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Season 13 - Episode 6



The team repair a BMX bike and a famous frock. Elsewhere, there’s a restoration on a piece of manufacturing equipment that helped the British army in the First World War.

First up at the Barn, Tim Gunn has an appointment with Sharon from Swindon, who is entrusting him with a very special BMX that belongs to her husband, Dave. Sharon gifted the bike to Dave for Christmas in 1997, encouraging him to reconnect with his childhood passion of freestyle BMX, pulling stunts and soaring high above ramps! In his thirties when he received the bike, Dave passionately embraced his hobby once more despite having been diagnosed with Chiari malformation - a structural defect in the cerebellum that controls balance. Dave continued to ride for as long as he could whilst having treatment, but eventually the muscle weakness, headaches and fatigue forced him to quit riding altogether.

The BMX is in a sorry state with a rusty chrome frame and buckled wheels. Tim has his work cut out as he attempts to bring the dull and dented frame back to the gleaming mirrored finish that Dave remembers from the late 90s, and it all starts with the careful dismantling of the iconic bicycle.

Next to arrive are Barbara and Stefan from Holloway Fire Station, who are hoping that art restorer Lucia Scalisi can rejuvenate the painting that adorns the wall of their mental well-being garden. The painting, which depicts a fire in the background with three bold, yellow-helmeted firefighters in the foreground, was painted by a now retired firefighter called Colin Jones. The painting is the focal point of the garden, where the team come to decompress after tough days on the job. But the painting, which has always hung outdoors, is now weather-worn and seriously mouldy.

Lucia’s plan begins with removing the black mould, which obscures the yellow helmets before tackling the substantial tear in the canvas. So it’s out into the sun, where the UV light will stop the mould before Lucia can vacuum the remnants away. Removing the milky old varnish from the painting is the penultimate step in this restoration as Lucia prepares to reunite the painting with Barbara and Stefan once more.

The Barn’s next guest is Ceri from Cardiff, who has a special challenge for textile conservator Rebecca Bissonet. He’s brought with him an authentic gown that belonged to none other than Danny LaRue, the legendary entertainer and female impersonator. The flamboyant dress dates back to 1969 and was worn by Danny on stage. Ceri recalls seeing Danny for the first time on TV when he was just ten years old, and was partly inspired to go into theatre himself as a result. When Ceri was working as a drag artist in Soho in the mid-80s, he had the good fortune to meet Danny, and the pair became friends, with Danny bequeathing the gown to Ceri when he passed away in 2009.

Rebecca has the job of repairing the dress’s frayed train and reinforcing the stitching where the diamantes threaten to break away entirely! Her incredible work means that Ceri can proudly display the gown once again and continue to tell the story of this pioneering entertainer.

Last to arrive are brothers Nick and Chris from Suffolk, who’ve brought with them a unique piece of machinery dating back to the early 1900s. The dynamometer has been in Nick and Chris’s family for generations and was a key piece of equipment in the family business: a sack manufacturer. The job of the dynamometer was to measure the strength of the twine used to make coal bags and sandbags produced by the company, which dates to the 1700s. In the early part of the 20th century, the business was responsible for making hundreds of thousands of sandbags for the British army used in the trenches of the First World War. But the Dynamometer is in no condition to measure twine strength anymore, and the dial which indicates the robustness has seized up entirely.

The repair immediately appeals to horologist Steve Fletcher, who wastes no time in coming up with a diagnosis to get it working. As Steve works on the mechanism’s dial, wood restorer Will Kirk takes on the timber elements. With the dynamometer finally fixed, Nick and Chris are excited to finally test the instrument they last used as 18-year-olds on the factory floor.

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