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Episode 26

Jay Blades and the team restore a plate bearing a photo of a beloved mother, a small but special clockwork tractor and a compass that saw action in two world wars.

Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.

Craftsman David Burville takes on the repair of a little clockwork tractor that holds significant memories for owner Nicola Clemo. The item belonged to Nicola’s father, a travelling agricultural salesman, who used it as a working demonstration model to sell tractors to farmers in Africa in the 1950s. The tractor is dearly treasured, but it hasn’t ploughed a furrow in years. The mechanics are bent out of shape, the seat has broken off, and the shiny red paintwork has faded to rust. Can David resurrect this precious relic and get it working again for the delight of Nicola and her brother Bill?

Sandy Richards from Cornwall arrives at the barn bearing a precious but delicate memento of her beloved parents. The item - a plate bearing a photograph of Sandy’s mother, gifted to her by her husband - is in a terrible state of repair, having been broken and clumsily reassembled with gaping cracks right across Sandy’s mother’s face. Ceramics conservator Kirsten Ramsay has never tackled anything quite like it before, and the job proves just as challenging as she anticipated. She has to draw on all her skills and ingenuity to get it back to its very best.

And compass repair expert Barry Phillips takes on the renovation of an old military compass that was used in both world wars. Passed down to current owner Stephen Munn via two generations of soldiers, it is the oldest such instrument that Barry has ever worked on. But before repair work can even begin, Barry needs to tackle the dangerous radiation that such old compasses emit.

28 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jay Blades
Narrator Robert Pugh

Broadcast

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If you have a treasured possession that needs restoring, please get in touch.