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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.
00:21Wow, look at that.
00:23Quite proud of that.
00:25And unlocking their stories.
00:27I'm completely blown away by this.
00:30Oh dear.
00:32Bringing the broken.
00:33I don't know where to start with this.
00:35Back to life.
00:36Wow.
00:39Stunning.
00:40Wow, fantastic.
00:44I think it's just amazing.
00:46Yeah.
00:47Welcome to the repair shop.
00:58Glorious, isn't it?
01:00Yeah.
01:01Quite mysterious with the fog.
01:02Yeah.
01:03It's beautiful.
01:04Come on, start another day.
01:05Yep.
01:10First up, a rock and roll relic that bears all the scars of an exceptional career.
01:16Oh, look at this.
01:17Yeah.
01:18Bit of a rare beast, I think.
01:19Is it?
01:20Yeah.
01:21Yeah.
01:22Very nice though.
01:23Yeah.
01:24Definitely had a hard life.
01:25For Toby from Berkshire, this isn't just an instrument, it's the sound of his hero.
01:32And he's hoping organ specialist David Burville can make it sing.
01:37Hi there.
01:38Hello.
01:39Hello.
01:40Yeah.
01:41This is really nice.
01:42Tell us a bit more about it.
01:43Well, this used to belong to Dave Greenfield, who was the keyboard player of The Stranglers.
01:48No way.
01:49Yeah.
01:50This is the actual keyboard.
01:51He recorded all the big hits, No More Heroes.
01:54Like The Grip, The Stranglers?
01:55The Stranglers.
01:56Yeah.
01:57It's called a Hone Assemblette.
01:58And this is the one.
01:59It's a bit of history here.
02:00Hugely.
02:01We've toured with it for hundreds and hundreds of gigs, hence all of these battle scars.
02:06Every mark on here tells a story.
02:08You say No More Heroes, but he sounded like a massive hero to you.
02:11100%.
02:12Yeah.
02:13He was my hero.
02:14I'm a keyboard player myself, and Dave inspired me to play the keyboards.
02:19I remember when I first heard The Stranglers, I was about 11.
02:22I was at school, and a mate had a cassette, and as soon as I heard it, I was like, wow.
02:27Correct.
02:28And I actually did have some success in a band called Rialto.
02:31I was on Top of the Pops and TFI Friday.
02:34So did you ever actually get to meet Dave?
02:37I did.
02:38I met him at an after-show party on one of their tours.
02:41My band at the time had just been dropped by a record label, and Dave signed a napkin
02:47that said to Toby, don't give up the keyboards.
02:50Yeah, it's quite dispiriting when you get your lucky break, and then it falls away from you.
02:56So, yeah, it was hugely motivating for me.
03:00Dave passed in 2020.
03:03Oh, no, did he really?
03:04Yeah.
03:05And he was lost, so.
03:06Did they stay together, or...?
03:08Well, this is an interesting part of the story, because I got a phone call a few months after Dave's passing,
03:18being invited to join the band.
03:20No, you didn't.
03:21Yeah.
03:22Really?
03:23And I am now the keyboard player in The Stranglers.
03:24Are you?
03:25Yeah.
03:26You kept that quiet.
03:27They just keep coming, you know what I mean?
03:28Yeah.
03:29I kept in contact.
03:30I knew the management.
03:32They knew I was a massive fan of Dave, and I could play all the parts.
03:36I remember that first moment where JJ started his bass up and did the beginning of No More Heroes,
03:42which is like a classic riff.
03:43Hairs on the back of my neck just went up, and I was like, wow.
03:46What an honour for you to be playing with the rest of the guys.
03:49I feel very privileged, and, you know, to go from fan to the band, and as a consequence of being the keyboard player in The Stranglers,
03:58I was presented with his original keyboard.
04:01This is a real one-of-a-kind unique thing to work on.
04:04Oh, it's massive.
04:05Absolutely massive.
04:06What would you like me to do to it?
04:09Well, I would love to have it in working order so I can play it.
04:14You've never heard this work before?
04:15I mean, I've heard it historically on records, but no.
04:19I've never heard this keyboard working because it's, unfortunately, it's broken.
04:23But I would like to sort of try and preserve the character because there's a lot of history.
04:28Yeah.
04:29And I can't think of anyone better to do that, so, you know, thank you very much.
04:32Pleasure. We'll see you soon.
04:33Yeah.
04:34Thanks a lot.
04:38This is amazing.
04:39I know.
04:40Absolutely unbelievable.
04:41History before us.
04:43There's a lot that needs steering, Dave.
04:45Yeah.
04:46First of all, lift to the bench.
04:47Yes, please.
04:58As a kid, I remember listening to records of The Stranglers.
05:03So I'm really privileged to be able to work on this instrument.
05:07The little things which are actually producing the sound are effectively accordion reeds.
05:14This little plastic thing with the rubber piece on the end of it is actually the plucker.
05:19And that literally plucks the end of the reed, giving you a nice note.
05:27Unfortunately, the rubber is literally rotting. It's degrading. So that needs replacing.
05:33Now, the reeds are connected via two wires to a circuit board. I'm going to ask Mark if he can see whether he can get it working again.
05:46I'm going to get the keys back to how they were when Dave was actually playing them.
05:51Toby's really keen on keeping the patina of the case, but I think the first thing I've got to do is to get this reed unit out.
06:00Then I can get the keyboard out and then I can see what I'm working with.
06:03Strutting into the barn next are school sweethearts, Rowland and Jackie, bearing some iconic footwear for the attention of shoemaker, Dean Westmoreland.
06:31Hello, hello. Nice to meet you. Right, look at these beauties.
06:37They are incredible, aren't they? These are some wild shoes. These are the shoes that got the girl.
06:42Are they? Yes.
06:45Back in 1975, we was at school together in the same class. I was 14.
06:50I was 15. Because, yeah, there's about nine months between us.
06:54Jackie was a very attractive girl at school and all the boys were after her.
06:58I felt I had to go on a mission and try and get her, even though you rejected me a few times because of my height.
07:03Well, Rowland was the cheeky chappy, always making everybody laugh.
07:07And his twinkly blue eyes, that's what attracted me. And I just wished he was taller.
07:15One day, me and my mate went up to London and...
07:18No, you bunked off school?
07:19Oh, I bunked off school, right.
07:20Went down to Carnaby Street, saw this shoe shop and these are in the window and they really stood out.
07:25And I just thought, I've got to get these. This is going to get the girl. It's going to give me some height.
07:30And then you wore them to the disco.
07:32I thought I was the bee's knees.
07:34What was that like, to see Rowland for the first time?
07:37Put taller, yeah.
07:39It was really funny because they used to wear really wide-legged trousers and obviously the trousers went over the shoes.
07:46So he looked like he was growing out of the ground when he was walking in.
07:51Everything he did made me laugh and just so long as he was taller than me and I looked up to kiss him.
07:57And you've been together ever since?
07:59No, we split up when we were 16 and went our separate ways.
08:04I think it was 1993, my marriage had finished and his marriage had finished.
08:08And we were set up by one of our friends to re-meet and went from there.
08:15I knew there was still a connection there.
08:17So you still have the hots for each other, right?
08:19Must have, must have, yeah.
08:21I think you did, you did, because I'll never stop thinking about you.
08:23Aww.
08:24It was destiny.
08:25Yeah.
08:26We've been together now for 34 years.
08:28Must have been soulmates.
08:30Yeah, giant wedge soulmates.
08:34I'm amazed that despite the fact you went your separate ways, you kept the shoes.
08:38They've been with you everywhere, haven't they?
08:40Absolutely.
08:41A few fancy dress parties where they've come out and I've got through the evening in them.
08:45Yeah.
08:46Where is the damage on these and what caused it?
08:49The damage on this one is down the side.
08:52I must have been doing a lot of left-footed moves.
08:56I did put a bit of gaffer tape on them to sort of try and repair myself.
08:59Not the G word.
09:00That old trick.
09:01Yeah.
09:02They've been scuffed a lot.
09:03You've just got lots of happy memories from them.
09:05They're precious to me, they're like gold to me.
09:07Yeah, it's just our history.
09:10If Dean is able to repair these, what is the plan?
09:13We could look for a dish, you know, go back in time, yeah.
09:16Oh, no.
09:17Yeah.
09:18And re-enact that first moment.
09:20You've got to remember how old you are now, Roland.
09:22That would be amazing, wouldn't it?
09:24Yeah.
09:25Thank you so much for bringing these incredible shoes in.
09:29Bye.
09:34I could see you in some wedges.
09:35I don't need the height, do I?
09:36No, you don't.
09:37I've worked on platforms before, but nothing at a five inch height.
09:54The design is so unique.
09:56Hopefully I can get them to a state which Roland remembers when he first bought them.
10:00You can see that they've been well danced in.
10:03I'd like to try and remove some of this scuffing on the leather.
10:08There is clearly this huge tear in the side.
10:12What I'm going to have to do is remove the upper from the platform,
10:15and that'll allow me to get in and fix that tear properly.
10:19Now, there are many ways to repair a tear in a shoe.
10:23Gaffer tape wouldn't be my first choice.
10:26When it's been taken off, it's left a lot of heavy residue on the leather.
10:30So before I approach the repairs, I would like to remove some of this from the surface.
10:35This is a leather-specific alcohol cleaner.
10:39So it's designed to lift grime and dirt away without damaging the structure of the leather.
10:47That's working really, really well. It's removing all that adhesive.
10:57I'm not having to put too much pressure on.
11:00I'm going to carry on with the rest of it now,
11:02and have a think about how I'm going to repair this huge tear in the side of the shoe.
11:06From the dance floors of the 1970s to the stage now,
11:18as David has stripped the keyboard back to its bare bones.
11:23Well, I've now managed to get all of the parts cleaned so I can actually start to put the reeds back in the block.
11:35The reeds are all nice and shiny, and fortunately, no cracking, no fracturing.
11:40Now, when the reed vibrates, it's actually moving up and down next to this little pickup.
11:47So the tongue flapping up and down next to it, that's creating a very weak magnetic field.
11:53That's then transferred along the brass strip to the amplifier.
11:58This is really tricky, actually lining everything up.
12:02The pickup has got to be so close to the tongue, but I need just the finest of gap,
12:11so that if the metal expands, then it won't start to rub and actually interfere with the note.
12:27So that's seven reeds installed. I've just got 54 more to go.
12:31I think I might need a cup of tea.
12:41Hi Mark.
12:42Hi.
12:43So this is the electronics from the keyboard from the Stranglers.
12:47Really? Yeah.
12:48Oh crikey, I remember them.
12:50And look at that. Stranglers hair.
12:53There's a few in there.
12:54Could be worth a fortune.
12:55Could be, couldn't it?
12:56Okay, leave it with me.
12:57Lovely, thank you mate.
12:58I'll see if I can work it out.
12:59Cheers.
13:01I'm using a multimeter and in effect, I just want to see if current is flowing from one part of the component to the other.
13:12And then that will give me a level of confidence to think that it's generally okay.
13:16All the components seem to be functional apart from one. And that is this little lighter here.
13:29This light bulb is using a circuit in a very special way. It actually allows the sound to pass through so you can actually hear it. In fact, this little part of the board here, this coil, is like an oscillator, which means it's doing this. In this case for a keyboard.
13:45And that would be a little bit more.
13:46And that would be going.
13:47And that would be going, pulsing at the same time. That pulsation then emits light to this device here, which is a light dependent resistor. And that light dependent resistor allows that signal to be amplified. You can hear it.
14:02The bulbs blown till it's completely silent.
14:05What I'm going to do is replace that bulb and at the same time, rewire some of these cables as well.
14:15Next, mother and daughter Khalida and Nadia from Portsmouth are hoping bookbinder Chris has the recipe for success to restore a collection that is close to their hearts.
14:34Hi there.
14:35Hello.
14:36Welcome.
14:37Welcome.
14:38What have you brought in?
14:39So we brought in my parents' cookery book from the 1980s.
14:43So your parents' cookery book, did they actually make this?
14:46Yes, they did.
14:47So you must be an amazing cook then?
14:49Yes.
14:50Yes.
14:51Yes.
14:52That's the right answer.
14:53Yes, she is.
14:54She's amazing, yes.
14:55They came from Pakistan, India, to Portsmouth in 1976.
15:01The people were so nice.
15:03Then they would let us feel that we are foreigners.
15:06And then they decided to run an Indian cookery school.
15:09Was there quite a big Asian community in Portsmouth?
15:11No.
15:12Oh, right.
15:13So the sort of Indian cuisine was quite new for a lot of people then?
15:17Yes, it was, yeah.
15:19English food is generally not very spicy.
15:23Our neighbour, they like our cooking.
15:25They were very enthusiastic to cook as well at that time.
15:28So we thought there's a market for it and then the people love it.
15:32That's where she then got the idea of finding the cookery school.
15:35Mum and Dad put a tiny article apparently in the local news.
15:39I was really over the moon.
15:41About 70 people turned out.
15:4370 people?
15:44Yeah.
15:45That must have been amazing for you to have such a big turnout.
15:47Yeah, for Mum and Dad it was massive.
15:49So was your father a cook as well?
15:51Yes, he was.
15:52Yeah.
15:53Mum and Dad ran it together.
15:54So they would do their cookery class and then people would be dancing, having Bollywoods after.
15:58Really?
15:59Having a little party after, like socialising, wearing mum's saris.
16:03Oh, wow.
16:04Really?
16:05Yeah.
16:06And the sitar music as well.
16:07Oh, lovely.
16:08Yeah.
16:09And you would have seen all this take place as a child?
16:12Yeah.
16:13It was so nice to see communities come together and see people cook together and see Mum and
16:17Dad happy doing their thing.
16:19Now, this cookbook, was that for you to teach people?
16:22We thought at the end of the course, we always give them the leaflet.
16:26So why not we publish a book so that they can have all the recipes together?
16:30I think Mum and Dad only made about 60 copies.
16:33It was Dad's idea, wasn't it?
16:35All of Mum and Dad's favourite foods are in there.
16:38And pictures in there of how to make a samosa.
16:41Oh, wow.
16:42Got chapattis, got samosas.
16:44Can we not do this now?
16:45I'm so hungry.
16:47Oh, I can see that it's been well used.
16:49Yeah.
16:50How long have you had this copy of the book for?
16:52So I found it in 2017.
16:55Was it lost?
16:56Yes.
16:57I was around about eight or nine years old.
16:59We're about to move and Mum said to me, Nadia, we've lost the cookery books.
17:03It's our love, it's our heart.
17:05And then 30 years later, through a random conversation with a work colleague of mine,
17:09I managed to find the book.
17:11She just so happened to say to me, Nadia, I think my dad was on this course.
17:14The following day, she then gave me this book.
17:1730 years later.
17:19I was so emotional.
17:20What about this book is so important to you?
17:22So Dad passed in September of last year.
17:27So that's why it's important for us as a family to get that restored,
17:30because it's even more special.
17:32So what would you like me to do?
17:34The pages, they need fixing.
17:37It's tatty, it's torn, it's ripped.
17:39You can see I've sellotaped it.
17:41The fact that it falls apart.
17:43The stains.
17:44Aren't the stains part of the book?
17:46They are, absolutely they are.
17:48It's preserving some of the old in there as well.
17:51They are very vulnerable books.
17:52I'm surprised it actually has lasted.
17:54I hope that you can restore it into a good quality book that we can now pass it on.
17:59It will be like a wish come true.
18:02Well I hope I can too.
18:05Bye bye.
18:06Bye.
18:07See you soon.
18:08Bye.
18:10What an amazing book.
18:12It certainly is.
18:13I'm really looking forward to looking at the curries.
18:16For a small book, there's an awful lot wrong with it.
18:28There's the two T's, tapes and tears.
18:31There's some staining and the outer cover needs some help.
18:36First thing I've got to do is dismantle before I do any form of repairs.
18:42So I'm just going to get a scalpel and then I can start removing the tape.
18:52My dog would love this field.
18:54Have you got a dog?
18:55Yeah.
18:56A little whippet.
18:57Oh I'd love to get a whippet.
18:58They've got really thin legs.
18:59Very, very quick.
19:00Yeah.
19:01So if they nink your shoe, they're off.
19:03Dean has spruced up the 50-year-old platforms and is preparing to tackle the gaping split
19:09to the side of the left shoe.
19:11With all that adhesive having been removed, I can see where the leather should fold under
19:17that insole.
19:20To get into it, I feel the best way to do it is to try and remove the upper from the
19:25platform.
19:26That will allow me to get in and get that leather back to where it should be.
19:31Most glues of this kind are heat activated.
19:34I'm just going to delicately apply some heat to the heat gun now and see if that pulls away.
19:45So nerve-wracking is this.
19:47If I pull too hard and I bend the front too much before the back, I could tear that insole.
19:54So there's a real fear that I caused so much more damage to this shoe.
20:01Now I'm going to really damage the shoe if I try and prise that away.
20:08The good thing is I've managed to peel the upper back beyond the tear.
20:13So I'm confident I can work in there.
20:16First thing I'd like to do is to approach this tear here around the toe.
20:21I can see that there's a stiffener under there and that forms the shape of the toe and stops
20:26it collapsing.
20:28So there's something to bond to, but for strength I'd like to get a little piece of leather behind
20:34there and glue it all together.
20:36It should be nice and secure.
20:38I'm going to put this in reverse side facing out.
20:43If I were to use the grain side, it's not as porous and the glue really wouldn't soak in.
20:48I wouldn't get a good bond.
20:50I'm going to use my neoprene adhesive.
20:52It's flexible.
20:54It's waterproof.
20:55But above all, it's very, very strong.
21:08I've got to get this in reasonably quick because as soon as it starts to go tacky, I'm not going to get much movement in it.
21:21I'm going to quite fiddle it.
21:25That's actually really nice.
21:26It's closed together.
21:28Now that patch is glued in, I can move on to repairing this allowance where it's torn.
21:33The allowance on a shoe is where there is an extra part of the pattern that has to be folded under.
21:41If you had no allowance, there would be no way of attaching this upper to the insole.
21:47I'm going to use exactly the same process.
21:49Take this small piece of leather and use some glue to hold it in place against the original leather.
21:56Then I'm going to sew it all together and I can fold that leather over
22:00and tuck it under and it will be almost invisible and allow me to glue it back to the platform.
22:09Every note on the strangler's keyboard depends on a tiny piece of rubber no bigger than a thumbnail.
22:31And David's got 61 to make.
22:33So these would have been moulded originally and I've now got to try and recreate them.
22:40And you can see that this is quite a complicated shape.
22:43You've got this V groove in the middle, which is the hinge.
22:47Then you've got the slope at the top, which plucks the reed.
22:50These need to be really accurately made in order for the notes to play all consistently.
22:56I'm going to use a sheet of two millimetre thick rubber and I've made a little tool and it just uses a scalpel blade.
23:07So I can run this along a ruler and cut those angles to recreate one long strip, which I can then cut off into sections.
23:17That's cut a really nice angled edge. That is the plucking edge. The groove needs two individual cuts, hopefully enough to get a nice hinge effect.
23:37So that actually looks really quite good. Nice and flexible and I've got a nice straight plucking edge.
24:02I can now cut all the individual pluckers from this length.
24:15That should fit nicely into the holder.
24:19And that does actually look like it's going to do what it's supposed to do.
24:23So that's really nice.
24:25So now that can actually be mounted in.
24:28Then it's just a case of getting the rest of them done.
24:31Chris's assignment is repairing the pages of the Indian cookbook.
24:44But he's finding their contents a delightful distraction.
24:48It's fascinating.
24:50So she's saying that Indian desserts are traditionally eaten on special occasions.
24:56Unlike England, where almost every dinner is followed by a sweet dish like trifles, custards, etc.
25:02How nice. Two cultures meet in through a cookbook.
25:06There's a huge amount of tape that needs to be removed.
25:09It's just, where do you start?
25:11Oh, boiled rice. I'll start with boiled rice.
25:13I'm going to use a bit of acetone.
25:16Over time, sticky tape can make the paper go translucent.
25:19I can also discolor the paper.
25:22What I'm trying to do is degrade and get it to release.
25:27Oh, whoopee.
25:28The offending article's off.
25:30There doesn't seem to be any residue or anything left behind, which is fantastic.
25:35Now I've just got to go through the rest of the recipe book and get rid of all the other sticky tape.
25:56So all the tape has been removed and now I have to turn my attention to any tears.
26:01The major one is around the kofta curry.
26:05I've got to align some words up and then apply a piece of washi paper.
26:11And the washi paper is a plant-based traditional Japanese paper and its characteristic is very, very fine.
26:20And you can see as I tear it, these beautiful little fibers sort of like spread out like fingers.
26:27When I paste it, it'll go invisible.
26:30Whereas if you had a straight line, you'd have a straight edge.
26:34I'm going to run a bit of paste all the way along this edge.
26:39Then I can line up all the letters and that will just hold it in place long enough for me to paste the tissue paper into place.
26:48So all the words are lining up. It's looking good.
26:52So I'm going to start pasting it into place.
26:54This is a wheat starch adhesive.
26:57And you can see straight away it's going transparent.
27:00I'm really happy with that.
27:02Now I'm going to put it in between two bits of silicone paper and then leave it to dry.
27:18Nadia would like these stains, which are quite heavy around certain pages, to try and be lessened.
27:29So I've got a warm bath and I hope by leaving it to soak for a while that some of these stains will come out.
27:36I've done a little test on the ink to make sure that's stable in water.
27:41So the only thing I'm hoping that isn't stable is the stain.
27:47It's now just going to sit in there like a paper spa and hopefully the stain job will come out.
27:52With the inner mechanics restored and the wiring back in place, it's time to find out if this keyboard still has a voice.
28:08Oh, Mark!
28:10Hi.
28:11How are you getting on?
28:12There was a little bit to do.
28:13It's funny enough, I know it sounds daft having to change a bulb.
28:16Really?
28:17But the bulb is part of electronic circuitry.
28:19Ah.
28:20So in theory, it should work.
28:21It should actually work.
28:22Wow.
28:23Shall we test it?
28:24Yeah.
28:25Yeah, I'm really excited.
28:26Look, I'm not nervous at all.
28:28Right, let's put this in first.
28:30Yeah.
28:31We'll turn that on.
28:32Yeah.
28:33So that light bulb's on.
28:34Yep, that's good.
28:35Now, if you hit the switch there, that's a vibrato and it should actually then flash.
28:39Well, it's looking promising.
28:40It is.
28:41Right.
28:42Well, we'll see what it does.
28:43Okay.
28:44Er, anyone.
28:45King of C.
28:46Oh.
28:47Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.
28:50Amazing, isn't it?
28:51It's brilliant.
28:52Hey.
28:55So I've just got the keys to put in it now and then it's almost ready to play.
28:58I can't wait to hear it.
28:59Ah, it's going to be great.
29:00Thank you, Mark.
29:01You're welcome.
29:05With the components of the keyboard working in harmony, Dean is also one step closer to completing his repair of the platform shoes.
29:21I'm going to use this handy little piece of wood just to keep that open while I can feed some glue in.
29:27That patch I've added to create the new allowance is really coming into play now.
29:37So I should be able to fold this allowance over now.
29:40If I push on the leather there, I can feel the edge of the insole and I can use that as a guide.
29:45I can't see a great deal, so a lot of this is by feel.
29:59Now, considering these came to me with a huge gash up the side of there, that's really quite fulfilling to see it come back together.
30:08Once that's cured, I can glue the whole shoe back to the platform and then I can get some colour back on this black and that should really make these pop.
30:17Before the curtain rises, David is adding one last note to seal in the marks and memories that make this a unique piece of rock history.
30:36Well, at last, the keyboard is back together.
30:39This has been such a wonderful project to work on.
30:43What I do want to do is just give this case a nice coat of shellac polish.
30:48This will help to seal in all of that patina and it would give that a nice protective coat.
30:57It does give a nice sheen and it will actually bring back that beautiful golden brown.
31:06Great, so I've just got that to do on the rest of the case and then it will be stage ready.
31:19When the keyboard arrived, this rock and roll relic was silent and powerless to perform.
31:27Very nice, David.
31:29Come up all right, isn't it?
31:30Oh, beautiful.
31:31Have you been up my polish?
31:32Maybe a little bit.
31:33Maybe a little bit.
31:36Now Toby has returned, eager to hear the unique sound that set him on his path and to play the keys once touched by his hero.
31:45Hiya, Toby.
31:46Hello.
31:47How are you doing?
31:48Not sure.
31:49It's quite a big day for you, isn't it?
31:50It is.
31:51To have the actual keyboard that Dave played and recorded most of the hits on and it's actually under this here.
32:06Yeah, I am surprisingly nervous actually.
32:09You know, I've never heard it played.
32:11Only on records.
32:13Itching to listen to, aren't you?
32:15Can we get on with it?
32:17Would you like to see what David's done for you?
32:18I'd love to, yeah.
32:19Right.
32:21Here we go.
32:22Wow.
32:23I'm a bit speechless actually.
32:35I mean, that's incredible because we had a conversation about preserving the character and not just making it like a brand new one and you've done that perfectly.
32:44Yeah.
32:45I'm speechless.
32:47We know David has done a great job with the case work but we've come to listen to some music.
32:54Okay.
32:55Right?
32:56Do you want to hear this play?
32:57I'd love to, yeah.
33:01Okay, the moment of truth.
33:12That's the sound.
33:13Hey, that's a lot.
33:14That's the sound.
33:15Yeah.
33:18I learnt No More Heroes when I was a teenager.
33:21It's the iconic song you associate with this instrument.
33:24He recorded all those iconic songs and played it live on these keys.
33:33That's amazing, isn't it?
33:34Can we get an encore, please?
33:45Hey!
33:46It's been a real honour to have us in the barn and also fantastic to have a member of the Stranglers come and play for us, so thank you.
33:59Guys, I can't thank you enough.
34:01What you've done here is incredible.
34:03It's blown my mind here.
34:07It was beautiful to play.
34:08It's really silky smooth.
34:10It plays like a new keyboard.
34:11But he's kept all the character, all the marks, and I'd like to think Dave would approve.
34:17Thanks, David.
34:18Take care, David.
34:19All the best.
34:20Take care.
34:21Goodbye, mate.
34:22Awesome.
34:23Good job, mate.
34:24Well done.
34:28Have you finished restoring your motorbike?
34:30I have and I'm enjoying it.
34:35Have you finished restoring your motorbike?
34:36Have you finished restoring your most bike?
34:50I have, and I'm enjoying it on these lovely, warm days.
34:54I bet.
34:56Here to add fuel to silversmith Brenton's love of motor vehicles
35:00is Andrew Cotton from Hertfordshire.
35:04Hello there.
35:05Hello.
35:07Oh, dear.
35:08I thought you might be a bit worried about this one.
35:10What have we got here? Is it a sculpture?
35:13No, it's a motor racing trophy.
35:15My father, Michael Cotton, won it in 1965 on the Tulip Rally.
35:19What is the Tulip Rally?
35:21It's a rally that took place over multiple days,
35:24and it was something like 1,600 miles.
35:26Wow.
35:27And they started off in Nordwijk and Holland,
35:29and they drove down past all the major circuits in Europe
35:32through Belgium and Germany.
35:33It's basically a race from point to point,
35:37but you have road sections and then you have special stages.
35:40We had a friend, and they used to do some amateur competitions together.
35:44My father was the navigator, and then he also did some driving
35:47because obviously there were endurance events,
35:48and so you had to keep up the speed.
35:50So one of them would sleep and the other one would drive,
35:52and then they'd swap over.
35:53So did your dad race in many rallies, or was this the only one?
35:58No, he did the Tulip Rally in 63, 64 and 65.
36:02He won it on the third attempt.
36:03Correct.
36:03They got better and better.
36:04That's one way of looking at it.
36:06The other way is that this one was slightly chaotic
36:08because in 1965 they had the heavier snowfall for about 40 years,
36:13and some of the leaders had to retire from the rally
36:15because they got stuck in snow and others crashed.
36:18But he won it.
36:21Yes.
36:21That's in the record books.
36:23Yes, exactly.
36:23That's all you need to know.
36:25We're talking with a motorsport buff here.
36:28Oh, right, okay.
36:29We've only done one rally, and I caught the car up in front of me
36:32and then crashed into him.
36:35No, no.
36:35That was the end of my rally.
36:37He really enjoyed the competition,
36:39and he treated it like a holiday away from a regular world.
36:45What was his normal world then?
36:47His normal world was a journalist.
36:49He'd started going to Formula One races in 1950.
36:52Yeah.
36:52He was in love with the competition.
36:53So he was a motor racing journalist?
36:54Yeah.
36:55Wow, what a job.
36:56Did it rub off on you?
36:57Yes.
36:58I followed him into journalism.
37:00Have you?
37:01So I've been a journalist since 1995, yeah.
37:03Did you ever work with your father in journalism?
37:05Yes.
37:05Primarily, I remember Le Mans,
37:07because it always fell on Father's Day,
37:09and so we used to sit next to each other and I'd give him a card,
37:12wishing him a happy Father's Day,
37:13and, you know, going to a race with your father,
37:16it was incredible.
37:18There's a lot of your dad wrapped up in that trophy, isn't there?
37:21It's an embodiment of who he was.
37:24It's a bit tragic then that his only trophy is broken.
37:29Yeah, that was me.
37:31When I was young, I used to play with it,
37:33so I used to pull back the leaves and bend it all out,
37:36but it ultimately broke,
37:38so I'm afraid all the metal is quite fragile.
37:42And what's prompted you to try and get this repaired now?
37:45I wanted to do it while he was still alive,
37:47and there's a kind of an apology to him,
37:50but unfortunately, life didn't pan out that way,
37:53and he died last year.
37:55But I still think it would be a wonderful thing to do
37:58and a nice memory to have something that he had won.
38:01That would be really special.
38:02Yeah.
38:03Thank you for bringing this amazing trophy.
38:06Thank you very much.
38:07All right, take care.
38:12Have you seen one of these trophies before?
38:14I've seen pictures of them,
38:15but I haven't seen one of these in the flesh.
38:16You're in your element, aren't you?
38:17Absolutely.
38:18Oh, I'm so pleased for you.
38:19Can't wait to get started.
38:20This is a lovely trophy that Andrew brought in.
38:36I love motorsport,
38:37and to see this historic rally trophy is really, really good.
38:42Hopefully, I can save it
38:44so that his father's memory can continue.
38:47This trophy is handmade silver.
38:49I can prove it's silver
38:51because there's this hallmark on here
38:52which makes it official.
38:54There's a few things I need to address.
38:56This has been held together with,
38:58it looks like,
38:59poster adhesive,
39:00sticky stuff.
39:02It's had tape on it,
39:03which has tarnished the silver,
39:05and Andrew played with this as a child.
39:09He says that he peeled back the petals,
39:12and I can see that they are quite frail now.
39:15So they need to be strengthened and held together.
39:17The leaves have got some ripples in them
39:22to give them life,
39:23and I've got to establish what is dent
39:27and what is a ripple that's meant to be there.
39:30And these need to be attached back together,
39:33and then the whole thing needs a really good polish
39:35before I give it back to Andrew.
39:37The first thing I'm going to do
39:38is to take the base apart.
39:39There we go.
39:45Lovely.
39:49I reckon you could pull these off.
39:51Do you?
39:52Yeah, yeah.
39:53What size are you?
39:54I'm a six and a half or a seven I could fit into.
39:57These are actually a seven.
39:58Are they?
39:59It's like Cinderella, aren't they?
40:01We'll have to see what happens when the clock strikes twelve.
40:03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
40:04It's only no pumpkin.
40:06To ensure the cookbook's fairy tale can continue,
40:10Chris has been rustling up a plan.
40:13So the pages now have all been washed
40:15so I can concentrate on the front covers.
40:19They're not too bad,
40:21but the big problem with it is there is no spine.
40:26The outside cover is just an A4 piece of paper
40:29folded in half and wrapped around the recipe book.
40:33So it's very, very simple,
40:35but that poses problems in itself
40:38is the fact that it creates the pages being pushed forward,
40:42which makes these outer pages very vulnerable.
40:46So when you're thumbing through,
40:47they could split, they could get dirty.
40:49So I'm going to move the cover slightly to the right,
40:53protecting it for the future,
40:55and visually it looks like a proper book.
41:00So the problem I have is constructing a spine
41:05that's going to be wrapped around beautifully
41:08without it sticking out.
41:10And to do that, I just need some paper
41:12that I feel has the right tone,
41:14and I'm going to cut it in this sort of shape.
41:19And then that fits on there,
41:32and it's a bit of a funny shape
41:34because I have to cut it in
41:36because I've got these nicks here.
41:37Now I'm just going to glue this section
41:42and I'm using a PVA.
41:46It's not going to make the paper too wet
41:48and it's flexible.
41:50So it's all glued.
41:56So I'm really happy with that.
41:58Now I can start wrapping it around
42:00and glueing the back on.
42:01The 50-year-old platform shoes are whole again
42:23and almost dance floor ready.
42:25The upper has bonded really well to the platform.
42:29The patch that I've put in on the allowance
42:32to fold under is almost invisible.
42:36There are a lot of scuffs on the black leather,
42:38and I'd just like to add some colour back in
42:40and give it some real contrast
42:41against that off-white design.
42:43This cream will also nourish the leather
42:46and help preserve them for many years to come.
42:50It's been a really enjoyable experience
42:53working on these,
42:54and I'm kind of understanding now
42:56why they've jumped out at Roland.
42:58It's certainly a fantastic pair of shoes.
43:01Black polish is absorbing really well.
43:03Once I'm happy,
43:04I can give the whole shoes a nice shine,
43:07get some new laces in,
43:09and they'll be ready to go back to Roland.
43:13These platforms helped Roland
43:21to win over his taller teenage crush,
43:24Jackie, on the dance floor.
43:27Growing on me, I think I'd wear them now.
43:29Would you?
43:30I think so, yeah.
43:31I love that.
43:33The couple have returned,
43:35hoping to see their two worn-to-wear shoes
43:38back to their 70s best.
43:43Hello, hello.
43:48Hi.
43:48Hello.
43:49How are you both feeling?
43:51Excited.
43:52Yeah, very much so.
43:53What's going through your minds?
43:54I think to see them
43:56back as they were
43:57when I first bought them.
43:59Take you right back to being 15.
44:01Take me right back to being 15, yeah.
44:03Yeah.
44:03Yeah.
44:03The younger dancing days
44:05and trying to get a girlfriend.
44:07And you ended up with me.
44:11Exactly.
44:12The woman you wanted, right?
44:13Yeah.
44:13The girl wanted me, yeah.
44:15Would you like to see them?
44:16Absolutely.
44:17You ready?
44:18Yeah.
44:23Oh, my word.
44:25Oh, look.
44:27It's amazing.
44:28They are.
44:31They are fantastic, yeah.
44:32Oh, they're lovely.
44:38Can't even see where you've repaired them.
44:41Takes me back to when I first bought them.
44:43Yeah.
44:43Looking at them in the window,
44:44they were all shiny
44:45and just exactly like that
44:47and thought,
44:47I've got to have those shoes.
44:48Just takes me right back to the disco.
44:50All that dancing we used to do.
44:52God knows how I used to dance in those days.
44:55I don't know how you're waltzing them.
44:56Well, I'm dancing them.
44:58Out of everything in our life,
45:00I think these are the main
45:02Roland and Jackie moment.
45:04You have to try them on.
45:06I'll try them on,
45:07but don't get me to dance, though, will you?
45:08Oh, that's why I'll dunk in them.
45:12Oh, here we go.
45:13Here we go.
45:14Already I can see the height.
45:16Here we go.
45:17Look at that.
45:17Look at you.
45:18They look good, hon.
45:20I love it.
45:21They really look good.
45:22And you're taller.
45:24Yeah.
45:25That's so nice.
45:26Look at that.
45:27Brilliant.
45:28And I feel good
45:29because I'm that much taller now.
45:30And that is the purpose
45:31of me buying these.
45:33I feel like a new moon.
45:34I can't believe it.
45:35It's funny
45:35to see you taller than me.
45:37Oh, fantastic.
45:38I'm so over the moon with these.
45:40Thank you so much.
45:41You're very welcome.
45:43Are you going to wear them home?
45:45Absolutely.
45:46Got them on now.
45:47Might even not take them off.
45:49Bye.
45:50We've just got to find a disco now.
45:53They look so good.
45:54I'm going to miss them.
45:55Yeah, I want them back.
45:56I didn't think they'll see the day
46:02where I'll be wearing these again.
46:04And look at the height of me.
46:05Look at me.
46:06I'm right up there.
46:07Fantastic.
46:09It just brings back all the memories
46:11of school and disco.
46:12Watching you walk over to me.
46:14Doing the moves.
46:16Yeah.
46:17Being taller than me.
46:18I think I'll do the moves now,
46:20though, wouldn't I?
46:20Can you remember what your first job was?
46:33Do you know,
46:34I started in organ building
46:35and I've always done organ building.
46:37Are you kidding?
46:38What about you?
46:39I always had Saturday jobs
46:40and my first one was in a shoe shop.
46:42Not painted shoes, though.
46:43Not painted shoes.
46:44On his repair to the Tulip Rally Trophy,
46:51Brenton now needs to tackle
46:52some of the more challenging bends.
46:55Whenever I've got to remove a dent from something,
46:58I look at what I'm going to hit it with
47:01and what I'm going to hit it on,
47:02because it needs to be supported by something.
47:06And I'm just trying to find things that fit into it.
47:09And I'm just going to try my hammer handles
47:11because they've got a quite nice colour to them.
47:13And it seems to fit pretty well.
47:15So I'm going to knock this dent out,
47:17holding the hammer handle tightly against it
47:20using a flat, polished, planishing hammer.
47:29Actually, it's come out really well.
47:31I have got some dents along the back here.
47:34I don't know how they would have got there.
47:36They don't look like fold marks
47:38for when this leaf may have been folded back.
47:41So I'm going to try and get those dents out as well.
47:44And I've got some doming punches.
47:47These come in various sizes.
47:49So I'm just going to try pushing these dents out.
47:55But what I'm doing is burnishing,
47:57pushing the dent out with a polished metal tool.
48:01Now, because this is harder than the silver,
48:03this actually slides over the silver
48:06and moves the surface.
48:08It also polishes the silver at the same time.
48:11I believe that this dent here is meant to be here.
48:16This is part of the ripple of the tulip leaf.
48:19And I'm going to leave this one in there.
48:21So I can now turn my attention
48:23to the flower and the other leaves.
48:26Andrew said he'd peel the petals back as a child
48:53and bend them.
48:54If they were bent one more time,
48:57they would actually break.
48:58So I'm going to put a tiny piece of solder
49:01holding each petal to each other.
49:05And that will give them a great deal of strength
49:07and there'll be no danger of them snapping off.
49:10So the first thing I'm going to do
49:11is to wire this together
49:14in the position I want it to be
49:15when I solder it.
49:20So I've got one petal held
49:22in the position I want it to be.
49:24I apply a little bit of flux.
49:25This keeps the joint clean
49:27and helps the solder to flow.
49:45That's absolutely perfect.
49:47The solder has flowed really, really neatly
49:49into that joint.
49:50So those two petals are held together firmly.
49:52I just need to do these two on the other side
49:55and then I can move on to the base
49:56and get the wood cleaned up,
49:58ready to put the flower back in that leaf.
50:01With the repair of the cookbook all sewn up,
50:21Chris has finally succumbed
50:23to the temptation of its culinary contents.
50:27Hey, Chris.
50:28Hello.
50:29This isn't book binding.
50:30What's going on?
50:31I was inspired to make samosas.
50:33Oh, so this is from the actual book itself?
50:35Yeah.
50:35I took a photocopy
50:36because the main thing
50:38that I'm looking forward to
50:39is folding and making the samosas,
50:42like pastry origami.
50:44I like that.
50:45Brilliant.
50:46This cookbook celebrates communities
51:01sharing food and culture,
51:03but it arrived at the repair shop
51:05battered and unable to serve its purpose.
51:10Lau Kalida and daughter Nadja have returned
51:12to be reunited with this proud piece
51:15of their family's past.
51:18Welcome back.
51:19Hello.
51:19Hiya.
51:20Lovely to see you both again.
51:22Hello.
51:22And you.
51:23Cannot wait to see what it's going to look like.
51:25I will be really, really excited.
51:27It's like my dream come true
51:29and I would have thought this will happen.
51:31There's a lot wrapped up in this book.
51:32It's not just a cookbook.
51:34There's also a bit of family history.
51:36Oh, definitely, yeah.
51:37Especially Dad.
51:38So are you ready to see
51:39what I've managed to do?
51:41Yes, definitely.
51:42OK, then.
51:49Oh, wow.
51:57Amazing.
52:00Oh, wow.
52:01You've cleared the pages off.
52:06My God, Nadja.
52:08Ma, I've never thought
52:09of it will happen, hasn't it?
52:11No.
52:11Oh, it's amazing.
52:13It is amazing.
52:14Look at that.
52:17I just wish Dad was here.
52:20You have to give him the book.
52:21It's a new life.
52:22You literally have.
52:23What you have done here
52:24is so amazing for our family.
52:26I can never think
52:27it can be any better than this.
52:31You have done very, very good job.
52:33While I've been repairing this book,
52:35I have been inspired to have a go.
52:38So I'd like to show you
52:39what I've made.
52:40Oh, you've actually made something.
52:42Oh, wow.
52:43Oh, my God.
52:44Mom, look.
52:46Oh.
52:48This is amazing.
52:49Taste them first.
52:50Oh, wow.
53:00And the pastry is really good.
53:02Honestly?
53:02Yes.
53:04Literally, my childhood memory
53:06has come back from looking at this book.
53:08What he's done
53:09is he's retained our history
53:11and it's just made the journey
53:13even more special.
53:15It was easy,
53:16but it was down to the fact
53:17the instructions were so good.
53:19Oh, I love it.
53:21He followed a recipe
53:23that my parents wrote in the 80s.
53:25He brought the history
53:27into the physical form
53:28through the food.
53:30And that's exactly
53:31what this is all about.
53:33And that means so much to me.
53:36Brenton is fast approaching
53:49the chequered flag
53:50with his repair
53:51of the Raleigh Trophy
53:52as he prepares
53:54to reunite the wooden base
53:56with the racing silverware.
53:58I've polished the wood
53:59looking really good.
54:01I've cleaned up the leaves
54:03ready to be soldered.
54:04I'm going to balance this on here.
54:08It's important
54:09when I soldered this up
54:10to leave the hallmark
54:11which shows the standard
54:13of the silver
54:14showing.
54:16I've got that now touching
54:17quite tightly
54:18along the side of that leaf.
54:20I think originally
54:21when the trophy was made
54:23it would have just been
54:24soldered at the bottom
54:25and that's what made it easy
54:27to bend those leaves back.
54:35The moment of truth.
54:39That's the first time
54:41this trophy has stood by itself
54:43without the help of glue
54:45or tape
54:45for years and years
54:46and it's looking
54:48absolutely fabulous.
54:49Nice and secure
54:50just brilliant.
54:53I've got to put the
54:54plaques back on
54:56and then give it
54:57a really good polish
54:58and then it'll be
54:59beautiful and ready
55:00to give back to Andrew.
55:01This 1965
55:17Tulip Rally Trophy
55:18was won by Andrew's
55:20father Michael
55:21whose love of motorsport
55:23led to a shared passion
55:24between father and son.
55:27Now Andrew is back
55:29hoping Brenton
55:30has helped him make amends
55:31for the damage
55:32he caused to it
55:33as a child.
55:35Hello, hello.
55:36Hello.
55:37How are you?
55:38Very well, how are you?
55:39Excited.
55:40Have you missed it?
55:41Yeah, I have actually.
55:43I keep looking over
55:43and it's not there.
55:44It'd be lovely to see it
55:45repaired and looking
55:46as it was
55:48when he first won it
55:48and the fact that
55:50I was so young
55:51when I broke it
55:51means a lot more to me now
55:52than it did at the time.
55:54So really your whole life
55:55you've only known it broken.
55:57Yeah, so it's exciting
55:58to see it.
55:59Are you ready?
56:00I am ready, yeah.
56:05Oh wow.
56:07That's beautiful.
56:08I've never seen it look like that.
56:10I touch it.
56:11Of course.
56:12Just don't feel the leaves back.
56:15It's absolutely beautiful.
56:18Yeah, that's magical.
56:20And to think that
56:20when he was presented it
56:21in Holland
56:22that he received it
56:24like this is wonderful.
56:25I can see why you're
56:27so proud of your father.
56:28Yeah.
56:29Proud of him
56:30and proud of what he achieved
56:31and proud of
56:32what this represents.
56:33I think he'd be over the moon.
56:35The fact that it's now
56:36back to what it should be
56:37I think that he'd be
56:37really, really proud.
56:39That's beautiful.
56:40Hopefully a bit of a weight
56:41lifted from your shoulders.
56:42I always carried the guilt
56:43that I'd broken it
56:44so to have it repaired
56:46it means an awful lot.
56:48More than I realised I think.
56:49Thank you so much
56:50for what you've done with it.
56:51It's an absolute pleasure.
56:52I love working on it.
56:53Appreciate it.
56:54Thank you very much.
56:55Bye.
56:56Take care, won't you?
56:59It's fantastic to
57:00have something in my hands now
57:02that really represents
57:04my father's achievements.
57:06I am incredibly proud
57:07to be his son
57:08and so it really means a lot.
57:10If you have a treasured possession
57:17that's seen better days
57:18and you think the team can help
57:20please get in touch
57:22at bbc.co.uk
57:24slash take part
57:25and join us
57:26in the repair shop.
57:40We'll see you next time.
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