ready to wear. Really excited about giving this back to Sarah.
51:07This brooch was treasured by Jean Bull until she died in 1973 in a plane crash that devastated an
51:16entire community. Jean's step-granddaughter feared the brooch was damaged beyond repair
51:22after accidentally putting it in the wash. Very nice. It's sparkly, isn't it? Oh, beautiful.
51:31Hoping it can dazzle once again in memory of her step-granny, Sarah has returned to the barn
51:36with big sister Simone. Hi there. Welcome back. Hi. How have you been feeling? A little bit emotional
51:45today, a little bit anxious. My heart's racing. It's part of Jean. She obviously loved it. She liked
51:51it. She wore it. To be able to wear the brooches at the same time again will be lovely. Are
51:57you ready
51:57to take a look? You ready? I'm ready. Yeah. All right, go on, Rich.
52:06Oh, wow. Oh, my gosh. That's stunning. It's fabulous.
52:14I can't quite believe that. Have a look. Wow.
52:24Oh, my heart's racing even more now. It's just... That's just incredible. Thank you so much.
52:31Very welcome. Wow. I think yours is actually more shiny than mine.
52:37A little bit of Jean shining, I like to think. Well, now's the time. Let's do it.
52:41Yeah. I love you. How does it look? Amazing.
52:56It's been great to see the brooch back on show where it should be. Thank you so much.
53:00Thank you very much. Bye-bye. Thank you. Bye.
53:06To be able to wear the brooch again, it's like having a massive hug. It's just lovely. It means
53:11that I feel close to her. I don't think we'd be wearing it down the supermarket, but...
53:17I might. You probably would, actually.
53:30Determined to get the reel-to-reel machine working again, Mark has replaced its circuit board
53:36and is now approaching the moment of truth. Let's power up, get the motor spinning.
53:46What I will try to do, just even a bit of a blank tape, just across the head.
53:51This is brand new tape, so there won't be much on it.
53:55But if I just do that... I just want to hear anything, really.
54:04I can hear sound. I can hear the scratchiness of the tape.
54:09It's working. Oh, crikey. That is such a relief.
54:14Now I've got to reassemble it, so Michael better hear those voices in the past as crisp
54:19as the day they were recorded.
54:25When Michael brought in the reel-to-reel recorder,
54:28it had been seized up and silent for over 40 years.
54:33He's relying on Mark to bring the machine back to life,
54:36and hopefully with it, the precious sound of his crooner father.
54:44Hello, Michael. Hi. Hello again. Good to see you again.
54:47Wonderful to see you. Yeah, you too.
54:49Yeah.
54:50Are you excited? Excited and probably a little bit anxious as well, I think.
54:55Well, not in a bad way, in a really good way.
54:58Are you ready to see it?
54:59I think I am.
55:01Mark?
55:02Here we go.
55:09Wow.
55:11That looks like it did in the 80s.
55:19Wow.
55:21Okay, switch it up.
55:26I understand just how you feel.
55:35Your love for me,
55:37Why not reveal It's over now But it was grand
55:48I understand I understand I understand I miss you so
55:59Please believe me when I tell you That's him
56:05I just can't stand To see you go
56:23Well, just sounds great, doesn't it?
56:30It really does.
56:31I could have imagined a more haunting song to be on there, actually.
56:34No.
56:35It just blows me away, it really does.
56:38Is that the voice you remember?
56:39Oh, yeah.
56:40Yeah, yeah.
56:41Well, he's left you a special gift behind.
56:43I think so, too.
56:48Just brought back so much kind of thoughts of just fun.
56:51Being younger, it just took me back there right away,
56:54and it was just a happy place.
56:56That's what I call it, a happy place.
56:59To have my dad on there, it's just mind-blowing.
57:03It's just amazing.
57:11If you have a treasured possession that's seen better days,
57:14and you think the team can help,
57:16please get in touch at bbc.co.uk slash techpart
57:21and join us in The Repair Show.
57:53We'll see you next time.
57:54.
57:54.
57:54.
57:54.
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