Enter a workshop filled with expert craftspeople, bringing loved pieces of family history and the memories they hold back to life. A heartwarming antidote to throwaway culture.

Season 13 - Episode 17



First getting to work first is expert Will Kirk, who has an appointment with an 1890s knife-sharpening barrow and its custodian, Emilio. He has brought the barrow with a request that this important piece of family history can be transformed from the now broken and rusted condition. The barrow originally belonged to Emilio’s great-grandfather, also called Emilio, who took up the trade of knife sharpening in a small village in the Dolomite Mountains before setting off to seek his fortune, with the sharpening barrow his only means of supporting himself. Emilio Sr pushed the barrow all the way across Austria and into France before settling in Deptford, London. But now the barrow has a collapsed side panel, an overstretched belt and a broken spindle leg, meaning Emilio has never seen it working. Will has to keep his nose to the grindstone to complete the substantial repair job required to get this unique machine working once again.

Next, soft toy restorers Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell have an appointment with Jamie from Hampshire, who has brought with him a cuddly canine full of special memories. The stuffed husky was given to Jamie when he was just six years old and accompanied him through many hospital visits as he was treated for complex regional pain syndrome, a condition where damaged nerve pathways cause extreme pain. Eventually, in 2016, Jamie made the decision to have an amputation and began a new stage in his life, learning to walk again and taking on many physical challenges like climbing Mount Snowden and travelling abroad – all of which Po has accompanied him on. Jamie now competes internationally in obstacle races and wants to continue to take mascot Po along for the ride but is scared to do so due to his delicate state. Po’s stitching is loose around the neck, and his head threatens to fall off, whilst the body has tears and worn-away patches throughout. But Jamie’s keen that Po retains the character of a well-loved and well-travelled companion, so Amanda and Julie hatch a plan to make this husky a very special onesie to protect him from whatever the next stage of his adventures should throw at him.

Arriving for an appointment with both luthier Julyan Wallis and painting conservator Lucia Scalisi is Danielle from London, who has brought along a one-of-a-kind guitar that belonged to her father, Colin. Danielle explains that her dad was a keen amateur artist and musician, so he combined his passions by painting the front of this guitar in his trademark abstract pattern. Tragically, after Danielle’s grandmother died, Colin’s mental health was badly affected, and he died not long after when Danielle was just 11. The guitar is a poignant reminder of the beloved father that brought Danielle so much joy – but now its paintwork is dull and badly worn, and the neck is misaligned, meaning it can’t be played. Julyan tackles phase one of the restoration, realigning the guitar neck and polishing up the picks. Lucia takes on phase two, as she painstakingly removes the remaining patches of original varnish before retouching with acrylic paints to precisely match the colours Colin used all those years ago.

The final restoration falls to husband-and-wife team Walid and Joujou, experts in the field of typewriter restoration. The couple are faced with dissecting and reassembling a truly unique example of mid-century technology brought in by mother and daughter Lynda and Jemma. Lynda explains that she has owned the braille typewriter since the age of seven as a girl in a school for the blind. The typewriters were the first of their kind to be mass produced and played an important part in helping blind people to be equally as literate as their sighted peers. When Lynda had daughter Jemma, also born partially sighted, the typewriter took on a new domestic function as a labeller for children’s books and images. Sadly, Jemma’s sight continues to deteriorate, and so she is learning the more advanced Grade 2 braille and requires the family’s trusty typewriter to help her with the task. Walid and Joujou have a complex challenge ahead to get the machine working again. The internal mechanism gets permanently jammed, paper won’t stay inside, and the case is in tatters. The married experts set to work so that Jemma and Lynda can once again use the device that has been of such vital assistance to them throughout their lives.

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