麻豆约拍

The shop is filled with art, science and travel as the experts tackle a set of piano-shaped DJ decks that brought rock 'n' roll to south Wales, an 18th-century orrery, which is missing a planet, and a hat box that鈥檚 been on an incredible journey.

First into the barn are Dave and his daughter Sally-Jo from Swansea. They鈥檝e brought in a set of DJ decks, shaped like a mini grand piano, that belonged to their father and grandfather Trevor. They are hoping the electrical skills of Mark Stuckey can once again make them play the rock 'n' roll music so loved by Trevor.

Trevor was renowned in south Wales for his 1950s music nights, where he became synonymous with the piano DJ decks. Over the years, he amassed a huge following and started a rock 'n' roll society, bringing people and music together. After he and his wife downsized and moved into a static caravan, the decks were put into storage. Six months after the move, Trevor passed away, and over the next ten years, the decks fell into disrepair. It is heartbreaking for Dave and Sally-Jo to see them in this state, and they would like them revived to be able to host 1950s rock 'n' roll nights in Trevor鈥檚 memory.

While Mark takes on the electronics, Dominic Chinea is drafted in to resuscitate the body work and keyboard.

Meanwhile, friends and colleagues Steve and Bruce from Dorset arrive with a challenge for horologist Steve Fletcher. They are from the Bournemouth Natural Science Society, a volunteer-led museum, with a discovery made by their curator. It's an 18th-century orrery, a model of our solar system, that had been left forgotten in a box in their archive. It is in a bad way, with a juddery mechanism making the movement of the moon uneven, a faded and dirty paper dial and Uranus is completely missing! Both Bruce and Steven are keen to inspire the next generation of astrologers and scientists and hope that if the orrery can work then it will be a hands-on experience for the school kids who visit.

Steve drafts in the help of paper conservator Louise Drover to work on the dial, while he must understand why the moon isn鈥檛 moving properly and replace the missing Uranus.

The next restoration falls to Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch, also known as the Bear Ladies. Pip Martin from Northampton arrives with a 1930s doll called Annabelle that belonged to her great-aunt Eileen. Annabelle was originally Eileen鈥檚 doll when she was a child. As an adult, Eileen was first a nanny and then went on to foster over 50 babies and young children. All the children in Eileen鈥檚 care would play with the doll that would also stay in the cot, watching over the very youngest of her charges. After Eileen died, the doll came to Pip, but it was damaged during a house move. Annabelle鈥檚 head is completely detached from her body, her neck is in pieces and she has no hair.

Amanda and Julie set to work to bring Annabelle back to her original condition with her head intact. They also make a new set of clothes that are in keeping with what she would have worn back when Eileen was first given the doll as a toddler.

The final item to arrive in the barn is for leather expert Suzie Fletcher. It is a hat box owned by Pippa Gardner which had been passed down from her grandmother to her mother and now on to Pippa. What is extraordinary about it is that it is covered in luggage labels marking its journey from Cheshire to Alexandria in Egypt and then on to South Africa. Pippa鈥檚 grandfather, Skip, worked in the shipping industry in Liverpool, and the hat box was bought for his young wife. Skip was commissioned to go to Egypt, and the family went with him, taking the hat box too. This is where Pippa鈥檚 mum, Betty, met her father and on their marriage in the Alexandra Metropole Hotel, marked by another label, the hat box was gifted to her. At the outbreak of war, the family had to flee Alexandria as the Nazis approached and ended up in South Africa. Now Pippa is the proud custodian of this piece of family history but is sad to see it in its current state.

For Suzie, it is a delicate restoration, as the handle is broken and the stitching is becoming undone. However, it is the surface of the leather and the all-important luggage labels tracking the family story that need to be preserved.

Show less