Episode 3
The team tackle a shattered ceramic dish, a handmade doll’s house and a vintage harmonium that provided the soundtrack to many an East End knees-up.
Organ builder David Burville takes on the repair of a vintage harmonium, brought into the Repair Shop by Marian Stanley. Marian’s family come from Stepney in London’s East End, and she has many fond memories of the harmonium and the festive gatherings for which it provided the soundtrack, with family members of different generations all taking their turn at the keyboard. However, the harmonium is now over a hundred years old and hasn’t played a tune in decades. With leaky bellows, broken reeds and cracked and chipped casing, David has a massive job on his hands to get it playing again.
Ceramics conservator Kirsten Ramsay also faces a daunting challenge in the shape of a ceramic dish that was smashed to bits 25 years
ago by then-13-year-old Karen Barnett. The dish was Karen’s father Richard’s pride and joy, and Karen has lived with the guilt ever since.
And Jay leads the repair of a hand-crafted doll’s house with a touching story behind it. As a young girl, on her daily walk to school with her grandfather, Debbie White would pass the same black and white house every morning. Debbie loved the house so much that her grandfather promised her that one day she would have it. And the following Christmas, there it was under the tree in miniature form, handmade
by her grandfather. Debbie has treasured the doll’s house ever since, but now rickety and in danger of collapsing, it takes the combined efforts of
Jay, furniture restorer Will Kirk and art conservator Lucia Scalisi to return the beloved toy to its former splendour.
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Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Jay Blades |
Narrator | Robert Pugh |
Series Editor | Sandy Watson |
Executive Producer | Rob Butterfield |
Executive Producer | Emma Walsh |
Broadcasts
- Wed 3 Apr 2019 16:30
- Thu 8 Oct 2020 16:30
Take Part
If you have a treasured possession that needs restoring, please get in touch.